Guide · 7-minute read
Where to sell inherited jewellery and silver: auction, dealer, jeweller, marketplace or metal buyer
The short answer
Match each piece to the right buyer rather than sending the whole box one way. Signed pieces, watches by known makers, medal groups, scarce coins and early silver go to an auction house or a specialist dealer first; plain gold and sterling suit a precious-metal buyer; plate and costume jewellery suit a marketplace or a saleroom's general sale. Whichever you use, ask what comes off, how long it takes, what happens if it does not sell, and who carries the risk while it is away.
Five routes, and the piece each one suits
A box left by a parent seldom belongs in one place. The same drawer can hold a ring a collector would bid for, a canteen that is plate, a snapped chain that is worth its gold and a medal group that should never be treated as metal. Each route below suits some of that and not the rest, and each will naturally present itself as the answer, this site included.
The five usual routes for inherited jewellery and silver. No figures are given for charges because they differ from one seller to the next; ask for them in writing.
| Route | Suits | What comes off | If it does not sell, or you say no |
|---|---|---|---|
| Auction house | Signed jewellery, antique silver, collected coins, medal groups, watches by known makers | The seller's commission and VAT on it, taken from the hammer price, plus any lotting, photography, insurance or unsold fees in the house's terms | The lot may be offered again or returned, and some houses charge for a lot that does not sell |
| Specialist dealer | Pieces in the dealer's own field: coins, watches, medals, antique silver | The dealer's margin, which sits inside the offer | You keep the piece and can ask another dealer |
| Jeweller | Modern gold jewellery someone could wear again; an antique-jewellery dealer for older pieces | The jeweller's margin, inside the offer | You keep the piece |
| Online marketplace | Plate, costume jewellery and small collectables with a following | Platform and payment fees, postage, and your own time | You relist it, lower the asking figure, or keep it |
| Precious-metal buyer, in person or by post | Plain gold, sterling, platinum and palladium that is worth its metal and no more | The buyer's margin, inside the offer | On this site, a declined lot comes back by tracked, signed-for post at the business's cost. The offer period and payment timing are stated in writing on each offer |
Most boxes end up using two or three of these. The guide to what to keep back shows how to pick out the pieces for the first two rows before anything else happens.
Auction: where competition helps
An auction works when more than one person wants the piece for what it is. The house gives an estimate, agrees a reserve with you, which is the lowest figure it may be sold for, and puts it in a sale. What you receive is the hammer price less the house's commission. HMRC describes it in the same terms in its guidance to auctioneers: the purchase price from the seller is the hammer price less any commission charged to the seller. The buyer pays a premium on top of the hammer price, and that premium goes to the house, not to you.
Before you hand anything to the auction house, ask for every charge in writing: the commission, whether VAT is added to it, and any charges for photography, insurance, cataloguing or a lot that does not sell. Ask when the next suitable sale is, and when you would be paid after it. A general sale may be weeks away and a specialist one months away.
For plain broken gold, bidding usually comes from trade buyers paying close to its metal value, and commission, VAT on it and the wait then come off that figure. Compare what would reach you with a metal buyer's written offer before choosing.
Specialist dealers and jewellers: a figure on the day
A coin dealer, a watch dealer, a medal dealer or a silver dealer buys to sell on to people who collect, so a scarce date, a known watchmaker, a named group or a full set of early marks is worth something to them. They will usually make an offer on the spot, which spares you the wait of a sale. Their margin is inside that offer, so ask two dealers in the same field rather than one if the answer matters.
A jeweller is the natural buyer for modern pieces in good condition that someone could wear again. Some buy outright, some only take pieces in part-exchange, and some pass older gold straight on for its metal. Ask which of those you are being offered.
For the three commonest cases there are guides of their own: sovereigns and gold coins, medal groups and antique silverware.
Selling it yourself online
A marketplace suits the things no metal buyer takes and no saleroom wants on its own: silver plate, costume jewellery, a boxed plated canteen someone might use. It asks the most of you. You photograph, describe, answer questions, pack and post, and until the buyer has the parcel the risk of it going missing is usually yours.
Online platforms now report sellers to HMRC. GOV.UK says a platform does not need to report a seller who makes fewer than 30 sales of goods in a year and receives 2,000 euros or less; above that, your details are passed on. HMRC has said the rules create no new tax, and whether any is due is decided by the ordinary tests, which the reporting guide sets out.
A precious-metal buyer, and where this site fits
Assaypost is the last row of the table. It buys gold, silver, platinum and palladium by post. Every piece is weighed and checked for its metal before an offer is made, and one written offer covers the lot. That suits the plain metal in a box: odd earrings, broken chains, a sterling cruet nobody wants. It does not suit the pieces in the first two rows, and where we notice one we will say so before any offer, so you can take it to a specialist, an auction house or a dealer. Nothing is sold until you say yes.
