How selling gold from Church Stretton by post works
GoldPaid serves customers in Church Stretton by post using a prepaid Royal Mail label. You do not need to visit a shop. There is nothing in Church Stretton to find or drive to; the label arrives by email, the parcel goes through your own Post Office, and you decide at your kitchen table.
No pressure to begin with
There is genuinely nothing to commit to up front. A WhatsApp message with a couple of photos of your gold or silver gets you a quick indicative figure and an honest answer to any question. Whether you post anything is your call, made later.
GoldPaid has no high-street branches. It is postal-only and UK-wide, which is what keeps it lean and means you never have to travel.
Church Stretton: the town, and the items posted to us from it
Church Stretton is a small town in the Shropshire Hills between the Long Mynd and Caer Caradoc, a quiet former spa with a settled, older population. It is a calm hill town where inherited jewellery is common, a fair distance from any city. Selling from Church Stretton is done by post, anywhere in the UK, so there is no shop to visit.
Remote upland towns send inherited family jewellery from long-settled communities, often worn smooth, alongside hallmarked silver kept across generations.
The process, step by step
- Get in touch and show us. A WhatsApp photo of your gold or silver is all we need to give you an honest quick indicative figure before anything is posted.
- Get your free label. We send a prepaid Royal Mail Special Delivery label, fully tracked. If you have no printer, a QR code for the counter does the same job.
- Send it at your own pace. Wrap it in any padded envelope and hand it in at a Post Office whenever it suits you.
- See the written offer. We weigh and XRF-assay every item, then send an itemised breakdown showing exactly how the figure was reached.
- Decide. Say yes and the money is sent by Faster Payments. Say no and your items come straight back, free and insured.
Reading your items from photos
A clear set of photos of your gold or silver is enough for a useful first look. Lay items flat in good light and get close to any small stamps.
- Hallmarks. Close shots of hallmarks reveal the assay office mark and fineness, which indicates the carat of gold or whether silver is sterling.
- Carat stamps. Stamps such as 9ct, 18ct, 375, 750 or 925 confirm the likely metal before any testing.
- Rough weight. Photographed beside a familiar object, items give us a fair sense of weight for the indicative figure.
- Solid versus plated. Worn edges showing base metal, or marks such as "GP" or "EPNS", point to plating. We say so plainly rather than letting you post something of little value.
- Stones and fittings. Stones, watch parts and base-metal clasps are valued apart from the precious metal, and a photo helps us explain that clearly.
What the offer is built on
Three measured things set every offer: confirmed purity from an XRF assay, accurate weight on calibrated scales, and the live precious-metal rate on the day. You read each figure in a written, itemised breakdown before you decide anything. To see the rates that move the figure, check the gold price today and the silver price today.
A Church Stretton parcel, from the SY postcode to the assay bench
Posting from Church Stretton means posting from the SY postcode area, which Royal Mail handles the same way as the rest of Shropshire. By Special Delivery, the parcel normally reaches our address the next working morning.
A box of odds and ends is valued exactly as carefully as a single ring. We photograph the contents on arrival, assay each piece by XRF for its true carat, and weigh them one at a time before any figure is written.
The Post Office counter receipt carries a thirteen-character Royal Mail tracking reference. A photograph of it taken at the counter is, in practical terms, the single document that protects you between the parcel leaving your hand and our written offer arriving in your inbox.
How your parcel is protected
Your parcel is insured up to £2,500 via Royal Mail Special Delivery. Your items travel on Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed: fully tracked, needs a signature on delivery, arranged with that compensation cover per parcel. Worth more than that? Tell us before you post, and we will either arrange extra cover or suggest splitting the items across separate parcels. See postage and insurance for the full picture.
Changing your mind is free
Declining costs you nothing. If the written offer does not suit you, say so, and your items come straight back by tracked, insured Royal Mail post at our expense. No fee, no questions, no chasing. See what happens if I decline the offer for the step by step.
Being paid
If you accept, payment follows by Faster Payments, transferred directly to your bank account. It is the last step, and a simple one.
Who in Church Stretton sells gold and silver to GoldPaid?
From Church Stretton, the items we see most often come from these situations. None needs sorting or identifying first, the assay confirms everything on arrival.
- 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.
Not sure which fits? Send a photo on WhatsApp and we will tell you what you have, with no obligation to go further.
Why sellers choose GoldPaid
GoldPaid is a small, owner-run UK business built on one promise: show the working. Every item is XRF-assayed and weighed on calibrated scales, every offer is itemised in writing, postage is free and insured both ways, and there is never a countdown or a hard sell. If something is worth more to a specialist than to us, we say so.
Common questions
Can I send photos before I post anything from Church Stretton?
Absolutely. A WhatsApp photo is the first step we recommend for anyone in Church Stretton. It lets us talk you through the items and the process before a label is ever issued, with nothing leaving your home.
How long does a parcel from Church Stretton take to reach you?
From Church Stretton, Special Delivery normally reaches us the next working morning. The assay, the weighing and the written offer all happen on the day of arrival, and your bank transfer is sent by Faster Payments as soon as you accept the figure.
Can I ask questions before I post anything?
Of course. The first step is a question, not a parcel. Send a WhatsApp message or call with any concern, and post only once you have the answers you want.
How is the Royal Mail cover arranged?
The postage is Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed, tracked the whole way and signed for. Your parcel is insured up to £2,500 via Royal Mail Special Delivery; flag higher-value items in WhatsApp before you post and we will confirm the right option.
What happens if I do not accept the offer?
Nothing happens to your items if you decline. They are posted straight back, free of charge, by tracked and signed-for Royal Mail. No fee, no pressure, no obligation and no follow-up.
How should I photograph my items before posting?
Lay each item flat on a plain surface in good daylight, then take one clear overall photo and a close-up of any hallmark or carat stamp. Photographing items next to a coin or a ruler helps show their size. From those photos we can usually read hallmarks, spot carat stamps and tell whether something looks solid or plated, which is enough for a quick indicative figure on WhatsApp.
Do I need to clean or polish my gold before sending it?
No. Please send items as they are. Value comes from the weight and purity of the precious metal, not the shine, and gentle wear, tarnish or small repairs make no difference to a postal valuation. There is no need to remove stones or dismantle anything either; set stones and non-gold parts are simply accounted for separately.