How do Thai people make a profit on gold

[poppysdad]

Taking the gf to the gold shops tomorrow for her Chrissie present but browsing today at some of them in our shopping mall I was tempted to upgrade my 3 baht necklace to a 4 baht one. I chose one I liked and then asked how much so out come their calculators. Anyway the bottom line was that my upgrade of 1 baht was going to cost me 8000 baht over the 1 baht rate which I considered to great a margin so following a haggle we got nearer to 7000 which I still thought was far to great so I declined to proceed. 
In all honesty as I bought the necklace at 22000 and considering the current gold price I was quite in profit but I still felt them taking around 10% was excessive. So my question is I often hear that ordinary Thai’s frequently buy and sell gold in these shops so how do they make a profit on their trading if that % figure is what the gold shops take. I know they have overheads but isn’t there take a little over the top. 

[sherwood]

The profit comes from someboby else buying it for them and then they sell the gold at a reduced price because they never paid a single baht for it in the first place.

[PatOngo]

Buy low, sell high, it's not rocket science! 

[Lacessit]

7 minutes ago, PatOngo said:

Buy low, sell high, it's not rocket science! 

Beat me to it.

[Pmbkk]

Many pawn it - even families that are thought to be well-off. It's seen as currency as much as an investment.

 

It's also the main thing burglars go for if they know you have some.

 

Holidays - make the money go around... 

Edited December 24, 2020 by Pmbkk

[swissie]

OP probably picked the wrong Gold shops. Normally margin (bid/ask spread) is far lower. Compared to Europe, the Thai bid/ask spread is very reasonable.
Thais (especially older folks) like to have a bit of Gold on the side. They buy Gold on "dips" and then hold on to it.
They sell if they need cash or Gold spikes upward strongly within a short period of time.
(During August/September they were "net sellers"). For ages, Gold has functioned as an "alternative currency". They may have developped fome "feel" for the market over time.
I suppose that's how they make money with Gold.

[Stocky]

2 hours ago, poppysdad said:

ordinary Thai’s frequently buy and sell gold in these shops so how do they make a profit

They don't consider it as an investment the same way you do, rather they tend to buy gold against a rainy day, when times are hard they'll sell or pawn. 

[jackdd]

2 hours ago, poppysdad said:

So my question is I often hear that ordinary Thai’s frequently buy and sell gold in these shops so how do they make a profit on their trading

On average they aren't making any profit on it. They buy it as investment and sell it when they need cash. The only people who make a profit from trading are the gold shops.

[CharlieH]

In my experience, when "upgrading" its been around 1000- 1500 baht as they claim that was for the ornamental aspect of the piece, added at purchase, deducted on selling.

Clearly experiences vary.???? as with soooo many things in this land of inconsistency.

[foreverlomsak]

4 hours ago, poppysdad said:

I was tempted to upgrade my 3 baht necklace to a 4 baht one. ................. but I still felt them taking around 10% was excessive.

Depends a lot on the workmanship involved, the 3 Baht necklace may have been of a simple easy manufactured design and the 4 Baht of a very complicated and labor intensive design therefore the differential would have been justified.

Only guessing and surmising.

[FritsSikkink]

16 hours ago, poppysdad said:

Taking the gf to the gold shops tomorrow for her Chrissie present but browsing today at some of them in our shopping mall I was tempted to upgrade my 3 baht necklace to a 4 baht one. I chose one I liked and then asked how much so out come their calculators. Anyway the bottom line was that my upgrade of 1 baht was going to cost me 8000 baht over the 1 baht rate which I considered to great a margin so following a haggle we got nearer to 7000 which I still thought was far to great so I declined to proceed. 
In all honesty as I bought the necklace at 22000 and considering the current gold price I was quite in profit but I still felt them taking around 10% was excessive. So my question is I often hear that ordinary Thai’s frequently buy and sell gold in these shops so how do they make a profit on their trading if that % figure is what the gold shops take. I know they have overheads but isn’t there take a little over the top. 

They offered you a bad deal, would have had it a lot cheaper. Never go to a gold shop with a woman.

Edited December 25, 2020 by FritsSikkink

[Heng]

Purchase as bars, no 'design' fee built in.  That said, you probably don't want to keep gold bars in your home in Thailand.  Safety deposit boxes only, or better yet, stick with branded Swiss... or any reputable country you prefer bars (Pamp, Argor-Heraeus, etc)  and buy them/store them offshore.  You don't really need to buy and sell at all... just buy and store.  The world governments that are printing currency like crazy will cause you to profit by just not holding their paper.   Same with real estate.  

[CrunchWrapSupreme]

12 hours ago, CharlieH said:

In my experience, when "upgrading" its been around 1000- 1500 baht as they claim that was for the ornamental aspect of the piece

Wife keeps bugging me about an "upgrade" Xmas present. Says if we go back to the same shop we'll get a good deal. Bah. I tell her the Xmas present is already in the car, loaded down with stuff from Makro for our trip upcountry to see the fam.

[AustinRacing]

Everybody in the world makes money (or loses money) the same way on gold.  Those who buy jewelry gold are not or at least should not consider it as investing or trading in gold as a portion of the price is attributed to workmanship cost which you don’t get back when selling. We trade in hold using gold trading brokers where the difference between selling and buying is narrower than the 100thb at the local gold shop. In short Thai people don’t make money from gold per se.

