Executive summary for trustees
A charity retail operation receives donated specialty items every week: gold, silver, watches, antiques, collectable coins, and items of uncertain value. The current disposal route, in the majority of UK charity shops, is one of: sale on the shop floor at well below specialist value, bulk sale to a weighbridge scrap buyer, or indefinite storage in the back of a stockroom. Each route destroys a meaningful amount of value the charity is entitled to, and the loss is invisible because there is no audit line on it.
GoldPaid is a UK-based postal valuation and buying service built around charity governance. It gives shops a free WhatsApp valuation channel before anything is posted, a free prepaid Royal Mail Special Delivery label for approved parcels, a written XRF-based valuation on arrival, and Faster Payment direct to the charity's registered bank account once the offer is accepted. Every parcel produces a written itemised valuation and a trustee-friendly PDF summary. There is no contract, no minimum volume, no exclusivity clause, and no setup fee.
This briefing answers the seven questions a board should be asking before approving a pilot.
1. Who controls the money, and where does it land?
Every payment is made by UK Faster Payment to the charity's registered bank account only. The account is verified at onboarding against the Charity Commission register, OSCR for Scottish charities, or CCNI for Northern Irish charities. GoldPaid will never pay into a personal account, a shop till account, a consortium account, a staff member's account, or a suspense account. The account of record cannot be changed without a written request from the charity's head-office contact, using the registered charity email domain.
This is a structural commitment, not a policy. The onboarding system is designed so that any payment destination other than the verified charitable account is rejected at source.
2. What does the audit trail look like?
Every parcel is logged under a unique parcel reference. Against that reference the charity receives the sending shop, the date posted, the date valued, the itemised valuation with photographs of each material item, the offer made, the offer acceptance confirmation, the Faster Payment transaction reference, and the date of settlement. A trustee-friendly PDF summary is generated automatically with every parcel and emailed to the charity's designated head-office contact.
At month-end, a roll-up report aggregates all parcels across the estate, broken down by shop, by category, by value, and by exception. A CSV version is available for direct import into the charity's management accounting system in whatever format the finance team requires.
3. How are precious metals priced, and how does the board know the price is fair?
Precious metals (gold, silver, platinum) are tested by XRF spectrometry, a non-destructive reading of the exact alloy composition, and priced against the current London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) PM fix, the recognised global benchmark used by every refiner, bullion dealer and jeweller in the UK. The XRF reading and the benchmark price at the time of valuation are included on every itemised report.
The charity's finance team or auditor can independently verify any valuation by checking the LBMA PM fix for the relevant date against the purity and weight recorded on the report. This is deliberate: the pricing method is designed to be auditable by someone with no specialist knowledge.
4. How are watches, antiques and collectables priced?
Non-bullion items are priced against current auction comparables, the most recent comparable sales at UK regional auction houses and the major international houses where relevant. The comparables used are cited in the itemised report, with the auction house name, lot number, sale date, and hammer price. The GoldPaid offer is made as a percentage of the comparable hammer, with the percentage stated on the report so the charity can see the margin taken and judge whether it is reasonable.
This is the same method used by reputable antiques dealers and auction-house valuers. The difference is that the working is shown on paper to the charity rather than asserted verbally.
5. What happens if the charity does not accept the offer?
The parcel is returned to the sending shop, tracked and insured, at GoldPaid's cost. No fee for a returned parcel, no re-stocking charge, no delay. The items come back in the same condition they arrived, and the charity is free to dispose of them through any other route.
GoldPaid's commercial model depends on charities continuing to use the service over time, not on a single transaction. The incentive is aligned with making offers the charity considers fair on the first pass.
6. Data protection and UK GDPR
The only personal data processed in relation to the charity is the head-office contact name, role and work email, used solely to manage the service. Donor personal data is never requested or processed; the charity handles donor records as it does for any other disposal route. The lawful basis for processing is Article 6(1)(b) (performance of a contract) for onboarded charities and Article 6(1)(f) (legitimate interests, B2B) for initial outreach.
A full privacy notice, a data processing agreement template, and the ICO registration number are available on request. See privacy for the standing notice.
7. Exit, continuity, and what happens if GoldPaid ceases trading
There is no lock-in. The charity can stop using the service at any time, with no notice period and no penalty. Any parcels already in transit at the point of exit are valued and paid as normal; any parcels the charity chooses not to send are simply not sent. No data is held by GoldPaid that the charity cannot retrieve on request.
In the event that GoldPaid ceases trading, the commercial arrangement is structured so that no charity funds are ever held by GoldPaid for more than a few hours: payment to the registered account is always initiated within the same business day as parcel valuation. There is no scenario in which charity money could be trapped, because no balance is ever held in a GoldPaid intermediate account.
Recommended trustee action
The proportionate trustee action is to approve a five-shop pilot for a thirty-day period. Pick five shops across different postcode profiles in the charity's estate. Give those shop managers the GoldPaid WhatsApp number (07375 071158) and instruct them to send a photo of any donated item they are uncertain about for the pilot period. At the end of thirty days, review the monthly roll-up report with the retail director and the finance director, and make an informed decision on whether to extend the arrangement across the whole estate, continue at the pilot scale, or discontinue.
The commitment required from the charity during the pilot is: an onboarding call (about thirty minutes), bank account verification (one document exchange), agreement of the named head-office contact, and a briefing note to the five shop managers. No financial commitment. No contract. No exclusivity with respect to any existing disposal arrangement.
Conflict of interest disclosure
GoldPaid does not pay referral fees, commissions, or any other form of inducement to charity staff. No charity trustee, officer, or employee will receive any personal benefit from approving, recommending, or using the service. Any trustee, officer or employee of a charity retailer who has a relationship (commercial, personal, or familial) with GoldPaid is required to disclose that relationship on the onboarding call so it can be recorded against the charity's onboarding record.
Contact for trustee questions
A trustee reading this document because a retail director has forwarded it does not need to contact GoldPaid to make a decision: the information here is sufficient to judge the proposal on paper. If a 20-minute call would help, it is always available on request. WhatsApp 07375 071158. Phone 07763 741067 (different number from the WhatsApp line). Email via the contact form.
Why this is a calmer way to sell
Three things make GoldPaid a steadier route than a counter sale. You see a measured valuation in writing, not a verbal estimate. You decide at home, with nobody waiting. And if you decline, the return is free, tracked and insured, so obtaining the valuation costs you nothing.
Common questions
Does GoldPaid hold charity funds at any point?
No. Payment to the charity's registered bank account is always initiated within the same business day as parcel valuation. There is no GoldPaid intermediate account in the payment flow. If GoldPaid ceased trading, there is no scenario in which previously sold charity funds could be trapped.
Can a charity terminate the arrangement at any time?
Yes, with no notice period and no penalty. There is no contract, no minimum volume, no exclusivity clause, and no early-termination cost. Any parcels in transit at the point of termination are valued and paid as normal. Any parcels the charity chooses not to send are simply not sent.
How is the offer benchmarked so a trustee can verify it independently?
Precious metals are tested by XRF spectrometry, with the reading shown on the report, and priced against the LBMA PM fix on the day of valuation, with the benchmark shown. Watches and antiques are priced against current auction comparables, with the comparables cited (auction house, lot number, sale date, hammer price) on the report. Any trustee or auditor with no specialist knowledge can verify any number independently.