Planning to buy some Gold jewellery in India and confused about how the whole thing works? Well, I was equally puzzled by all those terminologies and promises that you get to hear in Jewellery shop commercials until I decided to dig out some information.
So here’re some tips and education that might help you in the future.
What is Karat, 916, BIS Hallmark etc?
Karat (NOT Carat) is a measure of the purity of gold. 24 carat is considered pure gold.
Since pure gold is too soft (and hence would easily bend) to make any jewellery out of it, there has to be certain other metals such as copper, silver, cadmium etc added to make it strong, shine and with the desired shade. Based on how much extra metals are added, the Karat value of the gold reduces to 22Kt, 18Kt, 14Kt or even 10Kt.
For example, 18K gold is 75% pure gold (i.e. 18/24) where as 14K gold has only 58% real gold in it.
In India, 22K gold is considered the most valuable for jewelries and hence it has more resale value as well. 22Kt gold jewellery means it has 22/24 percent pure gold in it or in other words 91.6% purity.
And this is what is called 916 gold (symbolizes 91.6%).
[BIS Hallmark is NOT just for 22Kt gold. You may take a look at the BIS site for all BIS components]
Making Charges, Gold Wastage charges etc
As I mentioned earlier, there has to be certain metals added to pure gold to make it tough and good enough to make jewellery. This is the first level of added cost to the making process followed by the actual making charges to convert the gold bars or blocks into beautiful jewellery patterns.
The making charges (‘Panikkooli’ for Malayali friends) is the cost of converting raw gold into jewellery. This is usually expressed in Rupees per gram of gold. In most cases, the making charges per gram of gold vary from 25 to 35 rupees. Compared to the price of gold today, this is a negligible number.
However, there is another scary number called the ‘wastage charges’ (‘Panikkuravu’ as Keralites call it). In the good old times, the goldsmiths used to make gold jewellery by melting gold, cutting and shaping it into tiny pieces and join them together to make great handmade gold jewellery. In this process they ‘claimed’ that certain quantity of gold go wasted though these goldsmiths are actually smart enough to collect or retrieve most of the gold without wasting any. Nowadays, the gold ornaments are made in advanced machines and nothing really go wasted. However, this tradition of calculating ‘wastage’ continues and this is expressed in terms of ‘percentage’and they charge that to the customers.
The amount charged to the customers for the ‘wastage’ caused is known as the ‘wastage charges’. It’s quite ridiculous that there’s no norm for this wastage charge component and that’s exactly where your jeweller cheats you. The wastage charges typically vary from 10% to 18% in most shops while it’s quite possible to have it as high as 20% or 24% or even as low as 8%. Unfortunately, nobody knows why certain ornaments has to have more wastage than some others as claimed by the jeweller.
Hence the actual cost burden on you while purchasing gold jewellery is:
Actual cost of gold as per the day’s rate + Wastage charges + Making Charges + VAT if any. In addition, if your jewellery has any precious stones, that cost will be added up as well.
Cost of Gold Jewellery = Making Charges + Wastage Charges + Cost of Stones, if any + VAT
For example, assume that the gold rate is at Rs.2500/- per gram for 22 Karat gold. When you buy a 10 gram gold chain with the making charges at 35 rupees per gram and wastage charges at 12%, the following will be the calculation to arrive at the final price:
(1) Cost of gold alone = 10 * 2500 = 25,000/-
(2) Making charges = 10 * 35 = 350/-
(3) Wastage charges = 12 * 25,000 / 100 = 3,000/-
The total cost before VAT = 28,350/-
If the VAT is at 1% that becomes 28,633.50/-
Recently the jewellers have started representing the Wastage Charges and Making charges together as VA or ‘Value Addition’.
Gold Jewellery buying tips for Indians
As a smart buyer, you may keep the following things in mind when you deal with jewellery shops.
- First, if you are exchanging gold (selling old ornaments and buying new) make sure that you are getting the full price of what you are selling. i.e. As long as you are selling 22K gold, the shop may not reduce any price but give you the actual market price of the 22K gold by its weight. There are some jewellers who charge melting charges, handling charges or whatever they may call it but never ever fall into that trap
- Each and every piece has to be weighed separately and tested for purity using the electronic purity tester while selling. i.e. if you have a pair of ear rings, test them separately
- Ask for the current gold price on your purchase day and their standard making charges before commencing your shopping
- Check for the BIS hallmark on the inner or back side of each of the pieces you are buying
- Ask for the ‘wastage charges’ for each of the pieces that you are picking and be prepared for the negotiation
- You may start by asking the ‘BEST wastage charge’ as per the salesman. Negotiate with him and tell him that you are serious about the purchase if he’s forthcoming in terms of a reduced rate. He will mostly give one percent less. Take it to the store manager or supervisor at the next level to get 2-3% negotiation done. You WILL definitely get 2-3% discount if you are making bigger purchases. If you are gone there just to pick a little 2gm earring or so, you better not negotiate much. But if you are on wedding or engagement shopping, you may save a lot by negotiating
Further tips:
There may be some sales people who may try to belittle you on your miserliness and even might raise their voice. You may remind such people that you know this business and it’s your money that is at stake. Further, you may ask them why there’s no norm for this so-called wastage charges (Hopefully at some point the government will normalize this as well).
Most jewellers may offer you a discount of 40 or 50 rupees per gram on the prevailing rate as if they are doing you a great favour. Please note that your REAL saving comes from the wastage charge negotiation. The ‘special discount valid only for today’, or ‘pick a chit and get your lucky discount’ etc are the gimmicks that they play to preempt further negotiation. Don’t fall for those tricks.
You may advise your respective wives to stop exchanging jewellery too often. Because, every time you exchange, all those value addition charges come into play and you lose a lot of money.
If investment is your goal, avoid buying jewellery but go for gold coins or even Exchange Traded Funds on Gold (ETF Gold Funds).
That’s pretty much for now. I just thought of jotting down these points after coming back from a minor purchase at Chemmanur Jewellers – not that I was hugely successful in negotiating this time. But I have certainly seen my relatives, in-laws, friends etc negotiating big time and making a huge difference in the final bill.
I didn’t know that pure gold is soft. Really? I’m learning a lot from your article. Very well written and educational. And lol panikkuravu and panikkooli…
Bijulal, had u listened to the metals section of ur chemistry classes in higher secondary, theyw ould have taught u this. It is not exactly “soft”. It is called brittle or rather, they say gold in pure form is not malelable & ductile.
Pure gold is a soft metal & not brittle. It is highly ductile and malleable. You can make Jewellery using 24Karat Gold but that won’t be durable and break very easily. That’s why other metals added.
Hi good evening , I purchased 22 karat gold jewellery 22.80 gm in a local jewellery shop at Madurai the wastage negotiated from 9% to 6.5% whether the wastage okay
not ok. there was a waste of 6.5% on wastage
Thank u for ur information
916 gold is called pure form of gold….. Is it applicable wasteage charges for 916 gold???? If applicable menas what is the percentage???
Very very useful to me….
tnk u so much.
Really useful.
It was very much useful to me.. Thanks a lot. I had one doubt that, what is 24kt. gold? I heard this very frequently? Kindly answer to me..
24Kt (24 carat or carrot) gold is the gold in its purest form. This is usually the best buy for investments, however, 24 carrot gold cannot be used to make jewellery immediately as it’s very soft. Usually other metals are added to harden it and that’s how 22kt or 18kt or even 14kt gold is made.
24Kt gold is usually represented as 999 gold (i.e. less than 0.001 impurities) while exact figure should have been 1000. 22kt = 22/24*1000 or 916 GOLD which is the BIS standard in India for jewellery making. In short, it has 91.6% gold in it.
Hope it’s clear for you.
But for 14 K the fineness works out to be 14/24=583 but an article of 14 Karat is hallmarked as 14K585 . Why so? Isn’t this misleading and untrue.
Simply you can say 24 ct gold= 100% pure gold
It is pure gold. One cannot do ornaments in it. If you try then it will break. If you go for 22 karat then the balance 2 karat is other metal mixed with the 22 karat gold. The more it goes below 22 karat then the shining or glittering gets reduced. 22 / 24 × 100 91.66 % which is called hallmark.
Hello Ajith, this is really a useful article for the Gold Buyers. A Large % of the gold buyers really not aware of how they are getting cheated. This article will really throw some light and help to understand what is going on in the gold market. Thank you so much for writing this article for the public awareness.
Do you any idea why the price is getting dropped drastically in last one month and is it a good time to buy Gold?
Hi Thomas,
Most analysts are predicting the international gold prices to come down to at least $1300 per ounce (and some even predicting 1200. This means that, a possible price drop of 8-10% further from the current levels. I would avoid buying gold as investment at this point.
