Featured Silver price is looking nicer

My question is, which pieces are worth more than a high scrap value? I have hundreds of pieces weighing tens of pounds that I’ve collected as misidentified silverplate from thrifts and others over the years, and haven’t melted down cause then there is no going back. But I get blocked in trying to figure out what should be scrapped and what saved.

 

Some old sterling patterns are worth a LOT more than scrap. Others are worth whatever they weigh. 1950s wedding giftware? Melt it. Weighted sterling candlesticks? Peel and melt. My basic rule is: Modern + mass production = melt it.

 

Yeah, that’s the problem isn’t it - some makers and patterns worth a LOT, others not. Even when modern and mass produced. Problem is knowing which is which.

I’m sure you aren’t including MCM giftware from the 50’s because that can be big. When does modern (that automatically gets melted) start, and which companies are excluded (besides obvious Tiffany, ...)?

 

@MrNate may help...

 

I’m positive if you post here people will help. Just do a handful of pieces at a time. Also people will pay pretty damn close to melt if not over melt on eBay pretty regularly, even for basic stuff. So if you list some silver you’re unsure about in auction format with the word “scrap” in the title plus an accurate description of the item(s) you’ll get both collectors and scrappers looking at it. They will typically bid it to right around melt price if it’s junk and if it’s better than that the collectors might bid it to its real value. You still have to pay eBay 13% but if you’re unsure it’s not the worst route to go. I feel like it’s also relatively easy to eye something good vs. not good in silver. Basic vs. not. Good makers vs. average makers. Will be time consuming with your large inventory though it sounds like.

 

Jeff great question. I think the bigger question is this:

Are you willing to research, to list items, to ship items, and to wait wait wait for the right seller to come along who will pay a premium above scrap value? There's no easy answer here, but that's the reality of your question. Selling above scrap requires knowledge, patience, and determination to run your own mini business for awhile. Even once you've done the research and found which items in you collection could command a higher price, you have to take the photos, create a nice listing description, prepare the item or items for shipping etc. And at the end of that long journey, there's always a small chance that the person will claim the item was damaged during shipping or they just didn't like the item and they want to return it for a full refund.

Sorry if that sounds discouraging, but this is the reality of anything you want to do with silver above the price of scrap. Personally, I get a great thrill out of selling items above the scrap price, but it doesn't come free...

 

Yes, that is indeed the crux of the problem. I have paid so little for this and all of my antiques that I have a minimal investment in them, so it doesn’t feel like I need to get that money back. And no need for money now, so also lacking that impetus. I worked full time at a real job for decades, so accumulating these antiques was an interest (not a job) for the challenge and because I am an antique collector (not dealer) at heart.

Now that I am retired I thought I would be motivated to get into selling, but covid blew that up, and I haven’t figured how to operate in the post covid world. Online just seems a lot of work. Then, as you said there is the danger that a dishonest buyer will screw you (and we all know eBay always sides with the buyer). And NOW, you have to deal with the tax reporting. I am curious what impact that has had on you? Are your sales now all considered taxable income?

 

If you sell anywhere that requires an SSN, they're taxable now. If the government can find the money, you ower taxes on it unless you can prove you don't.

 

This lil bit is worth more than all the sterling I got

 

There's certainly some challenges to the online business. To me it's definitely worth it, but it's also definitely a lot of work. I'm sure I've said it on the forum before, but most of my time looking through thrift stores is to find non-silver items to resell, and silver items happen to be found along the way...

I share your love of collecting, but my problem is the pile of goodies gets unwieldly over time, so I have learned to keep the really beautiful pieces, to scrap the ugly pieces, and slowly sell the rest trying to get the best price I can.

I've been selling online for 6 years now, in my spare time outside of my career. I kind of giggle nowadays that sellers are kind of freaking out about all the new selling regulation. Since day one I've kept full financial records and from day one I've reported my profit and loss annually via a Schedule C tax filing. Of course it's terrible to pay taxes, but I would rather do it honestly up front and sleep soundly at night because if the tax man decides to knock on my door someday he's going to be bored with my audit....

That said, using the tax system as it's written really helps:

-I get to claim all my mileage driving to thrift stores, that adds up a lot over the year.
-I get to claim a portion of my dwelling as business space.
-All of my purchases (silver or re-sellable items) are expenses under cash basis reporting (you have to elect to be either a cash basis or accrual basis entity).
-Because I keep good financial records, I can keep track of my profit margin, and my scale of operations between each year to see how I'm doing.
-Since I started in September of 2016, I've been able to do $337,000 in revenue, of which $156,000 was profit after expenses. It's been a nice side income from re-selling items from thrift stores, and buying/selling silver online and in thrift stores.

 

Thats Amazing @MrNate and a testament and a fitting reward to your hardwork and research that you have put in.

 

I think the difference is that you are running a business and have always viewed it as such. I haven’t been. One test in my state is whether you have tax number to avoid state tax on purchase; I don’t have a number so always pay retail tax on purchase. I don’t deduct my car as a business expense - it is just my car. And I don’t have receipts since I have been buying at full retail price (though I recognize most the stuff I buy as being severely underpriced).

Another more abstract test is what people keep. I’ve noticed that the collectors on this site keep the best items they find because that is the whole goal of collecting. But the dealers always sell their best items because that is where the biggest profit is. Which makes perfect sense because it is fundamentally a business. But clearly a very different set of goals.

When someone retires and wants to pare out excess stuff does that necessarily make it a business? I’m not so sure.

Does anyone know - if you take personal possessions to auction site like Christies, are you supposed to declare that as business income? I doubt it, but would be interested to know.

 

if you take personal possessions to auction site like Christies, are you supposed to declare that as business income?

no , that's not business.....but it is personal income..!

 

dealers always sell their best items because that is where the biggest profit is.

that's partly true......
dealers also sell lower value , quality items, to be able to afford higher value quality items......
it's always harder to replace your best items.....and as a dealer , you want those upper deck items , to help sell your standard value items..