I am Rocco Clayfield. I run GoldPaid, a UK-wide postal service that buys gold and silver. These are the kinds of item a photo on WhatsApp can catch: a ring that nearly went into the costume tray, a sugar bowl marked as plate that turns out to be sterling, a man’s watch about to be priced at four pounds.
None of that is a failure by the shop. Volunteers sort thousands of items. Managers run a shop, not an assay office. And the stamps themselves do not cooperate: they hide inside ring shanks, on the tongue of a clasp, on the bale of a pendant, on the tiny fitting where a chain meets its bolt ring. A worn stamp in any of those places is easy to miss when there are forty other things to do before opening.
The Charity Jewellery Recovery Programme is how GoldPaid helps with that. It has two halves. Free monthly online training, so your team learns what to look for. And a safe postal valuation route, so when something is worth checking, you can check it without the item leaving the shop until you decide. Both are built around one habit: ask first.
Who the programme is for
- Charity shop managers and assistant managers.
- Volunteers and back-room sorting teams.
- Area managers and regional retail managers.
- Charity retail head office and e-commerce teams.
- Fundraising teams.
- Trustees, treasurers and finance leads who want to understand the risk.
Training is free for anyone involved with a charity, and the valuation route has no fee to use.
The problem: value leaves quietly
Donated jewellery rarely arrives labelled. It comes in a carrier bag with clothes, or a biscuit tin from a house clearance, or a jar of tangled chains nobody has time to untangle. The valuable pieces do not announce themselves. A 9ct chain looks like any other chain once it is snapped. A heavy Victorian spoon looks like cutlery. A plain band with a faint 750 stamp looks like every other ring on the tray, even though 750 means 75 per cent pure gold: an 18ct piece by another name.
So three things go wrong. Gold gets priced as fashion. Sterling gets sold as plate. And broken pieces go into a job lot because a clasp does not work, even though a broken 18ct ring is still 18ct gold.
Put an illustrative number on it. A snapped 9ct curb chain weighing 15 grams is 37.5 per cent pure gold, so it holds about 5.6 grams of fine gold whatever its condition. Priced by eye as a broken bit, it could still end up in a 50p job-lot jar. One underpriced chain in one shop in one month is a small thing. The same pattern across twelve months, or across twenty shops, is not. That is the value the programme is designed to protect.
What the programme gives you
- Free monthly online training for your whole team, covered in full on the free training page.
- A WhatsApp photo route: send two to four clear photos and we tell you whether an item is worth checking properly, before you price it.
- A prepaid Royal Mail label when an item is worth posting, so the shop does not pay postage.
- A written, no-obligation valuation once we receive and test an item.
- Payment by bank transfer to the charity’s registered bank account once a valuation is accepted.
- A free, tracked return if the charity declines.
- A full library of working guides, checklists and policy templates for back-room teams, area managers and trustees.
Free monthly charity jewellery training
Once a month, GoldPaid runs a free online session for charity retail teams. It lasts an hour. It is delivered over a video call, and it is free for anyone involved with a charity. Managers are welcome to invite assistant managers, volunteers, area colleagues and head-office staff.
The sessions cover far more than scrap value. A typical hour moves through why donated jewellery gets underpriced, the realistic signs of gold and silver, hallmarks in plain English, broken pieces and odd items, watches and coins, what to photograph, and the safe postal process. Every session ends with time for questions.
An occasional two-hour session goes further, into gold purity, silver standards, watches, designer and antique pieces, and the escalation process for area managers.
Full detail and how to register are on the free training page. The rolling monthly themes are set out on the training calendar.
The safe postal valuation route
Training tells your team what to flag. The postal route is what they do next. It is four steps, and an enquiry can end at the first one.
- Ask first. Send two to four clear photos to WhatsApp 07944 014111. We tell you whether an item is worth checking properly. An enquiry can end here, with nothing posted.
- Request a label. If something is worth a closer look, we send a prepaid Royal Mail label. The shop pays nothing to post.
- We test and value. The item is weighed and XRF-tested in-house. XRF (X-ray fluorescence) reads the metal composition at the surface without cutting, filing or marking the piece, so worn and unstamped items can still be assessed. Because XRF reads only the top few microns it cannot by itself see through plating, so anything that could be plated is confirmed against the hallmark, the weight and, where needed, a further test before an offer is made. You receive a written, no-obligation valuation.
- You decide. Accept, and the charity is paid by bank transfer. Decline, and the item is returned by tracked post. Changing your mind costs nothing.
What charity shops can send
- Gold jewellery in any condition, including broken, snapped and single pieces.
- Gold and silver coins, including full and half sovereigns (a full sovereign contains 7.32g of fine gold) and pre-1947 UK silver coinage.
- Sterling silver and silver flatware, including candlesticks, photograph frames, napkin rings and dressing-table sets. Weight adds up quickly: six sterling teaspoons can outweigh a typical gold ring several times over.
- Gold and silver watches, and many vintage wristwatches and pocket watches.
- Medals and small precious-metal items.
- Dental gold.
- Mixed jewellery jars and job lots, sorted or unsorted.
If you are not sure whether something fits, send a photo and ask. That is what the photo route is for.
