Where to Sell Silver Near Me: Dealers vs Coin Shops vs eBay (2026)

September 2, 2026 · 23 min read

Shashank PhatkureEngineering

Where to Sell Silver Near Me: Dealers vs Coin Shops vs eBay (2026)

If you searched "where to sell silver near me", here is the short answer with numbers. On 3 September 2026, with silver spot at $65.44 per troy ounce, the three big online dealers we checked were paying 85% to 87% of melt for 90% junk silver, 94% to 96% of melt for American Silver Eagles, and 87% to 90% of melt for generic 10 oz bars. Pawn shops publish ranges of 30% to 70% of spot. eBay lets you set a retail price but takes 13.6% of the sale in its Bullion category. A peer-to-peer marketplace like PeerMetals lets you set the price and charges the seller 2.75% plus a $0.75 payout fee, but you wait for a buyer instead of getting a locked quote.

The right channel depends on how much silver you have, what kind it is, and how fast you need the cash. This guide gives every number with its source and date, walks through a $500-face junk silver lot plus 20 Silver Eagles through each channel, and covers shipping, taxes, and the scams to avoid. All quotes below are for ordinary ungraded bullion-grade pieces, not slabbed coins on the PCGS or NGC 70-point scale.

Quick answer: every way to sell silver, compared

The table uses dealer bids retrieved on 3 September 2026 against a spot price of $65.44/oz from the PeerMetals live silver price page. Get the live figure from the silver melt value calculator before you sell, because every bid below moves with spot.

Channel	Typical payout (percent of melt or spot)	Fees you pay	Speed	Main risk
Online dealer buyback (Money Metals, SD Bullion, Hero Bullion)	Junk silver 85% to 87%; Silver Eagles 94% to 96%; 10 oz bars 87% to 90% (dealer sell-to-us pages, 3 Sept 2026)	None on the sale; you may pay shipping, and Hero charges $25 for a wire, SD Bullion $30	Price locks at checkout or by phone; paid 1 to 7 business days after the dealer receives and checks the metal	Minimums ($1,000 at JM Bullion, 40 oz at SD Bullion, $5,000 at Hero); a 5% cancellation fee plus market loss at SD Bullion if you back out
Pawn shop	30% to 70% of spot (Maxferd says 50% to 70%; US Pawn says 30% to 60%)	None stated; the spread is the fee	Cash the same day	Lowest payout of any channel
Local coin shop	No published national survey; APMEX says shop offers "may be below the current market spot price" because the shop must resell	None stated; the spread is the fee	Cash or check the same day	Bids vary shop to shop and day to day; you must know melt before you walk in
eBay	Whatever a buyer pays, minus fees; recent PeerMetals sales of Silver Eagles show what buyers pay for retail lots	13.6% final value fee on bullion up to $7,500 per item, 7% above that, plus $0.40 per order; payment processing is included (eBay fee page)	Listing time plus shipping, then eBay releases funds	Returns, non-paying bidders, and the fee on your shipping charge
PeerMetals marketplace	The price you set; 30-day median Silver Eagle sale was $70.20, about 107% of spot	2.75% platform fee (down to 2% with volume) plus a flat $0.75 payout fee; zero listing fees (sellwithus and compare pages)	Listing time plus shipping; funds release when the buyer confirms or three days after delivery, then 1 to 3 business day payouts	No guaranteed buyer; large lots often sell in pieces

Step one: know what your silver is worth before anyone quotes you

Every buyer starts from melt value and works down. If you do not know melt, you cannot tell a fair bid from a bad one. Melt value is simple: troy ounces of pure silver multiplied by the spot price.

90% junk silver

Pre-1965 U.S. dimes, quarters, and half dollars are 90% silver. Money Metals' own buyback listing states the standard figure: "0.715 Oz of Silver for Every $1 Face Value." At $65.44 spot, $1 of face value is worth 0.715 x $65.44 = $46.79 in metal. A $500 face lot holds 357.5 troy ounces and melts for $23,394.80. Run your own count through the junk silver calculator, which pulls the live spot price. If you are new to constitutional silver, start with our guide to what junk silver is.

Pull the key dates first. APMEX's selling guide gives the example of an 1873-CC Liberty Seated quarter with only six known specimens and warns that "selling a quarter worth thousands of dollars for its melt value would be a huge mistake." Check dates and mint marks against our coin values hub before you weigh anything.

