How selling gold from Looe by post works
GoldPaid serves customers in Looe by post using a prepaid Royal Mail label. You do not need to visit a shop. Nothing about the service depends on a branch in Looe; it is built so you never travel, never feel rushed, and never accept anything before you have read it in writing.
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.
Who sells gold and silver from Looe, and what do they send?
Looe is a small Cornish coastal town in two halves either side of a tidal river, with a working harbour and a long fishing tradition. It is a settled town a fair distance from any city or specialist buyer. Selling from Looe is done by post, UK-wide, so there is no shop to visit.
Coastal retirement towns send a particular mix, fine inherited pieces alongside everyday gold, often cleared after a house move, a downsize, or the settling of an estate.
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.
What we can check from your photos
Clear photos tell us a surprising amount before your gold or silver leaves the house. They are how we reach a sensible quick indicative figure, and how we flag anything worth knowing before you post.
- Hallmarks and assay marks. A close photo of a hallmark often shows the assay office mark and the fineness, which points to whether an item is 9, 18 or 22 carat gold, or sterling silver.
- Carat and fineness stamps. Numbers such as 375, 750, 916 or 925 stamped on a clasp or band help confirm the metal before testing.
- Approximate weight. A photo next to a coin or a ruler gives a rough sense of size and weight, which feeds the indicative figure.
- Solid or plated. Wear at edges, a worn-through base metal, or marks like "GP", "rolled gold" or "EPNS" usually indicate plating rather than solid precious metal. We will tell you honestly if an item looks plated.
- Stones and non-gold parts. Set stones, clasps, springs, watch movements and base-metal fittings are not precious metal and are accounted for separately, so a photo helps us explain how they affect the figure.
Where the figure comes from
There is no guesswork in the offer. We confirm purity by XRF assay, weigh on calibrated scales, and price against the live market rate on the day. Every one of those numbers appears in the written breakdown you receive before deciding. The full method is on how we value gold.
How does a parcel travel from Looe to GoldPaid?
A parcel posted from Looe travels on the Royal Mail PL postcode network, with the same handling from the town centre or the wider Cornwall district. Sent by Special Delivery it normally reaches our address the next working morning.
Mixed-carat parcels are normal. We separate 9, 18 and 22 carat items by direct XRF measurement rather than relying on the stamps, weigh each on a calibrated scale, and pay every carat at its own rate.
Take a photograph of the Post Office receipt before you leave. The thirteen-character tracking number on it is the document that links your parcel to the consignment and follows it all the way to our door.
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.
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.
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 Looe sells gold and silver to GoldPaid?
The parcels we receive from Looe tend to come from a handful of situations. If one of these sounds like yours, the linked page goes further into it.
- 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 Looe?
Absolutely. A WhatsApp photo is the first step we recommend for anyone in Looe. 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 Looe take to reach you?
From Looe, 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.