What you should not automatically scrap
Some items are worth more left intact than melted. We will tell you when that is the case, even though it means we are not the buyer.
- Signed or designer jewellery.
- Named-maker watches, for example Rolex, Omega and other recognised brands.
- Antique and Georgian or Victorian pieces in good condition.
- Military medals, particularly named groups with their ribbons.
- Complete silver canteens and matched sets.
- Anything with collectable or auction value above its metal weight.
If a photo shows something better suited to specialist resale or auction, we say so. A gold wristwatch on its original bracelet, a signed designer brooch or a named medal group with its ribbons can be worth several times its metal weight to the right buyer, and melting it would erase that difference. An honest answer protects the charity, which matters more than winning the parcel.
Safety, cover and staying in control
Nothing leaves your shop until you choose to send it. A WhatsApp photo is not a commitment. A posted parcel is not a sale. Only an accepted valuation is.
Items are posted tracked and signed for using the prepaid Royal Mail Special Delivery label we send. 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, and for higher-value parcels we will talk through the right Special Delivery option first.
Every valuation is written and itemised, so the treasurer can match the payment to the parcel it relates to, and the charity has a clear record for its own audit trail. Payment goes only to the charity’s registered bank account, never a personal account or a shop till. The trustee briefing sets out the payment controls and per-parcel audit trail in full. Final offers depend on inspection, item weight, purity, hallmarks, stones, non-precious-metal components, condition and the live precious-metal market.
For area managers and multi-shop charities
If you run more than one shop, the same patterns repeat in every one of them, and so does the lost value. The programme is built for that. Training is open to every shop in a chain at no cost. A standard photo and triage routine can be rolled out across all sites, so a piece is checked the same way in shop one and in shop twenty.
Two existing guides go deeper here: reducing jewellery value leakage across multiple shops, written for area managers and retail directors, and how GoldPaid works with multi-shop charities. For a chain of ten shops or more, message us on 07944 014111 to arrange a short call.
Guides, checklists and policy templates
The programme is backed by a full library of guides, checklists and templates. Start with these.
Rocco Clayfield, Director, GoldPaid.
Common questions
Is the programme free?
The monthly training is free for anyone involved with a charity. The valuation route has no fee to use, no charge to ask, and no charge to decline. GoldPaid earns only when a charity accepts an offer and chooses to sell.
Do we have to sell anything to take part?
No. The training is free and entirely separate from selling. The photo route carries no obligation. You can use the programme to learn and to check items without ever sending anything.
Does GoldPaid visit our shop?
No. GoldPaid is a UK-wide postal service, so nobody visits and there is no geographic limit. Charities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all follow the same process.
Can GoldPaid give a value from a photo?
No. Photos help us decide whether an item is worth proper testing. Final offers depend on inspection, item weight, purity, hallmarks, stones, non-precious-metal components, condition and the live precious-metal market.
How is the charity paid?
By Faster Payments to the charity’s registered bank account; we aim to pay within one working hour of acceptance. GoldPaid never pays a personal account or a shop till. Head office or a trustee approves the account once, at the start, and every later parcel is paid into the same verified account with a reference the treasurer can match to the written valuation.
What happens if we decline an offer?
The item is returned by tracked post, and the process is explained in plain English beforehand. There is no fee for changing your mind. See what happens if I decline the offer.
Who at the charity needs to sign off?
That is the charity’s decision. A simple two-person sign-off for accept or decline, recorded in the back-room log, works well. On our side, the only fixed control is the bank account: head office or a trustee approves the charity’s registered account once, before the first payment. After that one-time step, shop managers can run the photo and postal route themselves.
What paperwork does the charity receive?
A written, itemised valuation for every parcel, listing each item with its tested purity, weight and the offer made. If the offer is accepted, the Faster Payment carries a reference the treasurer can match to that valuation. Multi-shop charities can also ask for a monthly summary across all shops. The trustee briefing sets out the full audit trail.
What happens if a parcel is lost in the post?
Parcels travel on the prepaid Royal Mail Special Delivery label we send, tracked and signed for, with cover that may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used. If a parcel is lost, the Royal Mail enquiry and compensation claim are made by the shop as the sender, even though GoldPaid paid for the label; we check tracking with you, confirm whether it arrived and supply the label and consignment details. Keep the counter receipt, photograph and log items before posting, so the shop’s own record supports the claim, and message us first about anything you believe may be worth more than the cover level, so the right postal option is agreed before it travels.
Can volunteers and other shops join the training?
Yes. Managers can invite assistant managers, volunteers, back-room teams, e-commerce staff, area colleagues and head-office teams. There is no cap on numbers.
Is there a minimum value?
There is no formal minimum. For very low scrap weights we will tell you honestly whether it is worth the postage and your time. A single 9ct earring back weighing half a gram is not worth a parcel on its own; a jar of oddments that includes it may well be.
Not the question you had? The full GoldPaid FAQ covers the rest, from postal cover and ID checks to what happens if you decline the offer.
Speak to us before you post
Please send us photos on WhatsApp, and we will help you. We give a rough estimate where possible and arrange postage with you after our conversation. Your final offer follows inspection.