While there are many good reasons why people still prefer to buy silver in person, say, from a neighbourhood coin shop or pawn shop, there is no escaping the rise of the online precious metal dealers. More and more people are choosing to shop online for their goods, and those in the market for silver and gold are no exception.

If you are still a little unsure about the pros and cons of finding and buying silver in this way, then this article should set you straight and give you some tips on getting started.

Advantages of Buying Silver Online

There are a number of great reasons to buy silver online. While some of them come down to personal preference, others cannot be disputed. We will now take a look at some of the popular reasons why shopping online for silver is a good choice.

Privacy

Although there is nothing to be ashamed about when it comes to investing in silver, a lot of people choose to keep their involvement with precious metals private. The main reason for doing this is that if it is common knowledge that you are holding a lot of silver at your home or office, there is a chance it could make you the target of unscrupulous individuals.

If you are frequently seen at the local coin shop or utilizing Craigslist, making purchases, then it might catch the attention of the wrong kind of people. Shopping online removes that element of risk and allows you to go about your investing without anyone in your local area knowing what you are up to.

Convenience

Buying pretty much anything online cannot be beaten for convenience. Simply accessing a website, clicking a few buttons and entering your payment details can be all it takes to order an amount of silver, large or small, to be delivered straight to your door (possibly with free shipping).

While visiting a coin shop and examining their wares and talking to the staff can be a nice experience, it isn’t always a good use of your time. For those that choose to buy silver online, they can really make the most of their time while still managing to make essential investment purchases. Depending on your payment method, you might not even have to leave your couch.

Better Value

Due to the significantly lower overheads involved in running a website, compared with managing a shop, and all that it involves, buying silver online can often be much cheaper. Also, as you might only have one or two coin shops in your area, meaning there is little competition and therefore less incentive to compete on price, websites are in direct competition with 100s or 1,000s of other sites on the internet. This high level of competition means that they are involved in a constant price war as shoppers are quick to compare the prices of products across many websites.

Another advantage is the fact that if you buy from an out of state retailer, that retailer won’t be required to charge you sales tax, making the purchase price much cheaper than visiting a local bullion shop which may have to charge you sales tax.

Larger Selections

As websites tend to have lower overheads, they can use their profits to invest in more stock, more easily than traditional coin shops. Also, as the goods do not need to be on display at online shops it is easier to store the goods, therefore more stock can be accommodated. This usually means that you will get a larger selection of coins available to you when shopping online. Plus, as you can visit many online retailers from the comfort of your own home, you will have access to a larger range of silver. You can even buy silver on eBay, offering you a massive marketplace of sellers.

Disadvantages of Buying Silver Online

While there are many great reasons to shop online for silver, it isn’t the perfect way to buy. Things to consider that might not be beneficial to you include:

• Not being able to see the goods before buying
• Having to wait for delivery of the silver
• Lack of involvement with the local silver community when not buying from coin shops
• Risk of losing money to an unscrupulous dealer (to be safe, make sure dealers have BBB accreditation – an example is BBB-accredited JM Bullion)

So as you can see there are many more reasons why you should shop for silver online, compared to not doing so. However, while it is a great way to make your investments, you should always weigh up the pros and cons before making a decision.