What We Don’t Buy, and What to Do With It Instead

The list, straight up

This page exists to save you a wasted trip to the Post Office. GoldPaid buys gold, silver, platinum and palladium in almost any form and condition, along with diamonds, watches, coins, medals, medallions and stamps. The categories below are the ones we decline, with the honest reason each time.

• Gold-plated, gold-filled and rolled gold. These have a gold layer over a base-metal core. Gold-filled and rolled-gold layers can be substantially thicker than ordinary plating. GoldPaid does not buy them as precious metal; that is our buying policy, not a claim that their gold is absent or impossible to recover. A specialist buyer may assess a larger lot differently.
• Costume jewellery. No precious-metal content at all: base metal, glass, resin, paste stones. GoldPaid pays nothing for it as precious metal, whether it is one piece or a bag from your own jewellery box: it is listed at nil and returned free with the rest of your parcel. (Bulk costume jewellery is bought only from charity shops, through GoldPaid’s charity service, never from individual sellers.) Any real gold or silver hiding among it is found by XRF and paid on its own line.
• Silver plate. EPNS, A1, "silver on copper", hotel plate and most unmarked canteens. GoldPaid does not buy silver-plated items as precious metal. A plated canteen may still have resale value as cutlery. Sterling (925) and Britannia (958) silver are different, and we buy those readily.
• Anything without clear ownership. We ask about provenance as a matter of routine, particularly on church silver, medals, memorial pieces and estate items, and we cannot buy anything where the right to sell is not clear.
• Elephant ivory, tortoiseshell and other CITES Annex A materials. The Ivory Act 2018, in force from 6 June 2022, makes it an offence to deal in most elephant ivory, and CITES Annex A restricts trade in tortoiseshell, rhino horn and other protected materials. The exemptions (for example an item made before 3 March 1947 with less than 10% ivory by volume, or a musical instrument made before 1975 with less than 20%) need the item registered or certified first, and GoldPaid does not handle them. If a piece contains ivory or tortoiseshell, do not post it: read the GOV.UK guidance on dealing in ivory and speak to a specialist auction house.

How to check before you post

Most plated and costume pieces identify themselves if you know where to look. Check the marks first. GP, GEP and HGE mean gold-plated; RGP and "rolled gold" mean a thin layer of gold bonded over base metal; GF, 1/20 or 1/10 marks mean gold-filled; EP, EPNS, A1 and "plate" mean silver-plated. Solid precious metal carries fineness marks instead: 375, 585, 750, 916, 990 or 999 for gold; 800, 925, 958 or 999 for silver; 850, 900, 950 or 999 for platinum.

Beyond the marks: a strong pull to a magnet points to a steel core, though a failed magnet test proves nothing on its own, since many base metals are non-magnetic too. Brassy wear on high spots, edges and clasp backs shows plating wearing through. Weight in the hand cannot establish composition: hollow precious-metal jewellery can also feel light for its size.

"We don’t buy it" is not the same as "it is worthless"

Our buying policy depends on the category, construction and ownership of an item, not simply on whether any precious metal is present. An item outside our service may still have value to another buyer.

• Signed designer costume jewellery. Pieces by names such as Trifari, Miriam Haskell, Dior and Chanel sell well at auction and to specialist costume dealers, sometimes for more than a plain 9ct chain. Check the back for a signature before you assume a piece is worthless.
• Silver-plated canteens and trays. Little scrap value, but complete canteens by good makers such as Mappin & Webb or Walker & Hall sell steadily at general auction and on eBay.
• Vermeil. Gold-plated sterling silver, usually marked 925. The sterling core contains silver, so we can assess vermeil for its silver value. The coating does not turn it into solid gold, and any offer depends on inspection. Worth a photo.
• Wearable fashion jewellery. Charity shops want it, and bulk lots sell on eBay and Vinted. It does more good there than in a drawer.

Where to take what we decline

If something we don’t buy arrives in your parcel

Mixed parcels are normal and nothing to apologise for. Real gold, real silver, plated pieces and costume all sit in the same jewellery box, and you are not expected to separate them before posting. Sorting them is our job: every piece is XRF-assayed on arrival. Here is exactly what happens to the pieces we cannot buy:

1. Identified, not guessed. Every item in your parcel is tested by XRF on arrival, so plated and costume pieces are confirmed rather than judged by eye.
2. Listed on your valuation. The written offer shows them separately as no-offer items, so you can see exactly which pieces carried value and which did not.
3. Returned free, never held or disposed of. They come back to you by tracked post at our cost, alongside payment for anything you accept an offer on, or with everything else if you decline. Nothing you send is ever kept back or thrown away.