American Silver Eagles and other bullion coins

One Eagle contains one troy ounce of .999 silver, so 20 Eagles melt for $1,308.80 at $65.44. Eagles carry a premium on both sides of the trade. Dealers bid more for them than for generic rounds because they resell faster. On 3 September 2026 SD Bullion bid $62.82 for a random-year Eagle but only $57.82 for a generic 1 oz round, a $5 gap for the same ounce of silver.

Bars and rounds

A 10 oz .999 bar melts for $654.40 at $65.44. Generic bars and rounds get the weakest bids because any refiner can make them. Kilo bars, 100 oz bars, and branded bars each have their own bid line at most dealers.

Spot on the day

Spot moves every minute the market is open. On 2 September 2026 JM Bullion showed a silver ask of $66.03 at 19:14 EDT while SD Bullion showed a bid of $64.82 and an ask of $65.92. Use the live silver price page for the current figure and note the time you checked it, because a dealer's quote is only fair against the spot price at the moment it was made.

Online dealer buyback prices, with dates

These are the published "sell to us" prices from three dealers, retrieved 3 September 2026, shown against melt at $65.44/oz. JM Bullion and APMEX also buy but do not print prices on their public pages; you get a quote inside your account or by phone.

Product	Money Metals	SD Bullion	Hero Bullion	Melt at $65.44
90% junk silver, per $1 face	$40.76 dimes or quarters; $41.47 half dollars (87.1% and 88.6% of melt)	$40.63 (86.8%)	$39.90 (85.3%)	$46.79
American Silver Eagle, 1 oz, random year	$62.50 (95.5%); $65.00 for a 2026 Eagle	$62.82 (96.0%)	$61.82 (94.5%)	$65.44
Generic 10 oz silver bar	$585.00 (89.4%)	$588.19 (89.9%)	$572.66 (87.5%)	$654.40
Generic 1 oz silver round	$58.25 (89.0%)	$57.82 (88.4%)	$56.62 (86.5%)	$65.44
100 oz silver bar	Not listed	$5,981.89 (91.4%)	$5,871.59 (89.7%)	$6,544.00

Two things stand out. The spread between the best and worst dealer on the same item is small, about 1% to 2%. The spread between product types is large: the same ounce of silver fetches 96% of melt as an Eagle and 86% to 89% as a round or inside a junk silver bag. If you hold both, sell the Eagles to whoever bids highest and think harder about the rest.

Dealer terms that change your net

Dealer	Minimum	Payment timing and method	Shipping
Money Metals	Not stated on the sell page	Lock online per item	Packages over 5 pounds must be double boxed; all seams taped
SD Bullion	40 oz of silver; the published prices are for lots over 500 oz	ACH within 1 to 3 business days after processing; bank wire for a $30 fee; 5% cancellation fee plus any market loss	Labels offered for a quoted fee; drop off only at a staffed UPS or USPS counter with a receipt; split packages so none exceeds 500 oz
Hero Bullion	$5,000 per transaction	1 to 3 business days after verification; ACH free, wire $25, mailed check $35 to $50	Follow their instructions; careful packing required
JM Bullion	$1,000	3 to 7 business days after receipt	JM provides labels; you can drop off or schedule a pickup
Bullion Exchanges	No minimum	3 to 5 business days after verification; check, eCheck, or wire ($25 fee)	No prepaid labels; you carry the loss if the package goes missing; ship within 2 business days of confirming
APMEX	$1,000 (APMEX selling guide)	Quote online or by phone within two business hours; lock, ship, get paid	Prepaid insured APMEX Logistics label

Local coin shops and pawn shops

Local buyers pay today, in person, with no shipping. That convenience is priced in.

Pawn shops are the weakest bid. Maxferd, a pawn chain, writes that "pawn shops typically pay 50 to 70% of the current spot price of silver," with "higher percentages often offered for bullion and coins compared to jewelry or scrap." US Pawn's guide is blunter: "pawn shops typically offer 30-60% of the market value of silver." On the $500-face lot above, that is $7,018 to $16,376 for metal worth $23,395. AARP's selling guide calls "50 cents on the dollar" a bad deal, and its author's own test sale of gold, silver, and a platinum ring brought $4,508 only after comparing quotes.