There may be many reasons for the sudden fall in prices. With some major analysts downgrading it, a lot of investors started selling gold. Even some treasuries of certain countries sold gold in tons and this resulted in a lot of supply but less demand. The current levels itself are maintained only because of demand from Indian and Chinese retail buyers. While I don’t expect Indians’ greed, passion and religious believes for gold will come down anytime soon, any negative view on gold can result in sharp correction further right? After all it’s just a metal 🙂
Hi it was a nice article. I have got a doubt.is there any difference in the rate of 916 gold and 916 kdm gold? Because I was trying to exchange a jewellery and they told me that my gold is only 916 .so i was told that they will reduce as much as 5g gold for 55g of jwellery I was trying to exchange
Preetha,
Both 916 KDM and 916 Gold (without KDM) are of 22 carat and hence should ideally get you the same price. KDM 916 (i.e. Gold soldered with Cadmium during making) melts faster than normal 916 gold there by saving the jewellery manufacturers some making charges. It’s atrocious that they deduct 10% of the gold value in the name of KDM. I have never experienced it but that may be the new norm with gold prices falling every day – they somehow want to save their money.
I suggest that you try selling it with other jewelers or even in a different city.
By the way, internationally many countries have banned KDM gold because Cadmium (extremely toxic) is supposed to be bad for the skin.
kdm will be reduced from gold when you exchange or resale gold jewellery
HI Ajith,
Really nice article!I am from Jaipur, and bought some jewellery a few days back on 25th of may and want to share my experience.
Let me tell u first in Jaipur (and i think in all cities) every day at 11:00 hrs the rate of 22K and 24K gold get opens and these rates are applicable for the whole remaining day and for next day before 11:00 am in all jewellery shops of Jaipur.
So on 25th may gold rates were as follows:
22K=2540INR/gram
24K=2700INR/gram
That day i bought two items description is as follows:
1. A gold chain of 22/22K@2540INR, with weight 20 grams,and making charges 340/gram i.e. [(2540+340)*20]=57,600 INR inclusive all taxes.
2. A bangle of 22/20K@2540INR, with weight 60 grams,with no making charges i.e. [2540*60]=1,52,400 INR inclusive of all taxes.
Now as you can see in the case of chain it is 22K i.e. 916 BIS hallmark jewellery, initially jeweler tried to charge 400INR/gram making charge but after some bargaining the deal was set on 340INR/gram, it is almost 13.30% of the gold value.
In the case of bangles the jewellery is 22/20K gold which means that the skin purity or polish on the jewellery is of 22K but the jewellery itself made of 20K i.e. 83.33% of pure gold.But in actuality when you return 22/20K jewellery to the jewelers he will give you only 80% of pure gold, so i assume that 22/20K contains only 80% of pure gold.
Now see how smart these jewellers are, when you purchase 22/20K jewellery the jeweller will not charge any making charges from you, but he will charge for 22/22K i.e. 916 i.e. 91.6% of pure gold from you and give you 80% of pure gold.BUT 22/20K jewellery does not comes with BIS hallmark, so if you have great belief in the jeweler only then purchase it.
Now look at the big game,916 or 22/22K jewellery contains 91.6% of pure gold but as i mentioned the gold rates of 24K and 22K gold you can easily calculate that:
1 gram of 24K price = 2700
1 gram of 22K price = 2540
BUT
2540*100/2700= 94%
YES ITS TRUE!! ALL JEWELLERS WEATHER TANISHQ OR ANY OTHER BIG OR FAMILY JEWELLERS ALL CHARGE 94% OF PURE GOLD FOR 91.6% OF PURE GOLD.
This was all i can understood after lots of calculations, Can you clear me this 94% and 91.6% confusion.
Hi Naveen,
Thanks for commenting here and for sharing the details. It really helps in educating other readers 🙂
As for the 22k gold pricing – it will be always a bit more than 91.6% of the price of pure gold. This is because of the melting and strengthening cost of the gold and chemicals/metals used in the process. That’s why it worked out to be 94%. But this part, I would like to trust as the 22k pricing is normalized across all stores. The difference is always in the value addition (VA) part.
The 20k gold that you purchased, they seem to have added almost similar VA as they charged it as if it were 22k. The problem is while selling the non-hallmarked jewelry.
By the way, you seem to have got a good deal for the VA for 22k purchase.
Hi ajith,
Now i understand,this difference stands for wastage.
Thanks for clearification!
I have one more doubt, when i was searching information on value addition part last night i read a number of blogs mentioning that if anyone pay more then 10% of gold value as making charge then, he is paying more.please read the article at
and then u decide, did jeweler really cheated me on making charges or it is normal to have 13% to 16% making charges?
Naveen,
Well, my belief is that 10-12% VA is a good deal and up to 13 or 14 is fine. But there are complicated designs for which they charge up to 20% for whatever reason. I have never bought such intricate designs. That’s the area where one can negotiate a bit. And when the gold prices go down or up, they tend to play around with the Value Addition. In your case, 13% is not a bad deal, I think.
Value Addition is something that the government has to intervene and standardize. The jewelers have been charging this as a % of the total price which is illogical. Ideally, the Value addition or making charge (charges to make a certain grams of gold) should be a fixed amount per gram of gold in which case daily fluctuations in gold prices don’t affect value addition and the consumers won’t get cheated.
i have 12 gms of neck chain i want to exchange and purchase new same weight then how much i should pay if 2800/- per gms
If your 12gms chain is 916 gold, you will get today’s rate in the best case. Some jewelers may reduce 5 or 20 rupees per gram on exchange. So assuming that your current chain is 916, you will get 33600/- for your gold.
Now, when you buy new 916 gold for 12 grams, the base price is again 33,600. On top of that, you have to add VA, VAT and Taxes. In the best case, it may cost you around 40K but it can be higher depending on the VA charged by the jeweler.
Now, if your old chain is not 916, you may lose a lot on exchange – according to the purity of that gold, that is.
Hi Ajith,
I gave a gold chain of 40 grm (22 kt) in a jewelry shop to make a new diff chain by melting the old one. The goldsmith said there is a wastage of 1.5 gm while melting and finally he got 38.5 gm of 916 kt gold bar using which he made a new chain and delivered, which was of 35.9 gms.
After testing it in lab we got to know that the new chain is not 916. It was measuring 886.
The goldsmith is arguing that the gold quality reduces after melting. Is that true ?? Is it not possible to make new 916 gold ornament by melting old 916 gold ornament ?? Please guide.
Hi Kiran,
First, I wouldn’t melt old ornaments and make new with the SAME at the local Goldsmith’s place. Most goldsmiths claim (and I don’t know how exactly) that they will loose some gold during the melting old jewelery. Getting 38.5gm in 916 sounds like a decent deal. However, when you made jewelry out of it, regardless of the wastage, ideally you should have ended up with 916kt end product – may be settle for 35 gms instead of 35.9 but at 916. Now the only issue is that, when you exchange this gold again, you will lose some more money because it’s short of 916. By the way, did you pay him making charges on top of wastage caused? If not, it’s not a bad deal because you still have decent amount of gold with you.
When you exchange gold, you should do it with REPUTED jewelers only. The reason is that the end product that you get will be not only 916kt but BIS marked as well. I recently exchanged 82 grams of gold (off which around 10 gms where non-standard i.e. less than 916). Finally, I got around 69 grams of 916 BIS marked – new fashion jewelery for my wife – and I didn’t have to pay anything from my pocket (in terms of taxes/making charge/wastage etc all that was calculated in the 13 gms I lost). Although, 13gms sounds like a big waste (which is true when you exchange jewelry), at the end everything was converted to standardized jewelry.
I don’t know how it works with all other jewelers, but when I discussed this topic with my mother, she said getting 69gms in 916 was a good deal along with new style jewelry.
Hi Ajith,
Yesterday my mother made a purchase in one of the gold jewellery in Coimbatore.Actually it is 40.110 gram simple chain…not much design…They told my mom that they would not charge for making..They only charge for wastage…But the VA is 328.25 per gram (13%)..The gold rate per gram is 2525…So the VA itself 13166.00 of total value….. but I think some how my mom were cheated. BECAUSE HOW COME WASTAGE CHARGE OF SIMPLE CHAIN WILL BE 13%… Now a days every one advertise maximum is 7% only…..please help me through this…
Bought a diamond set consisting of Ear rings and a pendant for my wife on her b’day only to realize later that we were conned big time. The salesman told us that there are NO making charges (MA) on Diamonds and around 10% MA on the 18C gold (Rate/ Gm : 2508)
So
Diamond Pendant Gold: 1.092gm X 2058= 2247
Diamond: 0.19C X 75000= 14250
VA: 1575
Diamond Ear ring Gold: 1.764gm X 2058= 3630
Diamond: 0.13C X 75000= 9750
VA: 1940
Total Diamond Cost= 24000
Total Gold Cost= 5877
Total VA= 3515
Total= 33392
The SA claimed the VA was 10.5% conveniently ignoring the fact that the Diamond did not carry any making charges. After much haggling ( with him and later the manager) they gave us a Rs 1589 discount pointing out the MA was now 6%. We were pleased with ourselves and walked out with the purchase. At home it dawned on us that we were conned big time. On closer inspection we realized the original MA was a whopping 59.8% on the value of gold.
VA (Rs 3515)/ Gold Value (Rs 5877)X 100 = 59.8%
The Rs 1589 discount brought down the MA from 3515 to 1926. Still a massive 32.7% on the Value of gold.
VA (Rs 1926)/ Gold Value (Rs 5877)X 100 = 32.7%
I always knew jewelers made handsome profits by conning customers, but this was broad daylight robbery. I just may have purchased my last piece of jewelry. Or so till there is some uniformity and transparency in making charges.
