You are presented with many options when you want to sell silver. There are many places that claim to pay the most, and try to win your business with aggressive advertising.  Of course everyone is going to claim to be number one when there is no legitimate source to prove them wrong.   How do you know who to trust, and what should you look for when selling silver?  If you choose to sell online, it boils down to selling your precious metals to a silver refiner or a silver buyer.  But what are the differences between the two and who is better?

The first thing you need to know is that most scrap silver ends up at a refiner.  Most silver buyers will buy your unwanted silver, and pay a refiner to melt it into another form, or even sell it to them.  Silver buyers are basically a check-in center for unwanted and scrap silver products.  They are generally based around customer service, and a customer’s satisfaction in their transaction.  A silver buyer ultimately has to pay a refiner in order to make profit from your silver.  This in return, means they offer you less money for your scrap silver.  Even though they aren’t able to smelt your silver down, they estimate your silver’s value and send you a check fairly quick.

Silver refiners are a great place to sell your scrap silver because they don’t have the hassle or added cost of dealing with a third party.  They can handle the whole silver transaction from start to finish.  Doing this usually means a higher payout and more cash for your silver. In most cases though, you aren’t going to get the same customer service experience from a refiner, as you would a silver buyer.  A silver refiner can draw you in with higher payouts, but they typically don’t have the same satisfaction guarantees that you will find with a silver buyer.

So ultimately it comes down to a preference of payment amount over customer service.  If you are new to selling silver, and aren’t one-hundred-percent sure about the transaction, a silver buyer may be better.  They usually offer a longer money back guarantee, and well trained customer service agents to handle the return.  For those who are familiar with selling silver, and are comfortable with the process, a silver refiner is ideal due to the high payouts.

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