You stay in control
A photo on WhatsApp is enough for us to tell you which testing pack fits, what the report can and cannot tell you, and what it will cost. Only when you are comfortable do you order the pack.
No part of this involves a shop visit. The testing service is postal-only, anywhere in the UK, with the phone and WhatsApp answered 8am to 9pm, seven days a week.
What the pledge means here
Plenty of gold buyers will offer a "free test" if you send your item in. That is a sales tool: the buyer’s offer is the product, and the test exists to set the offer. Nothing wrong with that on its own, but it is not what you are paying for here.
GoldPaid is not an independent laboratory. It is a gold buyer that also sells testing, which is exactly why the rules below exist and why they are written down.
On the testing service, the report is the product. You pay for it. The report tells you the composition of the item, and that is the end of the transaction unless you ask for something more.
The five fire-wall rules
- You pay for the report. The testing fee is the consideration. Nothing in the report is contingent on the buying side of the business.
- Nobody is paid more for a conversion. GoldPaid is a small, owner-run business with no sales floor and no commission scheme, so nobody working on a test earns anything extra if a testing customer goes on to sell. The incentive is to write the best possible report, not to convert.
- The report contains no offer. It gives the composition and the fine-metal content of the item and carries no price. There is no "we would pay X" line anywhere in the report.
- You have to opt in. If you want an offer afterwards, you ask for it. We do not chase. There is no follow-up sequence, no upsell email and no nudge after a test.
- The escalation route is named. Where the test result is contested, the report points you at the UK Assay Office fire-assay route rather than at our own re-test, so the route to a definitive answer never sits inside GoldPaid.
Why this exists in writing
Customers come to a postal testing service because they want a straight answer. The minute they suspect the test is just the setup for a sales conversation, the report loses its value. We say so openly because the fastest way to keep the report honest is to make the fire-wall visible.
If, in practice, you find any of the five rules being broken (an upsell email, a chase after a test, an offer embedded in a report), tell us straight on WhatsApp and we will fix it. The pledge is the standard, not a slogan.
If you do want a no-obligation offer
You can. Ask on WhatsApp, give us the item details (the XRF report is helpful but not required), and a written instant estimate comes back the same day. There is no pressure to accept, free return if you decline, and the same Royal Mail Special Delivery cover applies. The buying side of the business runs at sell gold by post in the UK. Go there directly when you want it.
Postal cover and safety
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, and if a parcel may be worth more than that we split it across more than one prepaid label at no charge, each with its own tracking number and cover.
Tracking begins the moment the parcel is scanned at the Post Office counter. You receive the tracking reference straight after we issue the label, and again the moment the parcel arrives with us.
What you get back, and when
Your item is returned by Royal Mail Special Delivery on the same working day the report is issued. Return postage and its cover are included in the testing fee. There is no separate return charge.
If, for any reason, an item cannot be tested (badly damaged surface, non-metallic core, equipment misalignment), we tell you straight, refund the testing fee, and return the item the same day.
What this report is, and what it is not
The report identifies the elemental composition of an item to the accuracy of the analyser. The composition report does not replace a UK hallmark, an Assay Office fire assay, or an insurance reinstatement valuation. Any separately ordered replacement-value assessment is a different document: check your insurer’s valuer and report requirements before ordering. We say so in plain English on the front page of every report.
If a report leaves any doubt, we will tell you what the next step would be, typically a UK Assay Office fire assay (destructive but definitive) for high-value disputes, or a written insurance valuation from a qualified independent valuer for reinstatement cover.
Who stands behind the offer
- Owner-run, with founder Rocco Clayfield personally accountable for the service
- Every item XRF-assayed, the result shown to you in writing
- Free tracked postage both ways, so a valuation carries no obligation
- Honest about its limits, including when a specialist would suit you better
- No fabricated reviews and no invented numbers, anywhere on the site
Common questions
Can a testing customer become a selling customer?
Yes. A report might show that an item is solid 18ct gold, and the owner decides afterwards to sell. The point is that the order of operations is theirs. They ask for the offer; the offer does not ambush them.
Why does the report give the fine-metal content if it carries no price?
Because the weight of pure metal in a piece is the most useful single fact for someone deciding what to do with the item next. Holding it back would make the report less useful. The report gives you the composition and leaves the pricing, and any decision to sell, entirely to you.
What if I want the test and an offer in the same workflow?
Ask. We run both in one go, so you receive the test report and a separate written instant estimate for the same item, each clearly labelled. The two outputs are kept distinct on purpose.
Has the pledge ever been broken?
Not that we know of. If it happens, this page is where it gets recorded, along with what we did about it.
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.