Thank you for sharing your experience. Though I once bought some diamond jewellery, I am not aware of how much I paid as VA for the gold part of the same. I need to dig out bills.
Just now, while browsing around on this topic, I read on a linkedin thread that some people charge 400 to 600 per gram as VA in the case of gold-diamond jewellery. Not sure if it’s true. In either case, what you paid as VA seems to be more than that.
Dinesh,
Don’t fall for these Gold Jewellery shop ads that claim flat 5% or 6% VA. There’ll be always a ‘*’ or disclaimer along with these low making charge claims. Perhaps in their entire shop not even 5% of the total jewellery will be sold with that kind of low making charges.
Coming back to your purchase, I guess 13% is not really too much but then 11 or 12 would have been better.
I am very happy about this artical because it clears all my doubts about jewellary purchase, thanku verymuch.
Really it is very much nice and educative article. Recently , I along with my wife went to one gold jewellery show room and argued to reduce the so called wastage charges about 14 %, but they have not reduced the same and telling to us , that they will get the ornament from the manufactures with 12% wastage.. Is it true ?. And do you have any idea how to put the investment in Gold funds…
HI AJITH,
YESTERDAY I BOUGHT A GOLD RING WEIGHING 1.640GM AT 3100/GM.THE WASTAGE IS 0.200 AND MC IS 12% AND HE HAS CHARGED ME RS 574 FOR MC.THE RING COSTED ME RS6300 INCLUDING ALL CHARGES BUT NOT VAT.AFTER READING UR ARTICLE I FEEL I PAID MORE FOR MC.PLEASE HELP ME.AM I CHEATED?
Hi Sandhya,
Well, it depends on the design of the ring. If they ‘claim’ it to be a complicated design, they may charge 15% or 18% as VA. If it’s machine pressed, it shouldn’t be more than 12% or 13%, I believe.
In either case, I think you paid a few hundred bucks or so extra. 1.64 * 3100 = 5084 is your gold price. Even if you add 15% VA, (Rs. 762/-) it should have been around 5850/- before VAT. Looks like your jeweler charged the VAT at 24%.
Since the gold price shot up to all-time high price yesterday at 3099/gm for 22k gold, the jewelers must be having low business and hence increasing value addition charges.
(This is my version, I would like to know what the jeweler think)
Best regards,
Ajith
hi ajith, i bought 25.8 gms pair of bis 916 hallmark bangles from gaja jewelers 2 yrs back. they took no making charges as inaugural discount.after abt a yr, i had to get them exchanged because they got out of shape.this time they charged 11000 as making charges of the new pair that i took, which by the way was a duplicate of the previous ones in weight and design. not even a yr, and the screws of the bangles have become loose.on asking for exchange, they said that buying and selling rates of hallmark gold are different and they would deduct 150 rs per gm if i sold or exchanged it from them. my doubt is, can the jeweller cut money like this on his own hallmarked gold?is the buying and selling price of gold really different?what should i expect from any other jeweller if i exchange or sell these bangles from them ?is gaja jewller not supposed to give 100% buyback on their own gold without any deductions?am really confused and have put my exchange on hold till your answer.plz help.
As far as I remember, whenever we exchanged 916 gold purchased at the same place, we got 100% exchange rate. My family had good experience with Bhima on this account and even Chemmanur in Bangalore when it comes to exchange. Anything less than 916, they promptly reduce the price anyhow based on purity. When I wrote this article, we had exchanged gold varying from 18kt to 22+ and for each we got the price based on quality. I suggest that you take the same gold (if it’s BIS marked) to couple of other jewelers and take their opinion as well.
By the way, there’s a catch in the exchange deal. Some smart jeweler might offer you 100% exchange rate instead of deducting Rs. 150 per gram (or around 2% of the current market price). On exchange, if he charges you 2% extra, he is still at benefit right? So one good question to ask is whether there’s any difference in buyback price if you decide not to buy anything from them.
another qs is …is the buying and selling price of gold actually different?the jeweller said so…also, if we exchange he gives 100% value at the current rate(plz note again theres a difference bw their buying and selling prices).however by doing so, we ll again be charged the making charges for the new piece of jewellery. but if we simply want to sell it and involve no exchange, then he says , he’ll be deducting the making charges on his own ornament. cud u clarify?
916 gold can be sold at the current market price with your original seller or another good and clean jeweler. Needless to say, when you exchange you will end up losing 15% to 20% because of the VA/VAT charges on NEW jewelry. This holds true regardless of exchange or new purchase. BUT if you just want to sell 916 gold, typically good jewelers should pay you at the market price. That’s why I am recommending to try other buyers.
What is batta? Is it wastage? I gave a gold ring 22k to made a new ring, and the jeweller told me to but 20-30% as batta. What is it?
No idea about this term – perhaps could be a term for wastage charges?
To Cut batta coz design was complicated of the ring i sold
Hi Ajith,
Your article seems to be quite an eye opener. Thanks to you.
I saw an antique jewelery set in Khazanna jewelers, chennai and following is the break up of charge:
a)Necklace: Gold rate @ 2838 Rs/gm
Actual Weight: 130 gms
Wastage: 27.3 gms
Price of Neckale (130+27.3) gms: Rs 446417
b)Earrings: Gold rate @ 2838 Rs/gm
Actual Weight: 43.160 gms
Wastage: 9.060gms
Price of Earring(43.160+9.060) gms: Rs 148200
c) Vat 1%: 5946
Total Price of Jewellery Set (a+b+c) : Rs. 6,00,563
Is this a good deal? Seems to me that the wastage is on quite an high end (more than 20%) since I had noticed that jewellers like GRT have charged 15% to 18% wastage on antique jewellery sets. Can I quote the same with Khazanna jewellers and see if I can get a good deal?
Sandhya, 20% or more wastage is probably due to very intricate design work that you opted for your necklace. If it’s a very simple work, it should be below 15% or in the best case around 12%.
Hi Ajith,
How come few of the jewellers (Lalitha) are able to provide designs of the same type for wastage less than 8%.
Because there’s no standardized approach or norm here 🙂 That’s exactly what I was talking about in this article. The lesson here is that, if two vendors are providing hallmark 916 gold jewellery and one is charging less VA, you should obviously go with that one. Smart buyers like you should be able to make informed choices.
I hope that the government standardizes the gold jewelry pricing at some point of time. I mean, I would like to buy gold just like any other commodity with a fixed % of sales tax, VAT and/or service tax.
Hi
could you tell the common wastage of
1. chains,rings,earrings,necklace,bangles(without stone and with stone)
2. mild designs & heavy designs wastage percentage for the above ornaments.(chains,rings,earrings,necklace,bangles)
Pavithra, no idea 🙂 Read my other comments – for intricate designs, it an be even 20 or 25% while normal designs, it’s ideal to have the VA between 5 and 15%. Basically, there is no norm.
Hi Ajith
Very informative article. I have a plan to buy gold bangles. Should I go for handmade or machine made ??
I stay in Singapore and making charges is very much compare to bangalore. It is about 12,500 rupees for a pair of bangles. At the same time no making charge or machine made bangles. Just confused between hand made and machine made. When I saw machine made bangles, it looks like artificial bangles.thinking whether to buy in bangalore or here..
I think the Handmade vs Machine made question is purely an aesthetic decision. You are right about the ‘looks’ of machine made jewelery.
Before considering where to buy, you need to make sure that you are getting the ‘standardized’ gold for the price you pay. Like India has BIS standards now, there must be something in Singapore for marking 22k or 24k gold right? So the best thing is to compare the rates and VA (making charges + taxes etc) in both Bangalore and Singapore for the SAME Karat rating and take a decision.
Hi,
I recently went to a Swarnmala Jwellery shop at Ghatkopar Mumbai. We have selected 2 Mangalsutra 916 Hallmark total weighing around 11grams. However we showed him our ornaments which we wanted to exchange for gold. which included Mix Jewellery of 916, 20/22kt, KDM, and some OLD SOLID GOLD used by my grandmother.
Now for the gold they say that the current rate of 24K is Rs. 3050, so for 916… they will pay me Rs. 2794, for KDM rate would be Rs. 2561… however in some jewellery inspite of the 916/KDM/20/22 Markings, the salesman says that they shall deduct 10-12% for those pieces.
Purchase rate for us was higher than what they are giving in exchange of our jewellery.
Is this what all jewellers follow?
Most jewelers do that. However, the ones with 916 markings are supposed to be taken back by the ‘same’ jeweler at the current market price. Not sure how many are following that.
hi Ajith!
I am agastya from jaipur. I got good amount of information by reading articles and talk backs.
I have few queries-
1. did u ever get the market price on 916k gold jewelry even if sold rather than exchanging it with the same jeweler?
2.i have some receipts of the jewelry bought by my father in 1997-98.now while once old jewelry was exchanged on the mkt price but on some of the receipts , it is written that “22 k jewelry is returned at cost of 80% value of pure gold”.
now , is it fair?? On receipts , wastage cost is not mentioned at all. merely , weight of gold in grams is written and labor charges are written.
now , how can they charge 11.6% on 916 jewelry? that too, openly declaring on their receipts??? do u find it interesting and would you like to figure out it??
