Is online the best way to buy silver? Or should I buy in-store? Should I buy bullion or stock? Bars, coins, or "junk"?
Want to buy silver but aren’t sure where to begin? Just want a quick look at the options? Global Bullion breaks the best way to buy silver here.
First understand that it's natural to wonder what the best way to invest in silver is. There are a range of options from owning stocks of silver miners to buying the metal itself. All have different risk profiles. All have a barrage of proponents claiming theirs is the “right way” to invest in the precious metal.
Looking for the best way to buy bullion starts with some basic question. Answer these two basic questions when trying to find the best way to invest in silver.
1. Do I want to buy physical silver?
Or do I want to invest in proxies that represent silver value?
Many institutional investors prefer to buy silver in stocks or ETFs (electronically traded funds). These offer several options, such as adjusting how much you are betting on silver. However, they expose you to risks in management, recurring fees, and ironically for some silver investors, long-term trust in the financial system.
Buying physical silver is often regarded as an affordable and risk-averse strategy. It focuses on silver's intrinsic value over time, as opposed to a series of complex metrics. Most physical silver investors choose bullion as the best way to buy silver. Many choose to insure and vault it with a secure third party, and others choose to store it at home.
2. Do I want to be an investor or a collector?
What is my end goal?
Investors look for the best deals. They want to find trustworthy dealers and the best value (i.e. the lowest premiums above spot) for accredited silver. They see the best way to buy silver as any kind of silver product that will maximize short- and long-term profits, and one easy way is to minimizing costs. Investors just starting out might look at products such as the Republic Metals 1 oz Silver Bar.
Collectors focus more strategically on buying rare coins that they believe will provide aesthetic, collectible, and personal value. Often, they purchase pieces with higher premiums over spot. Collectors may also purchase antique and rare coins, generally referred to as numismatic coins.
I Want to Invest in Silver Bullion, But Where Do I Start?
The best way to start investing in silver is to buy 1 oz. silver bars. Why? There are two main reasons.
First, bars are sold closer to spot price than anything else – especially coinage, which comes with a hefty premium because of its design cost and rarity. Second, since more silver is used to make a bar than a coin, it’s value will increase more than a silver coin when the price of silver per oz. goes up. The whole point of investing in silver is to buy when the price is low and wait until the price is high to sell. With silver bars you maximize profit from this cycle.
What Does Silver at Spot Price Mean for the Best Way to Buy Silver?
Silver at spot price is a fancy way of describing the market price for an ounce of silver at any given day. The first thing you should so is monitor the spot price and wait for a dip in silver prices before investing in some bars.
There are a number of reputable online dealers that will sell you silver bars without you having to make an appointment with an investment banker or anyone else.