Local coin shops sit between pawn shops and online dealers, but nobody publishes a national price sheet for them. APMEX's melt-value guide says plainly: "Remember, coin shops must profit, so offers may be below the current market spot price." The practical test is to ask the shop for its bid on the exact item, then compare it to the three published dealer bids above on the same day. A shop that bids $40 per $1 face on junk silver is matching the online dealers with no shipping; one that bids $30 is not.

Where a coin shop can beat everyone is on semi-numismatic pieces. A dealer's website bids $40.13 for a common-date Morgan or Peace dollar in VG condition (SD Bullion, 3 September 2026). A shop with a collector waiting for a specific date may pay more. Our silver dollar value guide shows which dates deserve that conversation.

eBay: retail prices, but the fee is real

eBay is where you find retail buyers, and its fee schedule is public. From eBay's selling-fees page: the Coins & Paper Money > Bullion category charges "13.6% if total amount of the sale is $7,500 or less, calculated per item" and 7% on the portion above $7,500. Non-bullion coins are 13.25% up to $7,500 and 2.35% above. Every order also carries a per-order fee of $0.30 for orders of $10 or less and $0.40 above. The page states that the final value fee already covers payment processing, so there is no separate card fee. The 13.6% applies to the whole amount the buyer pays, including any shipping you charge.

Worked example: 20 Silver Eagles on eBay

Assume you list 20 Eagles at $70.20 each, the 30-day median sale price on PeerMetals, for $1,404.00. eBay's 13.6% is $190.94, plus $0.40, so you net $1,212.66 before shipping and insurance. That is 92.7% of melt, and $43.74 less than SD Bullion's $1,256.40 locked dealer bid for the same 20 coins, before you have paid to ship them or handled a return request. eBay only wins on Eagles if your coins sell for well above the going retail price.

Worked example: $500 face of junk silver on eBay

List it as one lot at $46.74 per $1 face, the price of an active PeerMetals junk silver listing on 3 September 2026, for $23,370.00. The fee is 13.6% of the first $7,500 ($1,020.00) plus 7% of the remaining $15,870 ($1,110.90) plus $0.40, for $2,131.30. Net: $21,238.70, or 90.8% of melt. Split the same silver into ten $50-face lots and the 7% tier never kicks in; fees rise to $3,182.32 and your net falls to $20,187.68, or 86.3% of melt, roughly what the online dealers bid with none of the effort.

PeerMetals: you set the price, a buyer pays it

On PeerMetals, sellers list silver at their own price and buyers pay it. The seller does not receive a dealer bid; the seller receives the sale price minus a published fee. Here is what the fee pages say.

Seller fees, exactly as published

The sell with us page states: "We only charge a flat platform fee of 2.75% per successful transaction (only when you make a sale). Unlock a lower platform fee the more you sell on the platform, all the way down to 2%. There are also small fees when processing your payout. No insertion fees, no promotional fees, no hidden costs." The platform comparison page spells out the payout fee: "The 2.75% platform cut and a flat $0.75 payout fee are it," and adds that "Instant payouts are available for a 1% fee." There are no listing fees. Payouts arrive "1-3 business days after delivery confirmation," and the sellwithus FAQ explains the trigger: "Once a sale is completed and the buyer confirms their item, or three days pass, the funds are then released to your chosen payment method."

Bank transfer versus card, exactly as published

Buyers on PeerMetals can pay by card or by bank transfer (ACH). The bank transfer eligibility page describes ACH as the way to "pay directly from your bank account with lower fees" and to "save on card processing fees when buying gold, silver and platinum." It does not print a percentage. To qualify for free bank transfers a buyer must meet two requirements: $2,000 in purchases over the last six months and a 100% success rate on their last eight transactions. A buyer who does not qualify can pay a $5 deposit to enable bank transfers immediately; "failed transfers forfeit the deposit (covers Stripe's $5 processing fee)." The page also states that "bank transfers are limited to 2 pending payments within a 3-day window." These are buyer-side rules. The seller's cost is the 2.75% platform fee and the $0.75 payout fee regardless of how the buyer paid.

