A note from someone who buys it, sells it, and lives with the numbers
I buy silver for a living. I sell it too. I hold a precious metals license in Virginia. I deal with refiners, wholesalers, and regular people who walk in thinking today’s price on the internet is the price they’ll walk out with. It isn’t.
Here is the Truth About Silver Prices!
If you’re watching silver spike on a chart and planning your exit, stop for a minute and hear this from someone who’s been on both sides of the counter. That price you see isn’t a paycheck. It’s a reference. Nothing more.
When silver jumps, phones start ringing. People show up fast. They expect spot. They don’t get it. Then the frustration starts. That happens every time.
The spot price comes from paper trading. Futures contracts. Leverage stacked on leverage. A massive amount of silver that never physically exists. Almost none of that activity ends with real metal being weighed, melted, or paid for. So when you walk into a shop or ship material out as a dealer, nobody operates at that number. Not you. Not me.
The real signal isn’t the chart. It’s what refiners are doing. When refiners slow buying, spreads widen. They raise minimums. They stretch payouts. They stop taking mixed silver. Sometimes they stop taking coin silver altogether. When that happens, every buyer below them tightens too. That’s not manipulation. That’s risk control. When the exit door narrows, the price drops no matter what the chart says.
Nobody gets full spot. Not regular sellers. Not licensed dealers. Not anyone who plans to stay in business. Silver doesn’t move in a straight line from your hand into a furnace. It passes through people who take risk. They cover melt loss, transport, time, cash flow, and hedging. That cost shows up in your offer. That’s normal.
Coin silver surprises people the most.
Ninety percent US coins feel special. They used to move easily. Today, refiners see them as slow and labor-heavy. When things tighten, coin silver is the first material to get discounted. Silver can climb on paper while junk silver payouts fall at the counter. I’ve watched it happen more than once.
Not all silver is scrap, and this matters. Some coins are collectible. Some bars and rounds bring real premiums. Certain pieces sell because people want them, not because of their weight. Those items trade in a different market. If you sell rare silver as melt, you lose money. If you try to sell common silver like it’s rare, it sits. Knowing the difference matters more than today’s price.
A lot of people say they want to cut out the middleman. That sounds good until real life shows up. Refiners don’t want small lots. They don’t pay fast. They don’t deal with the public. Most sellers want money now. Liquidity has a cost. That isn’t greed. That is how markets work.
Don’t Be Upset When You Get Offred A Lot Less Than Silver Spot Price
Here’s the truth sellers miss. The real price of silver is the strongest cash bid you can get today from someone who will actually pay you. Not the chart. Not a screenshot. Not what someone claims they got last week. Buyers set the price. Always have.
If you stack silver, plan your exit before you need it. If you flip silver, know your margins before you buy. If you sell silver, ask who the buyer sells to next and what happens when that door closes. Charts don’t pay you. Buyers do. And right now, buyers are careful.
If you decide to sell, deal with someone who understands how the real market works and is licensed to buy precious metals in Virginia. Roanoke Gold Buyers serves Roanoke, Vinton, and Salem with straight answers, legal-for-trade scales, and clear offers based on what buyers are actually paying, not what charts claim.
