Hallmarking charges nearly doubled

[Anna Wales]

Just had my first lot of hallmarking back since the change in prices in April. I must admit to not having checked the new rates but was cheered by the statement from Goldsmiths' Company of making charges easier to understand.
They may well be easier to understand but the cost to me in March for a similar parcel was £48.00 this one was £87.72!!!! I do use the early hall service quite often but the boast to be "the lowest priced Assay Office" has to be a joke.

[SteveLAO]

The price list is available to view on the downloads section of the website...where it has always been.
The charges for one or two items are the lowest of all the offices.
Why don't you pm me the details and I'll be happy to go through the bill with you.....it might be a mistake!

[Wallace]

I can empathise, had a big surprise myself with my last submission!

[SteveLAO]

Remember the price is now all inclusive....by that I mean the charge is per item and it doesn't matter what kind of precious metal, nor whether you have it struck or lasered. It includes the cost of the application of the sponsor mark, as well as the full traditional hallmark, and the charge for bag handling, all of which used to be extra.

[Anna Wales]

Remember the price is now all inclusive....by that I mean the charge is per item and it doesn't matter what kind of precious metal, nor whether you have it struck or lasered. It includes the cost of the application of the sponsor mark, as well as the full traditional hallmark, and the charge for bag handling, all of which used to be extra.

I'm happy to pay per item but there's now an £18.00 charge before the item is marked so a double charge.
I mark my own items so I'm in effect being charged for that too even though I don't use the service and have no way of avoiding it.

[SteveLAO]

I'm happy to pay per item but there's now an £18.00 charge before the item is marked so a double charge.
I mark my own items so I'm in effect being charged for that too even though I don't use the service and have no way of avoiding it.

Yes there is no advantage to marking your own item. Having us put on all the marks actually makes for a better overall mark, as it is very difficult to pick up someone else's mark and try to ensure the depth of what we mark are the same as what you have marked!

We always had minimum charges, this is just a different way of charging which includes the old minimum charge and puts all the extra charges into one unit charge

[Anna Wales]

The price list when you click on Hallmarking Price List doesn't come up. Only just found the useful downloads.The bill is not a mistake it's just a case of the Assay Office penalising makers abiding by the Hallmarking laws.
4 bracelets,2 pendants,6 earrings and 18 rings in silver £87.72.

[SteveLAO]

Thanks for the heads up re the broken link. I'll get IT on to that straight away. It's available on the downloads page though (which is where the link takes you when it works!)

I'm not sure that we're penalising makers for abiding by the law. We would certainly penalise makers for not abiding by the law, as you would expect! You could expect confiscation of the items, fines of up to £5K and a spell in prison!

36 items (it doesn't matter what the metal is) is £18 plus 36 x 80p totalling £46.80 plus VAT.

[Gemsetterchris]

4 bracelets,2 pendants,6 earrings and 18 rings in silver £87.72.

Less than £3 quid a piece, what are you moaning about?
If you figure your retail price properly, you don't worry about a hair less of profit.

[Anna Wales]

Less than £3 quid a piece, what are you moaning about?
If you figure your retail price properly, you don't worry about a hair less of profit.

So discussing something that I disagree with is now classed as "moaning" is it? Not very politely put if you don't mind my saying so.