I buy sterling items on ebay every day,and here are a few tips on understanding the silver market.
NO.1...DO NOT put the word STERLING in your item title unless your pieces are marked STERLING.Practically all American sterling is clearly marked,unless it is hand made.Calling it sterling when it isn't is a very bad idea (refunds and neg. feedbacks) sterling means 92 1/2 % silver it is a worldwide standard.
European silver is much more complicated,with small symbols like stars,unicorns,or lion heads to represent silver content,maker,and dates.
Most south american material is marked with a decimal to indicate silver purity (.925 is sterling) .500 is a much lower grade,.100 is almost worthless.
STERLING has an established value based on the silver content,silverplate has antique value only,or pattern popularity,the actual metal value is about 80 cents a pound !
Silver and gold are weighed using the troy system which has 12 ounces to a pound,each ounce being 31 grams,Using the scale at your local post office will not be accurate because they use the AV system,NOT the troy system.
DUE to shipping costs,you are usually better off selling multiple sterling items together,it costs the same to ship 3 teaspoons as it does 1.
If an item is marked STERLING WEIGHTED it is a very thin sterling outer layer filled with cement or a similar material.A 16 oune candle holder usually has about 1 ounce of silver.
)