Buying Silver in Germany

Savvy69

Hey...First post here as there seem to be a few on the boat.

Going for a decent investment in the Silver (10k mark). Read about point of sale rules with buying from Germany and flying over there. My question is could I fly over, pay in person, then fly back and have them delivered? Or if not what are the legalities of taking them on the plane. Am I likely to be stopped and questioned? Also does anyone recommend any German suppliers?

Many thanks

shaun_from_Africa

You can buy the silver in Germany, pay the VAT at 7% and then carry it back to the UK and not have to pay anything else. There is not even a need to declare it at customs.

As far as I'm aware, you can also buy it and then have it shipped back, but to make 100% certain you should ask HMCE.
I enquired about buying in Germany and bringing it back myself (work plans changed and it never happened), and they told me that it wouldn't be a problem.

If you send them an e-mail to their VAT enquiry dept, you will get a reply in about 4 or 5 days, or you could phone them up.

http://search2.hmrc.gov.uk/kbroker/hmrc/contactus/search.ladv?sr=0&as=1&cs=ISO-8859-1&sc=hmrc&sf=&sm=0&nh=50&ha=34&tx0=49685&fl0=__dsid:&tx1=2037&raction=view

The biggest problem with bringing it yourself is the weight and value.
£10,000 will get you about 14KG in bullion bars (at todays prices), and this will be far too heavy for cabin baggage so you will have to take it as checked baggage.
You will have to check if the airline will allow something of this value, and if you can take out extra insurance to cover it.

I don't know of any dealers where you can walk in, (But I'm sure there are some due to Germany having extremely low VAT on silver bullion), but if you are planning on staying there for a while, you could use

www.coininvestdirect.com

Savvy69

Thanks for the information. Ill Email HMCE now and see what they get back to me with.
With regards to coinsdirect they are who I am currently using. Although they ship from storage in Germany they dont have a sales office there, so you cant order in the country and go and pick up off them, you have to have an address for it to be shipped to. Which will be a problem if in a hotel lol.
Theres a k to be saved here if done correctly. I'll email BMI now and see how they fare for insurance.
What do you have yourself? I think chinese one ounces are going to be the most popular, but they seem to have a hell of a premium.

amcluesent

Why is there an arbitrage opportunity by buying in Germany?

Savvy69

amdcluesent....are you the guy who I read on here who was saying silver is a bad investment?

Voyager2002

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

The biggest problem with bringing it yourself is the weight and value.
£10,000 will get you about 14KG in bullion bars (at todays prices), and this will be far too heavy for cabin baggage so you will have to take it as checked baggage.
You will have to check if the airline will allow something of this value, and if you can take out extra insurance to cover it.

Sounds like a good reason to travel by train: Eurostar to Brussels, then an inter-city express direct to any major German city.

Savvy69

I never realised Eurostar was so cheap as well as being so quick. 2 Hour journey? Why bother with the hassles of an airport?
Any ideas on who to use for the coins in Germany, Voyager?

Voyager2002

Savvy69 wrote: »

I never realised Eurostar was so cheap as well as being so quick. 2 Hour journey? Why bother with the hassles of an airport?
Any ideas on who to use for the coins in Germany, Voyager?

I think you'll find there is a time difference between the UK and the continent, so Eurostar is not quite as quick as it seems. And you need to book well in advance to get the lowest fares. Even so, it beats flying.

shaun_from_Africa

Why is there an arbitrage opportunity by buying in Germany?

For some reason, the German government have decided that the VAT payable on silver coins is only 7%, whereas in the UK it is 17 1/12%.

Savvy69, when I mantioned the weight you will get for your 10K, I should have stated that this should in the form of coins with a face value. Silver bullion bars are charged VAT at the standard German rate of 19%.

I've got Canadian Maples as they were about the best value at the time I was buying.
Coininvest will deliver to a hotel ( I asked them about this when I was meant to be going over there), but unless you are sure about the place and the staff, it could be a bit risky.

As Germany is such a hub for buying silver coins, I'm sure that there must be a few walk in dealers over there.

Savvy69

Well Ive never been on a Eurostar but I'm up for doing it. Would it be a risk on my own?
Yes its the coins I am going for. Think they are easier to offload or trade in the future. Ive been looking at the maples, they seem to be well priced. Dont you think its funny though that the americos coins are low in price (as well as the austrlian) but the british and chinese are high? Could be sign for the future. Only thing im thinking is by the time i go over there, spend on the hotel, and risk the transport coming back, i might as well have paid for it in the UK. Or am i being lazy?
Also would a dealer have 500 coins in stock? From what ive heard from the big suppliers shipments are coming straight in and straight out.
Thanks for the responses guys. Any other views on the market please share

snowqueen555

why don't you try purchasing a smaller order first and see how it goes on?