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eBay Bucks and Bullion Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

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eBay Bucks and Bullion Frequently Asked Questions

What is eBay Bucks?

eBay Bucks is a rewards loyalty cash-back type program run by eBay that gives a 1% credit on eligible purchases that can be used towards future purchases.
eBay Bucks credits are earned throughout the financial quarter up to a maximum of $500 in eBay Bucks per quarter. eBay Bucks are available to spend on eBay at the beginning of the quarter after they are earned. Earned eBay Bucks must be spent during the first month of the quarter after they are earned.
Periodically throughout the year eBay runs promotions that increase the earnings amounts of eBay Bucks. Typical promotions have increased the eBay Bucks earnings to 8%, 10% or 15% above the base amount of 1%.
Items listed in certain categories, including the Bullion category and subcategories are ineligible for earning eBay Bucks. However, many of the trusted and reputable dealers that sell bullion products on eBay will list bullion products for sale in alternate categories that do earn eBay Bucks.

How can I earn eBay Bucks when buying Bullion?

The base 1% reward can be earned by buying bullion that is listed outside the Bullion category, including those listed as Silver Bullion or Gold Bullion. Items in those categories are not eligible for earning eBay Bucks.
That being the case, there are lots of bullion products that are listed in alternate eBay categories including other subcategories in Coins & Paper Money.
Not all items are eligible. Sometimes items that are cross-listed in multiple categories that includes the Bullion categories.
The best way to determine if an item is eligible for earning eBay Bucks is to look at the item page. In most cases, an eligible item will display the amount of eBay Bucks that you can earn, similar to this:
Sunshine Mint Silver Rounds ebay Bucks
Notice at the bottom of the image you can see the green “Bucks” logo with the earning amount.

How often are eBay Bucks promotions run?

Historically, eBay Bucks promotions are run several times throughout each financial quarter. They are sometimes run several times each month. There’s no set schedule for when an eBay Bucks promotion is run. Nor is there any schedule for how much of a bonus will be offered on top of regular earnings. The promotions are offered at the sole discretion of eBay.

How do I sign up for eBay Bucks?

If you already have an eBay Account you can sign up for eBay Bucks by visiting the eBay Bucks signup page. If you do not already have an eBay account, you must first create an eBay account then signup separately for eBay Bucks.

How can I find bullion items that are eligible for eBay Bucks?

We maintain an ongoing list of popular bullion items that are eligible for earning eBay Bucks. Our list of eBay Bucks eligible bullion items includes gold bullion, silver bullion and junk silver items.
Sometimes sellers will change an item’s category after the listing has posted. Be sure to look for the eBay Bucks earning amount on the listing to be sure an item is eligible.

Can I spend my eBay Bucks on bullion?

Yes. eBay Bucks can be spent on any bullion listings on eBay.

How can I avoid counterfeit bullion on eBay?

Always buy bullion on eBay from trusted and reputable dealers. There are certain things to look for that are red flags that an item could be counterfeit. Don’t risk it and stick with known sellers with high feedback and recent activity.

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Why do online bullion dealers have different prices for cash or credit cards?

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It can be confusing for first time investors looking to buy silver rounds online. Whether looking for silver bars, silver rounds, or government minted products like American Silver Eagles on Canadian Silver Maple Leafs, the pricing that online bullion dealers show is confusing.

Silver and gold bullion prices are based on “spot price”. Spot price is the price per ounce that the precious metals are trading at on the COMEX commodities exchange.

Online bullion dealers and many local coin stores will base their pricing on spot price. Spot price is the per ounce value of the silver or gold bullion.

Dealers then add a premium on top of the spot price. One way to think of the premium is that it includes the cost of selling, marketing and other operating costs for the dealer plus their profit margin.

Why do online bullion dealers charge different prices for different payment methods?

The cost of accepting different payment methods have differing costs. Generally speaking, payment methods like PayPal and Credit Cards cost merchants and online bullion dealers as much as 4% of the total cost of each transaction.

Cryptocurrency payment methods, which include services like Bitpay, allow dealers to accept Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum and other cryto payment methods also charge merchants on a per transaction basis.

This can be confusing to first time precious metal buyers. Online bullion dealers pass the fees along to the buyer. This is standard practice throughout the industry and you will see these different prices reflected when you browse online bullion dealer websites.

The Cheapest way to Buy Silver Rounds Online

Many beginning precious metals investors look to buy silver rounds online. Silver rounds are popular because of their size, simple denomination, shape and the value they represent.

Generic Silver rounds also can be found with some of the lowest dealer premiums over spot price which makes them attractive to many investors, preppers and silver stackers.

