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.
The problem charity shops face every week
Donated jewellery is one of the highest-margin product lines a charity shop can stock. It is also the line a non-specialist branch manager is least equipped to assess. The acid test is dangerous, the magnet test is unreliable, and the chain-of-custody on a real-gold ring being sold for the price of costume jewellery by accident is exactly the problem this account is built to solve.
At £5 an item, testing costs a fraction of what a single real-gold piece sold by mistake for the price of costume jewellery would lose the branch.
What the account includes
- £59 per month, first month free. Cancel any time with 30 days notice.
- £5 per item tested, billed monthly on a single invoice.
- Bulk prepaid envelope packs sent to the branch on signup.
- WhatsApp routing dedicated to the branch, branch manager photo first, indicative read inside an hour.
- A 48-hour target from receipt to written report.
- Branch job log emailed after every job, with the PDF reports attached for the audit trail.
- Plain-English report on every item, solid or plated, alloy carat, fine-metal content, and the not-a-hallmark disclaimer.
An example week
Monday: a member of the public donates a small jewellery box. Tuesday morning: the branch manager photographs the suspect pieces and sends them over on WhatsApp. Tuesday afternoon: we say which ones are worth posting. Wednesday: the prepaid envelope goes out with two or three items in it. Thursday morning: the report is in the branch inbox. Thursday afternoon: the items are back on the shop floor at the right price.
No equipment to buy, no training course to run, no in-house specialist needed. The account turns a guess into a number.
The process, step by step
- Start with a photo. A clear WhatsApp photo of the item is enough for us to tell you which pack fits, what the report will show, and what the price will be.
- Pay and get your label. Once you order, a free Royal Mail Special Delivery label and a QR code for the counter are emailed straight back.
- Send it in your own time. Use any padded envelope. The label stays valid until used. There is no time pressure on you.
- Tested by handheld XRF. Each item is scanned at multiple points with a Thermo Scientific Niton XL2 precious-metal analyser. The full elemental table goes into the report.
- Report inside 48 hours. A written PDF report arrives by email, and your item is dispatched back on the same day by tracked Royal Mail Special Delivery, with cover that may be available up to £2,500 depending on the postal method and cover level used.
Cover and tracking
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.
The label is Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm next working day, with full tracking and signature on receipt. The tracking link is emailed to you the moment the label is issued.
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.
A test, not a sales pitch
The XRF testing service is paid-for and stands on its own. The report is what you bought. Nothing inside it is an offer, an invitation to sell, or a hidden valuation. Nobody running the test has a commission tied to whether you become a selling customer afterwards.
If you separately want a no-obligation offer for the item, you can ask. If you do not ask, nobody chases.
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 our area manager or head office see the job log?
Yes. Name as many recipients as you need on the account and every job log and monthly invoice goes to all of them, so area managers and head-office finance both hold the audit trail.
What if our shop only needs the service occasionally?
The retainer is £59 a month with £5 for every item tested, so a quiet month costs only the retainer. The account is month to month with 30 days notice, so a branch that stops needing it can close it.
Can the account refer onwards to the GoldPaid buying service?
Yes, and the choice belongs to the branch. The branch can sell the donated item itself on the shop floor, refer it to GoldPaid for a no-obligation offer, or send it on to a third party. The testing account does not push the branch towards any of those outcomes.
Do you train the branch manager on what XRF results mean?
A short PDF guide is included on signup, in plain English, explaining what each report tells the branch and what to do with the information. The dedicated WhatsApp routing covers any one-off question.
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.