sterling silver flatware ?

mrguby

so i have a manchester silver flatware set, 60 pcs total of 60oz sterling.a jewler offered 725.oo cash for scrap. todays market is 21.556 current. what is it really worth and can i get a better price by taking it into manhattan myself and where? if he,s paying $725 what will he get for it at scrap value? thnx for anyone who could fill me in.

guitarwes

60 oz sterling (is this full weight on knives or figuring them at 5g each?)

1866 grams sterling
X .925 =
1726.05 grams pure

full melt at $21.56 silver is 69¢/gram

1726.05 X 69¢ = $1190.97

$1190.97 X 61% = $726.49

His offer was a buy price of ~ 61% of melt. Probalby not too far off of what you may find elsewhere. He may get 75% of melt from whomever he sends it to to refine.

If you just want to scrap it, I would give Midwest Refineries a shot, they pay 90% of pure silver.

AUandAG

I agree, just send to Midwest Refineries, Waterford, Michigan.

bob

7over8

Large Knives and Cake Knives have weighted handles and stainless blades. Sterling in the handles is approx 10 dwt for large knives, 6 dwt for cake knives.

Also, best refiner prices is 90% on ASSAY. Which means you get 90% of 92.5% which a best case is 83%. Be prepared to pay shipping on your items and wait for your payment by CHECK - not CASH.

Taking all this into account, you are lucky a local guy pays 65% - on your $1190 full scrap value, you are really talking $987 - if assay holds at .925. A buyer at 65% would pay $775 or about ~$200 less.

You will pay at least $40-$50 to ship insured. Now you are at $150 difference.

Cakes

Good info everyone, thanks.

7over8

<< <i>He may get 75% of melt from whomever he sends it to to refine >>



The dealer will get approx 81%. That is my experience. Large refiners only deal with commercial businesses in the NYC Metro area.

So approx 16% is his take - im sure some of you think thats big money, but when you consider "lights on" cost to operate a B&M shop, local regulatory issues (holding periods), metal price risk for holding period as well as stolen property risks - it isnt much at all.

If you arent pulling 16-20% gross profit, you better pack it up and close shop.

Jinx86

Here in Fargo were paying 80% of melt. We have strong connection with our refiner and receive a higher % of melt. We also ship them 50 gallon barrels of sterling flatware, jewelry, and rounds.

LogPotato

<< <i>......We also ship them 50 gallon barrels of sterling flatware, jewelry, and rounds. >>



This just blows my mind.

ricko

Not a lot of profit there for a dealer... likely a fair offer. As indicated above, you will get a better deal from the refinery. Cheers, RickO

Jinx86

You do get a better deal from a refiner, but from my experience from when I was doing PM's and coins solo. Was that most refiners wont work with the small guys. I needed all sorts of paperwork, tax info, local law enforcement agreement. So for me it was more of a hassle then I wanted to deal with. Some refiners will actually let you visit them and drop off your PM's for refining which is the way I went about it, since it was in a town my wife loves to shop in and they had the check to me within an hour. I was still pretty small at that point bringing them 100-200 oz of mix silver a month. I never dealt in gold however.

7over8

<< <i>Here in Fargo were paying 80% of melt. We have strong connection with our refiner and receive a higher % of melt. We also ship them 50 gallon barrels of sterling flatware, jewelry, and rounds. >>



I dont know anyone paying 80% to the public. There's nothing left in it for the dealer. As far as flatware, the assays are usually nice and close. Jewelry - forget it. Ranges from 76% to 87-88%.

In a highly populated area, the silver/gold scrap biz has slowed considerably. Many guys just give up - not worth it. I havent seen anything like 50 gallon barrels filled since 79-80.

So, in your special case, if youre not speaking from experience.....I beg to differ.