Separate an uncertain item from an excluded one

An uncertain item is something whose material or construction has not yet been established. An excluded item is something GoldPaid has identified as outside its buying service. Those are different situations. A missing mark does not turn an item into costume jewellery, and a gold-coloured surface does not establish solid gold. If you do not know which category applies, describe the uncertainty rather than assigning a metal yourself.

Keep pieces with their matching information. A loose label, old receipt or box may help explain what an item was sold as, although it does not prove that the item still has the same components. Photograph an inscription or mark in place as well as close up. The location matters: a mark on a clasp, mount or detachable fitting may relate only to that part.

For a mixed box, make three simple groups in your notes: pieces you are considering selling, pieces you intend to keep, and pieces you cannot yet identify. This is a record of your wishes, not a request to sort the metals professionally. Keep the “not for sale” pieces out of the parcel unless there is a specific reason to discuss them. Do not include an excluded or restricted material simply because the surrounding setting might contain gold.

Avoid home tests that could spoil another selling route. Filing through a surface, applying acid or dismantling a signed brooch can remove information and affect the object. A photograph and a clear question are a better first step. If the piece appears to contain a restricted animal material, stop there and seek appropriate specialist advice before arranging a sale or postage.

The same object can have more than one kind of value

A precious-metal offer concerns the materials and items the buyer is prepared to purchase. A collector may instead be interested in a design, maker, period or complete set. Neither route can be judged from colour alone. A plated object can have a substantial resale value while a damaged unsigned example may have little demand; the word “plated” does not decide the result by itself.

Before breaking up a set, check whether the pieces belong together. Matching earrings, a necklace and bracelet suite, or a complete canteen may be more useful to another buyer as a group. Keep detachable fittings with their item. If you seek an auction opinion, send an overall photograph showing the set as well as details of condition and marks, rather than presenting only an isolated scrap-weight calculation.

An alternative route also has costs and practical terms. Ask a prospective auctioneer or dealer about acceptance, any charges, how an estimate is expressed and what happens if the item does not sell. An auction estimate is not the same as money already offered, and a listed asking price is not evidence that another example achieved that amount. Compare the likely amount you would receive and the work involved, not just the largest number visible online.

For wearable pieces you intend to donate, ask the receiving charity what it accepts before sending a large mixed lot. GoldPaid’s separate arrangements with charity shops do not mean that every individual seller can send costume jewellery for a bulk purchase. Keep the personal buying service and the charity service distinct when deciding where a bag of pieces should go.

Ask a question that can be answered before posting

Useful first messages identify both the object and the decision you need help with. For example: “This bracelet is marked RGP; do you accept this construction?” or “The pendant is marked 925 but the chain has no mark; should they be assessed separately?” These are illustrative questions, not statements that either item has been tested or accepted.

Include a clear overall photograph, a close view of each readable mark and a view of any worn area. Say whether the piece is hollow, contains a stone, has a moving mechanism or has been repaired, if you know. Do not scrape or polish it to reveal a brighter colour. If a mark is unreadable, say so rather than entering a guessed number.

A response based on photographs is initial guidance. It may identify an obvious excluded category, but it cannot guarantee composition, ownership, condition or a final price. If the answer depends on inspection, the remaining uncertainty should stay visible in the conversation. You are deciding whether to take the next step, not committing to a sale by sending a photograph.

If an item is subsequently listed with no offer, match the description to your own record and check what will be returned. “No offer” describes GoldPaid’s buying decision; it does not certify that the item has no value anywhere else. If another part of the parcel is accepted, keep a clear list of the retained and returned pieces so that payment for one group is not mistaken for acceptance of everything.

When in doubt, send a photo before the Post Office

The whole point of the ask-first process is that you never need to guess. Send a clear photo of the piece and any marks on WhatsApp and we will tell you honestly whether it is worth posting. "No, keep it" and "try an auction house" are answers we give whenever they are the honest ones. There is no charge and no obligation either way.

Common questions