Is this a real thing, or another cold-email outfit?
GoldPaid is a UK-based postal gold and silver buying service that works directly with charity shops. When you message or call 07944 014111 between 8am and 9pm, a real person in the UK answers. Every parcel is XRF-tested, every offer is written and itemised, and payment is made by Faster Payments direct to the charity’s registered bank account once the offer is accepted. Nothing happens until the shop has had a free WhatsApp valuation and decided to post.
Is it really free, or is there a catch somewhere?
The WhatsApp valuation is free. The prepaid Royal Mail Special Delivery label is free. The tracked return, if the charity declines the offer, is free. The shop never pays for anything. GoldPaid’s margin is on the onward sale to refiners, auction houses and specialist buyers, shown as a percentage on every report. If you don’t like the offer, say no. The items come back, tracked and signed for, at our cost.
Does head office need to approve this first?
For a single WhatsApp photo valuation, no. You can send a photo and get an estimate in minutes without committing anything. For an actual sale, head office or a trustee usually approves the bank account the payment goes into, because we only ever pay the charity’s registered account, never a personal account, never a shop till. That is a one-time setup. After that, the shop can run the process itself.
If you would like GoldPaid to approach your head office directly first, send the name of your retail director or head of trading on WhatsApp and we will do the outreach so you don’t have to. The trustee briefing is a forward-ready two-page document written for a lay trustee.
What paperwork do I actually need?
Very little. For the first parcel: the charity’s registered name, the charity number (we verify it against the Charity Commission register, or OSCR for Scottish charities, or CCNI for Northern Irish charities), the charity’s bank sort code and account number, and a named contact at the shop or head office. That is it. For repeat parcels, we already have the account details on file, so the shop WhatsApps us, we send a label, the shop posts.
Who do I message if I’m not sure about something?
Call or WhatsApp us on 07944 014111. One number takes both calls and WhatsApp messages, and a real person answers either way. If you have a watch you are not sure about, a piece of costume jewellery that might be silver, or a box of mixed items and you don’t know what is worth sending. That is exactly the conversation GoldPaid is set up for. Five minutes on WhatsApp saves an afternoon of triage in the stockroom.
What should I send, and what shouldn’t I?
Send gold of any carat (including broken chains and single earrings), silver (hallmarked or clearly marked), costume jewellery in bulk by the kilo (tangled and unsorted is fine), watches of any kind (running, not running, pocket, parts), coins, medals, antiques and small collectables, silverware, and anything unusual you are not sure about. Don’t send things that clearly belong on the shop floor, ordinary clothing, books, modern bric-a-brac, or items without obvious specialist value. Named-maker pottery, porcelain and vintage cameras are a separate matter: GoldPaid does not buy them and they should not go in a GoldPaid parcel, but send a photo anyway and we will tell you what you have and which specialist auction house or dealer to consign it to, at no charge. If you are uncertain about anything, WhatsApp a photo first. The full list is on what we buy.
How long does the whole thing take?
WhatsApp valuation: about five minutes. Label: arrives digitally on WhatsApp within half an hour of the request, or as a printed paper label by post if the shop prefers. Posting: one trip to any Post Office counter. Valuation on arrival: we aim to value a parcel on the working day it arrives. Payment: by Faster Payments; we aim to pay within one working hour of acceptance. When the post runs to time, a parcel can go from the first WhatsApp message to money in the charity’s account inside 48 hours.
What do I tell my area manager or trustee about GoldPaid?
Short version: GoldPaid is a UK postal gold and silver buying service for charity shops. Free WhatsApp valuation before posting. Prepaid Royal Mail Special Delivery label, tracked, with cover that may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used. XRF-tested gold and silver priced under separate charity terms against the live precious-metal market on the day. Watches and antiques assessed individually. Faster Payments direct to the charity’s registered bank account once the offer is accepted, with a written itemised report and trustee-friendly PDF summary. If the offer isn’t accepted, items return free of charge. The full governance answers are on the trustee briefing.
What happens if the offer isn’t enough?
You say no. The parcel comes back the same way it arrived, tracked, signed-for, at our cost. There is no follow-up chasing, no pressure calls, no we can go a bit higher if you commit today. The offer is the offer. If it doesn’t work for the charity, the items come home and the shop tries another route. Full process on what happens if I decline the offer.
Can I see a sample valuation before I commit anything?
Yes. WhatsApp a photo of a single item, a ring, a watch, a coin, and you get a free rough estimate and an estimate of what GoldPaid would pay. No label is sent, nothing is stored beyond the conversation, nothing happens until you ask. That is the point of the WhatsApp-first model: try the service on one item before trusting it with a parcel.
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
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.
Common questions
Do I need head-office approval to send the first parcel?
For a WhatsApp valuation, no. For an actual sale, head office or a trustee usually approves the charity bank account the payment goes into, because GoldPaid only ever pays the charity’s registered account. After the one-time setup, repeat parcels are run by the shop without further head-office involvement.
What do I send and what do I leave on the shop floor?
Send anything you are not sure about: gold (any carat, broken or whole), silver, costume jewellery in bulk, watches of any kind, coins, medals and hallmarked silverware. Named-maker pottery, porcelain and vintage cameras are the exception. GoldPaid does not buy those, so they should not go in a GoldPaid parcel; send a photo and we will identify the piece and name the specialist auction house or dealer to consign it to, which the shop then deals with directly. The named-maker pottery guide for charity shops sets that route out. If in doubt about anything else, WhatsApp a photo first.
How quickly does the charity get paid?
We aim to value a parcel on the working day it arrives. Once the offer is accepted, we aim to pay by Faster Payments direct to the charity’s registered bank account within one working hour of acceptance, any day we are open, 8am to 9pm. Faster Payments run at weekends, so a Saturday acceptance is not held until Monday. Very occasionally a bank’s own cut-off delays arrival until the next morning.
What if I send a parcel and the offer is rejected by my head office?
Decline the offer and the parcel comes back free of charge by tracked, signed-for post. No restocking fee, no follow-up calls. Your shop receives payment for any items the charity did accept from the same parcel and the rest is returned in the same condition.
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.