Rough estimates where possible; your final offer follows inspection.
No obligation. Free tracked return if you decline. We aim to pay within one working hour of acceptance.
You do not need the original receipt to sell gold to GoldPaid. Inherited, gifted and older jewellery rarely comes with one. What we ask every seller for is a photograph of UK photo ID, a passport or a driving licence. Each item is then weighed and XRF-tested, and you read the written offer before deciding anything. Payment is by bank transfer, and only if you accept.
Send a photo on WhatsApp for a rough estimate where possible, or arrange to post your items for assessment. We confirm our purchase offer after inspection, and you decide whether to accept. Final offers depend on inspection, item weight, purity, hallmarks, stones, non-gold components, condition and the live precious-metal market.
Free Special Delivery label, usually within 30 minutesPurity tested in-house by X-ray (XRF)
Do you need the original purchase receipt to buy my gold?No. We ask every seller for a photograph of UK photo ID, a passport or a driving licence, and we do not need the original receipt. The ID check is our own practice rather than a legal duty for a buyer that pays only by bank transfer; payments, cash and money-laundering rules explains why.
Please send us photos on WhatsApp, and we will help you.
Send photos of your items and any hallmarks. We give a rough estimate where possible; your final offer follows inspection. You do not need to arrange postage to ask us a question.
We arrange postage with you after our conversation.
Before you post
The questions people ask before they send anything, answered here rather than at the end of the page.
Can I ask first?
Yes. WhatsApp a photo to 07944 014111, 8am to 9pm, every day, and we reply with an idea of what it is worth. Nothing is posted until you decide.
Is it safe to post?
Your parcel travels by Royal Mail Special Delivery, tracked and signed for. Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used. GoldPaid can confirm the appropriate postal option before you post.
How is it tested?
Your parcel is signed for on arrival and opened at our Bristol office, where each item is weighed and tested with an XRF analyser, an X-ray test that reads the metal without marking it. Your written offer lists each piece with its weight, purity and figure.
What if I say no?
We return everything by Royal Mail Special Delivery at our cost. Saying no costs you nothing.
When am I paid?
Only if you accept the written offer. We aim for the money to reach your bank within 24 hours of posting. We use Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed, test your items promptly on receipt, and aim to pay by Faster Payments within one working hour of your acceptance. The 24-hour target is an aim, not a guarantee: it depends on posting before the local cut-off, the applicable working-day delivery service, prompt acceptance, completed identity checks and bank processing.
How long does an offer last?
Each written offer is dated and holds for a limited time, because metal prices move. If it lapses, we re-run it at that day’s rate.
Who am I dealing with?
GOLDPAID LTD, registered in England and Wales, run by founder Rocco Clayfield. Our office is at Unit 217, Bristol Business Centre, 179 Whiteladies Road, Clifton, Bristol BS8 2AG. We are postal only, so there is no counter to visit. Before we pay, we ask every seller for a photo of their passport or driving licence.
Final offers depend on inspection, item weight, purity, hallmarks, stones, non-gold components, condition and the live precious-metal market.
Short answer
Inherited, gifted and decades-old jewellery rarely comes with paperwork, and a missing receipt does not stop a sale. GoldPaid asks for proof of who is selling, not proof of how the piece was bought. Request a free prepaid Royal Mail label, post the gold, read the written offer, and take payment by bank transfer if you accept. The full postal process is on selling gold by post.
What UK law actually requires when you sell gold
Customer due-diligence duties under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 attach to businesses inside the regulated sector, and a bank-transfer-only buyer is not one of them. GoldPaid still asks every seller for a photograph of UK photo ID, a passport or a driving licence, as its own practice. The check is about who is selling, not about where the piece was bought.
A receipt is not something GoldPaid asks for, and older jewellery seldom has one. A 1980s wedding ring, an inherited 1950s chain or a brooch given as a 21st birthday present can be sold without paperwork by the person who owns it.
How the ID check works by post, without a shop visit
We ask every seller for a photograph of a UK passport or driving licence, whatever the parcel is worth, and we tell you at the start rather than after your items have arrived. It applies to everyone, so it is never a comment on you. The detail is on payments, cash and money-laundering rules.
ID records are kept for at least six years, because a purchase forms part of the company’s accounting records, and they are not shared with marketers.
If you do not have a UK passport or driving licence, message us on WhatsApp 07944 014111 before you post.
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.
A piece you inherited or were given rarely has a receipt, and neither is a problem. Once a piece has passed to you from an estate, or been given to you, it is yours to sell. GoldPaid does not ask you to prove the inheritance or the gift. If you are an executor still dealing with the estate, selling inherited jewellery covers that case.
