buying gold in a Thai shop

[Barnabe]

I'm looking to build up a nest egg for my mother in law by gifting her the occasional gold pendant, bracelet, etc.

 

How do you go about buying gold in a Thai shop, any tips / tricks?

Today I was quoted 16k for a half baht gold pendant, and 31k for a baht gold bracelet. Today's price is around 29k per baht, so I guess this is the normal markup?

How much room for negotiation do I have?

Edited August 20, 2020 by Barnabe

[Barnabe]

Btw this is for 96.5% gold, I think this is the standard in Thailand.

[2 is 1]

Normaly price show on "wall" in shop, nothing much to negotiation. You goin to make really happy mother in law! Hole village going to know that in 5 minutes time!  But why buy now when gold is most exbensive in decade's? Yeah thai normaly only sell that 24k gold!

[Colabamumbai]

No negotiations, pay 800 Baht more per Bhat, per 15 grams for jewelry than bar. 

[NE1]

Not only are you paying for the weight of the gold but the wages of who ever makes the items.

Some of the more intricate pieces could be more expensive .

 

[Snackbar]

 Congratulations 

[cmrichsw]

Consider opening a saving account for seed money to start. Thai banks are safe correct??

[fittobethaied]

Go to a trusted seller that has been around for a long time and get a receipt for the purchase with the total weight of the item and the price and date, and take a photo of the piece on the counter in front of the seller. You can never be too careful. Here is the website that all sellers use for up to the minute prices. At this moment you can expect to pay 29,250 Baht for a one Baht gold jewelry (96.5% gold). Generally there are no discounts, but you may get a free gift of some sort...a dish, a comb and a nice little red cloth bag for the jewelry. Best of luck.

 

http://www.goldtraders.or.th/
 

[ezzra]

Happy mother in law = happy wife, buy from the famous gold shops of Hua Seng Hang if you can and keep the receipts, ans sell it back to them for less commission,,,

[Curt1591]

17 hours ago, Barnabe said:

I'm looking to build up a nest egg for my mother in law

Jewelry will always have a "labor" charge. I'm inclined to think that this would be at the shop's discretion. But, it is doubtful it can be negotiated.

Bars are the better "investment". The shop we use charges 150 baht on 1 baht bars. Five baht bars a sold at spot sell price. 

Bars aren't as "pretty" as jewelry. And, they are harder to show off. However, with the higher prices on gold, jewelry is more likely to make one a target. 

[OneMoreFarang]

17 hours ago, Barnabe said:

I'm looking to build up a nest egg for my mother in law by gifting her the occasional gold pendant, bracelet, etc.

Just be aware that you basically give her money - in a better looking form.

If she needs cash you can expect that she will sell her gold at the price of the day.

Likely she won't associate any feeling about you with the gold.

[OneMoreFarang]

7 minutes ago, ezzra said:

Happy mother in law = happy wife, buy from the famous gold shops of Hua Seng Hang if you can and keep the receipts, ans sell it back to them for less commission,,,

You don't need a receipt. They recognize their own stamps.

And you can sell the gold in any Thai gold shop.

[Curt1591]

1 minute ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Likely she won't associate any feeling about you with the gold.

From his post, he doesn't sound like he cares ...

[rwill]

Besides the price of the gold there is a charge added for jewelry called Bahmnet.  Bahmnet can vary for different items.  The most my wife has ever got them to go down is around 50 baht.

[Bender Rodriguez]

you did not read about the gang and the kilogram of fake gold ?

 

gold might drop again after wuflu

[Barnabe]

I agree money and gold bars would be a better investment, but money is easier to dispose of, and gold bars can be more easily stolen (they're not worn regularly, locked away and "forgotten"). Besides, I already make a contribution to her savings account monthly, this would be on top of that.

 

An item of jewelry will have personal value and be kept close even if it's not associated with me, and no, I don't care about that

 

As for the price, I have a strong belief it will remain higher than it is for 5-10 years, even if it pulls back to current levels or below later, it's still a decent investment over a long time. As I said in the first post, the idea is to build up a nest egg with the occasional gift.

