Sell your gold and silver by post

Each item is signed for on arrival and opened at our Bristol office, where it is weighed and XRF-tested: an X-ray test that measures the gold, silver, platinum or palladium content without marking the metal. Stones and non-gold parts are not paid as gold. Your written offer is itemised, showing the purity, weight and figure for each piece. Final offers depend on inspection, item weight, purity, hallmarks, stones, non-gold components, condition and the live precious-metal market. You see the full breakdown before you decide whether to accept.

Yes, and we prefer it. Send a photo of your items on WhatsApp, with a close-up of any hallmark, and we give you a rough estimate where we can. A photo cannot confirm gold content, hidden solder or every factor in an offer, so it is a guide, not a firm offer. If a photo is not enough, we tell you what would help or suggest a postal assessment. There is no obligation to post or to sell.

Posting gold is a routine, established process: jewellers, refiners and dealers move precious metals by Royal Mail every working day. Your parcel travels on Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed, tracked and signed for. Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used. GoldPaid can confirm the appropriate postal option before you post. If the lot may be worth more than £2,500, tell us first and we can split it across more than one prepaid label at no charge. Your items remain yours and travel at your risk, so if a parcel is lost the remedy is a compensation claim to Royal Mail, made by you as the sender using your Post Office receipt, even though we paid for the label. We check tracking with you and supply the label details for the claim. Use a plain padded envelope and never write "gold" on the outside.

We aim for the money to reach your bank within 24 hours of posting. We use Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed, test your items promptly on receipt, and aim to pay by Faster Payments within one working hour of your acceptance. The 24-hour target is an aim, not a guarantee: it depends on posting before the local cut-off, the applicable working-day delivery service, prompt acceptance, completed identity checks and bank processing.

Yes. We ask every seller for a photograph of UK photo ID, a passport or a driving licence, whatever the parcel is worth, and we tell you at the start rather than after your items have arrived. Because it applies to everyone, nobody need read the request as suspicion of them.

No. GoldPaid is a postal service covering the whole of the UK, so there are no branches and no shop counter. Everything is handled by WhatsApp, phone and Royal Mail Special Delivery. The address on your prepaid label is our office at Unit 217, Bristol Business Centre, 179 Whiteladies Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 2AG, so please ask for a label and post your items rather than calling in.

Everything comes back to you free by Royal Mail Special Delivery, tracked and signed for. There is no fee and no follow-up calls. You can also accept part of what you sent and have the rest returned. Read what happens if you decline the offer.