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If you could buy from someone else, literally as much as you'd like, what would you seriously offer them as a highest price for their supply? This being theory at the moment, no need to haggle, just post a serious number. Clearly, since you sell, you'd be looking to flip it for a return. Thus the "buy low, sell high" philosophy. Therefore, curious what your view of on buying low. And please skip the buy a penny for a penny at the bank haha.


EDIT: Please ignore all things such as time spent, acquisition costs, shipping, etc. Let's specifically discuss I would be X dollars per pound. Thanks.

if i had someone i could sell to all the time i would sell between 1.5-1.6 a cent or 2.18-2.32 a pound with renegotiating every 3-6 months. it'd be profitable for me, specially without feebay fees, but i would only take it if i could renegotiate in-case prices go up or down in that time. it'd be nice though to get rid of everything quickly

Buy for 1.25, sell for 1.60 of course shipping would come into play..

if your just buying it depends
if your going to hold them for 1-5 years before you sell them then offer 1.4 at high quantities
but i would say if you wanted to sell them quickly buy them only for 1.25ish
otherwise just sort with a machine, its cheaper, faster, and you have a larger profit margin than trying to buy/sell

I would consider buying in bulk at roughly 1.3 - 1.4 if i did not have to do the work on 100FV. You have to figure in the resell, (unless you are just a hoarder) which seems to go for anywhere from 1.5 - 2 cents per on a 100FV lot.

If They Give You Lined Paper, Write The Other Way

gojomoso wrote:if your just buying it depends
if your going to hold them for 1-5 years before you sell them then offer 1.4 at high quantities
but i would say if you wanted to sell them quickly buy them only for 1.25ish
otherwise just sort with a machine, its cheaper, faster, and you have a larger profit margin than trying to buy/sell

I mean literally you buy at X and turn it around to sell at Y.

Think like you are the retailer purchasing from a wholesaler.

1.4 in 50# lots, delivered.

tinhorn wrote:1.4 in 50# lots, delivered.

How many you got?

Well since you said literally..ill run with it..I would first try and figure out the other side of the coin. When i sell.. how am i going to make the most? Is it by large quantities to a few people or something like E-Bay\a website of my own. Once i figured that out, what I am willing to offer comes from that, if I have to put a lot of work into it, I require a higher margin, if i could find a buyer who would buy limitless amounts for a set price I would require only a minor amount of profit since a very small number times limitless equals a very large number...do i care what my margin is?

1.4 shipped. Id buy quite a bit at that price.

Too many people selling at low prices, not good.

On the other hand, competition is part of a healthy market... if a potential seller feels that the going price is not worth their time then they are free to either hold off for higher prices, or look for ways to either reduce overhead costs or reduce effort by increasing automation. The idea that others' prices are too low is sort of a cartel-style way of thinking. If the buyer gets a good deal today, they are more likely to keep buying as the market price rises towards your desired price point.

Crescendo wrote:

gojomoso wrote:if your just buying it depends
if your going to hold them for 1-5 years before you sell them then offer 1.4 at high quantities
but i would say if you wanted to sell them quickly buy them only for 1.25ish
otherwise just sort with a machine, its cheaper, faster, and you have a larger profit margin than trying to buy/sell

I mean literally you buy at X and turn it around to sell at Y.

Think like you are the retailer purchasing from a wholesaler.

if you just turn around to sell you can't make a descent profit (specially on ebay) unless the highest you buy them for is 1.4-1.45 a cent

TheJonasCollegeFund wrote:

tinhorn wrote:1.4 in 50# lots, delivered.

How many you got?

That's the price I'd BUY at. The average price I sell at is $3.88 a pound, and ya gotta get in line.

You're getting "all you can eat" 2.6X? Nice.

The problem we face in selling copper is high supply low demand. I personally can get 1.5X after fees pretty easy on ebay. I however am holding onto most I sort because that is not a high enough premium. The supply will not go down much so I am holding out because I think demand in the future will increase. It's my opinion that pennies will pay a higher return than CD's or other ultra safe investments.

biglouddrunk wrote:The problem we face in selling copper is high supply low demand. I personally can get 1.5X after fees pretty easy on ebay. I however am holding onto most I sort because that is not a high enough premium. The supply will not go down much so I am holding out because I think demand in the future will increase. It's my opinion that pennies will pay a higher return than CD's or other ultra safe investments.

I'm in the same boat as you biglouddrunk. CDs and similarly safe investments such as savings accounts are only paying between 1-3% right now. Those rates are nowhere near enticing enough to where I'm just going to throw my money in them with such measly returns. Although copper pennies aren't commanding a huge premium right now because they're still in relative abundance in circulation, I feel that within the next 10 years they will become as scarce as silver coins in circulation are today. At that point, and if copper prices continue to climb like they have been recently, I bet we will start to see copper pennies selling closer to their melt value. Selling $10,000 FV of pennies for $40-50k ten years from now sounds a lot better to me than selling them for 1.5 - 2.0x FV today

Centsation wrote:I'm in the same boat as you biglouddrunk. CDs and similarly safe investments such as savings accounts are only paying between 1-3% right now. Those rates are nowhere near enticing enough to where I'm just going to throw my money in them with such measly returns. Although copper pennies aren't commanding a huge premium right now because they're still in relative abundance in circulation, I feel that within the next 10 years they will become as scarce as silver coins in circulation are today. At that point, and if copper prices continue to climb like they have been recently, I bet we will start to see copper pennies selling closer to their melt value. Selling $10,000 FV of pennies for $40-50k ten years from now sounds a lot better to me than selling them for 1.5 - 2.0x FV today

Seconded, definitely.
I just need a few hundred thousand more for that millionth copper.

tinhorn wrote:

TheJonasCollegeFund wrote:

tinhorn wrote:1.4 in 50# lots, delivered.

How many you got?

That's the price I'd BUY at. The average price I sell at is $3.88 a pound, and ya gotta get in line.

"and ya gotta get in line." Awesome, Tinhorn!

Sheikh_yer_Bu'Tay wrote:"and ya gotta get in line." Awesome, Tinhorn!

Oops. I made it sound like I was selling everything I sorted. I wish that was the case. I was thinking of the guys who bid one of my auctions up to $6 a pound. (I sent them extra bags for their high bids. The second-in-line buyer accepted a Second Chance Offer.)

Some buyers are willing to pay full value. Cheapskates such as myself buy wholesale or "grow our own". It appears as though a retail market exists (retail price, I mean) and that is the one I want to explore, cater to, and help refine. Hell, most of my sales are five- and ten-pound lots. If I was dealing in tonnage, my attitude would be different, I'm sure. (But what if those tons were being moved in one- and two-pound bags....)

tinhorn wrote: If I was dealing in tonnage, my attitude would be different, I'm sure. (But what if those tons were being moved in one- and two-pound bags....)

That would certainly be a lot of those cute little bags.. and the shipping would kill you. I deal in tonnage.. and that is a lot of big bags. They love me at the post office.