Shipping and insurance

From the sellwithus FAQ: "You print labels directly from our platform, or purchase your own label and upload the tracking number. Optional package insurance is available with additional purchase through the platform." The labels are USPS. Shipping cost comes out of whatever you charge the buyer for it, so price it in.

How a listing is priced against live spot

Sellers can fix a price or use spot price tracking, which the sellwithus page describes as "sync the pricing of your items with the real-time spot price." A spot-linked listing is set as an offset above or below spot, so the asking price moves with the metal instead of going stale. Every listing on the marketplace shows the seller's price against live spot, so buyers can see the premium at a glance and sellers can see what the competition is asking.

What silver actually sold for on PeerMetals

Marketplace prices are only useful if they clear, so here are the last 30 days of paid, shipped, or delivered orders as of 3 September 2026. Ungraded American Silver Eagles: 61 single-coin sales, median $70.20, range $63.73 to $77.04, against $65.44 spot. Generic 10 oz silver bars: 3 sales, median $658.80, against $654.40 melt. Active junk silver listings the same day asked between $46.14 and $52.88 per $1 face on common mixed lots, against $46.79 melt, with one $50-face lot of BU Kennedy halves asking $40.10 per $1 face, which is dealer-bid territory. Sellers asking at or slightly above melt are getting buyers; sellers asking 20% over melt mostly are not.

Worked example: $500 face of junk silver plus 20 Silver Eagles, every channel

Total melt at $65.44/oz is $23,394.80 for the junk silver and $1,308.80 for the Eagles, $24,703.60 combined. Dealer figures use the 3 September 2026 bids above. eBay and PeerMetals use the same asking prices, $46.74 per $1 face and $70.20 per Eagle, so the only difference between those two rows is fees. Shipping and insurance are not deducted from any row; see the shipping section for what they cost.

Channel	$500 face junk silver	20 Silver Eagles	Total net	Percent of melt
Money Metals	$20,380.00	$1,250.00	$21,630.00	87.6%
SD Bullion (published prices apply to lots over 500 oz; this lot is 377.5 oz, so confirm by phone)	$20,315.00	$1,256.40	$21,571.40	87.3%
Hero Bullion	$19,950.00	$1,236.40	$21,186.40	85.8%
Pawn shop at 30% to 70% of spot	$7,018.44 to $16,376.36	$392.64 to $916.16	$7,411.08 to $17,292.52	30% to 70%
eBay, junk silver as one lot, 13.6% then 7%, plus $0.40 per order	$21,238.70	$1,212.66	$22,451.36	90.9%
PeerMetals, 2.75% platform fee plus $0.75 payout fee per payout	$22,726.57	$1,364.64	$24,091.21	97.5%

The marketplace row is the highest because the seller keeps the retail premium instead of handing it to a dealer, and the fee is a fifth of eBay's. It is also the only row without a locked price. If the $500-face lot sells as ten smaller lots, each payout carries its own $0.75 fee, which takes the net to $22,719.82, still 97% of melt. If it takes six weeks to sell and spot drops 5% in the meantime, the dealer who locked $20,380 on day one did better. That trade-off is the whole decision.

When a dealer is the right call, and when a marketplace is

Sell to a dealer when

You have a large lot. Dealer bids barely change from 40 oz to 500 oz, and SD Bullion's published prices are explicitly for lots above 500 oz. A marketplace has to find buyers for each piece.
You need the money on a date. A locked quote plus 1 to 7 business days after receipt is a schedule. A listing is not.
You hold generic bars or rounds that carry no premium. There is little retail premium for a marketplace seller to capture, so the 87% to 90% dealer bid is close to what a buyer will pay anyway.
Spot just spiked and you want to sell into it today.

Sell on a marketplace when

You have a smaller lot, below the $1,000 to $5,000 dealer minimums, or below SD Bullion's 40 oz floor.
You hold coins with a premium: Silver Eagles, Maples, older commemoratives, common-date Morgans and Peace dollars, anything a dealer bids at melt but a collector pays over melt for.
You can wait for the price you want. The 30-day median Eagle sale on PeerMetals was $70.20 against a $62.82 best dealer bid, a $7.38 per coin difference that only exists if you are willing to list and ship.
You want to sell in pieces over time rather than one lump.

For a deeper look at listing tactics and photographing your coins, read how to sell your silver stack.