If I remember correctly, I got full value for my 916 exchange purchased from jewelers like Bhima. But then yeah, they will charge VA again for anything new that you buy. Sometimes, if we don’t buy anything from them while exchanging there’s a possibility that there may be some reduction (as some commenters mentioned here)
But giving only 80% of the value for 22K gold is not fair.
hi ia m kuro , and i love ur article , recently
i sold my 22ct hall mark ring to a jeweller he deducted 20% on it, and said it has taka in it
was i ripped of , please tell
HI
ANOTHER thing i want toask you is that so called “wastage charges” are taken at time of buying or at time of selling??? it cannot be taken two times, isn’t it? offcourse , maximum ” melting charges can be taken at time of selling.. i guess. i also noticed, that every day, in daily newspaper, the cost of buying and selling 22 k gold jewelry is published and the diffrence is generally is 600 rs per 10 grams between the two. Have you noticed it?
for example, today’s rates in jaipur is written –
buying 22/22=29400/10gram
return 22/22=28800/10gram
gold 995 =31,200/10gram
Just answered above as per my understanding
Hi Ajith,
Thanks a lot for a such a nice article on jewellary buying. Iam actually planning to buy some jewellary these days. Basically i dont know anything about the jewellary shopping but this helped me a lot. But i have one question. If you are buying a jewellary with stones on it along with gold. How do you verify the weight of a gold and stones or diamond seperately?
The gold value and the stones value/weight are calculated separately and mentioned in the bill. We have to go with what the jeweler claims in this regard. For the stone (i.e. the costlier part) a separate certificate (usually a plastic card like CC) will be provided on which the precious stone details (karat, clarity – color codes etc) are printed. In my opinion, it’s better to go with 22kt gold base for diamond jewelery as well as against 18kt or less as practiced by Tanishq etc.
Hello Ajit,
I was going through the article and all the comments, you have given well information.
However i would like to say that government cam never intervine and standarise the “Value Addition” costing part, because even there is no standard cost we jewellers pay to the karigars.
You see bow a days a lot of diamond jewellery is bening manufactured using high tech Cad/Cam casting machines where there is really zero percent gold wastage loss,
But plain gold jewellery is still manufactured majorly by hand by our people known as Karigars in India, so in reality there are charges that they take for working day and night on a jew piece, the fee for their hard work, even we jewellers pay them value addition. The value addition differs from items to items, designs to designs. There are some very complicated designs which requires more of their time, labour hardwork as each is manufctures by hand, for which Karigar charge more and thus inturn jewellers charge more. So there can never be any standardisation in “value addition”, even government knows this otherwise they would have intervined a long ago.
I agree, customer must seek information and must make sure that they are buying or getting the purity that they have asked for. They should clearly discuss with their jewellers.
I would like to give advice to the consumers, please buy only Hallmark jewellery, and not necessary yoh buy 22kt hallmark only, if your budget is low then you can buy 18kt plaim gold hallmark jewellery, but buy only hallmarked jewellery and negotiate on the value addition. But you can never get genuine jewellery without paying Value Addition.
Hi Akshay,
Thanks for pitching in with the Jeweler’s view on this topic – it’s a very valuable for all readers here.
Good to know that you actually pass on the making charge benefits to the Goldsmiths.
However, there are many unsolved issue yet as highlighted by many readers here.
E.g.
1. Some jewelers not giving 100% value of the gold when they buy back even when the gold is BIS marked and bought from the same jeweler. Basically they are charging making charges twice. This is not acceptable.
2. Two different jewelers charging vastly varying making charges for the same type of jewelery
3. Outrageous wastage charges when we want to convert our old jewelery into new designs.
I understand that standardizing the VA may not be 100% possible but at least for certain design categories, the government could certainly say, the VA cannot exceed a certain %.
What do you think?
Thanks for pitching in again…
Really really helpful. Thank you very much Mr. Ajith.
Thank you Ajit. This information help me alot. I purchased gold asking sales man withloads of queries and get good discount in making charge.
Glad to be of help, Sapna and Nasreen.
If we purchasing 916 gold what is the wastage on Chains, Neckless, Ring, Bangles, Ear rings
Syamala, there’s no ‘fixed’ wastage charges and that’s exactly what we are talking about. It can vary from 0 to 30% or even more for complicated designs. However, very basic machine cuts should be cheaper and sometimes zero percent as well. For normal handmade designs, I have seen it varying from 8 to 15%.
It makes sense to compare between stores and negotiate.
Thanx Ajith for a nice article. My doubt is about buying 24kt gold coin and that too from banks. The aim is to invest money/savings as gold coin, is it a right decision?
Or better with 22kt gold coins?
Also what will be the price if I sell this 24kt gold coin in a jwellery from kerala ?
Nizar,
It’s always better to buy 24kt gold coins. Also, NEVER buy from banks like ICICI or SBI as their charges are very high (at least 7-8% more) because they usually import coins. Anyhow, they will never buyback from you and hence it make no sense.
It’s always better to buy gold coins from a reputed jeweler. I am not sure but jewelers like Kalyan must be definitely having 99.99% pure gold coins. Here in Bangalore, the safest option is to buy coins made by Bangalore Refinery (BRPL) which is available in many leading jewelry shops.
As for gold as an investment route, I am not a big fan of the same though it gives you good returns in the long term.
But at present, no jweller is selling gold as coin. If we want to buy, we have buy it as an ornament having VA.
Also how about buying gold through online like caratlane.com ?
Not sure why they are not selling it in coins there. Here in Bangalore, no issues as per my knowledge. Caratlane sells 995 gold while banks, Bangalore refineries etc sell 999 purity. So I would go with anyone offering 999.9 or even 999
Mr Ajithprasad,
I am rajesh from mumbai. I am getting married in may2014 in my village situated under district Allahabad. And my family planning to buy one necklese i.e haar (of 2.5 tolas) and 6 gold bangles i.e choodi (????) not kangan (3 tola i.e 30 gram). I want to know that what other things needs to be taken in care apart from your article things.
I am planing to buy from my village’s gold smith. I asked him for BIS Hallmak. He told me that u don’t take hallmarked gold. It will be costlier for you. I’ll give my hand made gold with our hallmark. He told me that in hallmarked gold you will get returns of 91% and you will be charged 15% extra on prevailing gold rate as making charges.
If you’ll take from us then you have to pay only for those gram which you are purchasing.
His example given to me in his words:
Suppose you are buying 10gm=30,000 Rs. You have to pay only Rs 30,000 for 10 gram and it will be weighted by us. And no more extra cost, means we will not take 11 gram’s money for 10 gram. And when you will sell it to us we will give 82%.
He will charge Rs 1000 per bangles (i.e 6*1000=6000) as making charges. For neckles I don’t asked.
In nutshell (as per my interpretation):
Hallmarked gold:
For 91% gold I have to pay price of 99.99% gold rate + 15% as making charges
His gold:
For 99.99% gold I have to pay price of 99.99% gold rate + making charges per article (like 6*1000=6000)
What should I do? Whether shoud i buy from him or not. If yes then which one hallmarked or his gold. His schemes seems attarctive.
Whether should I buy from Mumbai???
Rajesh,
It’s always better to purchase BIS marked 916 gold as they guarantee the 22k purity. Further, they are easier to sell anywhere and get a good price. If your local goldsmith promise you the same purity, you may have to cross check it on an electronic karat meter that’s found in most good shops.
I had the experience of selling gold made by local jewelers and gold smiths (that we got as gifts etc over a period of time). To my surprise 80% of them were varying from Karat 19.5 to 22 while they claimed to be pure 22k. So, I would say go with a good jeweler – I cannot recommend any store in Mumbai or Allahabad though.
Rajesh
There is as such no hallmark of any Particular shop.There is only BIS Hallmark. Its just a new method of be fooling costumer adopted by that shopkeeper. Me too had a little bit same experience but be cautious all these are just techniques of making full out of a costomer.
Hi
Could you tell alternate metal for cadmium and which metal used on olden days.
hai,
such a nice article this is .i am planned to buy some gold ornaments in qatar.bt i have a doubt that is some white color stones r fixed in that ornaments .at the time of selling how much would dedacted from the gold.is this profitable for me.please reply me .
Stone weight and gold weight are usually mentioned in the bill separately. Not sure if that’s the case in all countries.
a very nice and useful article. thanks a lot
Hi Ajith,
I want to buy some gold wedding jewellery. Which showrooms or shops will be best for buying gold ornaments in Bangalore where making charges, wastage charges will be reasonable and the product will be trustworthy?
@Sourabh, I do not know a lot of stores in detail. However, I had the experience of buying some jewelry from Chemmanur and Bhima – and both were good. I also did some purchases in the past from Gold links, Alice etc but wasn’t quite happy.
For gold coins Navrathna seems to be very good. There was a 10gm coin gift from our company once and it was from Navrathna. When I sold it the machine showed more than 22ct purity and I got a very good rate for that piece.
