No pressure to begin with
There is genuinely nothing to commit to up front. A WhatsApp message with a couple of photos of your platinum 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.
Platinum we buy
- Platinum rings, including engagement and wedding bands
- Platinum chains, bracelets and earrings
- Platinum bullion bars and coins
- Hallmarked and unhallmarked platinum
- Broken and worn platinum pieces, condition does not matter
UK platinum is usually hallmarked 950 (95% pure), though you may also see 850, 900 or 999. Platinum is dense and white, and is sometimes mistaken for white gold or silver, the XRF assay tells the two apart for certain. If you are unsure what you have, send a photo of the marks on WhatsApp.
UK platinum marks: 950, 900, 850 and 999
Platinum has been covered by UK hallmarking since 1975 and is marked by fineness, parts per thousand of pure platinum, rather than by carat. Four standards are recognised. The metals alloyed alongside the platinum, usually ruthenium, iridium, cobalt or copper, change how a piece wears rather than what the metal is worth.
| Mark | Platinum content | Where you usually see it |
|---|---|---|
| 950 | 95% | The UK default for engagement rings and wedding bands, and the mark most platinum jewellery carries |
| 900 | 90% | Older British pieces and imported jewellery, often chosen for a stiffer setting |
| 850 | 85% | Chains, findings and lighter mounts; the lowest UK platinum standard |
| 999 | Effectively pure | Bullion bars and coins rather than jewellery |
| PLAT, PT, PT950 | Claimed, not certified | A maker’s stamp, common on imported rings, and not the same as an assay office hallmark |
A stamp is a claim, a hallmark is evidence, an assay is proof. Errors run both ways: imported white metal stamped PLAT that is not platinum, and genuine platinum carrying no mark at all because the shank was resized or the mark has worn away. Neither is a problem here, as the assay settles it before any figure is quoted. The gold hallmark guide explains how UK marks are laid out.
Platinum, white gold or palladium
These three white metals are confused constantly, and the difference is money. White gold is gold, valued at its carat, alloyed white with palladium, nickel or silver and usually rhodium-plated to keep it bright. Palladium is a precious metal in its own right, hallmarked 500, 950 or 999 in the UK since 2010, and lighter in the hand. Platinum is the densest of the three: the same ring made in platinum weighs around a third more than in 18ct white gold, and it stays white without plating.
Home checks only take you so far. A white ring that has gone faintly warm-toned around the shoulders is usually rhodium-plated white gold with the plating worn through. The XRF assay settles it non-destructively, reading the elemental signature of the alloy itself to tell platinum from white gold, palladium, silver and steel without scratching, filing or acid. If a ring sold to you as platinum reads as 18ct white gold, you are told plainly and it is valued as 18ct gold.
What is not platinum, and what not to post
Nothing needs cleaning or taking apart. Stones can stay set, and platinum can travel in the same parcel as gold and silver, it is sorted by metal before weighing. What is worth knowing before you post is which white metals hold no melt value.
- Platinum-plated and rhodium-plated base metal, where the white layer is a few microns thick and holds little recoverable value
- Titanium, tungsten carbide, cobalt-chrome and stainless-steel wedding bands, which look the part but contain no precious metal
- White-metal costume jewellery and fashion pieces sold as platinum-colour
- Sterling silver marked 925 or with a lion passant, which looks much like platinum to the eye but reads plainly as silver under XRF, still worth sending, but valued at the silver rate
Anything that turns out not to be gold, silver or platinum is identified and returned with anything else you decline, at no cost. See what we buy if you are unsure.
The full process, start to finish
- Ask, then send photos. Message us on WhatsApp with a few clear photos of your platinum. Lay items flat, in daylight if you can, and include any hallmarks or carat stamps in shot. We reply with a quick indicative figure 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 on calibrated scales and tested by XRF spectrometry to confirm purity. You receive a written, itemised offer showing the weight, the purity, the rate used 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 on 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.
New to posting valuables? Read the flagship guide on selling gold by post in the UK for a fuller walk-through of every step.
