How to sell gold safely by post in the UK (2026 guide)

How does selling gold by post actually work?

The first step in selling gold by post should never be a parcel. It should be a conversation. Send a photo on WhatsApp, describe what you have, and ask anything that is on your mind. A reputable postal buyer will give you a rough estimate with no obligation, explain what they can and cannot tell from a photograph, and answer questions about the process before anything leaves your hands.

A buyer worth dealing with will tell you how they test, and the answer should be X-ray fluorescence (XRF) rather than eyeballing or an acid touchstone. They will put the offer in writing once your items arrive, showing the purity, the weight, the live rate and the figure. They will pay for a tracked, signed-for return if you decline. And they will not chase you with countdowns or "today only" pressure. Where one of those is missing, that absence is itself information, and you have lost nothing by asking.

Step 1. How do you get a rough estimate before posting?

Open WhatsApp on 07944 014111 (or call the same number if you would rather talk). Send four or five clear photos: one shot of the whole lot, then close-ups of any hallmarks, clasps, stones and engravings. Mention the rough weight if you have kitchen scales. Mention the carat if you know it. Ask whatever else is on your mind, whether it is worth posting at all, whether anything looks plated, whether something might carry collector value beyond its metal.

What can go wrong here is small but worth noting. A photograph cannot replace an XRF assay, so any rough estimate is necessarily a guide rather than a firm offer; the live rate moves intra-day; and an honest buyer cannot tell from a phone shot whether a clasp is sterling or plated. If a buyer gives you a firm figure from a photo, they are either guessing or padding the figure to leave themselves margin once the parcel arrives. Treat the WhatsApp number as a sanity check, not a binding quote. Getting the photographs right is most of the work at this stage, and how to photograph jewellery for a remote valuation covers the four shots worth taking and what an image genuinely cannot settle. For the precise meaning of the phrase every buyer uses here, see what “no obligation” actually means.

Step 2. How should you pack gold jewellery for posting?

1. Photograph the lot one final time, laid out flat. This is your own record.
2. Wrap each piece individually in tissue or bubble wrap so nothing moves in transit. Movement causes scratches and, occasionally, lost stones.
3. Place the wrapped pieces in a small rigid box or a padded envelope. Strong, plain packaging is the brief.
4. Seal every edge with strong tape. Self-seal tape on padded envelopes is rarely enough on its own.
5. Keep the outside plain. Never write "gold", "jewellery", "valuables" or the name of any precious-metal buyer on the parcel.
6. Take the parcel to a staffed Post Office counter, never a postbox. The receipt you get back is the most important paper in the whole transaction.

Most packing mistakes are mundane. A loose chain in an envelope can poke through and snag in a sorting machine. A package marked "fragile" is sometimes handled less carefully, not more (since "fragile" is also a common signal of high value). A parcel dropped in a postbox has no proof of postage behind it, even if it carries a Special Delivery label, and without that there is no compensation claim. The receipt is what makes a claim possible, and the receipt only exists when a Post Office clerk hands it back.

Step 3. Which postal service and what level of cover should you use?

For gold and silver in 2026, the right service is Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed. It is tracked end to end, signed for on delivery, and offered with three compensation levels for loss or damage, starting at £750 as standard on Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm. Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used, and GoldPaid can confirm the appropriate postal option before you post. For anything above that in expected value, the practical answer is more than one parcel. Speak to the buyer in advance and they will send out additional labels so the lot travels as two or more consignments, and no single parcel is worth more than the cover that may be available on its label.

Compensation is not paid automatically: a claim needs your Post Office receipt and evidence of value. The receipt the Post Office hands you carries the tracking number and is your evidence the parcel entered the Royal Mail network at a particular branch on a particular date. Without that receipt, a claim is extremely difficult to support, regardless of whether the label was correctly purchased online. Keep the receipt clipped to your photo records until you have been paid in full.

Step 4. What should the written offer show?

When the parcel arrives, it should be signed for and checked against the description you gave on WhatsApp. Your items stay identifiable as yours rather than being pooled with other sellers' parcels. Each piece is separated by carat (because a 9ct chain cannot be priced at 18ct rates without cheating one side), weighed to two decimal places of a gram, and XRF-assayed to confirm the actual fine-metal content of the alloy.

You then receive a written, itemised offer. The fields you should expect to see are: a per-piece description; the confirmed purity (e.g. 75.0% for 18ct, 37.5% for 9ct); the measured weight in grams; the indicative rate per gram of fine gold on the day of assay; the per-piece figure; the lot total; and a clear statement of how long the offer holds open. Anything missing from that list is a red flag, particularly the purity figure and the live rate, since without them there is no way to check the working.

How does GoldPaid differ from the “send-us-a-pack” buyers?

A large segment of the UK postal-gold market still runs on a different model. You request a pre-printed pack, which arrives by ordinary post several days later. You return your items in the pack, often on a service the seller cannot easily distinguish from standard Royal Mail. The buyer then sends an offer, sometimes after a delay, and the friction of getting your items back if you decline is, by design, higher than the friction of accepting. The model relies on a percentage of sellers accepting whatever lands rather than going through the return process.

GoldPaid is the opposite of that model and was built deliberately so. Labels are usually sent within 30 minutes (8am to 9pm), direct to your phone or email as QR or PDF, so the parcel can be on its way the same day if you choose. The service is always Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed at an appropriate cover tier, never an underpowered alternative. Offers are written and itemised, with the purity and rate shown. Decline-and-return is genuinely free of charge, by tracked Royal Mail, with no restocking fee, holding fee, return-postage charge or any other cost. The whole point of the postal model is that you spend the assessment period at home with your normal week, not in someone else’s shop under counter lighting.

Step 5. What happens when you accept, decline or want to sleep on it?

A genuine no-obligation offer carries no pressure, but it does lapse, because the live precious-metal rate moves and the offer is built against the rate on the day. In practice a written offer is dated and holds for a limited time, and if it lapses before you decide it is re-run free of charge at the day’s rate. If you accept, we aim to pay by Faster Payments within one working hour of your acceptance. If you decline, your items are returned free of charge by tracked, signed-for Royal Mail Special Delivery. If you want to sleep on it, that is fine, your items stay safe in our handling chain.

There is also a less-discussed third option: ask for a written valuation without committing to selling. Some people post items mainly to find out what is real gold and what is not, what is plated, what carries a hallmark and what is unmarked but still solid. A written, XRF-confirmed breakdown is useful even if you decline the offer: it tells you what you have, in a form that holds up for family discussion, probate paperwork or insurance scheduling.

When is posting your gold not the right route?

Postal selling is the right answer in most situations, but not all. If you need cash in your hand within the hour, a postal sale will not be quick enough, and a high-street buyer or a pawnbroker is the practical choice (see our honest comparison of the maths). If you have a single very high-value piece, a Hatton Garden specialist with vault facilities may suit better than a postal lot. If your item is genuinely collectable (a rare-date Sovereign, a signed Cartier piece, a vintage Rolex), a specialist auction or dealer will pay more than any metal-only buyer. Each of those routes has its own honest comparison: auction versus a postal buyer, pop-up gold buying events, and selling to a friend or family member.

For everything else, postal works for the same reasons it has always worked for the wider precious-metals industry: a tracked, signed-for parcel travels with a digital paper trail, the cover that may be available on its label and an audit chain, while a counter sale involves you physically carrying valuables through a busy street and arguing for the offer in real time with no quiet to think.