By Rocco Clayfield, Founder & Director, GoldPaid Ltd · Published 12 January 2026 · updated 6 August 2026
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 an honest indicative figure 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.
| Stage | Typical timing | What it costs you |
|---|---|---|
| Photos and questions on WhatsApp | Same day, usually within minutes during working hours | Free, and no obligation to go ahead |
| Prepaid Royal Mail label issued to your phone | Usually within 30 minutes during working hours | Free |
| Parcel in transit on Special Delivery Guaranteed | Next working day by 1pm to most UK addresses | Free, the label is prepaid |
| XRF assay and written itemised offer | The working day your parcel arrives, or the next | Free |
| If you accept | Faster Payments within one working hour of acceptance | Nothing is deducted, the figure offered is the figure paid |
| If you decline | Returned to you by tracked, signed-for Royal Mail post | Free, with no restocking fee or return-postage charge |
| Whole process, end to end | Typically two to four working days | Nothing unless you accept |
Step 1. How do you get an indicative figure 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 indicative figure 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?
- Photograph the lot one final time, laid out flat. This is your own record.
- Wrap each piece individually in tissue or bubble wrap so nothing moves in transit. Movement causes scratches and, occasionally, lost stones.
- Place the wrapped pieces in a small rigid box or a padded envelope. Strong, plain packaging is the brief.
- Seal every edge with strong tape. Self-seal tape on padded envelopes is rarely enough on its own.
- Keep the outside plain. Never write "gold", "jewellery", "valuables" or the name of any precious-metal buyer on the parcel.
- 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 is uninsured for any postal-gold purpose, even if it carries a Special Delivery label. The receipt is what activates the cover, and the receipt only exists when a Post Office clerk hands it back.
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 07944 014111, 8am to 9pm, 7 days a week.
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 consequential-loss compensation tiers. The standard tier is £750. A higher tier of £2,500 is available for an additional fee at the Post Office counter, and is what most precious-metal buyers ask sellers to use as a default for ordinary jewellery lots. For anything above £2,500 in expected value, the standard service stops being the right tool: speak to the buyer in advance so they can either upgrade the cover, send out additional labels and split the parcel, or arrange a courier-level service.
The cover is not automatic in either tier. 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, a reputable buyer follows a documented chain of custody. The parcel is logged 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 on calibrated scales 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 sent the same day, direct to your phone or email as QR or PDF, so the parcel can be on its way the same afternoon 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 has no real deadline, only the practical one that the live precious-metal rate moves and the offer is built against the rate on the day. In practice that means an offer is firm for the day it is issued, and is re-run free of charge against the next day's rate if you take longer to decide. If you accept, payment is by Faster Payments within one working hour of acceptance. If you decline, your items are returned free of charge by tracked, signed-for Royal Mail post. 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, a fixed cover level and an audit chain, while a counter walk-in involves you physically carrying valuables through a busy street and arguing for the offer in real time with no quiet to think.
Common questions
Is it actually safer to post valuables than to walk in with them?
Statistically it usually is. A tracked, signed-for parcel travels with a digital paper trail and compensation cover; a counter walk-in involves you carrying valuables in public, often through a town centre. Most wholesale precious-metals trade between jewellers, refiners and dealers moves by Special Delivery for exactly this reason.
What insurance covers my parcel?
Royal Mail publishes cover of up to £750, up to £1,000 and up to £2,500 on Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm, so cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used. GoldPaid asks sellers to use the £2,500 level as the default. Above £2,500, request additional labels in advance so the lot travels across more than one parcel, each within its own cover level.
What happens if my parcel is delayed?
A delay is much commoner than a loss. Tracking usually shows the last scan point and the parcel reappears within 24 to 48 hours. If a parcel does not move for the expected window, message GoldPaid on WhatsApp and a Royal Mail enquiry is opened from our end with our records and your proof-of-postage receipt.
What if I want to decline the offer?
You decline and the items are returned to you free of charge by tracked, signed-for Royal Mail. No restocking fee, no return-postage charge, no follow-up pressure. The whole point of the service is that the decline path is genuinely costless.
Can I sell without proving who I am?
No. GoldPaid asks for a photograph of UK photo ID on every transaction, whatever the parcel is worth, and we tell you at the start rather than after your items have arrived. It is a single photo of a passport or driving licence, sent on WhatsApp. That is our own standard rather than a regime we are supervised under, because GoldPaid pays by bank transfer only and handles no cash. Once we hold an ID record, later sales do not need the check redone.
How long does the whole process take?
Typically two to four working days end to end. One day in transit each way on Special Delivery, plus the same-day or next-working-day assay once your parcel arrives, plus the Faster Payments transfer on the day you accept. If something is time-sensitive, say so on WhatsApp and we will work to a tighter window where we can.