Why platinum is priced differently from gold
Platinum is not simply a dearer version of gold. It trades on its own market, driven largely by industrial demand, autocatalysts, chemical and glass plant, laboratory equipment, where gold is driven by investment and central-bank buying. The two metals can move in opposite directions in the same week, and platinum has spent long periods trading below gold despite a far smaller annual mine supply.
Two things follow for a seller. Purity works in your favour: platinum jewellery is typically 95% pure, against 75% for 18ct and 37.5% for 9ct gold, so nearly all of what you send is payable metal. Against that, the platinum market is thinner than the gold market, so rates move sharply and a figure quoted last month tells you little today. Your offer is set against the platinum rate on the day your parcel is assayed, and the written breakdown shows the weight, the confirmed fineness and the rate used. Mixed-construction pieces, a platinum head on a white gold shank, or a repair made with a different solder, are assayed part by part rather than averaged.
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.
Platinum is valued the same disciplined way as gold and silver, weighed on calibrated scales, XRF-assayed to confirm purity, and valued against the live platinum market rate on the day. Platinum and white gold look similar but are different metals worth different amounts; the XRF assay removes any doubt.
Cover in transit
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. The prepaid label is Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed: full tracking, a signature on delivery, arranged with that cover per parcel. Higher-value items are no problem, but please message us first so the cover and the packing approach match the value. Postage and cover explains it fully.
If the offer is not for you
Then nothing happens except a free return. We send your items back by tracked, signed-for post at our cost, with no fee for declining and no follow-up. A valuation is only worth having if you can turn it down freely, so you can. See what happens if I decline the offer.
Who this helps
This page is for rings from a marriage that has ended, for inherited white-metal jewellery nobody can identify, and for holders of platinum bullion who want a plain postal sale. Platinum, palladium, white gold and silver all look alike in a drawer. XRF tells them apart, and each metal is priced at its own rate and shown on its own line in the written offer.
Payment, once you accept
When you say yes to the written offer, GoldPaid pays by Faster Payments bank transfer within one working hour of acceptance, to your nominated account. You give those details only at the point you accept, never as a condition of getting an offer.
Why this is a calmer way to sell
Three things make GoldPaid a steadier route than a counter sale. You see a measured valuation in writing, not a verbal estimate. You decide at home, with nobody waiting. And if you decline, the return is free, tracked and signed for, so obtaining the valuation costs you nothing.
Common questions
Do you buy broken or unhallmarked platinum?
Yes. Condition does not matter. We pay for the metal content. Unhallmarked platinum is fine too; the XRF assay confirms it.
Is platinum worth more than gold?
It depends on the live market, platinum and gold prices move independently. Both are valued the same way: confirmed purity and weight against the live rate for that metal on the day.
What does 950 mean on platinum jewellery?
950 means 95% pure platinum, the usual UK standard for rings and wedding bands. You may also see 900, 850 or 999. A stamp such as PLAT or PT950 is a maker’s claim rather than an assay office hallmark, and the XRF assay confirms which you actually have.
How much is platinum worth per gram in the UK?
It depends on the live platinum rate and the fineness of the piece: 950 platinum is 95% pure, so it is worth 95% of the pure platinum rate per gram, less our margin. Any figure depends on inspection, weight, purity, hallmarks, stones, condition and the market rate on the day.
Can I send a platinum ring with the diamonds still set?
Yes, send it as it is. The platinum is weighed and assayed, and any diamonds or coloured stones are assessed separately, so nothing needs unmounting before you post.
Do you buy platinum-plated or white-metal jewellery?
No. Platinum-plated and rhodium-plated base metal carries only a few microns of white metal with little recoverable value, and titanium, tungsten carbide and cobalt-chrome bands hold no precious metal. If plated pieces arrive mixed in with genuine platinum they are identified and returned free of charge.
What if I decline the offer?
Your items are returned to you free of charge by tracked, signed-for Royal Mail post. There is no fee for declining and no follow-up pressure.
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 diamond jewellery
- Sell engagement rings
- Sell gold by post UK
- Sell unwanted jewellery
- Platinum jewellery guide
- How we value gold
- XRF testing explained
- Gold price today, UK rates
- Silver price today, UK rates
- UK gold hallmark guide
- Sell broken gold jewellery
- Sell European gold coins
- Selling gold to a postal buyer vs a pawnbroker