I resell on eBay, and I'm also a silver bug. With the price of Silver on the rise, I decided to maybe sell a few bars. At these prices, a few decent sales will cover my initial investment and I can just let the rest ride.
One example was a lot of 10 - 5 gram bars I purchased. Originally $35 for the entire lot. 1 piece now sells for $20 plus.
I put one up the other night for $20 and in minutes someone offered me $21 plus shipping to end and ship immediately. Yup, silver and gold madness is here. People love to buy high when the FOMO kicks in.
I purchased most of my silver between $16 and $25 an ounce. I'm currently planning on selling a little to cover my initial investment. Researching silver bars, I noticed A LOT of fake bars from China being openly sold on eBay. I was shocked when I discovered so many fraudulent auctions. Notice the top auction for $95 from the US, and the bottom auction from China offering 3 bars for $18.99. 🤣 Maybe they're real, but I highly doubt it. The fake ones are really bad for the entire industry.
My first instinct was to list some of my Johnson Matthey 1 oz bars. As I did a search I was shocked to discover A LOT of Chinese sellers, selling well below market value. In the fine print where you put in the item details, under METAL: steel. You can see the price of a real bar at the top. The bar on the bottom is likely counterfeit. I really can't believe they're allowing this.
So I have a couple gripes here. Why would eBay allow this?
#1 They're suppose to have a strict policy against counterfeit goods. I highly doubt Johnson Matthey, or Sunshine Minting approves of this. They're also very popular brands with well established reputations.
#2 Nobody is selling 3 silver bars that much under value. From China or anywhere else.
A lot of people are going to get burned. Not to mention, this takes away consumer confidence. A lot of people will just assume Johnson Matthey bars on eBay are all faked now. Just terrible. There were also a lot of Sunshine Minting bars that were possible fakes.
I ended up listing some SilverTowne bars instead. Just to avoid any discrepancies.
I'm not a huge fan of eBay. At one time, when they first started, the site absolutely rocked. Over time, I've lost all confidence in them. If they didn't have the web traffic, and sales rate that they have, I'd never list there. It sucks that we're almost enslaved to these corporations now. Don't even get me started on their commissions. Absolutely shameful. I don't mind giving someone a few dollars for a decent sale, but eBay fees can be outrageous, especially if you're using the promote feature.
I'm finding it super hard to believe that they're allowing this though. With all the money they make, you'd think they'd do a better job of policing the silver listings.
I did buy one of these bars on Temu once. Just to see for myself and they're close to identical to the real thing. I think they sell on Temu for a couple bucks a piece.
The internet is full of scammers. Beware when buying silver bars. Make sure you understand what your buying. Test your silver when it arrives. A quick simple test is to make sure a magnate doesn't pick it up. My suggestion would be to only buy from people you know and trust, or shop at some of the various well established metal exchanges online like Money Metals, JM Bullion, and APMEX.
I've personally shopped JM Bullion for years, and never had a bad experience. Not sure if they still do, but they used to accept bitcoin for purchases. They also offer free shipping for any order over $199. I'd often shop there during crypto bull runs. I'd convert BTC into silver... now that's a real store of value! Man, don't get me started.
Not only do I not want to sell my silver bars on eBay now, I'm really fearful to buy silver there now. This is something they need to quickly nip in the bud!