By Rocco Clayfield, Founder & Director, GoldPaid Ltd · Published 6 August 2026
The short answer, and why it needs a longer one
Selling gold by post to a company that pays you for the metal is a legitimate, legal, decades-old business model. Thousands of UK sellers use it every year without incident, and for broken chains, odd earrings and worn-out jewellery it is often the most practical route available. That is the short answer.
The longer answer is that the question deserves respect rather than a brush-off, because the sector genuinely earned its reputation. The phrase “cash for gold” peaked during the 2009-2011 gold rush, and some of the companies that dominated its advertising in those years ran models that regulators found wanting. If your instinct on seeing a postal gold advert is suspicion, that instinct is not paranoia. It is pattern recognition, and the right response is not to avoid the category but to know exactly what to check.
Where did the cash-for-gold reputation come from?
It came from a specific, documented period. In November 2009 the Office of Fair Trading opened an investigation into the contract terms of five UK postal gold-buying businesses, closing the case in February 2011 (OFT case record, gov.uk). The concerns read like a checklist of everything that can go wrong with the model: payments sent to consumers instead of quotes, with the payment treated as accepted if not rejected within a restrictive window; items at risk of being melted before the seller had genuinely agreed; unclear pricing; unclear insurance arrangements; and “high price” advertising that did not explain the figures were scrap value.
| Trading name | Company behind it | Outcome of the 2009-2011 OFT case |
|---|---|---|
| CashMyGold | Bullion Buying Ltd | Gave undertakings to provide clear quotes, allow proper consideration periods before melting, and remove misleading price claims |
| Cash4Gold (UK) | Green Bullion Europe Limited | Gave the same undertakings |
| Postal Gold | Sigma Response Limited | Gave the same undertakings |
| CashYourGoldNow | Vertex Watch Company Limited | Committed to undertakings, then ceased trading in the UK |
| Money4Gold | Money4Gold Ltd | Entered liquidation before undertakings were obtained |
The American side of the story is blunter still. Cash4Gold’s US parent built the biggest brand in the sector, advertising during the 2009 Super Bowl. Independent testing reported by Consumer Reports found it quoting $7.60 to $12.72 for jewellery with a melt value of roughly $70, somewhere around a tenth to a fifth of the metal’s worth. The parent company, Green Bullion Financial Services, filed for bankruptcy in November 2012.
So when people ask whether cash for gold is a scam, they are usually remembering, directly or second-hand, a real era with real casualties. It would be dishonest of any postal gold buyer, us included, to pretend otherwise.
Is a low offer a scam?
Mostly, no, and the distinction matters because it tells you what to guard against. A scam in the strict sense, taking your items and never paying, or paying and then reversing the payment, is rare and criminal. What the OFT case describes is something different and far more common: a lawful business whose margin depends on friction. The offer is low, but declining it is made awkward, slow or costly enough that most people accept whatever lands. Silence-as-acceptance clauses, short windows, chargeable returns and lump-sum offers with no working are all friction by design.
That model is legal when the terms disclose it, which is precisely why the checks in the next section focus on terms and paperwork rather than on vibes. It is also worth knowing what a low-looking offer is not evidence of. Every buyer in the market pays below the spot price you see on a chart, because spot is the wholesale price of refined fine gold and jewellery is an alloy that has to be assayed and refined; the arithmetic is set out in spot price versus scrap price. An offer below an insurance valuation is normal too, because insurance figures are replacement-at-retail, not resale. The dividing line is not the size of the number. It is whether the number comes with its working, in writing, and whether saying no is genuinely free.
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.
What separates a legitimate postal buyer from a bad one?
Every signal in this table is checkable from your sofa, before anything is posted. None of them requires you to take anyone’s word for anything, which is the point.
| Signal | What a legitimate buyer does | What a bad one does |
|---|---|---|
| The offer | Written and itemised: purity found, weight, rate used and date, per item | A verbal or lump-sum figure with no working, sometimes sent as a cheque rather than a quote |
| Declining | Free tracked return of your items, unaltered | Return postage charged, an “administration fee”, or a deemed-acceptance clause that turns silence into a sale |
| The company | Company number displayed and verifiable at Companies House, active, filings up to date | No company number, a dissolved entity, or marketing history that contradicts the incorporation date |
| Testing | A named method, typically XRF assay, explained on the website and on the phone | “Our experts assess it”, with no method named and no purity stated on offers |
| Items in the meantime | Kept intact until you accept in writing | Terms permitting melting or processing on receipt |
| Rates | Published, dated, and labelled indicative until assay | “Guaranteed highest prices” before anyone has seen the item, or countdown timers on the figure |
The longer version of this list, including the exact phrases to search for in a buyer’s terms and conditions, is in red flags when choosing a postal gold buyer, and the deductions that can quietly reduce a headline figure are covered in what a postal gold buyer actually charges.
How do you check any buyer in ten minutes?
- Verify the company number at Companies House. Name matches, status active, accounts and confirmation statements filed. Two minutes, free, and it filters out more bad actors than any other single step.
