Getting your business started is the hardest thing - My thoughts on starting out selling silver

The first pieces of Hand Poured Silver I ever sold were on eBay and a little over 2 years ago.

So much has changed in that last 2 years and I have put together a few thoughts about the journey for new sellers who might be looking to do the same as me. A lot of what I am writing is focused on selling silver in the UK. There are a few different rules here!

After my first few sales on eBay I made some more silver and showed them being made on YouTube. Then, very quickly after that people got in touch by email and bought them! It snowballed from that to what it is today - a growing business that I love and want to grow even more!

This is what I can suggest to any newbees out there looking to get started. Warning - I tend to ramble a bit!

The best advise I can give for selling generally is to try and work out your style and brand. What are you going to bring that is new and exciting to people. If you are going to list standard poured bars that are not particularly eye catching, unhallmarked, and ask £25/oz for them, you will probably not get any sales. But, if you have a unique product that looks good and is desirable then this suddenly becomes more achievable. There is of course reputation and brand to think of - this is always going to be hard for new comers to get started. Customers will think, should I buy that bar poured by "that guy, whats his name again, I forget" or should I buy from Backyard Bullion or one of the many other big names out there? 9 times out of 10 they will go with the brand that is already known as it is a better chance that that high premium product will hold value and appreciate.

Branding is key. So important in fact that I think it should be the first thing you think about when getting started. The brand you want to make will inform the kind of products you make. Dont build your brand around your products, build your products around your brand.

Of course, there are legal requirements here in the UK for selling silver.

If you are going to sell silver you need to familiarise yourself with the hallmarking legislation to make sure you are following the rules otherwise you can actually be committing a criminal offence.

Here is my Hallmark. It guarantees the quality of the silver 100% as required by UK law.

Here is a link to some of the resources available from my Assay Office: https://www.edinburghassayoffice.co.uk/resources

Usually though bullion bars and rounds are exempt but anything with 3D features or designs will be a grey area and one that is best to be on the right side of. If you are serious about pouring and selling as a hobby then my advise to you is get a hallmark registered and use it. It will make your silver more desirable so the added cost will pay for itself in the increase sales and prices you can command.

If you can overcome all of those obstacles the selling part is simple - take some good pictures, post a sales thread on the forum or on eBay, attract a buyer, take payment and send the product out promptly and securely. Don't just bung the silver into a jiffy bag loose - I use hard cardboard boxes and it makes a huge difference - the BYB packaging is legendary now and part of the brand, people buy with confidence!

When you list your items be honest about them. Tell the buyer what they are and how they were made. Tell them why you have priced them the way they are. If you have made a mirrored piece and spent 45 minutes hand sanding something tell them! If you have antiqued the pieces with liver of sulphur and spent hours polishing the bars, tell them!

Set your price to be competitive and appropriate for the market place. Don't expect huge sales unless you are pricing very low - especially on the forum, lots of tight arsed people here and they don't like to spend money! But, there is a market for sure. As a new seller, don't be afraid to sell your items to an established member who will take delivery, examine and then when happy make the payment. They can then act as your referee for future buyers to have more confidence.

So, other than the above, no other advise I can give really than to just get started.

Good luck to those that try!