Questionswe are asked.

Yes. Every bar comes from a refiner we know. Minted bars come sealed with their assay card and serial number; some cast bars carry no serial. The product page says which. We test everything we buy by XRF, a quick test that reads the metal without marking it. So you know what the metal is before you hear what it is worth.

We weigh it, test it by XRF and price the gold in it at that day’s rate. The offer shows you the weight, the carat and the rate. Before you accept, the offer takes off a rough estimate for stones, watch movements and dental teeth, so the pieces can come back intact if you decline. Nothing is taken out before you accept. After you accept, we take out the stones and the watch movements. A movement is not paid for. A stone that holds its value is paid for on top; one that does not comes off the weight. Ask, and the stones and the movement come back to you. Nothing is melted or altered before you accept.

The stones stay in until you accept. Then a stone that holds its value is paid for on top of the metal. One that does not has its weight taken off. Ask, and we give the stones back to you. We take reasonable care when removing stones, but stones can chip even with care. If a stone you asked to keep is damaged because we did not take reasonable care, we pay you its fair value.

Look at the case back. If it is gold, the watch probably is too. If the case back is stainless steel and the rest is plated, it is not. Many people only find out they own a gold watch when it goes on the scales. Gold is dense, so a gold watch is heavier than it looks.

Both. It depends on the watch. A newer watch, or a sports model, is worth more as a watch than as metal, so we buy it as a watch. An old vintage gold watch with no resale value as a watch is bought for its gold. The movement stays in until you accept. Then it comes out, it is not paid for, and you can have it back if you ask. The case is weighed and priced like any other gold.

Usually 14ct, now and then 18ct. With the teeth still attached it does not look like much, but it usually weighs more than you would expect. We test and weigh it first. The teeth and anything else that is not metal come out only after you accept, and they are not paid for. The metal is paid at the rate for the carat it tests at, the same as any other gold of that carat.

Everything that carries gold and silver: all carats, hallmarked or not, coins, bars, dental gold, watches and broken pieces.

Post it to BE, Suite 53, 101 Clerkenwell Road, London, EC1R 5BX. Seal it, take it to a post office counter and send it on our prepaid Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm label. Keep your proof of posting. Or call 020 4569 2010 first and bring it to 34–35 Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8DX, with photo ID. A visit is by arrangement. Please don't post anything to Hatton Garden or to our registered office. Posting needs an account and a one-off identity check, and the pack is free, with a prepaid Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm label.

We check a photo ID, a face check, proof of address and a verified email before every payout and every purchase, however small. It is done once, online, in a few minutes. It protects you as much as us.

For 24 hours from when we make it, and you can accept it from the email with one tap. If the 24 hours pass, we make you a fresh offer at the new price. If we still do not hear from you, your gold comes back to you within 14 days, free.

By bank transfer to an account in your name. Accept an offer by 3pm (UK time) on a working day and we send the payment that day by instant bank transfer. Accept later, or on a Saturday, Sunday or bank holiday, and we send it the next working day. From 20g of gold you can swap it into fine gold bars instead of money: we keep 8% of the pure gold for bars (9% for a 5g bar, 11% for a 2.5g bar) or 9% for coins. The choice is on the offer. Your ID check must be done first.

No. Sellers are paid by instant bank transfer. The money goes straight to your UK bank account.

You hand in old gold, from 20g, and take new fine gold bars instead of money. The assay, our test of the metal, gives the weight of pure gold in it; we keep 8% of the pure gold for bars, except 9% for a 5g bar and 11% for a 2.5g bar, or 9% for coins, and the rest is your credit, in grams of gold, towards bars from PAMP, Valcambi, Metalor and the Royal Mint. Anything left over that does not make a whole bar is paid to your bank at 90% of the market value. Door to door, an exchange takes about five working days from the day your parcel arrives.

We buy back a fine gold bar you bought from us at 97% of the gold price on the day. It needs no melting, so it is the simplest thing we buy. We check it, weigh it and make you an offer, which stands for 24 hours. A bar from elsewhere is weighed and tested like any other gold and priced at that day’s rate.

Investment gold carries no VAT in the UK. That means gold bars and wafers of 995 fineness or better, in a weight the bullion markets accept, and gold coins of 900 or better that were minted after 1800, are or have been legal tender in their country of origin, and normally sell for no more than 80% over the value of their gold. Some pre-owned silver, platinum and palladium coins and bars that we bought without VAT being charged (for example from private customers) are sold under HMRC's VAT margin scheme. Where they are, the product page says so, no VAT is shown on your invoice, and you cannot reclaim VAT on them. The scheme does not apply where the price is at or below the value of the metal they contain. All other silver, platinum and palladium is sold with 20% VAT.

The gold price is the gold price, and nobody at the counter can move it. What you can change is the cost of getting into a bar. Exchanging old gold costs less than selling it and buying a bar with the money, and one bigger bar carries a smaller premium than several small ones.

The bigger the bar, the lower the premium, which is what a bar costs over the value of its gold. So one 100g bar costs less per gram than ten 10g bars. Smaller bars are easier to sell one at a time. If you might want to sell in parts, take a few smaller bars; if you are holding for the long term, take the biggest bar your gold will make.

Yes. Gold coins and bars are priced live when you order. Silver, platinum and palladium are sold only as pre-owned pieces, at the fixed price shown. There is no minimum order. Anything not on the shelf we aim to have in within two hours of your payment clearing. Delivery is free by Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm: order by 1pm on a weekday and we aim to deliver the next working day. Or collect it from Hatton Garden, in person and with photo ID. Call 020 4569 2010 first. Nobody can collect on your behalf.

If you're buying from us, you can pay by bank transfer, or by card, Apple Pay, Google Pay or Link up to £5,000 per order and £5,000 per day. Above that, please pay by bank transfer. Card, Apple Pay, Google Pay and Link payments are taken by Stripe, and we never see your full card number. Every order needs an account with a one-off ID check.

The gold price moves all day, so it can move before your payment clears. Your price holds for 24 hours from placing the order. If a bank transfer has not reached us by then, the order is cancelled.

It lets you follow your parcels and exchanges: the pack on its way, the parcel arriving, the test, the offer, and the payout or the bar. Offers come by email and you accept with one tap. It is not a portfolio. We do not hold gold for you or keep track of what you own.

Yes. We answer the email ourselves. Write if you want a quote talked through, or call 020 4569 2010 first and we will arrange a time.

Gold bars and coins: no. They are priced from the live metal price when you order, so the 14-day right to cancel does not apply. Anything sold at a fixed price, including silver, platinum and palladium bars and coins (all pre-owned) and jewellery, you may cancel within 14 days after the day you receive it. Use the button on your order page, email hello@bullionex.co.uk, or send any clear statement. We pay for the return: your order page gives you a free Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed by 1pm label to our returns address, to drop at a post office. See section 6.5 of our terms. We don't take items back for a change of mind beyond that. If an item is faulty or not what you ordered, we will put it right.