The cheapest way to buy silver rounds from most online bullion dealers is to pay via check or money order. This may seem a bit backwards because most people have become accustom to paying for online purchases with credit cards.

When you buy silver rounds online with a check or money order you must mail the payment to the dealer. This can take up to a week for the dealer to receive the payment. Another week for the payment to clear. Then another week for the dealer to finalize the processing of the order and send out your purchase. It can take upwards of three weeks to month from the time you order until you receive your bullion purchase.

Many dealers have begun offering an e-check payment method which speeds up the process some. Paying for silver rounds with an e-check is basically an ACH transfer between your bank and the bullion dealer’s bank.

Paying with e-check eliminates the mailing time and some of the processing time associated with buying silver rounds with a check.

The Fastest way to Buy Silver Rounds Online

Most people who buy silver rounds online want to receive their purchase as quickly as possible. In order to receive your online bullion purchases quickly it means that you’ll need to pay with a payment method that incurs some additional cost. That means paying for your silver rounds with PayPal or Credit Card.

Paying for silver rounds online with PayPal or Credit Cards clears your payment the fastest. Payments are usually processed by the dealers within 24 hours. That means that your silver rounds are usually shipped by the dealer within a day of receiving your order and payment. Often your order will ship out the same or the next day after you place your order.

Benefits of Using a Credit Card to Buy Silver Rounds Online

While paying with PayPal or credit cards does incur an additional fee it does have several benefits.

Credit card and PayPal payments allow your bullion purchase to ship quickly so you will receive it faster than if you pay by check or money order.

Both credit card and PayPal payments also provide you, the buyer, with some security when you buy silver rounds online. PayPal and most credit cards provide a buyer protection guarantee that gives assurance that even if something happens your purchase is protected. Though, buying from a trusted and reputable dealer will also provide assurance. Reputable online bullion dealers aren’t going to risk their reputation on ripping off customers or bad customer service.

Reducing the Premiums You Pay When You Buy Silver Rounds Online

Another reason to use a credit card to buy silver rounds online is that you can earn cash back rewards, airline miles or other loyalty program points. Many credit card companies offer a card that can provide up to 2% cash back on purchases. This cash back reward helps to offset the credit card premium that you pay when you buy silver rounds online.

It is also possible to offset the premium cost when you buy silver rounds online by leveraging other cash back rewards programs. Programs such as eBay Bucks allow you to earn cash back rewards on eBay purchases that can then be used to buy silver rounds.

The normal cash back reward for eBay Bucks is 1% on the purchase price of items bought from listings in eligible categories. The Bullion category is excluded from earning the cash back reward from eBay Bucks, however, many reputable dealers will create alternate listings in other categories which allow you to earn the rewards when you buy silver rounds.

Several times per year eBay runs promotions where they increase the cash back earning of the eBay Bucks program. The promotional bonuses have historically been as high as 15%. Though it is far more common to see promotions of 8% to 10%. That cash back reward from eBay Bucks can offset your investment or be used in the future for additional silver bullion purchases.

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Buy Gold Coins as a Store of Wealth

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For anyone looking to hold gold as a store of wealth or even as a way of bartering in the event of economic collapse, the best gold coins to buy are the most popular and highly recognizable gold coins such as the Gold Eagle, Maple Leaf, and Krugerrand. These gold coins are highly recognized worldwide.

You can sell or exchange these gold coins at almost any coin shop anywhere in the world. Bulk bullion, including small bars in assay cards on the other hand, needs to be specially weighed and assayed by experts before being traded.

Premiums on gold coins increase when demand is high. In the early days of the last financial crisis that started back in 2008, premiums on gold bullion coins rose from 4% to over 10% while the price of gold dropped.

One of the most important factors when you buy gold coins is the premium you pay over spot price. With gold prices tapering off from their record highs in recent years demand for gold and silver bullion has been low. When demand is low dealer premiums drop.

Currently, dealer premiums on Random Year American Gold Eagle Coins have been as low as 2% over spot. There have been some dealers that have had premiums even lower. FindBullionPrices.com tracks premiums on gold coin prices across trusted and reputable bullion dealers.

With dealer premiums at record lows it is a great time to buy gold coins.

Buy Gold Coins for Financial Stability

Gold coins have been used as a store of wealth, as a means of exchange and currency for thousands of years.

A tube of American Gold Eagle coins is roughly the size of an average pill bottle. There are twenty American Gold Eagles in a mint tube. At current gold spot prices the melt value of a tube of Gold Eagles is roughly $25,000.

