Terms of service

1. Who you are dealing with

Silver Plate Canada is a trading name of Electronic Distributors International Inc., Mississauga, Ontario. Your itemized receipt documents a purchase at published rates, not a valuation.

We are a metal buyer. Everything we buy is paid for its metal content and is melted or shredded for recycling. We do not pay collector, antique or coin-collector value, and we do not appraise. If you think a piece is worth more than its metal, keep it or sell it elsewhere before you ship.

2. Shipping

• You pack and ship your parcel at your own cost, with the carrier you prefer. Use a tracked service.
• On request, we email you a discounted shipping label. Our commercial rate is well below counter prices, and the label cost is deducted from your payment. Your label is good for 30 days. If it runs out, just ask and we'll send a new one.
• Within a 2 hour drive of our Mississauga location, we can pick up from you instead, when you have at least 50 lb. That minimum is the same wherever you are. Below it, our discounted shipping label is the way to send it. A pickup request must include photos of what you have, so we know what we are coming for. The pickup time you choose is about when we aim to reach you. If we have to change it, we will call or email you. On the day of the pickup, we call you before we leave our location. If we cannot reach you, we may cancel the pickup. The pickup fee is $15 plus $30 an hour of driving time from our location to you, one way, rounded up to the next $5. The pickup page shows you the fee for your address before you ask for a pickup, and the fee is deducted from your payment.
• If you ship with your own carrier, insurance in transit is your choice; you can add declared-value coverage with them. One limit is set by the carriers, not by us: declared-value coverage is limited or unavailable on jewellery, and on any article that is more than half precious metal by weight, which covers sterling silver and gold. Those items travel tracked rather than insured, in both directions. Silverplate is only a few percent silver and is not affected.
• Claims for parcels lost or damaged in transit are made with the carrier under the coverage you chose.
• You confirm that items you send are yours to sell, or that you are authorized to sell them (for example, as an executor).
• Do not mail raw metal, bars, dust or unmanufactured metal without talking to us first; carriers restrict these. Manufactured jewellery and flatware mail normally.

3. Processing and payment (published-rate items)

• Every parcel is opened and documented on continuous video the moment it arrives, then sorted by material and weighed on camera.
• Testing. Solid silver and gold are tested with an XRF analyzer. XRF reads the surface of a piece, so plating or a gold-filled layer can hide what is underneath. Where we need to, we make a scratch or file mark to test the metal below it. Scratching is industry standard to ensure accurate testing. By sending or bringing us items, you agree to this testing.
• This is a formula sale: you are selling us your items at the posted prices in effect on the day your parcel is processed, and your payment equals the measured weight times the posted price. Silverplate flatware, holloware and knives, gold plated pieces, pewter, brass and bronze, and copper-nickel are paid at the prices published on the what we pay page, and silver plated and costume jewellery by the metal it is made of, at the posted price for that metal (zinc and steel jewellery has no value). Sterling and other solid silver and silver coins are paid for their silver content, and gold jewellery and gold filled jewellery by the gram, and copper by the pound, at the rates published on the site, which follow the metal market, and are confirmed to you in writing when your parcel is weighed. Prices are subject to market changes; the prices posted on the day your parcel is processed are the prices you are paid.
• Payment goes out by Interac e-Transfer, with an itemized receipt emailed to you: every category, every weight, every rate, every dollar.
• Before we pay you, we email you an itemized statement. Your payment goes out 2 business days after that email, or sooner if you press “Pay me now” in it. If you want any items back instead, reply before then and we tell you the exact return cost first.
• Weighted sterling pieces are paid on recoverable silver only; the deduction shows on your receipt.

4. Items not on our price list

• Anything not on our published price list is quoted to you in writing before processing.
• Nothing quoted is melted or otherwise processed until you approve the quote in writing. If we do not hear back within 14 days of sending the quote, those items come back to you by tracked courier, with the postage taken off the rest of your payment. Silence never means melt.
• Decline the quote and those items come back to you by tracked courier at your shipping cost. We tell you the exact return cost in writing before anything ships back.

5. Returns

• You can have your items back. Tell us and we return them to you by tracked courier at your shipping cost. We tell you that exact cost in writing first, and nothing ships back until you agree to it.
• There is a real window for this. Every purchase is held intact, not melted, for 30 clear days (section 7), so a change of mind after your receipt arrives can still be acted on. Once items have been processed they no longer exist as items, which is exactly why the hold is there.
• If you have already been paid for an item you want back, the payment for that item is returned to us before it ships.
• The same applies to an item that went into the box by mistake. Tell us as soon as you notice.
• Deciding before you ship is still the cheaper path, because return postage is yours either way. Not sure about a piece? Email photos to [email protected] before you ship, and we will tell you honestly what you have.

6. Fees and payment methods

• Interac e-Transfer for anything posted to us. Cash only when you bring your silver to our Mississauga counter in person, signed for against your itemized receipt. No cheques, PayPal, cards or crypto.
• If you use our discounted shipping label, its cost comes off your payment and is shown on your receipt. You do not pay for the label out of pocket.
• If we picked your items up, the pickup fee is deducted from your payment and shown on your receipt.
• Our prices are before HST. If your business is registered for GST/HST, we add HST on top of what we pay, and your GST/HST number goes on your receipt.

7. Identity and lawful sourcing

• Silver Plate Canada operates a full anti-money-laundering compliance program as a dealer in precious metals under Canada's PCMLTFA. As part of it, we ask every seller for government-issued photo ID (a photo of the front of your driver's licence, emailed to [email protected], is enough) and we pay once we have it. If a transaction raises a red flag, we may ask for more.
• We keep a purchase register and hold purchased items intact for 30 clear days before melting. Where a municipal bylaw applies to the location your items were received at and sets a longer hold, we follow the longer period. We cooperate with police on lawful requests concerning stolen property.

8. Disputes, kept human

If you believe we got something wrong, email [email protected] or call us at (416) 799-7528. The processing video and your itemized receipt exist precisely so disagreements can be settled with evidence instead of arguments. If we cannot resolve it, these terms are governed by the laws of Ontario and disputes belong to the courts of Ontario.