Tips for selling gold as a beginner?

[Silverlocks]

Don't get me started on just how fundamentally flawed Facebook is for running buy/sell forums.  For a start, the poster (scammer) can block comments on their posts, making it trivial to silence folks calling them out.  There's no meaningful reputation system, it's quite hard to collate (or even look up) historic posts (FB's default view of posts is horribly chaotic), moderation tools don't lend themselves to quick banning or even reliably reporting with some expectation of action being taken.  Facebook wants c**p on their forums - drama is in their best interests.

Edited November 5, 2023 by Silverlocks

[RDHC]

33 minutes ago, KleinerVogel said:

 Just look at the recent example, the guy who scammed, people vouched for him using the trust point system here, he used that trust to make his final transaction here an act of theft.

 

 

I seem to have missed this unhappy event. Can someone please tell me when it occurred and what was the gist of the matter? Did it involve the guy whom we are warned about by Chris in the headings of the forum? Did he completely get away with it?

[Jimmock]

I was trying to remember when the post first sale started. I joined in Aug 2016,made a few purchases from other members and made my first sale in Jan 2017 to @morezone a 5oz sunshine bar for £85 posted 😂 Have never been asked to post first,although I suppose forum wasn't as big as it is now,which probably accounts for it. 😔

[Abyss]

As for the question of is it worthwhile building up your seller reputation on the Silver Forum despite a recent member abuse of the trust (one out of thousands transactions taken place) I would definitely say so. I have sold on Facebook groups and eBay and having a reputable sellers feedback on the forum has allowed other buyers to come to the forum to view my sellers feedback and view the evolution of my stack on full stack photos thread. In the future I might migrate to the USA and my reputation on the silver forum would be invaluable if I wanted to liquidate my stack and retain some of the premiums some of my coins have gained as opposed getting spot from a dealer. I remember some of my early trades on the forum buying 1 oz Gold coins and yes I was nervous and uneasy as a new member but I also visited few of the sellers and purchased coins with cash. Very early on as a new member wanted to purchase numerous 1 oz Gold coins from a relatively new member as well and we were in the chicken and egg situation (who going to send the money/coin(s) 1st. Luckily I contacted BYB and ask if he would act as an intermediary (before establishment of his intermediary service) and after he mull over the pro and cons he accepted. The rest is history……

[James32]

5 hours ago, KleinerVogel said:

Although I understand the post first get paid later when selling to well known forum users, it still leaves bit of a bitter taste in my mouth because it feels like the community is being split into the privileged popular people who can have things sent to them with no risks and then the rest of us who just have to trust some guys on a forum who says don't worry that person is fine. I mean those trust worthy people had to start out like the rest of us didn't they.

 

But I get it, we live in a world where bad people exist who want to take things that don't belong to them from honest people. But it seems one of the unfortunate side effects of that reality and the counters you guys are making to it, is the haves and have nots on the forum, the privileged "trusted" and the rest being great unwashed untrusted who must take all the risks when selling. That's just my feelings on the matter, just my opinion. There is no right or wrong, or any kind of argument to be had.

When I joined the forums awhile ago, i was tinkering with the idea of perhaps selling on here one day, but after the recent scams from a "trusted" person, I decided to perhaps not bother, which is why I'm not too concerned about building my rep now and just speaking plainly.

I suppose I am more angry at the thieves and dishonest people who ruin good things, rather than being upset with the system here.

Here's the thing, the haves started of as have nots, at least I did. Trust was built using a time tested system and hard work. Nobody just joins the trusted ranks, you get out what you put in and each member has to decide/ work that out for themselves. 

[Paul]

Buying ? Selling ? It is part of it 

But I'm a bit of both

But other thing is actually contributing and one thing ' adding value ' here

Give advice, give help, add some humour, be a human, court like minded folk, follow their comments/threads,

Doing things like this you'll build invisible none measurable trust and understanding, the longer you consistently, add value and help

Your sub conscious avatar of "he's a good egg" becomes hardwired and he's trust worthy

Why would I invest 10+ years effort here adding value and building rep, to pish it away offering a terrible service ?

be known for being the best buyer or seller 

I like to think if I can't add value or help on a post here I'd sooner just not comment

Be the best version of yourself 

I'm the quickest payer when buying

And I'm the quickest dispatching selling, photos and videos in dispatching. I would think every buyer from me has thought a little "ooooohh" this is going well

Anyone who's willing to entrust £2-£5k with me selling are getting a better service from me than an auction house, royal mint or Facebook group

Be proud to be the best

Why be just ordinary ??? In a society of average 

When you can be extraordinary???????