An American Gold Eagle Monster Box holds 25 tubes with 20 coins in each tube. A Monster Box of Gold Eagles is roughly the size of a shoe box and holds 500 gold coins.

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How to buy silver below spot price

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Savvy precious metals investors are always on the hunt for a great deal when looking to buy silver bullion. Finding a way to buy silver below spot price is a great way to lower the dollar cost average of your precious metals investment.

One way some silver buyers have found to buy silver below spot price is to utilize the eBay Bucks cash back rewards program, combined with a credit card that pays a percentage of each transaction as a cash back reward.

eBay Bucks is eBay’s loyalty rewards program that provides a base cash back reward of 1% on eligible purchases. The reward is credited to your eBay account at the beginning of each financial quarter based on your purchases in the previous quarter. The maximum amount of rewards that can be earned each quarter is $500, or up to $2,000 a year.

Several times per quarter eBay will run Bucks bonus promotions intended to boost sales. In the past the promotions have ranged from 6% to up to 15% bonus on top of the base reward.

eBay Bucks can only be earned on eligible purchases. Normally, items in the silver and gold bullion categories are not eligible. However, some dealers are aware of this and to encourage sales will often list items in alternative categories or list products that are eligible for earning cash back rewards on bullion purchases.

Buying bullion on eBay

All of the major and reputable online bullion dealers sell through an eBay store in addition to their own websites. They will often have the same products listed on eBay that they sell on their own websites but with different pricing. Some of the time the prices are cheaper than on their website, sometimes prices are more expensive.

While it may seem illogical, the reasons are pretty straightforward. eBay charges sellers pretty high fees for both listing items for sale as well as to complete the transaction. Plus, paying with PayPal adds additional fees and costs to the dealers. For these reasons the prices dealers charge on eBay may seem higher than the base prices listed on their websites.

Other times, the prices for items sold through eBay will be lower. This is because eBay provides rebates and incentives to bullion dealers that reduces or eliminates fees on certain products.

Many people avoid buying silver and gold bullion on eBay because they are worried about counterfeit or fake items. That is a valid concern but there are some basic safe guards that you can use to easily identify and avoid buying fake bullion.

eBay Bucks on Bullion

Buy Silver Below Spot with eBay Bucks

Another way to look at how you can leverage eBay Bucks with bullion is to maximize the amount of earnings you can per quarter and use those earnings to then buy bullion at a reduced cost during the next quarter.

For example, historically, Pre-1933 US Gold Bullion coins such as the St-Gaudens Double Eagle have been available for close to gold spot price. Some people will buy with the knowledge that they already a local buyer that they can sell the coin to for a small profit. By using a cash back credit card for the purchase and paying off the credit card with the money from the local sale of the coin.

For a coin that may cost $1250 this would earn as much as $100 eBay Bucks (the maximum amount per transaction), plus the cash back from using the credit card ($25 for a 2% rewards card), for a total earned cash back of $125. eBay allows the earning of up to $500 in eBay Bucks per quarter. Churning St-Gaudens Double Eagle coins could earn up to $625 in cash back rewards when combining eBay Bucks and credit card rewards per quarter.

The earned cash back could then be used for purchasing silver or gold bullion for essentially no net cost. By utilizing the cash back rewards for silver purchases it’s possible to get the silver for free, or use the cash back rewards as a way to offset other silver purchases to reduce your overall dollar cost average.

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Buy Silver Bullion

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Investors have started to buy silver bullion to hedge against inflation and protect their wealth during economic downturns. Buying silver bullion is one of the most effective ways to diversify your investment portfolio. For many savvy investors, silver bullion continues to be the precious metal of choice.

Silver bullion comes in a variety of shapes, weights, brands and designs. Silver bullion is most commonly bought in the form of rounds or bars. Silver bullion in the form of bars and rounds are sold strictly for their precious metals content. They are priced based on their weight in troy ounces relative to the spot price of silver.

Silver bars and rounds are minted both private mints and sovereign government mints around the world. The most commonly bought silver bullion products range in size from 1 oz up to 1 kilo. There is a wide variety of silver bullion products available for investors with a wide range of budgets.

While there are services that allow you to purchase silver bullion and store it in their vaults, the majority of investors and stackers prefer to take delivery of precious metals. Most stick to the common catch phrase of “If you don’t hold it, you don’t own it”.

What type of Silver Bullion is for sale?

Government Bullion

Silver bullion can be bought in a wide variety of shapes, sizes and weights. In the United States, the most commonly purchased and widely recognized is the American Silver Eagle coin. American Silver Eagles are the official silver bullion coin of the United States and is minted by the US Mint.