Hi ajith,
I am planning to buy gold coins worth 30 gms…divided in a coin of 20 gms and the other of 10 gms. Those coins were in a laminated cover and the jeweller assured me that those were fine quality 24 kt coins. I asked for the bis mark…he showed me the number..999.5 as the sign of purity, however,the cover mentioned about the assaying centre but except from the claimed 999.5 % the bis components were not found on the coin:
the bis mark
the assaying centre logo
the merchant logo
the year of manufacture
How would you suggest i take it from here. Would insisting on the bill that the jeweller submits to the government insure my purchase. Because last year even though i got the bis marked coins, the merchant gave me the bill but not the one he gives to the government.
Do throw light on such persuasive aspects
Thanks
Although it may be slightly more expensive, I would suggest you to stick to buying BIS marked articles and obtain a proper bill with taxes. Why take risk especially when the government itself is recommending to buy only BIS marked gold.
By the way, there are people who still buy pure gold (non-BIS) from their trusted family jewelers. This friend of mine has been buying gold coins every single month since last several years and he never bought BIS marked ones! He seem to trust his jeweler 🙂
Hi Dear Ajith, I have to buy some ornaments of Gold, but due to extreme rise in the cost, is it reasonable to buy some heavy ornaments of 18 Karat Gold. Please suggest. Thanx
I would think it makes sense to go for 22k (916) and reduce the number/weight of jewelery to be purchased than going for 18k. After all, 916 is the most popular formulation in India.
Ajith,
Does the market value of a gold coin or jewellery diminish, if resold, without the bill? Or, Why is a bill so important when the merchant charges exorbitantly for it?
Value of the gold is linked to market conditions just like any other commodity. And why is the bill asked for? Well, the original bill of the 916 gold will contain the hallmarking details of the jewelry. Sometime if the BIS mark details are worn out on the jewelry OR if the jewelry piece is too small to print/read the etched marks, the bill is handy. I guess that’s the reason. However, I am not a subject matter expert on that part… Sorry.
Very very useful article
Thanx Author.
U have done a great job.
very good piece of information,very well scripted & well written.
really loved it. Keep it up 🙂
My only recommendation to you is don’t tell people to go for ETFs. Its much costly & comes with many charges.
Buying Gold coins will be better.
they talk only about making charges and give discount upto 30 to 50 rupee per/g. and their 22krt Gold price is more by 1% in each and every shop had different 22Krt Price….
Thanks ajith…very useful comments
Presently am having gold of 24 k 30 grms planning to purchase 22 k bangles of each 15 grams how much I should pay MC ? Pls advice
No idea Rajeshwari. Exchanges are always tricky – especially when different karats are involved. As I mentioned many times, it can hugely vary from 5 to 15% for normal designs and up to 30% for intricate ones. There’s no thumb rule here! Something like 10-12% sounds reasonable for very normal designs – that’s all I can say.
Hi Ajith
I am working in a GCC Country called Qatar. Is there any profit for me if I buy 1 tola in Qatar and sell it in any jewellery shop in Chennai. I heard the jewellery shop reduces some amount.
Or Can you suggest me what is the best alternative to get some profit and not lose money. Because, when I buy 1 tola from the GCC, it is always at a premium from the spot market. Therefore, I don’t want to lose any more money when I sell it or exchange by buying some jewellery in Chennai in the long term future.
Venkatesh,
I am not an expert in this matter. However, I remember talking to a friend from UAE two years ago regarding bringing gold from Dubai and he (then) said there’s roughly 15% difference in the prices which seems to be right even now.
E.g. as of today (April 3, 2014)
Price of 1 Tola of 24k gold in Qatar = QAR 1756 (Rs. 29000 at the current exchange rate)
Price of 1 Tola (11.66gms) of 24k gold in Chennai = Rs. 33500 at today’s market rate
You can see that there’s a difference of 15% there. However, you save that much ONLY when you import within the free duty limits. If you decided to bring in more, you end up paying roughly Rs.2750 per Tola as import duty and hence your immediate saving reduces to something like 5%.
And when you exchange the above for jewelery, obviously you are going to lose some money towards making charges etc.
I personally do not see a major gain in the above process. In fact, you can lose some money if making charges are high for the type of jewelery you exchange with. Perhaps, you may have to consult experts in this matter.
Hi Ajith
I bought 10g of 916 gold chain on 8 mar 14 , on that day gold price was around 30600 for 24kt . he charged us for 30200 per gram as shop wala told it is 23kt. todAY I found in your site that 916 is 22kt i think he is cheated,pls let me know what should be done now
Sunil,
916 Gold is always hallmarked on the jewelery. By BIS standards 22kt gold is what is called 916. There may be minor variations at time – i.e. it can be as high as 918-920 max but it’s never 23kt if hallmarked as 916. Jewelers are not saints to provide 23kt (~958) gold for 916.
The purchase bill should also state that it’s 916 gold and clearly have entry for prevailing rate/gm. The rate of gold, making charges, tax etc should be present as separate line items on the bill. If you have such a bill, you can directly take that to him and question him on being cheated. You have a point with you as the highest price for 22kt gold this year has never crossed 2900/gm and on 8th March it was around 2840/gm which should be present in the bill.
Now, if it’s not 916 hallmarked jewelery, you may have to take it to another jeweler and check its purity on his machine before taking on your jeweler. You never know, if it’s not hallmarked, the purity can vastly vary. It could be 23kt or even below 22kt for that matter.
Good luck in your investigation.
Dear Ajit ji,
Plz help me agst purchase of jewellery, Today price of 916 bis hallmark Rs.28900 in mumbai as per jeweller, my question is whenever i sold in future then jeweller told me u will get 100 % price like just rs. 28900 or rate available on that time. is it true? My another question i am giving him my old jewellery 10grams agst new purchase which was imported 916 bt n ot holemarked,and jeweller taking 10*91.6=9.16 grame, he saying me its only 91.6%, he also tell me if 916 bis tean we will not deduct.
Plz help sir
Dinesh,
If you have 916 hallmarked jewelry you will get 100% of the current market price when you sell the same. However, even when the jewelry is pure 22kt but not hallmarked, jewelers deduct some money for no reason.
The best thing is to take the 916 jewelry to the same jeweler where you bought it – probably with your original bill. That will make sure that you get the full money!
Hi sir, I want long chain bill , will be explain pls
Kishor, I didn’t quite understand your question. Did you mean you wanted to buy 916 jewelery with bill?
Can we buy gold at USA?
Is there much difference in price of gold compared to India
I have very minimal experience in buying gold from the US or reading about the same for that matter. Had picked a couple of cheap 10kt earrings from Wal-mart long long back. I would think that crafted gold jewelery will be very expensive in the US.
Very informative article.
Thanks a lot.
A.Mohan
thank you very much your advice sir
Hi, i went to a jeweller today to melt my scrap jewellery into a bar however the quantity before melting was 64 gms but it turned out to be 60gms after melting. Is it possible to loose 4 gms while melting?
By just melting, you won’t lose metal. BUT if you maintain the purity of the gold at 22kt, it’s likely that you lose some weight especially when not all the scrap was 22kt.
What will the overall charges for 12 Gms gold as compare to todays Rate near abou 30,000/- per 10 Gms…?
Dear brother; I purchased two gold bangles 22 karat 916 hallmark. Is it OK to pay 7% making charge?
That should be fine I think…
hi i bought jewellery for my wedding but i was not aware about all these calculation of gold purity and price.so the jewellers cheated me by giving 18 kt jewellery instead of 22 kt and charge me for that of 22 kt. please suggest me what i should do?should i take legal action? if yes how? please help.regards
Well, if you have the bill that mentions the rate and purity of the gold purchased, you may be able to take some legal actions. If not, what if the jeweler argues that he intended to sell you 18ct? However, I am not completely aware of how the legal route can be taken.
Do you have receipt for that purchase? if yes, you can complain at the consumer helpline 1800-180-4566. They will help you out.
hey, i have tried with this number but it is not working.
my friend md.imran is going to purchase the gold for his marriage kindly give the best suggestion of buying the gold. Kindly forward your message
Thanks for advice.Regards bro. Rajshri.
Today i have purchased jewellry from Tanishq showroom. They have charged 25% wastage. Since all are employees in Tanishq they say co policy. If TATA company does business this way I wonder how others fleece. For obvious reasons there are no regulators. Let all make hay!!!!!!!
My friend runs a large online jewelry store (among top 3 in India). He told me that actual wastage charges are about 3%, maximum 5% of the value of the gold.
Titan Industries is the most profitable company for Tata Group just because they charge very high making charges, like you have rightly mentioned. Also, given the ambiance of the store, we also do not negotiate properly with the Tata employees, because they will use ‘company policy’ to justify low discounts.
My friend also told me that for large purchases like weddings, no one goes to Tanishq, but prefer the trusted jewellery store near the house where people have been going for generations. There is better scope for negotiation there compared to corporate houses.
sir , @rohit u r totally wrong, 3% or 5% no worker will work, bcoz to make any jewellery , it goes under many procedures , like 1st step : melting, 2nd step : mixing right amount of other melts, 3rd step: cutting, ( which normally made by hands , no machine can perform that work, 4th step: formation of design , 5th step polishing , almost 3 to 5 members work on single item, its not that much easy .. if u compare 3 to 5% wastage , than no work can work 100rs ,… 18% is normal, not more than that
Please read again. Actually making charges is allowed Rs 25-35 per gram. But the question is: in addition to the making charges wastage charges from 12% t0 18% is separately added. That is the problem. Morover for 8 gms the making charges may be approximately Rs 200-Rs250/- and if you add wastage at 14% the same works to Rs 364/- per gram and Rs 2912/- per 8 grams.
the total making charges plus wastage roughly works out Rs 3100-Rs3150/- per 8 grams which is still more than the rate for pure gold of 24 karat. Even if you buy pure gold bars jewellers charg any where between 1 to 2% extra apart from VAT.