An offer is what one buyer will pay now; it is not a valuation. If an estate needs a figure, it is the open market value on the date of death, and for jewellery and silver of any real value executors usually get it from a probate valuer before anything is sold, as the guide to valuations and offers explains.
Four questions to ask any route
- What comes off?Commission, fees, VAT, postage, and anything charged for a piece that does not sell. A margin inside an offer is normal; a charge you find out about afterwards is not.
- How long does it take?From handing it over to money in your account, including the wait for a suitable sale and the time a payment takes to clear.
- What happens if it does not sell, or you say no?Whether the piece comes back, who pays for that, and whether saying nothing could ever count as saying yes.
- Who carries the risk while it is away?In the post, in a saleroom's stores, or in a dealer's safe. Ask who pays if it is lost or damaged, and up to what amount.
Get the answers in writing. A route that will not put its charges on paper is best avoided.
If you are the executor
An executor sells for the beneficiaries, not for themselves. That makes the reason a route was chosen worth writing down: two opinions on a signed brooch, a note of why the plain gold went to a metal buyer, the itemised list and the payment record. GOV.UK's guidance is to wait for the grant before putting estate property on the market, and the guide to selling before probate covers what can usefully be done while you wait.
Tax does not usually decide the route. An inherited piece counts as acquired at its value on the date of death, and a personal possession sold for six thousand pounds or less is generally exempt from Capital Gains Tax. The tax guide covers sets, sovereigns and the exceptions.
Seller risks and exceptions
- Sending the whole box one way. A piece with collector value can be sold as metal simply because it travelled with everything else.
- Treating an estimate as a promise. An auction estimate is a guide, and a lot can sell below it or not at all.
- Forgetting the charges on the unsold. A lot that fails to sell can still cost you, and a piece bought back at auction may carry a fee.
- Posting to a private buyer before payment has cleared. On a marketplace, wait for cleared funds and use a tracked service.
- Splitting a set or a medal group between routes. A canteen or a group is often worth more together than in parts, and once split it rarely goes back together.
- Cleaning before anyone has looked. Polish takes off the surface a collector values and softens the marks that identify a piece.
When not to use the metal route at all
Take these somewhere else first
A named medal group, a watch by a known maker (running or not), a coin with a scarce date, mint mark or proof finish, jewellery signed by its maker, early silver, and anything with ivory in it. The first five belong with a specialist or an auction house. Ivory can be sold only under an exemption, and for most household pieces only after registration under the Ivory Act 2018; Assaypost does not buy it, and the ivory guide explains the rules.
Questions sellers ask
What is the best way to sell inherited gold jewellery?
Sort it by piece rather than choosing one route for everything. Signed pieces, watches by known makers, scarce coins, medals and early silver go to an auction house or specialist dealer first, because a collector may pay for the object. Plain gold that is worth its metal and no more suits a precious-metal buyer. Ask each route what comes off, how long it takes and what happens if you say no, and get the answers in writing.
Is auction better than selling to a gold buyer?
For a piece more than one collector wants, auction is often the better route, because bidding can take it well past its metal. For plain gold, bidding usually comes from trade buyers paying close to metal value, and the commission then comes off the hammer price after a wait for the sale. Compare what would reach you with a written offer. Many estates use both, one for the special pieces and one for the rest.
How much commission does an auction house take?
No figure is given here, because it differs between houses and often with the value of the lot. What is fixed is the mechanism: the commission comes off the hammer price before you are paid, and the buyer's premium is paid by the buyer to the house. Ask for the commission, any VAT on it and every other charge, including for a lot that does not sell, in writing before you hand anything over.
Should I sell inherited jewellery online myself?
It suits plate, costume jewellery and small collectables that no metal buyer or saleroom wants. It takes your time, the posting risk is usually yours, and platforms report to HMRC any seller who makes 30 or more sales, or receives more than 2,000 euros, in a year. Being reported creates no tax on its own. Keep valuable pieces off it unless you know exactly what they are.
Can I use more than one route for the same box?
Yes, and most boxes should. Take out the pieces worth having looked at, show them to a specialist or an auction house, and send the plain metal to a precious-metal buyer. On this site, if you change your mind about a piece after the offer arrives, name it and it comes back while a fresh offer is made for the rest.
Not sure what you have? Start with photographs.
Photograph the lot: the tangled chains, the single earrings, the canteen nobody uses, the bits you cannot identify. Send it over and you get a rough idea back, with no pressure of any kind. Post it afterwards if you want to, or do not.
Nothing is sold until you say yes. Say no and everything comes back by tracked, signed-for post at our cost. Ask for part of it back and you get a fresh offer for the rest.
No WhatsApp? Call or text 07369 296063, 6am to 10pm, seven days a week.
If a piece is worth more than its metal
A signed brooch, a sovereign with a scarce date, a watch by a known maker, running or not, a piece of early silver: if something may be worth more to a specialist, an auction house or a dealer, we tell you before any offer, so you can take it there.