If you've ever sold gold, silver, or other precious metals, you might assume there are rules in place to make sure you're treated fairly. There aren't. And that's a problem we would like to see changed.
A Market With No Rules
The precious metals buying market in the UK is entirely unregulated. There's no requirement for a buyer to tell you the rate they pay before a transaction begins. There's no restriction on paying cash. There's no requirement to check who you are. Postal services can invite you to send your items before they've told you what they're worth, and travelling buying events can set up in a hotel for a day, pay well below market value, and move on before anyone raises a question.
None of this is illegal, because there are no laws to break.
Compare that to the scrap metal industry. A dealer buying an old copper pipe or a worn-out car battery must hold a council licence, is banned from paying cash, must check the identity of every seller, and must keep detailed records available to the police. These protections exist for an important reason - to deter theft, protect sellers, and ensure accountability.
Precious metals - gold, silver, platinum and palladium - are worth far more than most scrap metal. And yet they come with fewer consumer protections than a trip to a scrap yard.
Who This Affects
The people selling precious metals are rarely experienced traders. They are more likely to be someone clearing a parent's home after a bereavement, a person facing an unexpected financial pressure, or someone who has simply inherited a piece of jewellery they no longer want.
These are people who deserve to know what their items are worth. They deserve to be able to make an informed decision before they commit to a sale. And they deserve to be able to trust that the person buying from them is operating to a basic standard.
At the moment, none of that is guaranteed.
What We're Doing
Gold Traders founder Jon White has written formally to Sarah Gibson, the MP for Chippenham, calling on Parliament to introduce consumer protection measures for the precious metals buying market. We've also written to Philip Wilkinson, Police and Crime Commissioner for Wiltshire, The Chartered Trading Standards Institute, Wiltshire Trading Standards and the British Numismatic Trade Association (BNTA) asking for their support, and we're building a coalition of backing from reputable dealers across the UK.
Our proposals are deliberately targeted and proportionate. We're not calling for a heavy-handed licensing regime or a framework that creates unnecessary burdens for well-run businesses. Every one of our proposals reflects what legitimate, transparent operators already do as a matter of course. We're simply asking that the bare minimum be made a legal requirement, so that the operators who exploit sellers through bad practice can no longer do so freely.
Our Five Proposals
1. Mandatory Price Transparency Before Any Transaction
Any buyer should publicly disclose the rate they pay, expressed as a price per gram for the purity of the metal in question, before a transaction begins. This costs a transparent operator nothing - and completely undermines the business model of those who rely on sellers not knowing what their items are worth.
2. Regulation of Postal Buying Services
Any business operating a postal precious metals buying service must provide a written price indication before the seller is asked to send items, and must guarantee the free return of all items if an offer is declined. This closes the common tactic of withholding pricing until items are already in the buyer's hands.
3. Regulation of Travelling Buying Events
Any business operating a temporary or travelling precious metals buying event must register with the relevant local authority in advance, display their rates publicly at the venue, and provide written confirmation of any offer before a transaction is completed. This brings basic accountability to a sector of the market that currently operates with none.
4. A Cash Threshold Ban
Cash payments above a defined minimum threshold should be prohibited. This brings the sector into line with broader anti-money laundering practice and reflects how the vast majority of reputable businesses already operate.
5. Identity Verification Obligations for All Sellers
Buyers should be required to verify the identity of sellers before completing a transaction. This creates a basic audit trail, deters the handling of stolen property, and introduces a standard of accountability that benefits everyone.
Why We're the Right People to Ask for This
We want to be honest with you. We are a precious metals dealer. We have a commercial interest in this market.
But we have also spent eighteen years doing things the right way. We were the first precious metals business in the UK to achieve Trading Standards accreditation through the Buy With Confidence scheme - something we pursued voluntarily because we believe consumers deserve to know who they're dealing with. We publish both the live spot price and the exact rate we pay, every day, so every customer can see precisely what we offer. We pay over 90% of market value. We are an Official Partner of The Royal Mint.
None of the proposals above would require us to change a single thing about how we operate. We are asking for them because they're the right thing to do - for the people who sell to us and to every other buyer in this market.
How You Can Help
If you're a precious metals dealer and you support this campaign, please write to your own MP. We have a template letter ready - just get in touch and we'll send it to you.
If you're a member of the public who has been short-changed when selling precious metals, your story matters. Share it with your MP. Tell them what happened and ask them why a market dealing in items worth hundreds or thousands of pounds has no meaningful consumer protection rules.
And if you'd like to follow the progress of this campaign, bookmark this page or follow us on social media. We'll be posting updates as things develop.
This is a campaign about fairness. It's time the rules caught up.
Who We've Written To
As part of this campaign, we have formally written to the following:
- Sarah Gibson MP, Member of Parliament for Chippenham
- The Chartered Trading Standards Institute
- Tom Hutchinson, Principal Trading Standards Officer, Wiltshire Council
- Philip Wilkinson, Police and Crime Commissioner for Wiltshire
- The British Numismatic Trade Association (BNTA)
We have also written directly to reputable precious metals dealers across the UK, asking them to write to their own MPs in support of this campaign.
Industry Backing
We are grateful to the following precious metals businesses for publicly backing this campaign:
- MJ Hughes Coins, Alton
- Durham Coins, Durham
- Cameo Coins, Worthing
