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.
Scrap gold is any gold sold for its metal: broken chains, odd earrings, bent rings and unmarked pieces. GoldPaid pays for the gold content, whatever the condition. Send a photo on WhatsApp, post with a free Royal Mail label, and nothing is sold until you accept the written offer.
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)
What will I get for scrap gold?Your offer reflects the weight and purity we measure and the live precious-metal market on the day. We weigh and XRF-test every piece and email a written offer showing each sum. We aim to pay by Faster Payments within one working hour of your acceptance; decline and everything comes back free.
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.
How scrap gold is valued
Condition makes no difference: a snapped chain is valued like an intact one of the same weight and carat, because the offer is set by the metal, not the state it is in. A snapped 9ct curb chain, a single 9ct earring, a bent 18ct ring with the stone weighed out and a 22ct wedding band cut through at the shank are each valued on the gold they hold.
The figure reflects the weight and purity we measure and the live precious-metal market on the day. Send a photo on WhatsApp for a rough estimate, and see scrap gold value for how each carat is worked out.
What counts as scrap gold, and what does not
Scrap: snapped or knotted chains and bracelets, single earrings and odd cufflinks, bent, cut or cracked rings, dented bangles, lockets missing a hinge, and worn pieces whose hallmark has rubbed away.
Also scrap: unmarked gold and holiday gold with a foreign stamp. The XRF test reads the metal, so a missing or unfamiliar mark does not stop a sale.
Not scrap gold: gold-plated, gold-filled and rolled-gold pieces, marked GP, GF, RGP or with a fraction such as 1/20. The gold layer is too thin for a refiner to recover.
Not bought from the public: costume jewellery. If some is mixed into your bag, leave it in: it is listed at nil and sent back.
You do not need to sort, clean or untangle anything first. What is scrap gold has the longer list, and the hallmark guide helps you read any stamps before you post.
What changes a scrap gold figure
Carat, piece by piece. A mixed bag is sorted by carat before weighing, so a 9ct chain never pulls an 18ct ring down to the 9ct rate.
Old repairs. Solder at a repaired join is often a lower carat than the rest of the piece. It is tested separately, so a 22ct chain with a 9ct repair is not paid as 9ct throughout.
Hollow pieces. Hollow chains and bangles look heavy and weigh little. You are paid on the gold that is there, and any plaster or resin filling is weighed out.
Steel parts. Clasp springs, earring butterflies and brooch pins are often steel even on solid gold. They are weighed out and shown on the offer.
Your kitchen scales. Most round to the nearest gram, so a small piece can read a gram either way. Our weight for every piece is printed on the written offer, so you can check it.
What we pay nothing for, stones, and ID
What we pay nothing for. Gold-plated, gold-filled and rolled-gold pieces, and costume jewellery mixed into a scrap lot. They look like gold but hold none a refiner can recover. Leave them in the bag if you are not sure: they 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.
Stones and non-metal parts. Stones in scrap rings and pendants are weighed out, not paid as gold, and stay in the setting unless you ask for them back before you post; small accent stones often cannot come out whole. The stones policy covers the options. Nothing is unset or melted before you accept.
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.
How selling scrap gold by post works
Send a photo. WhatsApp a picture of the pile to 07944 014111, with any hallmarks in shot. You get a rough figure before anything is posted.
Get the label. We email a free Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed label, usually within 30 minutes between 8am and 9pm. No printer? Ask for a QR code.
Post it. Bag the small pieces together so nothing slips out, use any padded envelope, and keep the Post Office receipt.
We test and write it up. Your parcel is signed for on arrival and opened at our Bristol office, where every piece is weighed and XRF-tested. The itemised written offer usually follows on the working day it arrives.
You decide. Accept and we aim to pay by Faster Payments within one working hour of your acceptance. Decline and it all comes back by Royal Mail Special Delivery at our cost. You can also accept part and take the rest back.
The label, the offer and the way we value are the same from any UK address: find your area.
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.
Nothing. The label, the XRF test, the written offer and the return if you decline are free, and nothing is deducted on top: our margin is already inside the figure.
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 scrap may be worth more, message us first and we split it across more than one prepaid label at no charge.
The written offer is dated and holds for a limited time, because gold prices move. If it lapses before you reply, it is re-run at the day’s rate.
Who you are posting to
GOLDPAID LTD, registered in England and Wales. The record is public at Companies House.
XRF spectrometry on every item, not a counter estimate
A written, itemised breakdown before you decide anything
Free tracked postage in, free tracked return out
No countdowns, no pressure, no fabricated reviews
An owner-run business whose founder, Rocco Clayfield, answers questions himself
Common questions
What if I think the offer is too low?
Decline it and everything comes back free by Special Delivery. Before you do, check the sum: each piece is listed with its weight, its XRF purity and the rate applied, so you can compare it line by line with any other buyer’s written figure for the same weights.
I have mixed carats, and some silver, in one bag. Is that a problem?
No. Send it as it is. Pieces are sorted by metal and carat here and each group is valued on its own confirmed purity. Gold and silver are each valued on the metal they hold and the live precious-metal market, with our margin already inside the figure and nothing further taken off.
What happens if Royal Mail loses my parcel?
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. While the parcel is travelling to us it remains yours, so a claim for a lost parcel is made to Royal Mail by you, the sender, using your Post Office receipt. Our normal claims process is sender-led, with our assistance, even when we paid for the label. Tell us straight away and we check the tracking with you and give you the label details the claim needs. Lost parcels, step by step.
Can I get a piece back after posting?
Yes. Tell us before you accept and we take it out and return it with the rest, or alongside payment if you accept the others. There is no fee for splitting a parcel.
Why not take it to a jeweller or pawnbroker?
A counter pays on the spot, and a pawnbroker lets you buy the piece back later. You get a rough estimate from a photo before you post and the whole sum in writing before you decide, so ask the counter for its figure on the same weight and carat and compare. If theirs is higher, take it.
How accurate is XRF on scrap?
A jewellery-trade XRF analyser reports gold content to about ±0.1 to ±0.5 per cent absolute, enough to tell 9ct from 10ct and 18ct from 22ct. XRF reads the surface, so plated pieces are also checked against weight, wear points and hallmarks. Nothing is scratched, filed or acid-tested. How XRF testing works.
Do you buy unhallmarked gold?
Yes. A missing hallmark does not mean a piece is not gold, and plenty of genuine gold was never marked or has worn smooth. The XRF test reads the metal itself. Send a photo first if you want a rough figure before posting.
Do I pay tax on money from selling scrap gold?
Usually not. GOV.UK says you may have to pay Capital Gains Tax if you make a gain when you sell a personal possession, jewellery included, for £6,000 or more (GOV.UK). If you sell all or part of a set to the same person for less than £6,000, you do not pay tax (GOV.UK). Buying gold to sell it on is a different question. Is selling scrap gold taxable? has the detail. General information, not tax advice.
Who am I sending it to?
GOLDPAID LTD, run by its founder Rocco Clayfield. Labels are addressed to our Bristol office; there is no shop or counter. Every seller sends a photo of UK photo ID, and we only buy from people aged 18 or over.
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.
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.
Send a photo on WhatsApp and we reply with a rough figure. When you are ready, the prepaid label is free, and so is the return if you decline the written offer.
