Stacker Guides · Selling
Where to Sell Gold and Silver Coins for the Best Price
Selling silver is selling a used car: the dealer is fast, the marketplace might pay more, and nobody gets the sticker price. How to compare offers, what eBay's fee does to a sale, and how to sell safely.
By Joel Perkes · · 7 min read
Selling silver is a lot like selling a used car. You can drive it to the dealership and leave in ten minutes with a check that is a little lower than you hoped. Or you can list it online, answer forty messages asking “is this still available,” meet a stranger in a parking lot and maybe get more. Nobody in either version gets the sticker price.
So, where do you sell gold and silver for the best price? Usually to a dealer, local or online, after comparing at least three quotes as a price per ounce against the day’s spot price. Dealers buy below their selling price, so what matters is whose buy price is highest that day. A marketplace like eBay can fetch more per coin, but its fee for bullion is 13.6% of a sale of $7,500 or less, which usually eats the difference. Pawn shops and “we buy gold” stores are rarely the top bid for bullion.
Where can you sell gold and silver?
| Where | How they price it | Good for | Watch for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local coin shop | A buy price below spot, or spot minus a set amount per coin | Speed: paid the same day, no shipping | Offers vary a lot from shop to shop |
| Online dealer | A published buy price, locked when you accept, paid after the metal arrives | Often the highest bid for common coins and bars | Shipping and insurance, and a wait to be paid |
| Marketplace (eBay and similar) | Whatever a buyer pays, minus the platform’s fee | Coins collectors want | A 13.6% fee on bullion sales up to $7,500, returns, scams |
| Private sale | Whatever you agree | No middleman at all | Safety, and proving the metal is real |
| Pawn shop or “we buy gold” store | Usually priced to melt, minus a margin | Scrap jewelry, when nobody else is nearby | The lowest bids for bullion coins |
The car comparison holds up. The dealer is fast and certain. The marketplace may pay more but charges you for the privilege and adds the risk of a buyer who claims the box arrived empty. The private sale keeps everything and puts you in a parking lot with a stranger and a bag of silver.
Why does a dealer pay less than spot?
For the same reason the car dealer offers you less than the price on the windshield of the car next to yours. The dealer has to check the metal is real, hold it while the price moves, insure it, and sell it again or send it to a refiner. The buy price covers that and a profit. Dealers quote two prices for everything, the price they sell at and the price they buy at, and the gap between them is the spread you cross each time you trade.
The spread is narrowest on the items a dealer can resell fastest: Silver and Gold Eagles, Maple Leafs, Krugerrands, Britannias, standard bars from known refiners, and US junk silver. It is widest on anything that needs a second look, such as foreign coins the shop rarely sees, bars from unknown makers, and coins that are scratched, bent or cleaned. The guide to premiums covers the buying side of the same gap.
How do you compare offers?
Turn every offer into one number: price per ounce, compared with spot at the moment of the quote. Dealers quote in different ways (“$57 a coin,” “spot minus $2,” “96% of spot”), and a per-coin price sounds better or worse depending on how it is phrased. Here is the arithmetic with made-up numbers, for twenty one-ounce Silver Eagles with silver at $60 an ounce, which makes the melt value $1,200:
| Offer | Costs | You keep | Per ounce |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local shop, $57 a coin, cash now | none | $1,140 | $57.00 |
| Online dealer, spot plus $0.50, prepaid label | none | $1,210 | $60.50 |
| eBay, sells for $66 a coin ($1,320), free shipping | $179.52 fee, $0.40 order fee, $15 postage | $1,125.08 | $56.25 |
The biggest sale price can leave you with the least money
The made-up example above: twenty Silver Eagles, silver at $60, in dollars.
In this example the online dealer wins and the highest sale price comes last, which is the point: the number on the sale is not the number in your pocket. Change the inputs and the order changes too. A rare-date coin a collector wants can do far better on a marketplace, and a shop that pays close to spot beats both online options once you count the week of waiting.
Into the weeds: how eBay’s bullion fee works
eBay’s final value fee for its Bullion category is 13.6% of the total sale if it is $7,500 or less and 7% if it is more, calculated per item, plus a per-order fee of $0.40 on orders over $10. The total includes any shipping the buyer pays. Above $7,500 the lower rate applies to the whole sale.
What gets the best price?
- Sell what dealers want. Common government coins and standard bars get the tightest spreads. Mixed lots are fine; just list them clearly.
- Don’t clean anything. Cleaning leaves scratches and an unnatural shine, and collectors and dealers pay less for it. Tarnish doesn’t change the silver inside.
- Keep the original packaging for mint tubes, boxes and assay cards. A bar in its card is easier to verify, and easier is cheaper.
- Ask the right questions: Is that per coin or per ounce? Is the price locked now or when the metal arrives? How and when do you pay? Who pays for shipping and insurance?
- Sell in a calm market. Spreads widen when prices are jumping and everyone is selling at once, the same way a car dealer’s trade-in offers drop when the lot is already full.
Will selling be reported, and do you owe tax?
Dealer reporting is narrower than most people think. In the US a dealer files Form 1099-B only for futures-grade bars in contract amounts, and most coins aren’t on the list; the dealer reporting guide has the details. The tax doesn’t depend on the report, though. A gain on gold or silver is taxed as a collectible, at up to 28% if you held it more than a year, and the capital gains calculator works it out, including how much of the gain is only inflation.
