Typical gold shop commissions

[thelynxxxx]

Question 1: When you go to sell gold bar back to a gold shop, what is the typical commission that you must pay? The price I get never seems to be the price on their sign board. They always seem to tack on some other fee and, from my experience, it seems to vary from shop to shop, so I sometimes think I'm being cheated. And what about the fee when purchasing gold bars? When I bought a 5 baht bar, I was charged 100 THB/baht. When I went to buy 1 baht, she wanted THB 300 as commission. Is that about right? Another shop offered different rates.

 

Question 2: I've been told the commission is higher outside of Bangkok. Is this true?

 

I was under the impression that prices and commissions were regulated to the extent that everyone gets the same price, but I'm not sure that's true. If anyone can shed some light on this, it'd be much appreciated.

[jvs]

If you go to a good gold shop they will not cheat you,the prices are posted and they will and can vary

but that will get posted right away.

How often have you bought and sold gold?

I go to the same shop all the time(well not that often)

[thelynxxxx]

8 hours ago, jvs said:

If you go to a good gold shop they will not cheat you,the prices are posted and they will and can vary

but that will get posted right away.

How often have you bought and sold gold?

I go to the same shop all the time(well not that often)

As far as I am aware, the gold prices are set on the market in Bangkok. Their buy-back price is always 100 THB less than the sell price. But I always seem to get charged a commission over and beyond the 100 THB. Is that normal?? I know when purchasing gold jewelry, there is a charge for the craftsmanship. And the charge is much less for simple baht bars. I would really like someone who buys and sells gold regularly to provide guidance on commissions. Thanks

[a3tsw]

I fairly regularly buy and sell gold bars in Phuket. I always use the same gold shop. the spread between buy and sell is normally 100Baht per baht weight for gold bars , as displayed on there illuminated signs , that appears to be the case all over the Country. there were a few Weeks recently when that spread increased to 200Baht , On top of that there is a commission fee that the shop charges amounting to 50Baht per Baht weight , applied on BOTH buying and selling.

For example , if the price on the screen on any given Day is 25,000/25,100.

then to make 5 Baht purchase of gold bar , the price that would be paid would be (5 * 25,100) + (5 * 50) = 125,750

if selling 5 baht , then you would receive (5 * 25,000) - (5 * 50) = 124,750

 

Also worth noting that the shops commission is 100Baht per Baht weight on gold bars on Saturdays and Public Holidays.

 

Making the overall spread 200Baht per Baht weight Monday to Friday.

............................................... 300Baht ............................. Saturdays and Public Holidays.

[Dazinoz]

12 hours ago, thelynxxxx said:

As far as I am aware, the gold prices are set on the market in Bangkok. Their buy-back price is always 100 THB less than the sell price. But I always seem to get charged a commission over and beyond the 100 THB. Is that normal?? I know when purchasing gold jewelry, there is a charge for the craftsmanship. And the charge is much less for simple baht bars. I would really like someone who buys and sells gold regularly to provide guidance on commissions. Thanks

I have been buying and selling gold bars for about 5 years now. At one stage I had 50 baht. I am now down to 32 baht. I did change shops a bit at first but now I mostly use one shop in Wororot Market in Chiang Mai.

 

As far as I know gold is bought/sold throughout Thailand at the published price plus a commission. I will only refer to bars. The spread is currently at 100 baht. Recently it was upto 300 baht. The shop I buy from charges no commission buying or selling 5 baht bars or above. Any size less than 5 baht they charge 200 baht/baht. The funny thing is I bought 7 baht one day being 1 x 5 baht bar and 2 x 1 baht bars and I was charged nothing on the 5 but 200 each on the 1s.

 

I recently wanted to sell 1 baht to get a bit cash. I went to my local Big C shopping centre and the gold shop there wanted 300 baht to sell above published price. Cheaper than going all the way to the Wororot Market so sold there.

 

My very first ever sale I had a Thai friend with me and the first shop wanted a high commission, next shop less and the third shop asked how much we had been quoted and the Thai lady said less than what we had been and this shop did it for that. So obviously you can bargain and there are plenty shops around. 

 

I stick to my regular shop firstly because of what I have written and its their stamp on the bars so a little easier to sell back to them.

 

Hope this helps.

[parallaxtech]

44 minutes ago, Dazinoz said:

I have been buying and selling gold bars for about 5 years now. At one stage I had 50 baht. I am now down to 32 baht. I did change shops a bit at first but now I mostly use one shop in Wororot Market in Chiang Mai.

 

As far as I know gold is bought/sold throughout Thailand at the published price plus a commission. I will only refer to bars. The spread is currently at 100 baht. Recently it was upto 300 baht. The shop I buy from charges no commission buying or selling 5 baht bars or above. Any size less than 5 baht they charge 200 baht/baht. The funny thing is I bought 7 baht one day being 1 x 5 baht bar and 2 x 1 baht bars and I was charged nothing on the 5 but 200 each on the 1s.

 

I recently wanted to sell 1 baht to get a bit cash. I went to my local Big C shopping centre and the gold shop there wanted 300 baht to sell above published price. Cheaper than going all the way to the Wororot Market so sold there.

 

My very first ever sale I had a Thai friend with me and the first shop wanted a high commission, next shop less and the third shop asked how much we had been quoted and the Thai lady said less than what we had been and this shop did it for that. So obviously you can bargain and there are plenty shops around. 

 

I stick to my regular shop firstly because of what I have written and its their stamp on the bars so a little easier to sell back to them.

 

Hope this helps.

Two years ago, I went to three different shops in Samui and each wanted different commissions to sell bars between 150-300b/baht bar so a 5b bar would cost market price plus 750b or 1500b.  I haven't sold any recently but one is advertising to buy for market price minus 2,000b commission per 1 baht bar, which sounds like a big scam to me.  If I decide to sell, I guess I will need to try three different shops or go to Bangkok.  Any suggestions?  By the way, no plans to sell anytime soon.

Edited July 28, 2020 by parallaxtech

[Kurtf]

I have bought and sold gold bars here 40km north of Chiang Mai and used the same dealer each time. He NEVER charges me a commision fee. The normal spread of 100 baht is the commission he makes on each transaction. If they are charging you an extra 50-100 comission, they are cheating you.

[Dave0206]

i am no expert on the subject but i should imagine must be a lot more sellars in todays financial climate?

gold shops being the one place where the hard up can sell necklaces ect with gold priced in us$ gold shops must be experiencing large swings in the price almost daily

[thelynxxxx]

Thank you all for your input on this issue. Judging from the responses, it seems the commissions do vary, which is exactly what I have experienced. And because they vary, my feeling is that it certainly isn't anything official. Therefore, Kurtf is probably quite right when he says, "If they are charging you an extra 50-100 comission, they are cheating you." That said, I haven't found any shop that doesn't tack on a surcharge over and above the numbers on the signboard. You're very fortunate with your dealer, Kurtf.

 

a3tsw: Thanks for the example. Very helpful.

 

parallaxtech: Those commissions you mentioned are truly insane!!!

 

Dazinoz: Thanks for sharing your Chiang Mai experience.