Posting gold and silver safely

01

List, weigh and photograph everything before you pack

Packing is quick. The record you make first is what protects you if anything goes wrong in transit, and what lets you check the itemised offer against what you sent.

1. Write a list of every item with a short description covering the metal colour, the type of piece, any hallmark you can read and whether it has stones.
2. Weigh each item on kitchen or jewellery scales if you have them, and note the figure. Kitchen scales are not precise, but a large difference would stand out.
3. Photograph each item on a plain background in daylight, then photograph the whole group together. Include a photograph of the list.
4. Send those photographs before you pack anything. You get a rough idea back, free, and you are told whether the lot is likely to need more than one parcel or a higher level of cover. If it needs two parcels, say so in writing and the first waits for the second, so both are priced together (clause 3.3 of the terms).
5. Keep the list and photographs on your phone or computer until the offer has been paid or the items are back with you.

For a large mixed lot, a line per group is enough: "23 odd earrings, yellow" or "one bag of chains", each with a photograph of the group. What protects you is a record you can match against our item list, not a perfect catalogue.

The photo estimate route gives you a rough idea of the items before you post, and the same photographs double as your record.

02

Packing that survives sorting machinery

A parcel goes through conveyors, chutes and sacks. You want nothing to move inside, nothing able to work through a seam, and nothing on the outside that says what is in it.

1. Bag each itemPut each piece, or each group of like pieces, in its own small zip bag. Chains go in flat so they do not tangle. Coins go in a capsule or a bag each. Dental gold is sealed in its own bag.
2. Inner box, paddedPlace the bags in a small rigid box, such as a jewellery box or a strong card box, with tissue or bubble wrap so that nothing rattles when shaken. A parcel that rattles invites attention and lets items chip. If a numbered tamper-evident bag is sent to you with your postage, seal the bagged items in it first and write the number on your list.
3. Include the listA copy of your item list goes inside the inner box, with your reference, or your name and contact details (and the owner's name if you are selling for someone else), so the parcel can be matched to you.
4. Photograph, then sealTake one last photograph of the open inner box with everything in it, then tape it shut on every edge.
5. Outer box, plainPut the inner box inside a plain outer box, padded on all sides, and seal it on every edge with strong tape. Use a box rather than a padded envelope. From the outside it should look like any other small parcel.
6. No description of contentsWrite nothing on the outside that mentions gold, silver, jewellery, coins or a buyer's trading name if you can avoid it. The address label is enough.

03

Which service to use, and what the cover means

On postage Assaypost arranges, we choose the carrier, the service and the cover, and they are set out in writing before you post (clause 3.2 of the terms). The carrier and the service are named in that written confirmation. If you post on your own postage, use Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm, which Royal Mail offers for valuable items. Its retail compensation policy excludes jewellery sent by any service other than an appropriate Special Delivery Guaranteed one.

One level of compensation comes with the price of that service and higher levels can be bought for an extra fee. The figures change, so they are not copied here: check them on Royal Mail's own page, linked in the sources below, on the day you post.

• Hand the parcel over in person and keep the receipt, which carries the tracking number. On your own Special Delivery postage that means a Post Office branch. Never put a valuable parcel in a postbox.
• The tracking number lets you follow the parcel to delivery. Check it the next working day.
• On postage Assaypost arranged, the carrier's compensation is ours to claim and caps nothing you are owed. Clause 7.2 of the terms makes the post our risk in each direction, and under clause 12.4 you never have to claim from the carrier yourself. Royal Mail's levels matter to you directly only on postage you bought yourself, when the contract with Royal Mail and its conditions are yours.
• The cover that applies to postage we arrange is confirmed to you in writing before you post. Read it, and say so if your lot is worth more than it covers.

04

When the lot needs more cover than one parcel carries

Some lots are worth more than the ordinary cover on one parcel. That can be dealt with, provided it is dealt with before the parcel is sealed rather than after it is lost. Do not post it and hope.