Hence your answer needs some rethinking.
thanks a lot i happened to know more
Hello sir… my parents recently bought gold frm a local shop. The owner charged rs 350 per gm as making charges, rs 60 per gm as making charge 100%refundable (as it is mentioned in the bill) and hallmarking charge @rs 80 per gm.. plz advise whether it is possible ???
Never heard of any ‘refundable making charge’ so far. But could you confirm if any wastage charges added further? or was it 350+80 in total per gram and no further component (wastage etc)?
Hallmarking charges vary from jeweler to jeweler for no reason although the government has a fixed rate and license fee for the same.
Sir.what is the return rate of 22kdm jwellery.
The shopkeeper told me that I ( any shop ) will return jwellery
At the rate of100% of the crruent price
Plz tell me it is true
It’s supposed to be the case although some fraud jewelers or those who don’t want to buy gold back won’t give 100% of the market price. The most genuine ones will give you 100% of the day’s market price, some may deduct just Rs.5 or 10 per gram towards handling but that’s it. If your jeweler is not willing to give you 100% of the day’s price (minus say 5 or 10 rupees in worst case), go to another jeweler.
Hi ajit
Today I bought a gold ring. It’s 916 KDM. Jeweller told me that the ring is 92% gold and its a BIS hallmark jewellery.
When I return home I tried to find out the BIS hallmark on the ring. I found that inside of the ring B I S is engrossed. So is that means its an Original BIS hallmark jewellery? ?
Please help me in this regard.
Thanks Sandy.
Original hall mark jewelery should have the following 5 tiny marks engraved into the same (for rings, bangles etc look for the inner side)
1. BIS logo – the triangle that is present on this blog post
2. The number ‘916’ indicating 22kt BIS gold
3. Hallmarking licensee or center’s emblem or name
4. Jeweler’s identification mark
5. Year of manufacturing represented by an alphabet (e.g. A = 2000, B=2001,… O=2014,…)
Not all 916 jewelery that I bought contain the 5th one though (or I don’t know where to locate it). Rest of the marks are present for me. You may have to check for these engravings perhaps using a hand lens to help with reading the same (usually visible with normal vision)
Good one sir…
Thanks for all i got a good advice after reading all your msg ‘s.i want to bye mangalsuthra for me which shop is good for that plz do msg me in Mysore. Please do help me out
Hi..Jewelers will mention incorrect weight of blacks Beads…which in turn they charge u gold rate..which will become costly for u.
Hi,
I am confused as to, whether to invest in actual gold or gold etf or e-gold?…also, kindly tell me, while buying jewellery does the price differ as per the current rate of gold or is it fixed?
I personally prefer ETF as I am a fan of investments in DMAT form and it’s very liquid investment. It’s safer that way. ETF price movements are very close to the gold market rates and hence no loss of money. You have to just make sure that you pick an ETF that has decent daily volume on the exchange.
The only reason one would go for gold coins or bars (24 kt) is to actually convert them into jewelery for a predictable future use (e.g. daughter’s marriage etc). In all other cases, please be responsible and save the country by not buying and storing a lot of gold in physical form.
As for your other question, when you buy jewelery you have to pay as per the gold rate on that day.
My gold bill has 18% va and p.va mentioned 13%. This 18% is making charge? Could you please explain?
Thanks in advance.
VA is the totality of making charges, wastage etc. Not sure about P.VA.
I shall reply to your email address as this post is meant only for Gold related queries.
Hi Ajith,
I just sell 35grm 22 krt gold and the jweller buy it at 26500 on 27.07.2014 as per him 26500 is buy back rate. the gold was tested in testing agency and it is found 22 krt but there was no halmark was there on my gold. and i purchased new gold on which he levied rate of Rs. 2800 per gram. was it correct or he cheated me? Please help.
Firstly, good that you got a good price for what you sold. The market price of 22kt gold was somewhere around 2650/gm this week. However, the buy price of 2800 per gram is not good. Usually, they charge at the same gold rate of the day during exchange buy as well. But then, if you got a good deal on VA then it may still be a good deal. So please check how much more you paid on top of the gold price in terms of value addition.
Just check 2650gold+150rps labour per gm= 2800
Then it is fine.some jewellers combine the price of gold and labour charges
Actually if the total cost including VA then it is a good bargain.
HI Ajith,
I have physical gold ornaments which i am planning to sell for an urgent need of money.. I have booked a ind house, for that i need this money.
Please advice what is the rate that i can expect as cash if i sell today (Rate in market 22ct Rs.2650).. I have around 240Grms which i am about to encash.. In that most of the ornaments were having 916 and few were not 916.
What would be best sell price for 916 and then non-916 gold ornaments.
Best price is always the current market price of gold in your city. Some might give you 50 odd rupees less. Best thing to do is to take it back to the jeweler from whom you bought it.
Thank you.. Ajith
If you know any of the gold buyer that offer best price more or less equal to current market price please let me know..
Regards
-Thiru
Hi,
I am thinking of selling 22.480g of 916 Bis gold. How much Rs can we get? The Shop Keeper told that around 600mg will be deducted from total weight while calculating the rate of our gold. Also they Will charge Rs20 per each gram… Is this argue is correct Or wrong. Please give a quick reply
Most people deduct 20 to 50 rupees per gram although if you take it to where you bought it from, they may not deduct anything.
As per your jeweler’s estimate, you are totally losing about ~2000 rupees (less than one gram price). It’s probably not too bad, given that you need money urgently. Otherwise, wait for a better option where they don’t deduct 600mg cost as wastage (because you have 916 BIS marked gold)
0.600mgs is ok because he will clean the jewellery and put it in counter again for resale and he takes 3% profit. But i dont understand 450 rps for what.it is extra.i know because i am jeweller doing this bussiness for more then 20 years
sir iam sravanthi i bought 6.45 grms @ 2550 /gram with small cz stones/200 mlgrms they told 19000 on cash he was reliable or else
It depends on the value of stones. I guess, American diamond stones are pretty cheap, I am not sure. So you do the calculation by adding 10 to 12% of VA to the total cost of stones + gold.
Hello sir
I Bought a necklace at Tanisqh of 19,6 grams 22k gold , when the price was 27,400/- for 10 grams , they charged 23 % of wastage to me, i am almost upset as i my saving went in that stupid purchase,suggest me where i should raise this issue, or to whose knowledge i should bring this
Tanishq is always expensive – may be because their designs are unique and stylish. There are also other jewellers who charge 20 or 25% as VA depending on how complicated is the design. Hence, I cannot comment whether it’s a good or bad deal.
If it’s a very basic design, then probably it’s expensive as other jewellers would have charged 10 or 12% for basic designs.
Hello dear always keep in mind gold is for saving/investment for future but the fact is you are making very fruitfull present of tanishq by paying your hard money in more wastage charges just because of their brand name.you dont make profit instead of loss of 13% by paying it more wastage charges.
Hi Ajith,
I want to sell my old gold and buy new one, could you please suggest which is the best place to go. Some say its good to exchange in Shubh Jewellers as there is no making and wastage charges.
Please suggest me where to exchange for good deal.
Hi Ajith,
I want purchase one neck chain for 25 grm today. Let me know the cost of purchase including wastage making charges and VAT, as per today’s gold rate.
Hi..if you wanna buy gold chain..then jeweller should charge u only Rs 350/- making charges and maximum rare 5 wastage. gold price should of 22kt. Let me know if you have further doubt..it is my own view..rate may vary 5% up or down. This is my own view
PNG in Pune was quoting Rs.27700/- on 24th Aug. for 22k jewellry whereas the rate as per websites on that day was Rs.26700. Want to know why they charge more? Plus Wastage for gold bangles they are charging 16%. Is it correct?
Ideally, it should be at the day’s gold rate. As for wastage, depends on how complicated the design is in case of hand made jewelery. For machine cut, 16% may be too high.
Yes you are right.i know that
I think the rate is for 10 gms jewellery and making charges may be max of Rs 350/- extra. Also the wastage is too high. both making charges (1000/- diff) and wastage of 16% is too high. The article clearly brought out everything and calculate and judge yourselves.
Sir,today I purchase two gold bangles 43.8 grms. Hallmark 750,means it is 18 karat. Its price around 113000,and he said that he has given me discount of 15000 rd as he is my friend..I think I m cheated. Can u please help me…as I don’t know details..
Sorry, I have no idea about 18k rates and applicable making charges. Personally, I never buy 18k gold.
HI, I Bought a bracelet yesterday from one of the main jewellery here in Dubai . yesterday’s gold rate was aed 147.50 n gold weight was 3.240 gram…n they charged me 560 dhs dat means 82 dhs extra as making charge or any other charges related to that.can you please let me know whether they cheated me in calculation or not.
