Face to face
Gold, silver & precious metal
Tested in front of you, weighed in front of you, and priced at the counter. Not posted off in an envelope to somebody who will make you an offer next week.
Almost everything else on this site is a job we come out and do. This one is the opposite: it is worth doing face to face, and it is worth doing face to face specifically because of how the alternative works.
The problem with posting it
The postal gold model is: you put jewellery in an envelope, it goes to somebody you have never met, they test it out of your sight, they weigh it out of your sight, and some days later they tell you what they have decided it is worth. If you disagree, your options are to accept, or to ask for it back and hope.
Every part of that transaction is designed around you not being in the room. There is nothing illegal about it. It is just a bad way to sell something you cannot easily value yourself.
How this works instead
- You watch it get tested. Acid test or electronic, depending on the piece. You see the result at the same moment we do.
- You watch it get weighed. On scales you can read, in front of you.
- You get told what it is. Carat, whether it is solid or plated, whether the hallmark says what the item claims. Plated stock is extremely common and is worth almost nothing as metal — you should hear that from us rather than find out from the number.
- The price is agreed there and then. You leave with the money or you leave with the gold. There is no interval in which somebody is deciding.
What the carat actually means
Carat is the proportion of the item that is gold, and it is the whole of the arithmetic:
- 9ct — 37.5% gold. The most common in British jewellery by a distance.
- 14ct — 58.5%. Usually imported.
- 18ct — 75%.
- 22ct — 91.6%. Often older wedding bands and Asian gold.
- 24ct — effectively pure. Coins and bullion rather than jewellery.
Sterling silver is 925 — 92.5% silver. Plate is marked EPNS, or A1, or nothing at all, and is not silver in any sense that pays.
When it is worth more as an object
Sometimes the piece is worth more than the metal in it. A signed maker, a period piece, a decent watch, a full canteen of matching cutlery, some coins — these can be worth several times scrap value to the right buyer, and melting them is a one-way decision.
If we think that is the case we will say so, and tell you to go and get it looked at properly before you sell it to us. We would rather lose the transaction than buy something at scrap that should not have been scrapped.
Why there is no price on this page
The gold price moves continuously, all day, every trading day. A number printed here would be wrong within hours and misleading within a week, and a website quoting yesterday’s rate is not being transparent — it is just being out of date in a way that always seems to favour whoever printed it.
Ring, or come in. You will get today’s number, and you will get it while you are standing there.
How it works
Three steps. No site visit.
Send a photo
WhatsApp a picture of whatever needs shifting. No need to tidy it first or guess the weight.
Get a price
A straight number back, usually the same day. The real price for your actual load.
It’s gone
We turn up, load it, sweep up, and you get the paperwork showing where it went.
The money bit
What actually decides what we pay
Nobody likes “it depends”. Here is what it actually depends on, so you can work out roughly where you stand before you ring anyone.
01
What it weighs
The base of it. Weighed on scales you can read, in front of you — not estimated in a back office and written on a docket afterwards.
02
What grade it is
The widest variable by a distance. Bright copper and burnt copper are the same metal and nowhere near the same price. Light iron, heavy scrap and non-ferrous are three different numbers, and keeping them apart is what moves yours.
03
How clean it is
Everything attached that is not the metal comes off the weight that counts — motors in a pile of steel, plastic housings, timber, the foam bonded to a modern cylinder. You do not have to strip it. It just prices as what it is.
04
Whether we collect it
Bringing it in yourself is worth more than having it collected, because collection is a vehicle and a driver. On a decent load the difference is real; on a boot full of oddments it is not worth the fuel.
Why there’s no price list on this page
Because scrap prices move with the metal markets, and they move weekly. Any figure printed here would be out of date before most people read it, and a website quoting last month’s rate is not being transparent — it is being wrong in a direction that never seems to disadvantage whoever published it.
Send a photo of what you have got and you will get today’s number for your actual load. Payment is by bank transfer, because paying cash for scrap has been illegal in this country since 2013 — anyone offering you notes is telling you something about how the rest of their business runs.
More scrap metal
Light iron
Radiators, appliances, bed frames, gates, mixed steel. The everyday grade.
See more →Heavy scrap & shearing
Plate, beam, rail and axles. Anything that has to be cut before it can move.
See more →
Non-ferrous
Copper, brass, lead, aluminium. Sorted properly, because that is what makes it pay.
See more →FAQ
Straight answers
Can I post it to you?
No, and that is the point of this page. Postal gold buyers test and weigh out of your sight and tell you the number afterwards. Here it is tested and weighed in front of you and the price is agreed while you are stood there.
How do you test it?
Acid test or electronic, depending on the piece, and you see the result at the same moment we do. You will also be told whether it is solid or plated — plated stock is very common and is worth almost nothing as metal.
What if it is worth more than its scrap value?
We will tell you and send you away to get it looked at. A signed maker, a period piece, a decent watch or the right coins can be worth several times scrap, and melting them is a one-way decision.
What areas do you cover?
Wymondham and everywhere down the A11 and A47 — Norwich, Attleborough, Thetford, Diss, Long Stratton and across into Suffolk to Beccles and Bungay. If you are not sure, just ask.
Is it all done legally?
Yes. We are a registered waste carrier and licensed scrap dealer, every load comes with a waste transfer note, and our registration numbers are on every page of this site so you can check them before you ring.
How quickly can you come?
Often the same week, sometimes the same day if we are passing. Tell us where you are and you will get the honest answer rather than the one that gets us the booking.