- Open the terms and use find-in-page. Search for “deemed”, “melted”, “return postage” and “sole discretion”. What follows those words is the real deal on offer.
- Phone the number and ask how items are tested. A buyer who can explain their assay method in plain words is a different proposition from one who cannot.
- Search the trading name plus the words “complaint” and “not returned”. Patterns surface quickly.
- Get the figure in writing before you post, and again after assay. A buyer unwilling to write numbers down is telling you something important.
If a sale is already in motion and something feels wrong, do not wait for it to resolve itself: what to do if something goes wrong selling gold by post sets out the escalation routes and the time limits, some of which are short.
Where GoldPaid fits, and the checks you should run on us too
GoldPaid is a UK postal gold and silver buyer, so this article is, unavoidably, a company in the cash-for-gold sector writing about scams in the cash-for-gold sector. The only honest way to handle that is to invite the same scrutiny we recommend for everyone else, so here is our paperwork. GoldPaid Ltd is registered at Companies House under company number 17382540, and registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office under ZC214216; both registers are public and free to search. We are a young company with a Trustpilot rating of 4.7 at the time of writing, on a profile that is newer than most of the sector, and you should read the individual reviews rather than the score, exactly as you should with any buyer.
On the mechanics: items are tested by XRF assay, the offer is written and itemised against the market rate on the day of assay, items are kept intact until you accept, and if you decline, everything is returned to you free of charge. Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used. If you accept the written offer, payment is by Faster Payments within one working hour of acceptance, usually within 30 minutes during working hours. Our published per-gram rates on the gold calculator are indicative and dated, not offers, and no figure is guaranteed before inspection, from us or from anyone else. The full method is on how we value gold.
None of that is a reason to skip the ten-minute checks. It is the reason we can afford to publish them.
When is cash for gold the wrong route entirely?
Sometimes the honest answer to “is this a good deal?” is that no metal-value buyer, careful or careless, is the right home for what you have. A postal gold buyer pays on assayed metal content. That is the right basis for broken, worn, unhallmarked or unfashionable items, and the wrong basis for anything whose value sits above its metal.
- Collectable coins. Sovereigns and Britannias in fine condition, proof sets and low-mintage years can carry numismatic premiums a scrap rate ignores, see coins versus jewellery.
- Branded and signed pieces. A Cartier bangle or a signed period ring is worth more intact, through a specialist dealer or auction house, than melted.
- Named-maker and antique silver. Georgian flatware and named-maker pieces frequently clear well above scrap at auction.
- Working luxury watches. The case metal is usually the least valuable part.
A legitimate buyer says this before you post, not after. If a piece in your parcel looks collectable under assay, the right behaviour is to flag it and suggest a specialist route rather than quietly buying it as scrap, and that behaviour, more than any badge or slogan, is the working definition of a gold buyer you can trust.
Common questions
Is cash for gold legit in the UK?
Yes, the model is legal and most operators are ordinary businesses. The sector’s poor reputation traces to a documented period: the OFT investigated five named UK postal gold firms between 2009 and 2011 over unfair contract terms, securing undertakings from three; one ceased UK trading and one entered liquidation. The checks that separate good from bad are a written itemised offer, a free tracked return, a verifiable company number and a stated testing method.
How much do cash-for-gold companies actually pay?
Reputable UK postal buyers pay a published or quoted rate per gram below the spot price of fine gold, because jewellery is an alloy that must be assayed and refined and every buyer carries a margin. The historical lowball cases were far more extreme: US testing reported by Consumer Reports found Cash4Gold quoting roughly a tenth to a fifth of melt value. The defence is always the same, compare written per-gram figures, never lump sums.
What happened to Cash4Gold?
The US company behind the brand, Green Bullion Financial Services, filed for bankruptcy in November 2012 after years of criticism over low offers. Its UK arm, Green Bullion Europe Limited, was one of the five firms in the OFT’s 2009-2011 postal gold case and gave undertakings to improve its terms. The brand’s collapse is a large part of why “cash for gold” still sounds like a warning.
Is it safe to send gold in the post?
With the right service, yes. Use a tracked, signed-for service, keep the proof-of-postage receipt, photograph items before packing, and put nothing on the outside of the parcel that hints at the contents. Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used, and a reputable buyer arranges the label. The full walkthrough is in our guide to selling gold safely by post.
What is the single biggest red flag with a postal gold buyer?
A clause that treats your silence as acceptance, or terms allowing items to be melted before you have accepted in writing. Either one removes your ability to say no, which is the entire protection in a postal sale. A chargeable return is the close third.
How do I know GoldPaid itself is not a scam?
Do not take our word for it, check the public record. GoldPaid Ltd is company number 17382540 at Companies House and ZC214216 on the ICO register, our offers are written and itemised after XRF assay, returns are free if you decline, and our Trustpilot page shows 4.7 on a newer profile, and you should read the reviews individually rather than trust the score. Run the same ten-minute checks on us that this article recommends for every buyer.