The five best gold buying companies reviewed 2026
Look inside any jewellry box and you will almost always find long forgotten items that haven’t been worn for years. Gold jewellery that is now out of fashion, or pieces that have broken and never been repaired can be found in jewellery boxes and trinket dishes across the country. You may not have given these items much thought, but they could be worth more than you realise.
The price of gold has soared in recent times, so those long forgotten items could help you to get your hands on an attractive amount of cash. Selling your gold can be an ideal way to clear out the clutter in your home and to generate some cash to spend on essentials or something special.
There are many companies offering to buy gold right now. This can make deciding where to send your gold to sell it a difficult choice. To make your decision easier, read these reviews of the five best gold buying companies, including their pros and cons.
1) Cash4Gold-Now: Best for fast payments
Cash4Gold-Now is a well-established gold buying company that has earned itself impressive TrustPilot reviews along the way. This Hatton Garden-based company has a strong reputation and prides itself on offering a trusted service and ultra-fast payments.
After sending your gold to Cash4Gold-Now, your items will be evaluated by trained staff using an XRF scanning device to ensure an accurate assessment. Once the evaluation has taken place, you can expect a phone call making you an offer for your gold, and you will receive your payout super fast, within an hour of accepting the offer.
As well as offering ultra-fast payments, Cash4Gold-Now also offers a Price Match Promise, so you can rest assured that you’re getting the very best price for your gold. In addition to buying gold, CashGold-Now also purchases platinum and palladium items.
2) Gold Traders: Operates online and in-person
Gold Traders is another UK-based gold buying company that you can send your gold to and receive a payment. However, as well as offering a postal gold buying service, Gold Traders also operates two physical counters where you can take your gold to be evaluated and bought. These physical locations are in Royal Wootton Bassett in Wiltshire and Bodmin in Cornwall.
Gold Traders offers handy online guidance to help you understand how the process works and to gain an idea of how much money you will receive for your gold. If you accept an offer for your gold, you will receive payment within 24 hours.
3) Cash For Your Gold: Also buys silver
If you have scrap jewellery in a range of precious metals, Cash For Your Gold can help. While the company may be called Cash For Your Gold, they also buy silver, platinum, and palladium. Like Gold Traders, Cash For Your Gold also offers payouts within 24 hours of accepting their offer to buy your scrap jewellery.
For those who would prefer to sell their gold in person, Cash For Your Gold also offers in-person appointments at its office in Wolverhampton. However, you will need to make a pre-arranged appointment, as they do not accept walk-ins. Cash For Your Gold offers transparent pricing, but they do charge a small fee for processing your payment if you accept their offer to buy your scrap jewellery.
4) Gold Sell: Provides same-day valuations
Gold Sell buys a range of precious metals, including gold watches, dental gold, rose gold, white gold, silver, and platinum. To sell your precious metals to Gold Sell, you will need to request one of their free packs to enable you to send your jewellery to the company. This can then be dropped at your local post office. For added reassurance, Gold Sell insures items posted to them for up to £2,500.
Gold Sell values items sent to them on the day they receive them, and then promptly makes an offer. If you accept Gold Sell’s offer, you will receive your payment soon after, usually within minutes. One important point to note if you plan to send your items to Gold Sell is that they require your items to have a minimum of 10g gold content to use their packs to send your gold to them.
5) Bristol Gold: Also buys precious gems
Unlike the other gold-buying companies reviewed here, Bristol Gold is a jewellery store that also buys pre-owned and scrap jewellery, including gold. Another key difference between Bristol Gold and the other buyers here is that they also purchase precious gems from scrap jewellery, including diamonds.
As the company name suggests, Bristol Gold is based in Bristol. You can visit the store for in-person valuations of your jewellery and scrap to get a clear idea of how much Bristol Gold are prepared to pay for it. As well as offering in-store valuations, Bristol Gold also purchase jewellery and scrap precious metals from across the UK, which can be sent to them via a pre-paid package. Items sold to Bristol Gold in-person can be paid out either in cash or via bank transfer. However, valid ID is required for you to sell your items to Bristol Gold.
Final thoughts
Whether you’re in need of some extra cash, or want to clear out damaged jewellery that you no longer wear, selling your gold and other precious metals can be the ideal way to do this. However, before you part with these items, it’s vital that you ensure you choose the best gold buying company to sell them to. You need to be sure that the buyer is a reputable company and that they are going to offer you the best possible price for your jewellery and scrap precious metal. You should also consider whether you want to sell your items in-person or by posting them to the company.
There are many gold buying companies to choose from, but Cash4Gold-Now comes out on top in this review thanks to its impressive Trustpilot score, ultra fast payments, and price match guarantee which provides added peace of mind when you sell.
