I really like buying gold and silver and hope that my simplified explanation helps. As a buyer decide if you want to collect items or just stack volume. The cost is different for say a minted coin 1oz vs a generic coin 1oz. I personally stack and buy all generics now. The most common silver types are .999 or .90 with .999 my favorite because it’s easier to do the math and I generally get the best value overall. All dealers will have a markup vs spot price. Silver is performing better than its price in most places so dealers are making more. That’s actually not a bad thing in my opinion. If you dig the web you can see patterns of silver being very undervalued and the public want is driving the price up over the “advertised” price. I personally am not a doomsdayer but am an investor and see an obvious flaw in today’s actual price vs what the price should be. I buy locally and have a place that calls me when he gets things I’ll like but have bought online with zero issues. I will say most all online places also have an ebay store where prices are often better. Scottsdale is generally a great price on eBay vs some of the other big guys. The online price generally says “as low as” and this is if you say buy 15+ units or whatever they use. So always check the price vs what you are buying and if they charge a cc fee. Also online check a ship date vs ebay. Some websites are literally 4-5 weeks and ebay is much faster. Facebook marketplace has a ton of scams so stay far away there imo. My biggest advice is don’t expect to get rich and buy what level you are comfortable with. We have no certainty that silver will go up but all indications point to yes, but I always tell people to be sensible as to what they can afford to put in a metal savings account essentially. I just personally bought another 25 oz today and will buy more when I get paid in two weeks if the value is there. If not I may wait till it is knowing I could lose value.