Where should I Sell my Sterling Silverware and Flatware and also Hollowware items?
Here are your options:
Local Establishment Coin, Pawn or Jewelry Store - You can take your silverware to a local establishment near to where you live and visit a coin shop, estate jewelry store or pawn shop that deals in precious metals. If you have an average set of silver or pieces and you don't think are worth much more than silver value, then this might be an option for you. Yes, you will probably be getting less than if you had shopped it around on-line with a refinery, estate reseller, auction house etc. etc. However, you might save a lot of costs like shipping and handling and your time involved. Pro tip: If you go local, please get more than one offer, so as to keep the locals honest. There are unfortunately some bad operators out there who might take advantage of some one that they perceive is unknowledgeable. Also bring in along with you printed sheets of comps that you find on the internet to let the store know you are a savvy customer and expect to receive top dollar. Lastly, it might be worth a drive to sell in person in a more metropolitan area where dealers tend to have larger establishments and have more experience with higher end items.
Refinery - You can contact a refinery on-line and some of them provide mail in kits for your silverware items. Unfortunately, most refiners charge a large initial set up fee to refine your silver. You would have to have an awful lot of silver to overcome the cost of this as in the hundreds or thousands of pieces. Plus, at the refinery, you have zero chance of that establishment giving you any additional value for antique or collectibility purposes. You will strictly get value of the intrinsic silver value and nothing more. Pro Tip: Take good photos of every item and front and back as well as get a good overall weight, in case there is a perceived discrepancy later of some sort. Better yet, go to a refinery in person if one is local to you.
Ebay - You can list your silverware items on Ebay and hope to receive an actual retail price versus a scrap price. If you have a more valuable item that you think is worth more than scrap silver, this might be a good route for you. However, the downside is that you are more or less starting your own business and will have to deal with all that comes with this including your time and some of the headaches of returns and items being damaged in shipping and so forth. It will also likely take much longer for you to sell and receive your money, especially if you are selling the pieces individually versus selling a set in its entirety. Pro tip: Research thoroughly your pieces on Ebay before you decide to go forward. You can also do an advanced search by "items sold" to find out what things actually sold for, versus the asking prices. The asking prices are almost never what the actual sold prices are. You may find that the pieces only go for a fraction more than silver value, which might not be worth all your extra time and effort to do listings.
Ebay Alternatives like 1stDibs, Etsy, Live Auctioneers, Ruby Lane, etc. etc. - Ebay is a behemoth accounting for a dominant portion of the on-line auction business. However, some of these smaller auctions are an additional resource to you if you decide that Ebay is not for you. Pro tip: Yes, you can dual list items on multiple on-line auctions, just be careful not to oversell if one items sells on one platform, be quick to end the listing on the other.
Traditional Auction Houses Heritage, Sotheby's and Christie's - If you think you have something really rare, you might consider sending photos and pictures to some of the higher end traditional auction houses like Heritage Auctions, Christies and Sotheby's. It will take some time to ascertain if your items are rare, but it is possible that something can pan out. They auction houses take a good chunk of money for their commission as well as their photography and catalog expenses. Just be sure to factor that all in when going this route. Pro tip: If you have time on your side and not a rush to sell, track similar items for a few months on at these auction houses on-line to get a good gauge on what your potential item might actually sell for versus what the auction house is going to give you as an estimate. Also, set a reserve price that you is not too low.
Sell at a Local Auction - If mailing something in is not for you and you have silver items that are worth potentially much more, then finding a local auction house may be your answer. However, keep in mind that local auctions don't always have the same customer reach as some of the more nationally conducted auction houses. Pro tip: Make sure the local auction house you use is using the platform LiveAuctioneers to garner bids national and internationally for its auction. You will get more if the auction has a broader reach.
Shameless Plug - www.sterlingsilverbuyers.com - At Sterling Silver Buyers, we are very eager to purchase your sterling silverware items. Our buyer Greg Arbutine has been buying and selling hundreds of millions of dollars of silverware since 1972, and has a reputation for honesty, expertise and trustworthiness. We provide free no obligatory offers and at fair and competitive rates. It won't hurt to get our offer. Even if you don't use us, you are welcome to use our quote as a base to shop around your items locally or through the other various methods of resale that we have pre-scribed up above. https://www.sterlingsilverbuyers.com/get-our-offer
Vintage photo from a silver shop that once
operated out of Atlanta, Georgia
We Buy! We want to purchase silver pieces like the ones shown above! If you have items that you'd like to sell, or even just want to get an idea on valuation
please click the email us button for a quote.
Please send us photos, measurements and item descriptions. Thanks, Greg Arbutine
Sterling Silver Buyers Owner
Sterling Silver Buyers wants to purchase your sterling silver flatware and hollowware! Please sell your silverware items to Sterling Silver Buyers!
Nice article, very helpful.