Other popular silver bullion coins that are produced by sovereign governments include:

Silver Bullion coins that are minted by sovereign governments are sold at a greater premium over silver spot price than privately minted or generic bullion. This is because government backed bullion is guaranteed for it’s purity by the mint and is widely recognized by investors.

Private Mint Bullion

Silver bars and rounds are minted by private mints around the world. Investors buy silver bullion products from private mints for their silver weight.

Silver Bars and rounds are most commonly produced in 1 oz weight denominations. It is also common to find silver bars that weigh 5 ounces, 10 ounces, kilo and 100 ounce sizes. The most common cast silver bars will be stamped with the manufacturer, the weight of the bar, and the purity or fineness of the silver (usually .999).

The premiums on silver rounds and bars are usually closer to spot price than government bullion.

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Silver Lego Building Blocks in Fine .999 from Monarch

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If there has been one new product released this year that has caused excitement amongst silver stackers and precious metals investors it has been the Silver Lego style building blocks released by Monarch Precious Metals.

Each building block is minted of .999 pure fine silver. The 1 troy ounce block mimics the design of the legendary 2×4 Lego Brick. Each solid silver block is designed with stacking in mint.

1 oz silver lego brick building block

The 1 oz bricks can be bought individually or in packs of 12 silver lego building blocks.

The silver Lego building blocks were an instant hit and quickly became on of the most popular items made by the Monarch Precious Metals mint.

Shortly after the release of the 1 oz silver bricks Monarch introduced a second version of the lego style brick that weighs 1/2 troy ounce. The smaller building block, designed after the Lego plate is fully interlocking with the full 1 troy ounce bricks.

1/2 ounce silver lego brick plate

The 1/2 ounce silver lego building blocks can also be purchased individually or in packs of 24 1/2 ounce silver lego blocks.

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Gold Coins of the Latin Monetary Union

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Long before the Euro was established as a common currency amongst European Nations, there was a similar currency union that standardized gold coins used for trade throughout Europe. It was called the Latin Monetary Union (LMU).

The Latin Monetary Union was developed in the 19th century between France, Belgium, Italy and Switzerland as a way to create a standard currency. They agreed to a combined gold and silver standard with a fixed gold-to-silver ratio of 15.5 to 1 as established in the French Franc. One LMU Franc represented 4.5 grams of fine silver or 0.290322 gram of fine gold.

Gold coins from the Latin Monetary Union are highly sought after by investors for their gold content. The most common of these include the French Gold Rooster, the Swiss Helvetia, and the Austrian Gold Florin. Many of the coins carry a dual currency designation that includes the local currency name as well as that representing it’s value in Gold Francs.

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Free shipping on bullion usually means higher premiums

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Some online dealers offer free shipping on bullion when your purchase is over a certain amount. Is the shipping really free? Or is it somehow hidden in the higher premiums.

The myth of free shipping on bullion when buying online

When looking at the prices and premiums of online bullion one of the first things that many people notice is that the price of the same items can vary greatly from dealer to dealer. Sometimes it’s just that dealers may be charging a higher premium on some items.

More often than not the dealers that charge higher premiums per ounce offer a free shipping option with a low purchase price of around $100. This is because the dealer has to fit the shipping cost into their business model somewhere. Free shipping isn’t really free, you’re just paying for it somewhere else.

This is no different than when dealers charge a 4% additional fee for paying for bullion with a credit card or Paypal. The additional cost gets added into the product margin somehow.

When you look at our quick glance silver bullion price comparison chart one of the first thing you notice is that the lowest prices per ounce are most often from dealers that charge a nominal shipping charge.

Of the dealers that charge shipping, most shipping charges are in the $5 to $10 per order range depending on the class of service and the weight of the order. When looking for the best silver prices online it is important to take into consideration the shipping charges. The cost of shipping should be spread out over each ounce in your order.

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Gold bullion price lower, Stronger gold sales for US Mint

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The gold bullion price per ounce has fallen by around 5% since the beginning of June. The current gold spot price is down by over $120 a ounce since hitting a high of $1362.40 in January.

As the price of gold has gone down the demand for the shiny metal continues to grow. In June sales of American Gold Eagle coins had their third highest sales month of the year. The US Mint reported 24,500 troy ounces of gold eagle bullion sold, comprised of 41,500 gold coins of various denominations. Sales figures where substantially higher than June 2017.

Gold Buffalo coins had strong sales as well, with 6,500 of the 24 karat gold 1 oz buffalo coins reported being shipped by the US Mint. The number of Gold 1 oz Buffalo Coins shipped by the mint in June of this year is more than 300% more than June 2017.