By Rocco Clayfield, Founder & Director, GoldPaid Ltd · Published 6 August 2026
Is there a dedicated regulator for gold buyers?
No. Anyone in the UK can start a gold-buying business tomorrow. There is no licence to apply for, no register to join, no qualification to hold and no inspection before trading begins. That sits oddly with how the industry sometimes presents itself, so it is worth being precise about which official bodies do and do not touch this trade.
The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate gold buyers. The FCA authorises firms carrying on regulated financial activities under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, and buying or selling physical gold is not one of them. A gold buyer describing itself as “FCA regulated” for its gold buying is telling you something that cannot be true of that activity. Nor does council scrap metal licensing apply: the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 defines scrap metal so as to exclude gold, silver, and any alloy of which 2% or more by weight is gold or silver. Precious metal buyers fall outside it by design.
| Body | Covers postal gold buyers? | What it actually does |
|---|---|---|
| Financial Conduct Authority | No | Regulates financial services and investments. Buying or selling physical gold is not a regulated activity. |
| Trading Standards and the CMA | Yes | Enforce the unfair commercial practices law, which expressly covers traders buying goods from consumers. |
| HMRC | Only if cash is involved | Money-laundering supervision of high value dealers: businesses making or receiving cash payments of 10,000 euros or more. |
| Council licensing (Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013) | No | The Act’s definition of scrap metal excludes gold and silver. |
| Assay offices (Hallmarking Act 1973) | When the buyer sells metal on | Unhallmarked items above exemption weights cannot be described or sold as gold, silver or platinum. |
| Information Commissioner’s Office | Data only | Registration and rules for businesses processing personal data, including yours. |
| Advertising Standards Authority | Adverts only | Rules against misleading advertising, including price and “best rate” claims. |
What law actually protects you when you sell?
The main protection is unfair trading law. Since 6 April 2025 that has meant the unfair commercial practices provisions of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, which replaced the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008. Crucially for gold selling, the law expressly covers a trader buying a consumer’s goods, not only selling to them. A postal gold buyer’s adverts, quotes, terms and behaviour all sit inside it.
The Act prohibits misleading actions and omissions, aggressive practices, and a list of banned practices that includes fake reviews and false urgency. The CMA’s guidance sets the detail out. Enforcement has real weight: the CMA can now fine a business directly, up to 10% of worldwide turnover for the most serious breaches, and Trading Standards can prosecute misleading and aggressive practices as criminal offences.
The honest limitation is that this is enforcement law, not supervision. Nobody checks a gold buyer before it starts trading, and action usually follows a pattern of complaints rather than preventing the first one. The law punishes bad practice after the fact; it does not certify good practice in advance. That is why the pre-posting checks later in this article matter more than any badge on a website.
Where does money-laundering law fit in?
Under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, a business trading in goods must register with HMRC as a high value dealer before it makes or receives cash payments of 10,000 euros or more, whether in one payment or several linked ones. That catches gold buyers who pay out large sums in cash.
Most postal buyers, GoldPaid included, pay by bank transfer only and handle no cash at all, which puts them outside the high value dealer regime entirely. Two honest consequences follow. First, a bank-transfer-only buyer not appearing on HMRC’s register is not a red flag; there is nothing for it to register for. Second, “HMRC registered” in a gold buyer’s marketing is not a badge of general trustworthiness. It means the business handles large cash payments and has met a cash-handling obligation, nothing more.
What you will meet in practice is identity checking. Reputable buyers verify who they are paying and pay only into an account in the seller’s name, which protects honest sellers and makes stolen goods harder to launder. Being asked for photo ID is a sign of care, not a cause for suspicion.
Not sure how any of this applies to your own items? Send a photo on WhatsApp and ask. We answer honestly, there is no obligation, and nothing is posted until you decide. Or call 07763 741067, 8am to 9pm, 7 days a week.
Does hallmarking law regulate gold buyers?
Indirectly. The Hallmarking Act 1973 makes it an offence to describe or sell an unhallmarked article as gold, silver, platinum or palladium above small exemption weights (1 gram for gold, 7.78 grams for silver, 0.5 grams for platinum), and requires dealers to display the statutory dealer’s notice explaining hallmarks. It binds anyone selling precious metal, which includes a gold buyer when it sells stock or refined metal on.
When you sell scrap to a buyer, the Act does not govern that purchase; you are not describing goods for sale in the course of a business. But hallmarks still do quiet work for you. A UK hallmark is independent, legally backed evidence of fineness struck by one of the four assay offices (London, Birmingham, Sheffield and Edinburgh), which makes it harder for any buyer to price your 18ct as 9ct. Reading one takes a minute: see how to read a gold hallmark in 60 seconds.
What protection does a seller actually have?