State rules add a layer. Many states license precious-metal buyers and set rules on records and holding periods. South Carolina, for example, requires dealers to hold precious metals other than coins for 21 days before reselling or melting them. Expect a legitimate buyer to ask for identification and to write down what you sold.
Selling outside the US
The advice above works anywhere: three quotes, turned into a price per ounce. What changes from country to country is the tax on the gain and the rules on cash.
| Country | Tax on the gain | Cash rule for the buyer |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Capital gains tax at 18% or 24% after a £3,000 allowance (2026–27). Sovereigns and Britannias are legal tender and exempt | A dealer taking €10,000 or more in cash must be registered with HMRC as a high value dealer |
| Canada | Half the gain is added to your income | C$10,000 or more in cash, including smaller amounts adding up within 24 hours, is reported to FINTRAC |
| Australia | Gain added to income, halved if held at least 12 months (indexing replaces halving for gains from July 1, 2027) | Cash of A$10,000 or more is reported to AUSTRAC |
One UK point catches silver sellers out. Gold bars and qualifying coins are sold free of VAT, but silver carries 20% VAT when you buy it, and none of that comes back when you sell. So a UK dealer’s buy price for silver looks far below what you paid even on a day when the silver price hasn’t moved. The VAT went to HMRC, not to the dealer. The tax guide and the reporting guide carry the sources for each row.
How to sell safely
For a private sale, meet inside a bank, where the buyer can withdraw cash and you can deposit it on the spot. Never accept a check you can’t verify, and be wary of any buyer who wants to pay more than you asked, which is a classic setup for a fake payment and a request for a “refund.” For a mail-in sale, use the dealer’s insured shipping instructions exactly, and photograph everything before it goes in the box. For a shop, ask for the offer in writing, then say you need to compare it. A good shop won’t mind.
The fair objection
Dealers are often accused of lowballing, and some do. But a spread isn’t a scam: the dealer is taking on the cost and risk of buying metal it has to check, hold and resell, and the spread on popular coins in a calm market is usually small. The real cost of selling is the round trip, the premium you paid to buy plus the spread when you sell. The premium calculator adds it up, which is worth doing before you buy, not only before you sell.
Back to the car lot
There is no sticker price for used silver, only offers. Get three, turn them into dollars per ounce, and take the best one. The dealership will still be there next week, and so will the silver.
Sources
- eBay final value fee for the Bullion category (13.6% of a sale of $7,500 or less, 7% above, per item) and the per-order fee ($0.30 on orders of $10 or less, $0.40 above): eBay, Selling fees.
- South Carolina’s 21-day holding period for precious metals other than coins: South Carolina Code, Title 40, Chapter 54.
- Dealer reporting and the tax on gains: this site’s dealer reporting guide and tax guide, with their IRS sources.
- Selling outside the US (UK, Canada and Australia tax on gains and cash rules; UK VAT on silver but not on investment gold): this site’s tax guide, reporting guide and premium guide, with HMRC, CRA, FINTRAC, ATO and AUSTRAC sources.
Figures read October 17, 2026. The three offers for twenty Silver Eagles are made up to show the arithmetic, including the $15 of postage; they are not quotes from any dealer.
Questions people actually ask
Where is the best place to sell silver coins?
Usually a coin shop or an online dealer, whichever offers the highest price per ounce that day. Get at least three quotes and compare each with the spot price. Marketplaces can pay more for coins collectors want, but their fees often cancel the difference for ordinary bullion.
Do coin dealers pay spot price for silver?
Rarely. Dealers buy below the price they sell at, and the difference, the spread, covers checking, holding and reselling the metal. Popular coins such as Silver Eagles, Maple Leafs and US junk silver, and standard bars from known refiners, get bids closest to spot.
How do I compare offers for my gold or silver?
Turn every offer into a price per ounce, then compare it with spot at the time of the quote. Subtract any shipping, insurance or platform fees first, so you are comparing what you would actually keep.
Is it better to sell gold to a pawn shop or a coin dealer?
For bullion coins and bars, usually a coin dealer. Pawn shops and gold-buying stores tend to price everything to melt value minus a margin, which is fine for scrap jewelry but rarely the top bid for coins a dealer can resell as they are.
How much does eBay charge to sell gold or silver bullion?
eBay's final value fee for its Bullion category is 13.6% of the total sale if it is $7,500 or less and 7% if it is more, calculated per item, plus a per-order fee of $0.40 on orders over $10.
Should I clean silver coins before selling them?
No. Cleaning leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that dealers and collectors pay less for. Tarnish does not change the silver content, so sell the coins as they are.
Will a dealer report my sale to the IRS?
Only for certain large bars. A US dealer files Form 1099-B for sales of futures-grade bars in contract amounts, and most coins are not on that list. You owe tax on any gain whether or not the sale is reported.
Do I pay tax when I sell gold or silver?
In the US, yes, on the gain. Gold and silver are collectibles, so a gain on metal held more than a year is taxed at your ordinary rate up to 28%, and a gain on metal held a year or less at your ordinary rate.
How do I sell gold or silver safely?
For a private sale, meet inside a bank and take payment there. Do not accept a check you cannot verify or an overpayment with a request to refund the difference. For a mail-in sale, follow the dealer's insured shipping instructions and photograph everything before it is packed.
