Learn from My Sterling Silver Blunder

I am smacking myself in the head right now and feeling really stupid, but am sharing this with you so you won’t make the same mistake.

Here’s the story–I received a low-ball offer on a hefty piece of sterling silver, which while I knew I wasn’t going to negotiate, I decided to check sterling silver melt value. I rarely check this stat and holy smokes did I get a shock. Silver prices had gone up significantly. In fact they more than doubled since I last looked. And I realized that two sterling silver pieces I sold to the same man just three days ago in my Etsy were priced well below current melt value, which is of course why he bought them.

He paid $188.03 with shipping and tax for the two pieces and the current value of the silver he bought is $263.14.

So yes, I feel stupid and embarrassed and I’m sure my buyer is having a good laugh. But thanks to that low-ball offer, I went through my other sterling listings to see what prices need to be updated. Two were borderline-low so I bumped them up.

This experience has been a good reminder that the value of items can change over time. Obviously precious metals have a tangible market value, but other items wax and wane in value and popularity as well. And while this year I have been looking at the prices of my older inventory and making some adjustments (both up and down), I realize I need to do a more thorough job. No more “list it and forget it.” My new mantra–always be checking!