Edited November 5, 2023 by Paul

[James32]

2 minutes ago, Paul said:

I'm the quickest payer when buying

I dispute this with all my might 😆 

[Paul]

Just now, James32 said:

I dispute this with all my might 😆 

Well in your case James I was outshined and suitably impressed as you paid me before the PM sending you the total for £1000+

[theman73]

6 hours ago, KleinerVogel said:

but after the recent scams from a "trusted" person

TSF system of trusted members works because we believe in it not because it is safe.

Ebay is much safer for both buyers and sellers.

[Spyder]

I have always tried to work out a system that would benefit newbies as much as members with high feedback. That everyone can get the best deal and not the privilege few.

This is what I thought.  Said newbie pays into a trusted members account and once both sides acknowledge that item have been delivered, money get sent on to seller.  A few members would have to volunteer to be the holders.  I would be willing to do it a couple of times as obviously do not want my account looking like a business account. 

Edited November 5, 2023 by Spyder

[Bigmarc]

5 minutes ago, Spyder said:

Said newbie pays into a trusted members account and once both sides acknowledge that item have been delivered, money get sent on to seller

Pretty much how vinted works (my new favourite app). You still have to build a rep but the money stays in the holding account until everyone is happy. 

Takes having to trust out of the sale

Edited November 5, 2023 by Bigmarc

[BackyardBullion]

8 minutes ago, Spyder said:

I have always tried to work out a system that would benefit newbies as much as members with high feedback. That everyone can get the best deal and not the privilege few.

This is what I thought.  Said newbie pays into a trusted members account and once both sides acknowledge that item have been delivered, money get sent on to seller.  A few members would have to volunteer to be the holders.  I would be willing to do it a couple of times as obviously do not want my account looking like a business account. 

My intermediary service works like this, but arguably a little more time consuming.

But it would be more than a full time job to do the whole forum trades. Having personally done nearly £750,000 worth of intermediary sales this year alone I can tell you it's a lot of work!

The benefits of my system is that there isn't a ridiculous amount of money flooding into and out of my account, which would cause a lot of potential interest from banks and also HMRC. Quite probably triggering a VAT registration too.

[Spyder]

7 minutes ago, BackyardBullion said:

My intermediary service works like this, but arguably a little more time consuming.

But it would be more than a full time job to do the whole forum trades. Having personally done nearly £750,000 worth of intermediary sales this year alone I can tell you it's a lot of work!

The benefits of my system is that there isn't a ridiculous amount of money flooding into and out of my account, which would cause a lot of potential interest from banks and also HMRC. Quite probably triggering a VAT registration too.

I think your intermediary service works well, especially for hard to sell items. For someone who has only a few very simple easy for sale 1/10 oz gold coins, the fees out weigh the benefits. I know it is time consuming and you are a business and not a charity.

My idea would benefits those who only have little to sell

[BackyardBullion]

13 minutes ago, Spyder said:

I think your intermediary service works well, especially for hard to sell items. For someone who has only a few very simple easy for sale 1/10 oz gold coins, the fees out weigh the benefits. I know it is time consuming and you are a business and not a charity.

My idea would benefits those who only have little to sell

Totally agree.

Unfortunately it's just not worth the labour to do one or two coins in a batch.

[Bigmarc]

5 hours ago, Silverlocks said:

Don't get me started on just how fundamentally flawed Facebook is for running buy/sell forums.  For a start, the poster (scammer) can block comments on their posts, making it trivial to silence folks calling them out.  There's no meaningful reputation system, it's quite hard to collate (or even look up) historic posts (FB's default view of posts is horribly chaotic), moderation tools don't lend themselves to quick banning or even reliably reporting with some expectation of action being taken.  Facebook wants c**p on their forums - drama is in their best interests.

The weird thing about Facebook (correct me if I am wrong) is they don't let you sell coins on the market place but it's ok on the forums. 

[Silverlocks]

1 minute ago, Bigmarc said:

The weird thing about Facebook (correct me if I am wrong) is they don't let you sell coins on the market place but it's ok on the forums. 

I've seen folks selling sovs on FB marketplace, but there's far more trading on the forums.

[Bigmarc]

2 minutes ago, Silverlocks said:

I've seen folks selling sovs on FB marketplace, but there's far more trading on the forums.

Oh, I will have to re-try it. It was a few years back and I remember them stopping me selling a load of half crowns.

