How selling gold from Alston by post works
GoldPaid serves customers in Alston by post using a prepaid Royal Mail label. You do not need to visit a shop. There is no GoldPaid premises in Alston to attend; the process is deliberately arranged so the parcel does the travelling, not you, and so every decision is made by you at home.
Start with a question, not a parcel
The first step is a conversation, not a commitment. Send a photo of your gold or silver on WhatsApp, or call, and you will get an honest quick indicative figure and a straight answer to anything you want to ask. You decide what happens next.
Because GoldPaid works entirely by post across the UK, you do all of this from home, in your own time. No shop, no queue, and nobody watching over your shoulder while you think.
Alston in context, and what we tend to receive from here
Alston is one of England's highest market towns, set high in the North Pennines with steep cobbled streets, remote and quiet in character.
Parcels from upland country tend to carry domestic family jewellery rather than collector stock, often with hallmarks rubbed thin by long daily wear.
How it works
- Ask first and send photos. Message us on WhatsApp with photos of your gold or silver for a quick indicative figure. Ask anything; there is no charge and no obligation.
- Request a prepaid Royal Mail label. We send a free Royal Mail Special Delivery label, tracked and signed for. No printer? We send a QR code for the Post Office counter.
- Post it when you are ready. Use any padded envelope. There is no deadline and no pressure.
- Receive a no-obligation valuation. Every item is weighed on calibrated scales and tested by XRF spectrometry. You get a written, itemised offer: purity, weight, the rate used and the figure.
- Accept or decline. Accept and you are paid by bank transfer via Faster Payments. Decline and everything is returned free of charge by tracked, insured post.
The valuation, in plain terms
We do not eyeball a figure. Each item is XRF-assayed for purity and weighed on calibrated scales, then valued against the live market rate, and you see the working in writing before you decide. The method is set out in full on how we value gold.
From a Alston Post Office counter to our XRF bench
The CA postcode area covers Alston and the surrounding Cumbria district. A parcel handed in at any Post Office counter inside that area joins the same Royal Mail Special Delivery network and normally reaches our address the next working morning.
Most parcels carry several different items at once. Each is handled separately: photographed as it arrives, identified by carat with the XRF analyser, and weighed individually, so a mixed box is valued piece by piece rather than as a single lump.
Keep the counter receipt. Its thirteen-character tracking reference pins your parcel to the dated Royal Mail consignment, and a phone photograph taken before you leave the counter is enough to close the chain on your side.
Getting it here safely
Royal Mail Special Delivery cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used. We post you a Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed label: tracked end to end, signed for, and arranged with that cover per parcel. If your items are worth more, the rule is simple, message us before posting and we will sort the right approach. There is more on postage and insurance.
No obligation, ever
You are free to walk away at any point before you accept. Decline the offer and everything is repacked and returned to you free of charge, fully tracked and insured. There is no assessment fee and no sales pressure afterwards. The detail is on what happens if I decline the offer.
How payment reaches you
Accept the offer and the money is sent by Faster Payments straight to the bank account you provide. There are no cheques, no delays of that kind, and no strings.
Who in Alston sells gold and silver to GoldPaid?
Most enquiries from Alston fall into a few familiar groups. Whatever you have, it is valued the same way: each item XRF-tested, weighed, and written up before you decide anything.
- Broken and worn gold jewellery. Snapped chains, single earrings, bent rings, tangled or clasp-less pieces. Condition makes no difference; we pay for the metal.
- Inherited and probate jewellery. Pieces being cleared after an estate, a downsize, or sorting out a family home.
- Scrap gold. Odd, mixed-carat or unhallmarked pieces, each paid at its own measured carat rather than as a lump.
- Gold sovereigns and coins. Flagged separately on the written offer if a coin carries collector value above its metal content.
- Silver. Hallmarked tableware, cutlery, coins and jewellery, weighed and valued alongside any gold.
- Unwanted jewellery of any kind. Gifts that were never worn, pieces from a past relationship, anything simply sitting unused in a drawer.
Unsure where your items sit? A WhatsApp photo gets you a straight, honest answer before a label is ever issued.
The proof, not the promise
Anyone can say "best price". GoldPaid does not. Instead the process is laid bare: a measured XRF assay, calibrated weighing, the live market rate, and a written breakdown you read at home before you commit to anything. The reassurance here is structural, built into how the service works, rather than asserted in a slogan.
Common questions
Can I send photos before I post anything from Alston?
That is exactly how most Alston enquiries begin. A clear WhatsApp photo lets us give you a considered first view and settle any concerns before you decide whether to post at all.
How long does a parcel from Alston take to reach you?
Royal Mail Special Delivery from Alston normally reaches us the next working morning. We assess, XRF-test and weigh your items on the day they arrive and email the written offer the same day. If you accept, payment goes by Faster Payments and usually clears within minutes.
Can I ask questions before I post anything?
Encouraged. The first move is always a question or a photo. We will talk you through the assay, the cover and the return-if-you-decline process before you commit to posting anything.
How is the Royal Mail cover arranged?
Every label is 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; for items you think exceed that, contact us before posting so we can confirm the right option.
What happens if I do not accept the offer?
Your items are returned to you free of charge by tracked, signed-for Royal Mail post. There is no fee for declining, no pressure and no obligation to accept.