How selling gold from Southwold by post works
GoldPaid serves customers in Southwold by post using a prepaid Royal Mail label. You do not need to visit a shop. There are no GoldPaid premises in Southwold 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.
A question costs nothing
Before you decide anything, send a few clear photos of your gold or silver on WhatsApp, or call. You will get an honest quick indicative figure and a straight answer about hallmarks, the postal cover, the XRF assay or the free return if you decline. None of it commits you to posting.
GoldPaid is a UK-wide postal gold and silver buying service with no branches. The flagship guide, selling gold by post in the UK, walks through how the whole thing works before you send a thing.
Who sells gold and silver from Southwold, and how is it tested?
Southwold is a small Suffolk coastal town on Sole Bay, known for the white lighthouse that stands among its houses, its pier and its rows of brightly painted beach huts. The town has long had a settled, comfortable and notably older resident population. Older pieces are checked for antique or collector value here before anything is priced as scrap. Anyone in Southwold selling gold or silver does so by post, UK-wide, with no shop visit needed, which suits a town where the nearest specialist buyer is a long drive away.
Stones are handled apart from metal. Set stones are recorded and their weight taken out, so the gold figure is a gold figure and nothing is paid for as metal that is not metal.
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, usually on the working day your parcel arrives, 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 tracked.
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 usually shows two useful things: the mark of the assay office that tested the piece, and the fineness. Fineness is the purity number, and it tells us 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, so we account for them separately. A photo helps us explain how they affect the figure.
How the offer is worked out
Three things set the offer, and all three are measured rather than assumed: confirmed purity, accurate weight, and the live market rate on assessment day. You read every figure in a written, itemised breakdown before you commit to anything. See how we value gold for the detail.
How does a parcel travel from Southwold to GoldPaid?
Royal Mail groups Southwold into its IP postcode area, alongside neighbouring parts of Suffolk. Whichever counter in that area you use, a Special Delivery parcel normally reaches our address the next working morning.
When a parcel holds several pieces, none is treated as filler. Each is photographed in the order it came out of the box, tested for carat by XRF, and weighed on its own, so a single offer can carry a dozen separate lines.
The proof of posting is the counter receipt, and the part that matters is the thirteen-character tracking number. With a photo of it on your phone you can follow the parcel yourself and check our arrival email against it.
How your parcel is protected
Your parcel travels on Royal Mail Special Delivery, and Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used. 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 cover for the full picture.
If you decide not to sell
There is never any obligation to accept. If the offer is not for you, simply decline, and we return everything free of charge by tracked, signed-for post, with no fee and no follow-up pressure. The full return process is on what happens if I decline the offer.
Being paid
If you accept, payment follows by Faster Payments within one working hour of acceptance, transferred directly to your bank account. It is the last step, and a simple one.
Who in Southwold sells gold and silver to GoldPaid?
GoldPaid buys in a handful of clear situations, set out below. 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 tracked 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 Southwold?
Absolutely. A WhatsApp photo is the first step we recommend for anyone in Southwold. 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 Southwold take to reach you?
From Southwold, 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 travels on Royal Mail Special Delivery, and Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used; 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.
Request a free prepaid Royal Mail label
Tell us where to send it. The label arrives by email, usually within about 30 minutes during working hours. Requesting one commits you to nothing: you get a written offer after the XRF assay, and if you decline, your items come back to you free.
Would you rather ask a question first, or send a photo? Message us on WhatsApp . It is the fastest way to get a sense of what something is worth before you post anything.
Related pages
- Sell gold by post across Suffolk
- Sell gold in Aldeburgh
- Sell gold in Woodbridge
- Sell gold in Framlingham
- Sell gold by post UK
- How it works
- How we value gold
- All locations
- Gold price today, UK rates
- Silver price today, UK rates
- UK gold hallmark guide
- Sell inherited and probate jewellery
- Sell 9ct gold
- Sell broken gold chains