[theman73]

43 minutes ago, Bigmarc said:

Oh, I will have to re-try it. It was a few years back and I remember them stopping me selling a load of half crowns.

You are right

[KleinerVogel]

3 hours ago, James32 said:

Here's the thing, the haves started of as have nots, at least I did. Trust was built using a time tested system and hard work. Nobody just joins the trusted ranks, you get out what you put in and each member has to decide/ work that out for themselves. 

Just something about "building reputation" or trying to win a popularity contest for the sake of selling a few quids worth of silver now and again just rubs me the wrong way. That's fine, it's not for me. I want to sell on my terms and not basically just hope some random stranger on the internet is going to do the right thing just because he/she is in "the trusted ranks". But as I've stated a few times, I get why this situation exists and understand why you guys like it, and that's great for you. More power to you.

It's really not much of an issue for me anyway, I didn't join this forum to buy or sell, I originally just joined for conversation with like minded people on the subject of stacking and PM. And on that side of things I have found this place to be great, lots of knowledgeable and friendly people here.

 

 

 

 

[James32]

6 minutes ago, KleinerVogel said:

Just something about "building reputation" or trying to win a popularity contest for the sake of selling a few quids worth of silver now and again just rubs me the wrong way. That's fine, it's not for me. I want to sell on my terms and not basically just hope some random stranger on the internet is going to do the right thing just because he/she is in "the trusted ranks". But as I've stated a few times, I get why this situation exists and understand why you guys like it, and that's great for you. More power to you.

It's really not much of an issue for me anyway, I didn't join this forum to buy or sell, I originally just joined for conversation with like minded people on the subject of stacking and PM. And on that side of things I have found this place to be great, lots of knowledgeable and friendly people here.

 

 

 

 

I completely understand your points and they are very valid, I guess it's by no means a perfect system, but we make the best of it because it's the system we have. I don't think I've ever tried to be popular, I was born this way😆 but I do take great pleasure in being trusted, I'm from the school of my word is my bond ( becoming a rarity) outside this forum especially. As an aside, I put more faith in a members interaction than I do feedback, it tells me more about their character which puts me at ease during a deal. Feedback is only half the story in my book. 

Edited November 5, 2023 by James32

[Bigmarc]

Just now, James32 said:

I completely understand your points and they are very valid, I guess it's by no means a perfect system, but we make the best of it because it's the system we have. I don't think I've ever tried to be popular, I was bor this way😆 but I do take great pleasure in being trusted, I'm from the school of my word is my bond ( becoming a rarity) outside this forum especially. As an aside, I put more faith in a members interaction than I do feedback, it tells me more about their character which puts me at ease during a deal. Feedback is only half the story in my book. 

You are trusted because you are an active participant in the community and the way you conduct yourself. 

Feedback is a worry for me as I said before. I don't think I've seen anyone with negative feedback on here and if I was not happy with something I would just not leave any (eBay as well). 

[NGMD]

Hmmmmmm.

Tell me ANY other place which has a better reputation, trading safety, diversity of members, quality of PMs and combined knowledge of TSF? It is second to none. 

That is all.

[James32]

6 minutes ago, Bigmarc said:

You are trusted because you are an active participant in the community and the way you conduct yourself. 

Feedback is a worry for me as I said before. I don't think I've seen anyone with negative feedback on here and if I was not happy with something I would just not leave any (eBay as well). 

Yes I'm in agreement, feedback is flawed and if I leave you justified negative you are likely to retaliate, obviously I would for fraudulent activity. But on occasions where I've been underwhelmed I've opted like you say to leave none  and just not deal with that member again. 

Edited November 5, 2023 by James32

[Gruff]

9 minutes ago, James32 said:

Yes I'm in agreement, feedback is flawed and if I leave you justified negative you are likely to retaliate, obviously I would for fraudulent activity. But on occasions where I've been underwhelmed I've opted like you say to leave none  and just not deal with that member again. 

Do you have a little black book of members not to trade with again? Asking for a bert....

[Bigmarc]

11 minutes ago, NGMD said:

Hmmmmmm.

Tell me ANY other place which has a better reputation, trading safety, diversity of members, quality of PMs and combined knowledge of TSF? It is second to none. 

That is all.

I don't think anyone is saying anything bad about the forum but there are over 21,000 members here and 700 are premium paying members. Surely some constructive discussion about members thoughts is a good thing with a view of boosting confidence and essentially boosting the numbers.