How to read a mail-in silver buyer's terms before you ship

Packaging up your silver and dropping it in the post feels like progress, but the moment that parcel leaves your hands you have far less negotiating power than you did five minutes earlier. The terms and conditions a mail-in buyer publishes are the rulebook for everything that happens next, and most sellers only read them after something goes wrong.

This guide walks through every clause type you are likely to encounter, explains what the language actually means in practice, and flags the specific phrases that should make you pause before you seal the box.

Why the terms matter more for mail-in sales than walk-in ones

When you hand silver to a local dealer, you can watch the scales, hear the offer, and walk out the door with your metal if you dislike the price. Mail-in is fundamentally different. Once your parcel is in the courier's hands, you are committed to at least part of the process regardless of how the offer turns out. The terms govern:

• How the buyer weighs and values your silver
• Whether the price is locked to the spot rate on the day you sent it or the day they receive it
• What happens if you reject their offer
• Who pays for return shipping, and how fast that happens
• Whether your metal is insured during transit and while it is on their premises
• What recourse you have if something goes missing or is disputed

Reading those terms carefully is not paranoia. It is the same due diligence you would apply to any contract where you are handing over property before receiving payment. For a broader overview of how different buyer types compare, the home page at How To Sell Silver is a good orientation before you commit to any single channel.

The spot-price lock clause: the single most important thing to find

Silver's spot price moves every business day, sometimes meaningfully within a single session. A mail-in transaction typically takes several days from the moment you post to the moment the buyer makes an offer. The question of which day's spot price applies to your payout is therefore a significant money question.

Look for language around "price lock," "guaranteed rate," "quote validity," or "offer basis." You will generally find one of three approaches:

Day-of-receipt pricing. The buyer values your silver at the spot price on the day their team processes your parcel. This is the norm, and it is not inherently unfair, but it means you bear the market risk during transit. If spot drops between Monday when you post and Thursday when they open the box, your payout drops too.

Quote-first, then ship. A smaller number of buyers let you submit photos, weights, and hallmarks online and receive a price quote before you send anything. That quote is usually valid for a fixed window, perhaps 48 or 72 hours. Shipping within that window locks the rate. This approach strongly favors the seller and is worth seeking out.

Day-of-offer pricing with a rejection window. The buyer makes an offer based on spot at the time they assess your parcel. You then have a set number of days (read the fine print: some say 24 hours, some say five business days) to accept or reject. If the spot price has moved significantly since you posted, you may be accepting or rejecting against a number that surprises you.

Understanding how spot is set in the first place makes all of this easier to reason about. The post on how silver spot price is set each day and what that means for timing your sale covers the mechanics clearly.

Percentage-of-spot offers: what "up to 95%" really means

Most mail-in buyers advertise an offer as a percentage of spot, for example "up to 95% of spot for silver." The phrase "up to" is doing a lot of work in that sentence.

The headline rate typically applies only to a specific category, usually large quantities of recognizable sterling flatware or bullion-grade bars and coins. If you are sending a mixed lot, a few spoons, a toast rack, a couple of worn coins, and a broken chain, expect the blended rate to land noticeably lower than the advertised maximum.

Some buyers publish a rate schedule broken down by item type. That is a mark of transparency. Look for tables that show separate percentages for coins, flatware, jewelry, and mixed/scrap categories. If the terms only quote one headline number with no further breakdown, ask the buyer directly before you ship.

Also check whether the percentage is calculated on troy ounces or pennyweight. The arithmetic is equivalent but the presentation can obscure a lower effective rate if you are not paying attention.

The return policy: read every word

If you reject the offer, what happens? This is where vague language does real damage. Terms to look for:

Return shipping cost. Who pays? Reputable buyers typically pay return shipping if you reject their offer. Some deduct a flat fee (say, £8 or $12) from your refund if they've already assessed and sorted the metal. A few buyers charge you for return postage, which is a meaningful disincentive to reject. Know this before you ship.

Return timeline. "We will return your items promptly" means nothing enforceable. Look for a specific number of business days. Five to ten business days is reasonable. Vague promises are not.

Return method. Will they send the metal back by tracked, insured courier? Or by standard post? Metal returned uninsured by standard post is your risk once it leaves their facility. Ask if the terms are not explicit.

The rejection deadline. This is the clause sellers miss most often. You typically have a window of days to accept or reject. If you do nothing by the deadline, many buyers automatically process the payment as acceptance. Put the deadline in your diary the day you post.

Insurance and liability: who bears the risk at each stage

A reputable mail-in buyer provides a prepaid, tracked, and insured shipping label. The insurance coverage on that label is their first commitment to you. Read the stated coverage limit carefully because it may be lower than the value of what you are sending.

