Stamping silver 925

[ps_bond]

On the compensation front: Someone I know who makes goods in a different field has had an immense fight with RM over failure to pay. He shipped - RMSD - with a level of compensation appropriate to the £800 price tag; they lost it. Then felt that they were only liable for the raw materials. And so it went on... Took him around 8 months to get paid; no extra consideration for the time it took him dealing with their intransigence.

[CJ57]

We always ship back by the same method as the customer sends to us.

Edinburgh has a tick box on their form so you can choose which method. If you don't tick they'll return by same method. I've never had any problems with them and think their prices are fair

[Patstone]

The lettering charge I guess is for the small inscription she wanted inside the ring.

Pat, the stuff I sell to commission is worth adding in the thirty quid for hallmarking because, apart from the legal requirements, I usually don't charge less than £200, more often £400. The stuff I sell for under £100 is not to commission and so gets sent in as a job lot but I don't think I would bother hallmarking anything that sold for less than £30, it's just not worth the cost. £10.20 P&P is outrageous and well over actual cost even for domestic customers. What is the lettering charge?

And I know well your stuff is beautifully made and I'm pretty sure I've said before that I think that you seriously undercharge.

[pearlescence]

Hi Steve, no you don't. I send by my courier, you return by RM

[SteveLAO]

That may be because if goods are sent in by courier then the sender needs to make the necessary arrangements with the courier for collection. We then return it via the courier. If no such arrangements have been made by the sender then we will return by post, or if the sender marks on the hallnote a different method of return, then we will follow their instructions.
It's obviously difficult for me to comment on a specific, but the point I was trying to get across was that if goods come in by post, then we won't hire a courier to return it, we will return it by post. Similarly, if goods arrive by courier, and arrangements have been made to return it via courier, and the courier's fees have been paid by the sender, then we will work with the courier to return it the same way.
We're very happy to return goods by whatever method the sender requests, but if they don't want us to use the post, then they need to tell us and make the necessary arrangements.

Hi Steve, no you don't. I send by my courier, you return by RM

[chrisg]

Hi all

Thanks for a very interesting read! Can I just ask (for clarity): if I sell a silver item weighing more than 7.78 grams, am I obliged to have it hallmarked? I currently make small things up to 5 grams - they are all 925 from places like Cooksons, Rashbel etc. I have not stamped them but have assured people they are sterling silver. If I make some bigger pieces then the hallmarking issue would add a significant overhead in terms of cost and time... I'd rather not do it unless I have to.. although I would like to have my own hallmark..

All the best

Chris

[medusa]

Hi Chris, yep, if it's over 7.78g then by law it must be hallmarked before selling. I do however know a lot of jewellers who don't get their stuff hallmarked (including one who works almost exclusively in 22k gold) and nothing has ever happened to them. I'm not, I hasten to add, condoning such actions.

[SteveLAO]

Hmm..yes I think the phrase to note there is "by law". There are jewellers who break the law and evade hallmarking, but the trading standards "hit rate" is remarkably high in catching offenders. I know of one jewellery shop which was caught with £200K of unhallmarked jewellery!! It was all confiscated and I do believe they're now out of business. This offence in the "olden days" was punishable by death!! These days its a fine of up to £5K per offence and/or confiscation of the item(s) and/or a prison sentence, so quite harsh punishments. It can be a significant overhead, but regrettably with the law as it stands it has to be done.

Hi Chris, yep, if it's over 7.78g then by law it must be hallmarked before selling. I do however know a lot of jewellers who don't get their stuff hallmarked (including one who works almost exclusively in 22k gold) and nothing has ever happened to them. I'm not, I hasten to add, condoning such actions.

[medusa]

Out of curiosity, how is TS assessed as having a good hit rate? I would have thought it impossible to be sure of the prevalence of non-compliance especially as there seem to be increasing numbers of people producing items made from precious metals in a variety of ways. Personally it pees me off no end when I see people selling unhallmarked items.

[theresa]

Out of curiosity, how is TS assessed as having a good hit rate? I would have thought it impossible to be sure of the prevalence of non-compliance especially as there seem to be increasing numbers of people producing items made from precious metals in a variety of ways. Personally it pees me off no end when I see people selling unhallmarked items.

On a slightly different tack, I have noticed a lot of fork/spoon jewellery that was hallmarked being sold on without the benefit of a change of use certificate.
How do they get away with it? A couple of times I have advised the seller (politely) of the situation but they didn't even bother to reply.
I recently made a bangle using a pair of Georgian sugar tongs and had to pay dearly for the cert.

Theresa