Blockhead

Some time ago I sent an offer on a bullion sovereign a trader was selling on ebay. It was a little above current spot but not much. The seller replied quickly and gave a polite and professional reply but asked me for a more "sensible" offer. I drew his attention to the prices on places like atkinsons and gold.co.uk and he was very polite and pointed out the relatively high fees on ebay being factored into the price for selling there. In consequence both of us were wiser from where we were coming from but neither ended up with the outcome we wanted. Personally I like buying second hand or curios off ebay but don't use it to buy much else.

Thanks @BackyardBullion. If I needed to make a claim but payment had been made by bank transfer would I have to get a paper statement from my local bank branch (while there is still such a thing) as proof?

Having never posted any gold or silver before I wondered what people tend to say to the busy-bodies behind the post office desk who are 'just doing their job' when they ask what's in the package you're sending? Generally when I've posted items they ask what's in the package and ask if it's worth more than £20. I don't particularly want to tell them it's gold or silver, and they seem nosey enough to ask what it is rather than simply is it a prohibited item, but if I make something up I don't want to not be covered if I ever had to make a claim. I understand special delivery is the only RM service that would protect me for precious metals. Appreciate people's experiences with this.

Just bought one. Thanks

I try to buy as low premium as I can but I like pandas so I get one of them in 30g Silver each year. Satisfied the collection side of things for me. I do have an interest in Francs of different nationalities and Pamp silver bars but not enough to want to collect them as such, just snap them up when the price is right if I don't have the money allocated for something else. My only regret really is not joining this forum sooner as I could have picked up the 1oz silver coins and bars in my early days a fair bit cheaper than off ebay and some bullion websites.

"I went on a once in a lifetime holiday. I tell you what - never again" - Tim Vine

I hope this isn't too off-topic but how does the 3 items limit work in practice? Seems to be per order but presumably the aim is to stop volume buying of below spot sovereigns to only a small number of customers, so is there a limit per household to stop multiple orders of three? Is there a time limit before you can buy another three to the same household? I appreciate we may not know those answers yet but please update if you do!

Belated birthday presents from my dad

Thanks. I did have one at one point - great shave if you have a steady hand!

I'm guessing Fahrenheit. Several girlfriends have said it's one of their favourites.

Vintage shaving stuff - some of which I use and some I keep. Started off because I wanted a cheap alternative to gillette mach 3 cartridges and I found double edge blades much cheaper and also better for my skin. Well engineered razors still in perfect condition decades later combined with ephemeral counterparts: blades, soaps and aftershaves. Got a real thing about Goya - the British budget perfume brand. Did two cracking men's fragrances - Corvette and Cedarwood - and I have a few shaving sets from them.

My concern is - and this is probably my own ignorance - there always seems to be another way to manipulate these instruments while propping up the systems based on promises and confidence. Silver is low and seems to be staying low. Gold less so but both are no doubt manipulated to some extent by paper promises and claims. What's to stop another system, of subtlety and complexity, rising after one finally collapses?

The Queen is not allowed to get involved in politics. Whether she actually does or not...

Your hope is that the silver you hold after many years can be exchanged for more cash than the amount you bought it with. E.g. If you spend £100 on silver and that buys you a full month's basic food items, then decades later you come to sell, you hope that it will still buy a full month's basic food items, regardless of whether inflation means the same items cost £200, £250, £175 etc. You'll be getting a larger cash amount out but able to buy as much as you could before. This is obviously a broad simplification to understand the idea. Welcome to the forum

My heaviest single item of gold to date. What a beauty!