If you are sending a high-value lot, check whether the buyer offers supplemental coverage or whether you need to arrange your own. Some buyers cap their provided insurance at a fixed amount (a common figure is £500 or $500) regardless of lot size. Sending £2,000 worth of silver on a £500-covered label is your risk, not theirs, unless you arrange additional cover.

Also look for what happens to your metal once it is on their premises. Do they hold it in a vault? Are you covered if there is a fire or theft at their facility before they have paid you? This is a rare scenario but a legitimate one to ask about if you are sending a significant quantity.

Assay and grading: when they weigh it differently than you did

Some mail-in buyers reserve the right to assay items they consider ambiguous, deducting assay costs from your payout. Check whether the terms mention assay fees and under what circumstances they apply.

Also watch for language about "removal of non-silver components." Knife handles in canteen sets are a classic example because they are often weighted with non-silver material, and a buyer will weigh the whole knife, then deduct for the non-silver portion. The terms may spell out a flat deduction per knife or a percentage reduction for mixed items. If you have a canteen set in your lot, the post on selling a silver canteen set: whole versus piece by piece is worth reading before you decide how to submit the items.

Finally, check whether the buyer's assessment of purity can differ from the hallmark. A legitimate buyer honors hallmarks on fully and correctly stamped British sterling. If the terms say something like "we reserve the right to test all items regardless of hallmarks," that is not automatically a red flag, but it does mean you should understand what a silver assay report involves. The post on what a silver assay report actually tells a buyer is useful here.

Payment terms: how and how fast

Check these specific points:

• Payment method. Bank transfer is standard. Some buyers still offer check, which adds days or weeks. A very small number offer PayPal, though the fees on their end are usually passed to you implicitly via a lower rate.
• Payment timeline. Once you accept the offer, how long until the money arrives? "Same day" and "next working day" are common claims for bank transfer. "Within 14 days" is too slow and worth questioning.
• Minimum lot value. Some buyers have a minimum payout threshold. If your lot does not reach it, they may decline to assess or apply a handling fee. Check this before you send a small parcel.

Red flags to walk away from

A few specific phrases in terms and conditions should genuinely give you pause:

• "All sales final once items are received." This means no rejection, no return. Avoid entirely.
• "We are not responsible for items lost in transit on customer-supplied packaging." This is reasonable if you chose not to use their prepaid label, but if they never offered one, it is a problem.
• "Quoted rates subject to change without notice." This effectively means no price lock at all.
• No physical address, no company registration number, no named contact. Legitimate buyers are registered businesses with traceable identities.
• Terms that are undated or have no version history. Responsible businesses date their terms and note when they were last updated.

Questions to email before you ship

Even after reading the terms thoroughly, a brief email to the buyer before you commit is worthwhile. Ask:

1. Which spot rate will apply to my parcel: the day I ship, the day you receive, or the day you assess?
2. Is your return shipping insured, and for what amount?
3. If I reject the offer, how long until I receive my items back?
4. Do you charge any processing or handling fees if I reject?
5. Is there a minimum lot value for assessment?

How quickly and clearly they answer tells you something useful before your silver goes anywhere. A buyer who is evasive about basic logistics in an email is unlikely to be more transparent once they have your parcel.

If the urgency of your situation is pushing you toward a fast decision, it is worth reading about selling silver in a hurry first, because speed has a real cost and knowing that going in helps you negotiate more clearly.

Building your own checklist

Before sealing the box, work through this against the terms you have in front of you:

• [ ] I know which day's spot price applies to my offer
• [ ] I know the percentage-of-spot rate for my specific item types
• [ ] I have a prepaid, tracked, insured shipping label from the buyer
• [ ] I know the insurance coverage limit and it covers my lot value
• [ ] I know the exact deadline to accept or reject after an offer
• [ ] I know who pays for return shipping if I reject
• [ ] I know how long return shipping takes
• [ ] I know the payment method and timeline
• [ ] The buyer has a verifiable physical address and company registration
• [ ] I have screenshots or a PDF of the current terms in case they change

That last point is easy to overlook and genuinely useful. Terms can be updated at any time, and having a dated copy of the version that applied when you shipped gives you something solid to reference if there is a dispute.

One more thing: your own records

Before you close the box, photograph every item, weigh your lot on an accurate scale, and note the hallmarks or markings on each piece. Your records and the buyer's records should broadly agree. If they diverge significantly on weight or item count, you want documentation to support your position.

For a rounded view of the full selling process, the FAQ section covers questions that come up regularly from sellers at exactly this stage, and the blog has detailed guides on specific item types if you want to go deeper on valuation before you commit.

Mail-in selling is genuinely convenient and can return competitive prices, especially for straightforward sterling lots. The sellers who do well are the ones who treat the terms as the contract they are, ask questions upfront, and keep their own records. That takes an hour before shipping, but it can save days of frustration if anything goes sideways.

Revision history (1)

• Sep 14, 2026 - Pre-publish editorial QA: clean; claim audit: 0 claims, 0 rewritten