Sell silverware by post across the UK

A question costs nothing

Before you decide anything, send a few clear photos of your silverware on WhatsApp, or call. You will get a 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.

Sterling silver or EPNS? Check the marks first

Most disappointment in selling silverware comes from one confusion: solid sterling silver and silver plate look almost identical. The difference in value is enormous, so we say it plainly. EPNS and silver-plated items have little melt value, the silver is a very thin layer over nickel or copper, and there is no meaningful EPNS price per gram. Solid sterling is 92.5% silver all the way through and is worth selling by weight.

If you are not sure, photograph the marks and send them on WhatsApp. We will tell you honestly whether your silverware is worth posting before anything leaves your house, and the hallmark guide explains the marks in more detail. Four explainers cover the numbers one at a time: 925 sterling, 958 Britannia, 800 and 830 continental, and EPNS, EP and A1 plate.

Silverware we buy

• Sterling cutlery sets and canteens, loose sterling flatware and serving pieces
• Tea and coffee services, teapots, coffee pots, sugar bowls and milk jugs
• Candlesticks, candelabra, trays, salvers and bowls
• Tankards, goblets, napkin rings, christening sets and dressing-table pieces
• Britannia silver (958) and continental 800 to 900 standard silverware

Condition does not matter, dented, tarnished and damaged pieces are bought for their silver content. What is generally not worth posting: EPNS and plated items, stainless-steel cutlery, and pewter. When in doubt, ask first and save yourself the postage. If what you have is a boxed canteen or a drawer of loose flatware, sell silver cutlery and canteens goes further: the sterling-or-plate mark table, indicative piece weights, and exactly how filled knife handles are deducted.

Weighted pieces, an honest note

Some sterling silverware is weighted rather than solid. Candlesticks are the usual example: the sterling shell is genuine but the base is filled with pitch or plaster for stability, so a heavy candlestick can contain far less silver than the scales suggest. Knife handles are similar, the sterling handle is filled and the blade is steel. We assess weighted pieces honestly, value the recoverable silver rather than the gross weight, and your written breakdown shows exactly how each piece was treated. Sell antique silver smalls goes further on loaded candlesticks, including why the FILLED mark is missing from antique sticks, and covers wood-backed photo frames and thimbles from the same sideboard.

The process, step by step

1. Get in touch and show us. A WhatsApp photo of your silverware is all we need to give you a quick indicative figure before anything is posted.
2. 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.
3. Send it at your own pace. Wrap it in any padded envelope and hand it in at a Post Office whenever it suits you.
4. See the written offer. Everything is weighed, metal is XRF-assayed and any stones are assessed separately, usually on the working day your parcel arrives. You then get an itemised breakdown showing exactly how the figure was reached.
5. Decide. Say yes and the money is sent by Faster Payments. Say no and your items come straight back, free and tracked.

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.

How the offer is worked out

The offer is measured rather than assumed: confirmed purity, accurate weight, and the live precious-metal market on the day we test, with our margin already inside the figure. You read every figure in a written, itemised breakdown before you commit to anything. See how we value gold for the detail.

Silverware value is weight-driven, so a full canteen of sterling cutlery is usually worth far more than a single small piece. Every item is XRF-assayed to confirm it is solid sterling, Britannia or continental silver rather than plate, weighed, and valued on its confirmed silver content and the live precious-metal market on the day we test it. Weighted bases and filled knife handles are accounted for openly in the written breakdown.

One parcel gets one written figure, itemised piece by piece. Your offer reflects the weight and purity we measure and the live precious-metal market on the day, with our margin already inside the figure, so nothing further is taken off. For coins, watches and signed or collectable pieces, send a photo on WhatsApp first and we will tell you how we would value them before you post anything.

Getting it here safely

We email you a Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed label, usually within 30 minutes between 8am and 9pm: tracked end to end 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. Print the label at home, or ask for a QR code and the Post Office counter prints it for you. If your items are worth more, message us before posting and we split them across more than one prepaid label. There is more on postage and cover. 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.

Changing your mind is free

Declining costs you nothing. If the written offer does not suit you, say so, and your items come straight back by tracked, signed-for Royal Mail Special Delivery at our expense. No fee, no questions, no chasing. See what happens if I decline the offer for the step by step.

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.

Who this helps

This page is for an inherited canteen or tea service that will never be used again, and for a sideboard nobody has opened in years. If you have been wondering where to sell silver without driving to a dealer, this is the route. Solid sterling and plate are separated by XRF rather than by eye, plate is listed at nil and returned free, and because silver value comes from weight it usually pays to send the whole lot in one go.

How payment reaches you

Accept the offer and we aim to send the money by Faster Payments within one working hour of your acceptance, straight to the bank account you provide. There are no cheques and no strings.

What you see before you decide

GoldPaid makes no price-beating claims. You get the XRF reading, the weight and the figure for every piece in writing, and you decide at home.

Common questions