Sir. Last i ordered to make a antique model chain that weight is 24 Gram .they told to make a chain to.use vax inside.and wesitage 19% In future its valuble
Sir,
I am from coimbatore. I bought all the jewellery in Joy alukkas. But here all the people are saying they are providing kerala gold. My friends are told Kumaran thangamaligai is the best show room. I am very confusing they cheated me. All my golds are 22 carat. Which is the best shop. Pls advice me. I am going to buy gold coin tomorrow.
Hai,
Since the tax for gold purchase is low in Mumbai compared to Kerala, is it advisable to buy from Mumbai or any other states from India??
pls suggest me on following
i had purchase a kdm gold chain 5 Year back and when now i am sellig it in same shop then he deduct 15 % wt of totol gold and giving the price. I want to know that it is right or wrong
HI ajeet I purchased 2.49gm of earing.
Where the store charge me 2730 per gm 22 k gold.and 2770 was price for 24k
.
I think they shpuld charge 2770*92/100=2548 per gm
They why he is charging 2730 for 22 k means 92% pure gold.abd also cgarged 747 making and 1% vat.
Ifvi calculate he us taking 99% gold charges for a 22k means 92% pure why he us taking 7 % more rate per gm.
I think all over india they sell gold like this.
Any idea?
My Question is
How can we believe the wastage is correct what jeweller says??. I purchased golds for my wedding, they charges up to 25% of wastage, For bangles they charged 15% .I feel in wastage they are cheating us. I can`t able to compromise, i fight with the jeweller as WHY I WANT TO PAY FOR WASTAGE , WHAT I AM NOT GETTING???. But no use.
Also why i want to pay Tax for that wastage??
Also i heard actual wastage will be only 5% , The person who is making the ornaments is getting that wastage once in a year ( they wont sweep their room, once in a year while they sweeeps they get more than 5 to 10 Lakhs in wastage). This is a cheating works..
KIndly give me solutions
Hi Ajit,
Thanks so much for taking time out and providing the detailed insights, i bought jewelry last week, once jeweler charged me 16% making , wastage and the other 22% and without awareness i was not able to do a good negotiation, it will definitely help in my next purchases for sure.
Regards,
Sharada
i bought a gold neckpiece where there is a stamp 23 carat 85
what does this mean
I want to buy hall mark 22 ct gold ear rings for my daughter at TBZ given gold prices have fallen recently.They are quoting 600 to 650 per gram towards making charges. They say temple jewellary making charges are high. Do you think these very high charges are reasonable.
1)how can i avoid wastage % charges from gold shop.
2)what are the ingredients present in 916 gold ,plz mention with there %.
3)which dept gives license to run gold shop.
4) is there any govt norms and rules sell OR bye gold from gold shop.
but what is the government rule to pricing gold jewellery,,i mean government recommendation
1) By BIS standards 22kt gold is what is called 916.
2) have not telling proper to the jewelers 916 kt price but they have telling to the customers to 24 kt price
dear sir
im’ purches 10 gram gold, is kdm gold tell me kdm gold how much is carat gold
Dear Ajith,
This article is really very helpful. Thanks.
Yesterday i went to kalyan jewellers for a kada. The price for 22k was Rs.2563/- I had 38.5grams of 20k gold for exchange. He gave me Rs.86,000/- as exchange value after deducting melting. I bought a 29.488g kada for Rs.85,500/- with the wastage/making @12%
Is this a fair deal? Have i been cheated? Please help!
When you got Rs.86,000 for 38.5gms your 20k gold, I think it’s a very good deal considering that it was roughly equivalent to 35gms of 22k gold.
And when you got around 30gms of 22kt BIS gold with 12% VA for 85,500/- I feel it’s again a decent deal. Overall, getting back ~30gms of 22kt BIS gold for 38.5 gms of 20kt gold wasn’t a bad deal at all, in my opinion.
is there any seperate changes for kdm gold in 22karat gold arments
Is kalyan jewellers good
No, Kalyan jewellers is the worst. They advertise that they have decreased and slashed all wastage and making to almost 5%, but when you go there you’ll see that it isnt true at all! All wastage starts from 12% for the most basic designs! For a lil more complicated designs they have 16% value addition. Worst part is that they add wastage and making into something called VA, to make you feel that it’s low.
thanku so much sir…
Hi Ajith,
I want to buy a 8 grms 22k gold chain. I checked in online it is costing me 35,000 but as per my below calculations (wastage 20% and making charges 35/-p.gram and today gold price is 2575/-) it is costing 25,000. Heavy difference 10,000.
is it better to buy at shop or online.. if in shop can u suggest me any shops in Bangalore.
Thank you,
Venu
Never shop jewelery online. You will be ripped off. Moreover, the stuff you see on a glorious digital photo may not actually look good when you receive the same.
In Bangalore, I have shopped mainly in Malayalee shops like Bhima, Chemmanur, Chettupuzha Alice etc and I had good experience with most of them. I have also gone to jeweleries like Goldmine (avoid). However, since I haven’t done any shopping recently, I cannot really recommend any.
I hear a lot of good feedback about Shubh, Navaratna etc.
Thank you Ajith
Dear Ajith,
Please reply to my comment.
Any advice about gold sold in duty free Abudhabi airport is it more pensive than it should be ? Is it pure ?
No idea Nasir. Don’t they have any purity checking machines at the duty free place?
this is a good tips for those people who are buying gold first time.
I sold some old jewellery (8.34 gm) to one jeweler yesterday. It was some damaged jewellery. The shop fellow first deducted 2o% from weight and considered it as 6.67 gm. Further he offered 2400 per gm onreduced rate. I think i was cheated although he is our regular jeweler. The old gold was not bought fromsame jeweler and was probably around 20 Karat. Please comment and advise for future.
You lost some money in this deal. Ideally, 8.34gms of 20 carat jewelry should have 7.5gms of 22 carat gold and hence you must have been paid accordingly. Since the price was 2400 odd per gram yesterday, I think that part was fine.
Next time, go to a jeweler who gives full value for your money. Damaged gold is still okay as they usually wash the jewelery before weighing.
I had 10 grams of hdfc 24 caret gold I want 91.6kdm chain what about wastage and charges please tell me and witch weight chain will come frome my hand please mail me sir
Shyam, I do not have any idea on this. I have never done the conversion of 24 carat gold to 916 myself… hopefully someone experienced may answer your question soon.
Which jewellery giving best price and good quality gold? Kalyan, Prince,lalitha, joy alukas. Going to buy jewels for wedding. Plz advise sir.
Harris, I haave purchased jewelery from Kalyan, Bhima, Chemmanur, Alice etc and had good experience with them. In the past two years, no gold shopping for me and hence I cannot recommend anything now.
Hello sir, I never ever bought the gold itself. I want to purchase gold, before purchasing wot things should I concern in mind, I should buy the hallmark 22k or without hall mark. Can u tel me wot is wastage making and vat. Richa
Please go through the article on the number of things to know before buying gold.
Hi Ajith, Today I purchased 24kt 10grams gold coin, On the gold price he added 6% making charges and 1% VAT.Is it, for gold coins also making charges applicable? Actually todays price is 2631 per gram but they charged 2700 per gram. They charged totally 28686 per 10grams. Is it correct price or not?
Your pricing is similar to that of online stores like Caratlane. The jewelers just imprint a goddess image or something like that on a coin and charge exorbitant making charges (although it’s machine made) even on the coins. It’s ridiculous but that’s how it seems to work. However, I feel 6% making charges may be higher. Did you check with several jewelers before making a buying decision?
I went to buy a bracelet of 10.2g in a gold shop dey charged 20% va on dat . My question z , is it worth or r dey lootin ! Gold rate was 2450per gram
Depends on how complicate was the design. If it is very basic design or machine cut, under 12% VA may have been ideal.
Dear Sir,
If I will purchase the gold, that time gold shopper will give the bill, the bill inside mentioning gold waste’s charges, instead of gold waste charges we can as the waste gold against to them, is it they give to us like that, whether it is any possibility is there or they have give or not… this is my doubt
Hi
I have gold weighing 125 grammes of 99.5 purity. Ornament gold will be 91.6 purity ok. My question: As per arithmatic calculation it will become 115.08 grammes. Enlighten me- am i correct ?
Hello Ajith,
What should be the maximum cancellation charges for cancellation of order for some gold ornaments that were booked cancelled after 5-7 days because it was later understood that design etc. were not satisfactory.
Awaiting your reply please.
Thanks
I wanted a suggestion…
I bought a diamond necklace from Bhima Jewellers today from their Dickinson Road showroom. Looking at the bill, I realize they have taken about 51% of the gold value as VA !! When I talked to them, they said this is the normal practice for Diamond ornaments, and VA = Making Charge + Wastage.
Is this a fair deal ? Is there any place where I can complaint if they have done anything unfair ?
PK, Not sure about the making charges or VA standard for diamond jewelery. In fact, I had bought some minor stuff some four-five years ago, though, I don’t recall what I had paid as VA.