How to ship silver safely

Every dealer and every marketplace sale ends with a box in the mail. The rules below come from USPS and from the dealers' own packaging instructions.

Choose the right USPS service

Priority Mail and Priority Mail Express include $100 of insurance in the price (USPS insurance and extra services page). That covers about one and a half Silver Eagles at today's price.
Additional insurance on Priority Mail or Ground Advantage can be bought up to a maximum of $5,000 (USPS Domestic Mail Manual section 503). Insurance starts at $2.80.
Registered Mail is the service for anything larger. USPS lists a maximum insured value of $50,000 and a starting price of $20.90. The Domestic Mail Manual states that "postal insurance is included in the fee for articles with a value of at least $0.01 up to a maximum insured value of $50,000.00," and that Registered Mail can be added to Priority Mail, First-Class Mail, or USPS Ground Advantage.
Registered Mail has a packaging rule most people miss: "Packages must be sealed with mucilage or glue or with plain paper or cloth tape." Plastic tape is not accepted, because the postmark has to absorb into the seal. Bring paper tape or buy it at the counter.

Pack it the way dealers require

SD Bullion's instructions are the strictest we found, and they are a good standard for any sale. Use new, unmarked boxes only. Double box: a sealed inner box with no rattle, inside an outer box filled so the inner box cannot move. Tape every seam. Put nothing on the outside that hints at the contents. Photograph the items, the packed inner box, and the sealed outer box before you ship. Hand the package to an employee at a staffed USPS or UPS counter and keep the receipt; SD Bullion refuses liability for packages left at drop boxes, kiosks, or third-party mailing stores. Money Metals adds that packages over 5 pounds must be double boxed to bear the weight. SD Bullion also asks that no single package exceed 500 oz.

Two more points. Bullion Exchanges does not provide labels and states that if your package is lost "you will need to file a claim with your shipping carrier directly," so with that dealer, and with any marketplace sale, the insurance you buy is the only insurance there is. And when a dealer provides its own label, its insurance usually depends on you following its packing rules to the letter; SD Bullion says failure to comply "may void any claims."

Tax reporting: 1099-B thresholds and capital gains

Two separate questions get confused here. Whether the buyer files a form with the IRS, and whether you owe tax. The second does not depend on the first.

Dealer 1099-B reporting

Sources disagree on the current thresholds, so here are both positions with attribution. JM Bullion's investing guide lists as reportable "any silver bar of minimum .999 fineness that are 1,000 troy ounces or more," and says 90% silver U.S. coins "are also reportable if any combination of dimes, quarters or half dollars has a total face value greater than $1,000." APMEX's selling guide repeats the same two triggers: 90% silver coins over $1,000 face and .999 bars totaling over 1,000 troy ounces. Those figures trace to the industry council's 1992 guidance.

CoinWeek's February 2026 reporting guide says the list has narrowed: "90% silver U.S. coins no longer require 1099-B reporting" and "reporting applies only to five or more 1,000 oz silver bars." CollectPure's guide, written by a CPA and updated in July 2026, gives the reason: after the National Coin and Bullion Association renegotiated with the IRS in 2023, with results published in March 2024, the reportable list "has been confirmed with the IRS to be much smaller than before," and "$1,000 face-value bags of 90% silver are not reportable." CoinWeek lists American Silver Eagles among products "exempt from 1099-B reporting regardless of quantity."

The practical reading: a $500-face junk silver sale and a 20-Eagle sale are under every version of the threshold, so no dealer will file a 1099-B on them. A 5,000 oz bar sale will be reported under either reading. Ask the dealer what it files before you lock the price if it matters to you.

Cash reporting

Separately, CoinWeek notes that a dealer who receives "more than $10,000 in cash" in one transaction or related transactions within 24 hours must file Form 8300. This applies to physical cash, not wires or checks, and it applies at coin shops too.

Capital gains apply on every channel

None of the above changes what you owe. CoinWeek puts it in three words: "Reporting does not equal taxation." The IRS taxes your gain, the sale price minus your cost basis, whether the buyer was a dealer, a pawn shop, an eBay bidder, or a marketplace buyer, and whether or not a form was filed. AARP's guide notes that physical precious metals are taxed as collectibles at rates "up to 28 percent." Keep purchase receipts for cost basis. Our guide to capital gains tax on precious metals covers holding periods, the collectibles rate, and record keeping. This article is not tax advice; every source above says the same and recommends a CPA for anything sizable.