 

Thanks for the tips, I will try to negotiate the markup down as much as I can.

 

 

[Max69xl]

7 hours ago, cmrichsw said:

Consider opening a saving account for seed money to start. Thai banks are safe correct??

Yes,they are. 

[BTB1977]

So was this your wife's idea?  Gold is just like cash for a thai.  Even though you say save this for the future. The future for a thai could be next week. I can guaranty it will be sold off sooner than you think. 

If you expect to be around when she gets older it makes much more sense just to take care of her at that point of time. Other wise she will have sold all the gold before than and you will be expected to shell out even more when the time comes. I think you are being set up and a fool. 

[Barnabe]

No, this was my idea, I didn't even ask my wife (yet).

Appreciate the concern but I am well aware of the risks. This is also a long term test; if she can't manage to keep the stuff I give her for a few years, the gifts will stop and I will keep direct control of her finances through my wife.

[bwpage3]

With prices near an all-time high, buying gold now is not a good idea

[RocketDog]

17 hours ago, BTB1977 said:

So was this your wife's idea?  Gold is just like cash for a thai.  Even though you say save this for the future. The future for a thai could be next week. I can guaranty it will be sold off sooner than you think. 

If you expect to be around when she gets older it makes much more sense just to take care of her at that point of time. Other wise she will have sold all the gold before than and you will be expected to shell out even more when the time comes. I think you are being set up and a fool. 

Everything you said is reasonable and understandable except for the last line, which just detracted from your post IMO. 

[RocketDog]

16 hours ago, bwpage3 said:

With prices near an all-time high, buying gold now is not a good idea

Past performance is not a good guide today. "all-time" does not include tomorrow or next month. 

It's entirely possible that the same forces that finally propelled gold recently may well continue, namely devaluation of fiat currency and good old fashioned fear of the future.

 

Things are moving fast these days and there are plenty of reasons to be concerned about the future. Gold has provided for preservation of wealth for millennia and there is no reason for that to change. Governments all over the world have quietly but steadily increased their bullion holdings for the last decade and many are accelerating that even more now. What do they know that we don't? Lots. 

 

Of course in the short term it could go down fractionally but in the long term it's always revalues itself when currency inflates/deflates. The value of currency should be measured in units of precious metals, not the other way around. It may seem a nuance of perspective until you realize how many monetary systems have come and gone throughout the history of mankind and gold. 

 

Paper is and always had been just a promise of wealth. Precious metals have always been wealth itself. 

 

I've been 'stacking' for years and metals are one of the four pillars of my asset allocation alongside real-estate, equities, and cash. 

 

I'm not the least bit concerned that I bought gold at $1200/oz several years ago. It's 'return on investment' has been zero if you ignore inflation of the USD. 

 

People say you can't eat gold. I tried one time with silver (gold too rich for my taste). They are correct about that part. ????

 

[Foexie]

On ‎8‎/‎20‎/‎2020 at 10:58 AM, 2 is 1 said:

  But why buy now when gold is most exbensive in decade's? Yeah thai normaly only sell that 24k gold!

Maybe because they expect gold to go up another 25% before it will stabilize again.

 

BTW if you, or her don't mind, try to buy (mini) goldbars. I heared that when you exchange those they not charge you the 1200bht for re-melting the gold again.

[Airalee]

I have bought my girlfriend gifts of gold a few times.  Once I gave her a Valcambi bar which was not met with as much enthusiasm as when I offered to take her to the gold shop and let her pick out a half baht piece of jewelry for herself.  I think that it is better to do it that way as my girlfriend scanned the different bracelets for one that she liked the design of vs me choosing one for her.  You can also make a day of it and tell your mother in law that you’d like to take her to lunch and then to the gold shop so she can pick something out.  
 

I would however recommend that you let her know how much you want to buy her before you go saying something like “hey...I was thinking we could all go to lunch and then to the gold shop so you can pick out a nice (insert quantity/weight here) gold bracelet or something”

 

Hua Seng Heng is the major dealer but you can also buy from many other trustworthy dealers such as Aurora Gold which is in most malls.