What we collect from labs and surgeries
- Failed and remade crowns, bridges and copings, with porcelain still fused on
- Casting sprues, buttons and excess from the casting well
- Old crowns and bridgework recovered chairside, decontaminated, with no tooth material attached
- PFM bonding-alloy scrap and white high-noble scrap
- Palladium-silver frameworks, clasps and partial-denture components
- Obsolete alloy stock, part-used ingots and mis-melts
Clean cast scrap is the core of the service. Each piece type is XRF-assayed and weighed separately, as on the consumer sell dental gold page, but with the assay reading itemised for each element rather than for gold alone. Anything due back to a patient remains the patient’s property, so send only scrap the practice or laboratory owns, and we ask about ownership on any consignment where that is unclear.
Palladium and platinum: what a visual sort misses
The commonest loss in dental scrap is not underweighing gold. It is white noble alloy thrown in the cobalt-chrome bin because it looks like base metal on the bench. Dental alloys carry palladium and platinum that no visual sort can see, which is why every consignment here goes through a multi-element XRF assay before any figure is written.
| Alloy family | Typical composition | What it means for value |
|---|---|---|
| High-noble yellow casting alloys | Often 60–75% gold, with palladium, platinum and silver alongside | The gold is obvious; the palladium and platinum next to it are not, and the multi-element assay reads both |
| White high-noble and PFM bonding alloys | Roughly 40–55% gold with significant palladium | Looks like base metal on the bench; frequently the second most valuable stream in a lab consignment |
| Palladium-silver (Pd-Ag) alloys | Commonly 50–60% palladium with silver | No gold at all, yet real value; the stream a visual sort discards most often |
| Base metal (Ni-Cr, Co-Cr) frameworks | No precious metal | Identified by XRF and excluded honestly; nothing is paid on hope, and nothing noble is missed by eye |
The written breakdown lists each element the assay measures and the weight it applies to. Final offers depend on inspection, item weight, purity, hallmarks, stones, non-gold components, condition and the live precious-metal market. Porcelain, cement and base-metal substructure are weighed off rather than paid for.
Decontamination, packaging and what we refuse
Infection control is not negotiable. Recovered restorations leaving a surgery must be cleaned and disinfected under the practice’s own decontamination procedure before they are posted. The governing guidance is published rather than paraphrased here: HTM 07-01, Safe Management of Healthcare Waste, with the equivalent national technical memoranda in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the GDC’s Standards for the Dental Team. Your compliance lead, not your metal buyer, is the right authority on what may leave the building.
- Decontaminate recovered restorations before posting; material arriving visibly contaminated is not assayed
- No extracted teeth or human tissue, ever. A crown must be separated from the tooth before it is sent; teeth belong in the practice’s clinical waste stream
- No amalgam. Silver-grey amalgam contains mercury, is hazardous waste, and belongs with a licensed dental amalgam waste contractor
- No loose sharps: burs, broken instruments and endodontic files stay out of the parcel
- Seal scrap in a rigid screw-top pot, bagged, inside a padded envelope, with a slip naming the practice or lab and a contact number
How the collection works
- Start on WhatsApp. Send photos of the sorted scrap, grouped roughly by colour and type, for an honest indicative steer on what is worth sending. No charge, no obligation.
- Request the prepaid label. A free Royal Mail Special Delivery label, tracked and signed for, usually within 30 minutes, 8am to 9pm.
- Post the sealed, decontaminated consignment. Hand it over a Post Office counter and keep the receipt with the tracking number.
- Multi-element XRF assay in-house. Each piece type is assayed and weighed separately, and you receive a written offer that lists the gold, palladium, platinum and silver the assay measured.
- Accept or decline. On acceptance we aim to pay by bank transfer on Faster Payments within one working hour of acceptance. Decline and the consignment is returned free by tracked, signed-for post.
Regular accounts run on a rhythm. Labels are sent on whatever cycle you set, monthly or quarterly, so scrap can be banked at the bench and posted in one go, and, as with the charity-shop programme GoldPaid already runs, a free training session for practice or lab staff on separating noble from base scrap at the bench is part of the arrangement.
What decides your offer
Every parcel is opened at our Bristol office and each piece is handled on its own. Nothing is averaged across the parcel.
- Weight. Each item is weighed on scales. Stones, steel springs, non-gold clasps and cores are not paid as gold. The written breakdown explains the payable metal weight for each item, rather than treating everything on the scales as precious metal.
- Purity. Each item is tested with an XRF analyser, which reads the metals at the points tested without marking the item. A surface reading alone cannot establish the composition of a plated or filled piece. Hallmarks, construction and different components all need to be considered alongside the test.
- The market on the day. Gold and silver are priced against the live precious-metal market at the time your parcel is assessed, not at the time you posted.
- Condition and intact value. Broken is fine and does not reduce a metal offer. Where a piece is worth more intact (a named maker, a collectable coin, a locket with provenance) we tell you before testing, so you can choose.
- Anything that is not gold or silver. Plated, rolled-gold and base-metal items are listed on the offer at nothing and returned to you free. We never quietly keep them.
