buying silver

[kwebb70]

I hate to ask but I want to start buying silver, but what should a person pay for silver? Is it a dollar amount over/under spot or a precentage over/under spot?

[lance]

Cheaper the better but buying a little over spot is normal

[misteroman]

Whatkind are you interested in?
90% tad under spot
40+35% 10-15% under
Morgan/peace and generic 999 tad over
Name bars $1-2 over
Eagles and maples $2-3 overtad less if not BU
D

[H2SO4]

I hate to ask but I want to start buying silver, but what should a person pay for silver? Is it a dollar amount over/under spot or a precentage over/under spot?

Tell us more on your plan, reason for buying, etc. We will be able to better help with more info.
I like Libertads, BU/OBW 90%, Pamp gold/Pt and a few other odds and ends. Thats just me though.

[silverflake]

Come up with a monthly or even a quarterly budgeted amount you can afford to spend on silver (whether it be ASEs or 90% junk) then just buy that amount periodically. You end up dollar cost averaging. If you ask the vast majority of realcenters, we will tell you that we believe the value of silver is going up in the future (when and by how much, nobody knows). Combined with the ever inflating dollar policies of the US and the rest of the world, buying periodic silver is a good way to ease in.

Be careful, if you wait for the pullbacks, you may end up missing the boat. There are always pullbacks but we seem to be on the cusp right now (and by 'now' that encompasses the next 12-18 months) of breaking out of the sub $50/ounce resistance. I have no evidence nor technical proof of anything I am telling you. Most of it comes from experience and 'gut feeling'.

Bottom line, I am at the point where I am almost disgusted by holding a FRN and feel that if I can trade them for tangible silver and gold, I will while I can. So as many of our members have said in one form or another, START STACKING. If your stack is too small, BUY MORE. If your stack is too big, BUY MORE.

[pennypanner]

^ What he said.

[SilverEye]

Well said silverflake.

To the OP:
If you are ever in doubt and think you might be paying too much for something, check one of the big metal houses online. I reference Apmex because of their selection, but any of the volume shops will be fine. If you can get it for less than their retail, you are doing fine. If you check all over town and can't do better then their prices, put together a shopping cart and factor in shipping. Can you do better than that locally? If not, maybe you should be buying online.

Also, I have a small set amount I spend every week. Luckily there's a great coin shop real close to my work, so I stop every Friday and make a buy. Plus, every time silver is down a buck or two from the previous day, I stop in and buy an additional week's budget worth. For example, I went yesterday after the drop. I'm a long term stacker and this has been working very well for me. I have been very careful, missed a few good opportunities because of my caution, but I can honestly say I have not made a bad purchase yet.

The biggest piece of advice I can give is do NOT rush down and make a gigantic purchase on your first trip. Buy one coin, take it home, look at it, research your purchase, figure out if you really did get a fair deal, then ask yourself how you feel about your investment after watching metal prices for a few days. If it churns your gut thinking you could be making and losing thousands of dollars (on paper) after you build your hoard, this ain't for you.

Most importantly, have fun!

[Mossy]

I started to buy at one price but decided to wait for a drop. The bottem of the next drop was at a much higher price than where I was starting to buy.

I bought anyway, and the next drop was to about 80% of where I was originally going to buy.

Be ready for weird stuff. It's going to happen. And drive you nuts if you let it.