Does GoldPaid have a shop I can walk into?
No. GoldPaid is a postal-only service, deliberately, because removing the shopfront removes the rent, the multiple staff and the counter pressure, all of which come out of the offer in a high-street model.
What is the highest-value parcel you handle by post?
There is no fixed ceiling, but above £2,500 we always arrange either additional Special Delivery labels (so the value is split across multiple parcels each within its own cover) or a higher-tier secure courier. Talk to us on WhatsApp before posting anything you believe to be worth more than £2,500.
What is the safest way to sell gold jewellery in the UK?
The safest route is the one that leaves a paper trail at every step: an indicative figure in writing before you post, Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed with cover matched to the value, a proof-of-postage receipt from a staffed counter, and a written itemised offer you accept or decline at home. No seller type owns safety; the paperwork provides it. Selling in person can be just as safe with a reputable jeweller, but you weigh the offer at the counter rather than at your kitchen table. For a single piece you believe is worth well above £2,500, an appointment with a specialist who has vault facilities is often the better answer than any postal service.
How do I know a postal gold buyer is legitimate?
Run four free checks before you post: find the company on the Companies House register, confirm a real trading address rather than only a web form, read reviews on a platform the buyer cannot edit, and read the terms for testing, return and fee clauses. GoldPaid Ltd is company number 17382540, with a registered office on Whiteladies Road, Bristol. No single check is conclusive on its own, a company number only proves a company exists, so treat the four as a set. A buyer who fails two or more at once has told you enough, and asking questions on WhatsApp or by phone first costs nothing and reveals a great deal about how they deal with people.
What fees do gold buyers charge when you sell by post?
A reputable postal buyer charges nothing: the label, the XRF assay, the written offer and the tracked return if you decline are all free, and the figure offered is the figure paid, with nothing deducted on acceptance. Some buyers do charge return postage, administration or assay fees, and those belong in the terms before you post, not in a surprise deduction after. The larger cost usually hides in the per-gram rate rather than the fee list, so a buyer advertising no fees but paying a weak rate is dearer than one with a small fee and a strong rate. The only honest comparison is the final written number for your actual items.
What happens if Royal Mail loses my gold parcel completely?
Genuine losses on Special Delivery Guaranteed are rare, and there is a defined process when they happen. Royal Mail treats an item as lost once five working days have passed beyond its due date, a claim for loss must be made within 80 calendar days of posting, and compensation is capped at the cover level bought, which is why cover should match value before anything is posted. You will need the proof-of-postage receipt and evidence of value, which is where your pre-posting photographs and the WhatsApp thread earn their keep. GoldPaid opens the Royal Mail enquiry from its end alongside you rather than leaving you to run the claim alone.
Can I watch my gold being tested?
Not with a postal buyer, and an honest one will say so plainly. What replaces watching is documentation: a written itemised offer showing the purity found, the weight in grams and the rate used, so you can check the arithmetic yourself against the indicative figure you were given before posting. If being present for the test matters to you, a local jeweller with a counter XRF machine is the right route, and postal selling is simply not the answer for you. The postal trade-off is presence for paperwork, and for most sellers the paperwork is the stronger protection, but it is a genuine trade-off.
Can I sell gold by post if I do not have a printer?
Yes. The prepaid label arrives on your phone as a QR code, usually within 30 minutes during working hours. Show the code at a Post Office counter, the clerk scans it and prints the label there under Royal Mail’s Labels to Go service, and you post the parcel and keep the receipt. A PDF version is available if you would rather print at home. Either way, the parcel must go over a staffed counter rather than into a postbox, because the counter receipt is the evidence that supports any compensation claim.
Do I need receipts or original paperwork to sell my gold?
No. The value is in the metal itself, so the hallmark, the weight on calibrated scales and the XRF assay establish what a piece is without any purchase paperwork. You will be asked for photo ID, because businesses buying precious metals carry out identity and ownership checks on sellers. GoldPaid asks on every transaction and tells you at the start. Boxes, certificates and receipts only start to matter when a piece might be worth more than its metal, a signed designer item or a rare coin, where provenance supports a specialist sale instead. If items are part of an estate that is still being administered, settle that with the executor before selling anything.
Should I clean my gold jewellery before sending it?
No, and vigorous cleaning can do harm. Offers are based on weight, purity and the market rate on the day, none of which improve with polishing, while abrasive cleaning can scratch soft high-carat gold, loosen stone settings or wear a hallmark you want legible. Send items exactly as they are. The one useful preparation is a dry wipe so hallmarks read clearly in your photographs, and removing anything you want to keep, a watch strap, a sentimental charm, before packing rather than remembering it afterwards.