You do not have to work out what the lot is worth to handle this. Describe it instead: send photographs of everything, say roughly what it weighs and what the marks say, and you will be told which of the arrangements below fits before anything leaves your house.

• A higher level of cover. Carriers sell higher compensation levels for exactly this. On postage Assaypost arranges, say so before you post and do not post until it is settled in writing; the posting safely and cover page explains why the carrier's compensation is never a cap on what you are owed.
• Two parcels on different days. Each gets its own list, its own photographs, its own seal number and its own tracking number, and each stays inside its cover. Ask in writing and the first parcel waits for the second, so the two are priced together (clause 3.3 of the terms); without that, each is priced alone.
• Not the post at all. A lot worth more than the highest cover a carrier offers should not be posted. Ask first on 07369 296063 (call, text or WhatsApp), and do not pack it until a way of sending it has been agreed in writing.

05

Where to send it and when to post

Send only to the delivery address confirmed to you in writing with your postage. Never send valuables to a PO Box, which cannot sign for a parcel the way a street address can. Our address on the contact page is a correspondence address for letters only, so never post items to it; who we are, and how to check us, is on the about page.

• Post Monday to Thursday. A parcel posted on Friday or Saturday may sit in the network over the weekend, and fewer hours in transit mean fewer chances for something to go wrong. The same applies to the day before a bank holiday.
• Post before the branch's last posting time for the service, which is displayed in the branch.
• If tracking shows no delivery by the day the service should have delivered, send Assaypost the tracking number. On postage we arranged, the contract with the carrier is ours, so we make the enquiry and you are not asked to chase anyone. The guide to a lost or damaged parcel sets out what happens next.

06

What is recorded when your parcel arrives

The arrival record starts the chain of evidence that runs through to the offer. It begins before the parcel is opened, so that its condition on arrival is documented separately from anything you wrote (clause 8.1 of the terms).

• The tracking number, and the date and time of delivery from the carrier's scan.
• The condition of the outer packaging, whether intact, damaged, taped over, or opened and resealed.
• The number on the tamper-evident bag, if one was used, checked against the number you noted.
• The parcel weight as received, before opening.
• Each item photographed as it comes out of the parcel. Openings are photographed, not filmed; the posting safely and cover page sets out what the photographic record covers.
• The item count and condition against your enclosed list. If what arrived does not match, everything is photographed as found and you are written to before anything else is done (clause 8.3).

The how it works page shows where the arrival record sits in the full process, from your first photographs to payment or return.

07

Seller risks and exceptions

• Understating the lot. On postage Assaypost arranged, the carrier's compensation is not a limit on what you are owed, but it does decide which service is used, so say roughly what you are sending. If you knowingly send far more than you said and the parcel is lost, what you are paid may be reduced so far as the loss was caused by our not being told (clause 7.4 of the terms). An honest misjudgement of value never counts against you.
• Loose items. A single ring in a padded envelope can work through a corner. Always use a rigid inner box.
• Labelling. Any word on the outside that hints at the contents raises the risk of theft. Keep the outside plain.
• Losing the receipt. It carries the tracking number, so photograph it as soon as you are given it. On postage Assaypost arranged, losing it costs you nothing you are owed (clause 7.3 of the terms). On postage you bought yourself it matters far more: a Royal Mail claim for a lost valuable item needs proof of posting.
• Sending to the wrong address. Use only the address in your written confirmation. Do not rely on an address given by telephone or found in a search result.
• Posting on your own postage. The risk-in-the-post terms cover postage we arrange only. On postage you bought, the claim is yours, and Royal Mail's compensation depends on its own terms, its packaging standards and proof of value. Either way, keep your list, your photographs and your receipt: a trace or a claim rests on them.

08

When not to use the scrap route

The postal route is also wrong for a lot worth more than the highest cover a carrier offers, for very heavy silver, and for items whose provenance you cannot yet document, which the identity and provenance guide covers. In each case ask first, before anything is packed. What to have looked at before you sell shows how to pick out the pieces worth more whole.