Strip away the branding and a postal gold sale is a contract. Your real protections are these:
- Contract law. A written, itemised offer that you accept or decline is enforceable. A buyer who pays less than the accepted figure, or processes items before acceptance against its own terms, is in breach and can be pursued, for most amounts through the small claims track.
- Unfair trading law. Misleading quotes, false claims and pressure tactics can be reported through the Citizens Advice consumer service, which passes cases to Trading Standards.
- Advertising rules. Misleading price or “best payout” claims can be reported to the ASA.
- Postal cover. If a parcel is lost in transit, the claim runs against Royal Mail. Cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used, and the proof-of-postage receipt is what makes a claim possible.
- Data protection. A business holding your details should be on the ICO register, and you can complain to the ICO if your data is misused.
And the honest gaps, stated plainly: there is no ombudsman for gold buying, the Financial Ombudsman Service cannot take these cases, and there is no compensation scheme like the FSCS behind a gold buyer. If a buyer became insolvent while holding your items, you would be an unsecured creditor. If you are not comfortable relying on paperwork, the post and your own checks, a face-to-face sale at a local jeweller, or an auction house for pieces with collectable value, is a perfectly reasonable alternative, and for rare coins or signed pieces it is often the better one.
What should you check, given there is no regulator?
- Check the company at Companies House. Free, two minutes: does the registered name match the website, is the company active, are filings up to date?
- Read the terms before posting. Look specifically for who pays for a return if you decline, whether items stay intact until you accept, and any clause treating silence as acceptance.
- Ask for the testing method and a written itemised offer. Purity, weight and rate per item, or no deal.
- Read reviews for pattern, not score. Dates, detail and how the company handles complaints tell you more than the number.
The full version of this checklist, including the terms-and-conditions phrases worth searching for, is in red flags when choosing a postal gold buyer. If something has already gone wrong, this guide sets out the escalation routes and time limits.
Where GoldPaid stands in all this
Applying the same tests to us: GoldPaid Ltd is a UK-registered company, number 17382540, checkable at Companies House, and is on the ICO register under ZC214216. We are a postal-only buyer with no shop. We are not FCA regulated and do not claim to be; no gold buyer is. We pay by Faster Payments within one working hour of acceptance, usually within 30 minutes during working hours, never in cash, so the high value dealer regime does not apply to us either.
What stands in place of a regulator is the paperwork: a written, itemised offer after XRF assay showing purity, weight and rate per item; items kept intact until you accept; and a free tracked return if you decline. All offers depend on inspection and the market rate on the day. If you want to test how we answer questions before sending anything, phone or WhatsApp 07763 741067 and ask about the testing method; how we handle that call is itself part of your evidence.
Common questions
Are gold buyers regulated by the FCA?
No. The FCA regulates financial services and investment activities. Buying and selling physical gold is not a regulated activity under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, so no gold buyer is FCA authorised for that work. Treat any “FCA regulated” claim attached to gold buying with scepticism.
Do gold buyers need a licence in the UK?
No dedicated licence exists. Scrap metal dealer licensing does not apply because the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013 excludes gold and silver from its definition of scrap metal, and no other licensing regime covers the activity. Registration with HMRC is only required if the business makes or receives cash payments of 10,000 euros or more.
Who do I complain to about a gold buyer?
Start with the company in writing. If that fails, report the matter through the Citizens Advice consumer service, which shares cases with Trading Standards, and report misleading adverts to the ASA. For money owed under an accepted offer, a small claims court action is the direct route. There is no ombudsman for this sector.
Is there an ombudsman or compensation scheme for gold selling?
No. No ombudsman covers gold buying, and there is no equivalent of the FSCS. If a buyer failed while holding your items you would be an unsecured creditor, which is one reason to prefer buyers who keep items intact and offer quickly rather than holding parcels for weeks.
Is it safe to use an unregulated gold buyer?
Every UK gold buyer is unregulated in the licensing sense, so the question is really whether a particular buyer is trustworthy. The workable tests are a verifiable Companies House record, published terms without silence-as-acceptance or process-on-receipt clauses, a stated testing method, a written itemised offer, and a free tracked return if you decline.
What law stops a gold buyer misleading me?
The unfair commercial practices provisions of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, in force since 6 April 2025, which replaced the 2008 Regulations and expressly cover traders buying goods from consumers. They prohibit misleading actions and omissions, aggressive practices and banned practices such as fake reviews, with CMA fines of up to 10% of worldwide turnover for the most serious breaches.
Does a gold buyer have to be registered with HMRC?
Only if it makes or receives cash payments of 10,000 euros or more, which makes it a high value dealer under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017. A buyer that pays solely by bank transfer, as GoldPaid does, sits outside that regime, so absence from the HMRC register is not a warning sign for a bank-transfer-only buyer.