A tin of old chains at the counter
A customer puts a tin on the counter: old chains, odd earrings, a broken bracelet, a signet ring with initials. They want to know what you would pay. You test and weigh, sort the pieces that are worth selling as they are from those that go for scrap, and make an offer. They accept.
Then comes the paperwork. A buying form, or a line in a book. Their name and address. Some form of identification if that is your practice. A description of each item, perhaps a photo on the shop phone. Payment by bank transfer, recorded somewhere else.
Months later, if a police officer asks about a particular ring, or your adviser asks you to show your records, you are looking through a ledger and a phone camera roll.
Why buying records end up scattered
Buying from the public is occasional work at a busy counter, so the paperwork is designed to be quick rather than complete. Descriptions like 'mixed 9ct scrap' cover pieces that could later matter individually.
Photos, identity checks and payments each live in different places: a phone, a photocopier, a banking app. Joining them together later relies on dates and memory.
What records you must keep, for how long and what checks you must make depends on where you trade and on your own situation. Those rules are for you and your advisers. The practical problem is that whatever you decide to keep is hard to keep consistently on paper.
What scattered buying records cost
| Problem | Result |
|---|---|
| Items described in bulk | Hard to answer questions about a specific piece |
| Photos on a personal phone | Records you cannot easily find or share |
| ID copies filed separately | Records incomplete when you need them |
| Payments recorded elsewhere | Purchases hard to match in the accounts |
| No link to later sale or scrap | Cannot trace what happened to an item |
A shop that buys regularly also needs to know what it paid and what happened next: sold as second-hand stock, broken for parts, or sent for scrap. Without that, you do not really know whether buying is worthwhile.
Scrap and resale also pull in different directions. A gold chain bought for its weight may turn out to be a saleable antique once cleaned, and a ring bought as second-hand stock may need breaking for parts. If the original purchase record does not follow the item, you cannot tell afterwards whether buying from the public paid its way, and any question about a specific piece leads to a search through unconnected paper.
The buying intake we build
- A tablet screen at the counter records the seller's details and any identity check your own policy requires, with images stored securely against the purchase.
- Each item is recorded individually, or in groups where you choose, with a photo, description, metal as tested, weight and any marks or engravings.
- Your offer is recorded per item or per group, along with the seller's acceptance, their signature and the payment method.
- Payments by bank transfer can be prepared from the record and matched when made, and the purchase flows to your accounts software.
- Items are then routed: second-hand stock gets a stock record and tag, workshop use goes to the workshop list, and scrap goes into your scrap lot.
- Any hold period your policy sets before items are resold or broken up can be applied, with items flagged until it ends.
We do not advise on what the law requires. We build the record so that whatever your advisers set as your policy is easy to follow at a busy counter.
After a purchase, everything is in one place
When a question comes about a specific ring, you search by date, description or seller and find the photo, weight, offer and what happened to it next.
- Every purchase recorded with items, photos and payment together
- Identity checks stored with the purchase they relate to
- Each item traced to its later sale, use or scrap
- Records you can search and share with your adviser
Does this sound like your buying records?
- Purchases from the public are recorded in a book or on paper forms.
- Photos of bought items are on a phone.
- Identity checks are filed separately from purchases.
- You could not quickly find a particular piece bought months ago.
- You do not know what bought items were eventually sold or scrapped for.