Scrap Gold & Silver?

[Anonymous]

Hello all, I'm currently looking into starting a business where I go out to thrift stores, auctions, estate sales, etc. and buy scrap silver and gold. Stuff like jewelry, silverware, plates, etc. My main goal is to just sell them directly to refiners and make a profit.

My main question is how to tell what different items are what percent silver or gold. For instance, I've been looking around at thrift stores and there are alot of silver items. I just don't want to wind up buying a bunch of silver plated items and lose money.

1) What are the different Hallmarks on Silver items and do they tell what amount of silver is in the item?

2) Should I just stick mainly to jewelry or is there money to be made in other items? I see alot of silver dinnerware and silverware.

3) Is there a manual or a how-to video that someone would reccommend?

4) How do I know the refinery is going to pay me for all the precious metals I send to them?

5) Silver will be my main focus, are the shipping costs to the refiner worth it? Or should I focus mainly on gold?

Any additional details or info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for all the help.

 

[qst42know]

Hello.

This site covers silver marks pretty well.

http://www.925-1000.com/index.html

Be well aware when buying silver flatware and hollow ware that the value of a lot of these items far exceeds their weight in silver.

Silver jewelery made by certain designers from many different countries can also fetch several times it's scrap value.

Do much studying before you sell any.

Certain worn or broken items can still have value well beyond melt price as some collectors would rather keep it as it is, or pay to have it repaired rather than do without.

Chris

 

[Husker]

be very cautious in buying "silver" from thrift stores. You will find VERY little real silver, almost all I have seen is simply plated, or double, triple, quadruple plated.

Remember, you are not the first person to hit the thrift store with the exact same idea. Also, I am pretty sure that many of the thrifts do look at silver for a "sterling" or "925" hallmark, and either pull them to sell in a different manner, or pull to put behind a case, at well above silver spot.

I have been doing just what you are planning on doing, and I have found the thrift's in my area to be less than an ideal shopping site, when it comes to precious metals. I have had a couple of pretty good buys, but not too many. Of course, your area may be different than it is here, so do not skip looking. Also the thrifts do turn over the decent stuff quickly, so you will have to check often.

Jim.

 

[wildbill_hickup]

I agree with Husker, in addition to that, estate sales and auctions are usually run by someone that knows what they're doing when I comes to the value of items. In most cases good silver has been separated and will bring a premium price as 'sterling'. In the summer I'm a vendor at a local flea market so I'm always on the lookout for a deal. I have found that yard sales are the best bet. One, folks are not as well educated on value of items. Two, generally a yard sale is more to get rid of extra stuff than to make money so you are more apt to find good stuff cheap.

One other thing beware of hallmarks as they can be on plated items as well. Rogers is one that I can think of that you see alot of, so look carefully befor you buy.

 

[Juan Manuel Arcos Frank]

oatmealsh5:

Try to find the silver in the urban mines,like batteries,films,radiographies,spent fixers,mirrors,electrical contacts,spent catalizers...take a look at the articles I have posted.I am sure you will be rich pretty soon.Good Luck.

Manuel

 

[thereisnospoon]

The thrift store in my area (Alabama) has been a big success for me until recently. Either someone finally caught on and is keep it for themselves, or the economic downturn has everyone keeping their "junk".

I also buy at yard sales and estate sales and have been able to purchase right at 30 oz of scrap at "yard sale" and "Thrift Store" prices...ususally about 1/2 spot or better.

Last weekend, I was at an estate sale and asked if they had any jewelry. The lady said they had a "few things" in the back bedroom. I purchased a small Sterling ring (made from a spoon handle) and a pair of 14k earrings for ....$0.25 for the lot.

To make it even better, I handed the lady a $5.00 and she gave me 4.74 in change. The quarters were pre 64 90% silver...no kidding. I asked her if she had more like that and she proceeded to tell me she got them from "Mom's" collection to make change for the sale :shock:

I bought the remainder of the quarters in the till for 6X face and she is supposed to call me to buy the rest of the "collection" of "old coins".

I love yard sales!

I have also been harvesting silver from the boards I cut the fingers from to refine. So far I have recovered about 500 grams of silver contacts. I sold some to a member here and have more I'll be posting soon.