Red flags and scams when selling silver

A quote with no spot reference. Money Metals CEO Stefan Gleason told AARP that without knowing purity and weight "it's very easy to get ripped off." A buyer who will not tell you what spot price the bid is based on is hiding the spread.
Only one quote. AARP's advice is to compare quotes from at least three buyers on the same day. Spot moves, so quotes from different days are not comparable.
Buyers who want to move off-platform. APMEX's selling guide lists the tells from scam accounts in social media groups: a newly created profile with few followers, instant replies, "my spouse will come pick it up for me," a request for your phone number to leave the platform, and asking for your Zelle or PayPal upfront. Report and walk away.
Unverifiable dealers. APMEX advises checking for https, a physical address and phone number, Better Business Bureau reviews, and Google or Yelp reviews, and watching for review pages full of one-word or repetitive posts.
Cancellation traps. A locked buyback is a contract. SD Bullion charges "a 5% cancellation fee plus any market loss" if you do not ship. Do not lock a price until the silver is counted, boxed, and ready to go.
Selling numismatic coins by weight. A key-date coin sold into a junk silver bag is gone. Sort by date and mint mark first; our mint mark field guide shows where to look.
No photos before shipping. Every dealer requires photos of the items and the packed box to support a loss claim. Without them, a lost package is your loss.
Payment before shipping, on marketplaces. On PeerMetals the buyer's payment is secured on-platform before you ship, and tracking releases it. On any platform where you ship first against a promise, you are extending credit to a stranger.

Frequently asked questions

What percentage of spot do dealers pay for silver?

On 3 September 2026, with spot at $65.44, Money Metals, SD Bullion, and Hero Bullion bid 94.5% to 96.0% of melt for American Silver Eagles, 85.3% to 88.6% for 90% junk silver per $1 face, and 87.5% to 89.9% for generic 10 oz bars. The product matters more than the dealer. Check the live price on the silver price page before you compare.

Is it better to sell silver to a coin shop or online?

Online dealers publish their bids, pay 85% to 96% of melt depending on the product, and pay by ACH within days of receiving the metal. A coin shop pays today with no shipping, but its bid is unpublished and APMEX warns it may sit below spot because the shop must resell. Ask the shop for its bid and compare it to the published online bid for the same item on the same day.

How much does eBay take when you sell silver?

eBay's Coins & Paper Money > Bullion category charges 13.6% of the total sale up to $7,500 per item and 7% above that, plus $0.40 per order, with payment processing included. On 20 Silver Eagles sold at $70.20 each, that is $191.34 in fees, leaving $1,212.66 before shipping.

What does PeerMetals charge to sell silver?

Per the sellwithus and comparison pages: a 2.75% platform fee on each sale, falling to 2% with volume, plus a flat $0.75 payout fee, with no listing fees. Instant payouts cost 1% extra. On 20 Eagles sold at $70.20 each, fees are $39.36 and the seller keeps $1,364.64 before shipping. Start at sell with us.

Do I have to report selling silver to the IRS?

You owe capital gains tax on any profit regardless of channel, taxed as a collectible at rates up to 28% per AARP. Whether the dealer files a 1099-B depends on thresholds that sources currently disagree on: JM Bullion and APMEX cite $1,000 face of 90% coins and 1,000 oz of .999 bars, while CoinWeek and CollectPure report that after 2024 only five or more 1,000 oz bars are reportable and 90% coins and Silver Eagles are exempt. Small lots fall under every version.

How should I ship silver I have sold?

Use USPS Priority Mail for lots under $100 in value, add insurance up to the $5,000 maximum for mid-sized lots, and use Registered Mail, insurable to $50,000 from $20.90, for anything larger. Registered Mail must be sealed with paper or cloth tape, not plastic. Double box in new unmarked boxes, tape every seam, photograph everything, and hand it to a counter employee for a receipt.

What is my junk silver worth right now?

Multiply face value by 0.715 and then by the spot price. At $65.44, $1 face is $46.79 and a $100 face bag is $4,679. Dealers were bidding $39.90 to $41.47 per $1 face on 3 September 2026. The junk silver calculator does the math with the live spot price for any mix of dimes, quarters, and halves.