Edited December 25, 2020 by AustinRacing

[OneMoreFarang]

Buy and sell prices - the picture is not up to date.

 

 

[ChaiyaTH]

Most Thais are clueless about it and lose on it. If wanting to play with it you should buy like BAHTs of gold. Maybe 10 baht of gold or more and then buy low and sell high. Not buy necklaces etc. Could make some nice money by doing 2-3 trades a year, fun activity too + no brokerage or taxes. The latter is actually quite unique and I wonder how long it keeps lasting. One can sell <deleted> loads of gold in Asia without needing any ID.

Edited December 25, 2020 by ChaiyaTH

[Natai Beach]

47 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Buy and sell prices - the picture is not up to date.

 

 

 

Nah.

The top price is for a baht of gold.

The lower price is for a gram.

 

Current prices below and spreads.

 

 

[talahtnut]

Generally, there's no profit in gold, its value hasn't changed in several thousand years.

I would imagine its very nice to have a few lumps put aside just i case.

[Bender Rodriguez]

since when is 1 baht of gold only 8000 baht ????

[Heng]

8000 Baht per Baht of gold was the price around 2005 if I recall correctly.   Now, you can either say it has appreciated or the value of currency has become less valuable.    Bread also appreciated pretty quickly in the Weimar Republic.   

[Surelynot]

What many people fail to take in to account is the "lost opportunity cost of capital"......what could the money, tied up in gold, be earning if invested elsewhere...especially at a compounded rate.

 

I suspect whilst some gold, as part of a broad portfolio is fine, I doubt many ordinary people make a profit.

[kingstonkid]

On 12/24/2020 at 5:41 PM, Lacessit said:

Beat me to it.

I buy a baht a month averages out to a profit better than what the bank would give me or stocks right now

[Jaxxper]

Buy low sell high. Simples.

[Lacessit]

15 hours ago, talahtnut said:

Generally, there's no profit in gold, its value hasn't changed in several thousand years.

I would imagine its very nice to have a few lumps put aside just i case.

Not in my experience. I have bought and sold gold here and in Australia about ten to fifteen times, I have yet to make a loss on it. As governments print more money to paper over debt cracks, people buy more gold as a meaningful store of value.

[jak2002003]

Here is the way Thai ladies can make money on gold....

 

1. Get your dumb farang husband's / boyfriends to buy you gold jewelry as gifts to prove they love you.

 

2.  Take the jewellery to gold shop and sell it.

 

3. If farang boyfriend / husband asks where the gold is tell him it's locked away for safety 

 

4. After a few months when he finally realised you dont have it anymore, start crying and tell him it was stolen and you were attacked. You are so upset that he should buy you some new more expensive gold jewelry to prove that he trusts and loves you.

 

5. Go back to step 1 and repeat. 

 

[oxforddiver]

About ten to fifteen years ago the cost of buying gold in gold shops was normally the direct value according to the baht weight of the day, plus about 200 baht, for the shop I assume.

In those days buying and selling gold was the custom and frequent among Thai people.

Since then the cost, now attributed to the art work, has risen, to over 1000 baht. 

This is just profiteering as the shops have realised that some people will pay it, but it has put the brakes on for the volume aspect of gold sales.

If you want to invest it is best to join a bullion dealer, there is one on Sukhumvit near MacDonalds, and buy in bars, or let them store it for you. 

Considering the price uplift from shops, and I have never heard of one as big as 8000 baht, it is not good value to buy and sell often.

[Spatiumus]

4 hours ago, Bender Rodriguez said:

since when is 1 baht of gold only 8000 baht ????

Did someone say that it is currently that price?

[Spatiumus]

18 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

Buy and sell prices - the picture is not up to date.

 

 

"Buy and sell prices..."

Nonsense, there is never that much spread between prices for the same quantity.

Edited December 26, 2020 by Spatiumus

[hellohello123]

They sell/offload it to a farang  as part of a dowry

 

Instant profit

[Kurtf]

On 12/24/2020 at 5:05 PM, poppysdad said:

Taking the gf to the gold shops tomorrow for her Chrissie present but browsing today at some of them in our shopping mall I was tempted to upgrade my 3 baht necklace to a 4 baht one. I chose one I liked and then asked how much so out come their calculators. Anyway the bottom line was that my upgrade of 1 baht was going to cost me 8000 baht over the 1 baht rate which I considered to great a margin so following a haggle we got nearer to 7000 which I still thought was far to great so I declined to proceed. 
In all honesty as I bought the necklace at 22000 and considering the current gold price I was quite in profit but I still felt them taking around 10% was excessive. So my question is I often hear that ordinary Thai’s frequently buy and sell gold in these shops so how do they make a profit on their trading if that % figure is what the gold shops take. I know they have overheads but isn’t there take a little over the top. 

Thai's profit from gold by buying bullion. Not jewelry. Go in the gold shop and buy a 1 baht or a 5 baht piece of gold, wait for the price to go up more than 100 baht. An example would be, Buy a 5 baht piece of gold at 22.500 baht per baht. the total would be 112,500 baht. Bring it back to that same store when the price has gone up 200 baht. The store will buy the gold back with a 100 baht surcharge leaving you with a 100 baht profit for each baht you bought or 500 baht total profit.