If you want your own record of where a valuable piece came from, for tax or for your own files, keep it; we do not need it. The transaction with us records the seller (you), the date, the weight, the carat, the offer, the acceptance and the bank transfer. The history before that is your own to document if you choose.
When proof of original purchase IS asked for (and why it usually is not)
GoldPaid does not ask for a receipt. Where we are not satisfied about ownership or identity we do not go ahead, and the items come back to you by tracked post at our cost. Signed designer pieces (Cartier, Tiffany and similar) sometimes came with a certificate of authenticity that adds resale value at auction, so keep it if you have it, although a precious-metal buyer does not need it.
For wedding bands, chains, broken jewellery and inherited pieces, photo ID is the only document we ask for. Final offers depend on inspection, item weight, purity, hallmarks, stones, non-gold components, condition and the live precious-metal market.
How your parcel travels
Your items travel on Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed, fully tracked and signed for on delivery. Royal Mail cover may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used. GoldPaid can confirm the appropriate postal option before you post. If your items may be worth more, message us first and we can split them across more than one prepaid label at no charge. See postage and cover for the full picture. If a parcel is lost on its way to us, the compensation claim goes to Royal Mail from you, the sender, using your Post Office receipt, and we give you our tracking records and help you make it. Lost parcels, step by step.
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.
The written offer is dated and holds for a limited time, because metal prices move. If it lapses before you decide, we re-run it against the live precious-metal market on the day, at no charge. You can also accept part of a parcel and decline the rest, with no minimum and no penalty for splitting it.
Being paid
If you accept, we aim to pay by Faster Payments within one working hour of your acceptance, directly to your bank account. It is the last step, and a simple one.
Who this is for, what we do not buy, and ID
Who this is for. Anyone selling gold they have owned for years, inherited or were given, where the original purchase receipt is long gone.
What we pay nothing for. Anything whose ownership is not clear cannot be bought, receipt or no receipt. GoldPaid pays nothing for gold-plated, gold-filled or rolled-gold items as precious metal. Any such pieces in your parcel are listed at nil on the written valuation and returned free of charge by tracked post, whether you accept the offer on the rest or decline it. The full list, and where those items can go instead, is on what we don’t buy.
ID and ownership checks. Every seller sends a photograph of UK photo ID, a passport or a driving licence, whatever the parcel is worth. We check the name and address on the Royal Mail label against the name on the bank account, and ask you to confirm that the items are yours to sell. GoldPaid only buys from sellers aged 18 or over. Why we check, and what the law does and does not require, is set out on payments, cash and money-laundering rules.
Why sell to GoldPaid
GoldPaid is a small, owner-run UK business built on one promise: show the working. Every item is weighed and XRF-assayed, and 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
What ID do you need?
A photograph of a UK passport or driving licence, whatever the parcel is worth. We tell you at the start, before you post anything.
What if I do not have a UK passport or driving licence?
Message us on WhatsApp on 07944 014111 before you post, so we can tell you whether we can go ahead.
Is inherited gold legal to sell without paperwork?
Yes. Once a piece has passed to you from the estate, or been given to you, you can sell it without producing the will or any record of the gift.
How long do you hold ID documents?
For at least six years, because a purchase from you forms part of GOLDPAID LTD’s accounting records.
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.
The full process, start to finish
Ask, then send photos. Message us on WhatsApp with a few clear photos of your gold. Lay items flat, in daylight if you can, and include any hallmarks or carat stamps in shot. We reply with a rough estimate and answer anything you want to ask. There is no charge and no obligation.
Request the prepaid label. When you are ready, we email a free Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed label, tracked and signed for. No printer is needed: ask for a QR code and the Post Office counter prints it for you.
Pack and post, tracked. Wrap items in any padded envelope or a small box and attach the label. Hand the parcel in over the Post Office counter so you get a receipt with the tracking number. Keep that receipt. There is no deadline.
We weigh, test and value. On arrival each item is weighed and tested by XRF spectrometry to confirm purity. You receive a written, itemised offer showing the weight, the purity and the figure for each item, usually on the working day your parcel arrives.
Accept or decline. Accept and you are paid by bank transfer via Faster Payments. Decline and everything is returned to you free of charge by tracked, signed-for post. The choice is entirely yours, and you do not need to give a reason.
Your parcel is signed for on arrival and opened at our Bristol office, where each item is weighed and XRF-tested before the written offer is prepared.
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.
Message us with a clear photo of your items on WhatsApp, or call. There is no obligation at any stage and the only commitment is your decision to accept a written offer once you have seen it.