Why we do not publish a per-gram price list. A single printed rate hides the things that change the figure: hollow versus solid, stones, mixed carats in one bag, a mark that does not match the metal. We would rather show you the weight, the tested purity and the figure for each item, in writing, and let you decide. Final offers depend on inspection, item weight, purity, hallmarks, stones, non-gold components, condition and the live precious-metal market.
What you see before you decide. A written, itemised offer by WhatsApp or email: every item, its weight, its tested purity, and its figure. Accept and we aim to pay by bank transfer within one working hour. Decline and the whole parcel comes back by Royal Mail Special Delivery at our cost. No fee, no deduction, no questions.
What GoldPaid can and cannot do
Can: piece-type assay of clean cast scrap, a written offer that lists each element measured, scheduled labels for recurring volume, and a straight answer on anything before it is posted. Cannot: GoldPaid is not a clinical waste contractor and does not provide waste-transfer documentation, does not accept amalgam, teeth or contaminated material under any circumstances, and works by post only, so larger consignments are split across parcels rather than collected by courier.
One more honest limit. Bench sweepings and grindings mixed with investment and abrasive under-read on a surface XRF assay, so on heavy sweep volumes a melt-and-assay refiner may return more than we can. Where that is true of your material, we say so before you post it. For sweeps in modest quantity alongside cast scrap, we assess and quote on what the assay supports.
Valued on fact, not estimate
Dental alloys vary, so every piece is weighed and XRF-tested before any offer, and the written offer shows the reading, the payable weight and the figure.
The written breakdown lists the measured gold, palladium, platinum and silver by piece type and the weight each reading applies to, so a practice manager or lab owner can check the consignment line by line.
One parcel gets one written figure, itemised piece by piece. Any gold or silver jewellery in it is priced on the weight and purity we measure and the live precious-metal market, with our margin already inside the figure.
Postage and cover
Your parcel travels on Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed: tracked end to end and signed for on delivery. 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. If your items may be worth more, message us first and we can split them across more than one prepaid label, each with its own tracking number, at no charge. Full detail is on postage and cover, and is it safe to post gold? walks through posting valuables safely. If a parcel is lost on its way to us, the compensation claim goes to Royal Mail from you, the sender, using your Post Office receipt, and we give you our tracking records and help you make it. Lost parcels, step by step.
If the offer is not for you
Then nothing happens except a free return. We send your items back by tracked, signed-for post at our cost, with no fee for declining and no follow-up. A valuation is only worth having if you can turn it down freely, so you can. See what happens if I decline the offer.
The written offer is dated and holds for a limited time, because metal prices move. If it lapses before you decide, we re-run it against the live precious-metal market on the day, at no charge. You can also accept part of a parcel and decline the rest, with no minimum and no penalty for splitting it.
The payment step
Acceptance starts payment: we aim to send a Faster Payments bank transfer within one working hour of your acceptance, to the account you give us. Nothing to bank and nothing to chase.
Who stands behind the offer
- Owner-run, with founder Rocco Clayfield personally accountable for the service
- Every item XRF-assayed, the result shown to you in writing
- Free tracked postage both ways, so a valuation carries no obligation
- Honest about its limits, including when a specialist would suit you better
- No fabricated reviews and no invented numbers, anywhere on the site
Common questions
Most of our scrap is white metal. Is any of it worth sending?
Often, yes. Palladium-silver frameworks and white high-noble bonding alloys look identical to cobalt-chrome on the bench, and they are the stream a visual sort discards most often. Multi-element XRF separates Pd-Ag from base metal in seconds, and only genuine base metal is excluded. Send photos of the white bin before assuming it is worthless.
Do we need to strip porcelain off failed PFM units first?
No. The assay is taken on exposed alloy, usually the fitting surface, and the ceramic is weighed off rather than paid for. Stripping porcelain at the bench loses metal more often than it reveals it, so send failed units as they are.
Can we send extracted teeth with gold crowns still attached?
No. Extracted teeth are human tissue and belong in the practice’s clinical waste stream. Separate the restoration, decontaminate it under your own infection-control procedure, and send the metal alone. Consignments containing tooth material are refused and the sender contacted before anything further happens.
How are palladium and platinum valued?
Ask before you post. Send photos of the scrap on WhatsApp and we will tell you how we would value the palladium, platinum and gold in it before anything is sent. The written offer lists each element the assay measures and the weight it applies to. Final offers depend on inspection, item weight, purity, hallmarks, stones, non-gold components, condition and the live precious-metal market.
Do you take bench sweepings and floor grindings?
In modest quantity alongside cast scrap, yes, and we quote on what the assay supports. On heavy sweep volumes mixed with investment, a melt-and-assay refiner may genuinely return more, and we will tell you so before you post rather than after.
Can we set up a regular monthly collection?
Yes. Regular accounts take prepaid labels on a monthly or quarterly schedule, with a written offer per consignment, and a free training session for staff on what to keep at the bench. Message us on WhatsApp to set it up.
What if we decline the written offer?
The consignment is returned free of charge by tracked, signed-for Royal Mail Special Delivery. There is no assay fee, no fee for declining and no follow-up pressure.
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.