Most of the Jewelers in Tamil Nadu especially Chennai sell only 18 Carat Gold , but they claim it 22 Carat Gold. Only two Jewelers sell 22 Carat jewels. Jewel’s are designed and made in Coimbatore. They say Hall mark or Cadmium. Actually wastage is only Max Max 1.5% in gold. IN CHENNAI ONLY Kirtilal Kalidas and Mehta sell 22 CARAT GOLD JEWELS Others are only 18 Carat.
Central govt must bring in stringent Punishment to Gold Jewelers who cheat public. Unless it is done Public will be continued be cheated. and Big Jewelers in Chennai continue to make big money.
Hi Shankar…
You mean to say reputed shops like GRT sells 18k or is it they randomly have it stocked in their inventory? But their bill says 22k… How should I trust?
I do not buy Shankar’s theory completely. However, when something was sold as 22kt in the past (i.e. when BIS mark wasn’t in effect), it used to contain less than 22kt gold in many cases but not as bad as 18kt in my experience. When I sold some old jewelery in 2000, it varied from 20 to 22kt as shown by the machine.
Most of Jewels are made in Coimbatore only. 95% of Jewelry sell only 18 Carrot gold. I know certain Very Big Jeweller s in Chennai who are in T.Nagar , and how they cheat people. I have experienced that. when i went to mumbai for work and wanted to buy a Jewel and gave my chain for Exchange and they told me it is 18 Carrot Gold,I was taken aback. I purchased this from a Very big T.Nagar Jewelry shop known for his name. from that time on wards i tell my friends and Relatives not to go to that shop.
We have been buying gold jewellery including coins from Kalyan and recently Lalithaa Jewellery ,Coimbatore. Every time we get the ornaments/ coins tested by the equipment in the shop for the purity of gold. It always shows 22ct., and 916 hallmark is engraved in the article. We should be careful while purchasing gold articles but someone should not give wrong information to the buyers. Always buy gold from reputed shops and ensure availability of testing equipment in the shop. Good luck.
Very helpful bro. A very detailed and decent review.
Thanks bro
Hi,
Thank you for the information you have given regarding gold purchase it was really helpful I will keep all your tips in my mind when I purchase gold
Thanks again
Very usefull information.helpful to everyone.
Regarding Wastage on Gold , Max wastage is just 0.75%, in rare cases it is 1% only not more than this. This information is given by a known person to me in MMTC. 50% people charge 10-12% wastage, some do not. But then how they make Profit, simple -by selling 18 Carrot Gold.2 Years back MMTC used to sell Jewel’s, but now they had stopped it,. they sell only Gold Coin and Silver articles. Silver Articles are supplied from ND to Jewelers in South India. In Mumbai Gold jewels are either 20 Carrot or 22 Carrot, Most Jewelers Disclose it. All Hall Mark are just an Eye wash as far as TN shops are Concerned..
iam not fully satisfied by u because not all the jewellery shop make there jewellery by there own the jewellery are made by karigar or the jewellery maker and they take wastage charges and and wastage charges are really depend above different kind of jewellery the jewellery have to pass many level before they are ready for sell like cutting,polishing, setting of stone, and many several charges and there are a fixed wastage charges are for them which a jeweller or a jewellery shop owner have to borrow not all the wastage they take alone there are many several charges.By your thought i think you are completely taking one side and That’s not fair
thank you for giving such nice information . i have one quetion some seller apply making charges + rodium charges extra is it right please keep aware for this
Hi Ajith, An eye opener info very crisp.
goodwork
Is that worth buying gold in online store? There are many brands they are showing like rsbl, golden leaf, e-geethanjali, zee gold, on gold… Like that they are telling its 999 purity and some other telling 995 with BIS certificate… Do u have any idea about for buying this kind of gold? When we sell these gold back in any ordinary jewellery shop does its value be faded or low comparing to offline store?
good information
Ajith sir
This is really very useful tips. Your points were very clear and simple. Thank you.
Good information for customers,
Thanks
You are talking one sided only . what
about the huge investment a jeweler
invest.as per today’s tradition a jeweler
have to keep huge stock of every type of
jewellery in his shop ranging from finger
rings to big wedding necklace sets after
showing so many designs still customer
is not satisfied and asks for more
variety.even in a small to medium shop
a jeweler has to keep minimum 5 kg
stocks to display a decent variety. as
per today’s rate 5 kg comes to 1.4
crores ,include in that the cost of shop
that comes to a minimum 50 lakhs then
comes furniture minimum 10 lakhs .the
total set up goes around 2 crores. even
if we take interest as per bank that is
8% yearly he shud get 16 lacs yearly or
1.33 lakhs monthly.considering todays
competitive market many jewellers dont
earn bank interest also.
agree with you my bro nishant
The above info is for the people who purchases and not for who sellers (shops), information is very useful.
While making an ornament, some quantity of gold gets wasted and while selling an ornament, jewelers recover that cost from the customers. In jewelry purchase receipts, a customer can clearly see the wastage and making charges. As per government rules, for studded jewelry (both gold and platinum) the wastage claimed by jeweler cannot exceed 9 % of the net weight of the metal and for non-studded designer jewelry, it cannot exceed 3.5%. For coins, biscuits and medallions, the wastage cannot be claimed beyond 1.25% .
Dear Ajith,
The writeup was very informative and useful for me. Before reading this article me too was bit scary to purchase gold and I was puzzled with all TV commercials.. Thanks
i was going through the online sites like bluestone and caratlane i was surprised to know most of their diamond jwellary was in 18 kt gold.most of the girls today mad for diamonds but these jwellars are selling 18 kt gold in the name of diamond jwellary bcoz buyer is only concerned abt diamond it does nt matter to them whether it is 18 kt or 22 kt.this is how they are cutting our pockets…..
Madam diamonds are studded in 18ct ,14 ct because
If studded in 22ct gold they will come out from the artical same day and if you are lucky then maybe in few days due to purity of 22 ct gold.
Agree with Dheeraj on this.
very very use full information….thank u
namaste!
ajith i recently bought a ring weighing around 5 gms. the jeweller said that it was 23 carat even though the bis mark suggested it was 22 karat….so he charged accordingly….
he opined that it was hard for a system to trace 23 carat and that i could check at tanishq… such was his dubious assurance….
anyhow i paid about 14, 800 in total including the WASTAGE charges….do u suppose it was a fair price?
the 23 k logic seemed weird but i bought it anyway since i found the deal decent….
Hi Ajith,
I was engaged with fashion jewellery and very recently decide to procure Studded Gold and silver jewellery as a mass order by outsourcing, but while going through the quotation I come across with wastage as 10–12% + labour charge minimum 250/- per gram. I want to know how much these quotes are genuine and what would be the correct price point to bargain.
Please suggest on the same. Thanks & Regards, Rakesh.
Rakesh, I do not how wholesale deals work. However, what I have seen with silver fashion jewelry is that the making charges are very high depending on the intricacies of the hand made designs.
That was good piece of information..
thanks bro.
21st April 2015 being Akshaya Trithi and considered auspicious to buy new jewelry I thought of purchasing new gold.
I went to Malabar Gold & Diamonds store in Coimbatore.
Gave my old gold for exchange which weighed 8.390 grams and after checking it in their carat meter it showed that it is only 20.5 carat and not 22 carat which I have bought from Mustafa in Singapore.
The new ring was 7.650 grams and I tested that in carat meter it showed 22 carat. Normally I thought Singapore gold especially from Mustafa is highly sought after in India and worldwide for it’d guaranteed purity but then I was shocked and taken aback after finding that in carat meter in coimbatore Malabar gold and diamonds shop it only showed as 20.5 carat.
The gold rate per gram was 2526 that day and after negotiating with sales man got the best deal I think which you all have to say to me. Still balance I had to pay for 2580 rs.
They added 18% tax on the gold price which includes making charge, wastage charge and tamilnadu government value added tax and all that and they themselves did little discount and then nett amount I had to pay was 2580
Is that a fair deal friends? Kindly advise. I believe in Malabar gold and diamonds because they have around 132 showrooms worldwide being 132ND showroom opening today in the middle east. And in some ranking they came top 3 or below 5 for largest jewelry retail chain and they have this lifetime maintenance and attractive policies towards gold and buyback and sales return and exchange program so that always makes me go for Malabar gold and diamonds.
Since the old gold wasn’t 22k, probably it’s not too bad after all. 18% may be slightly on the higher side if it’s a plain ring, but then hopefully now you have BIS 22k gold.
Hi sir,
You shared a Very good information. I want to buy a necklace about 71 gms of gold. So can you please tell me how much I can pay for that one ?
Bhanu, no direct answer. It depends on how complicated is the design. Machine cut ornaments may be as cheap as 6 to 10% when it comes too VA.
What is govt routes of wastage on gold jewelry making
Government has no norms and that’s the whole problem!
Very informative. I have gone through the write up and the comments. Some persons commented supporting the Jewellery owners regarding the cost of their establishment, valuation of stock etc. In Kerala we can see big Jewelers are opening more and more show rooms which look like malls in some foreign countries. Where from all these money come? Govt. should bring some guidelines regarding Wastage and MC. But our experience in govt policies shows that whenever a ceiling is specified by the govt, the govt do so by fixing the maximum prevailing rate as ceiling
Gotu, I agree with you. As I mentioned in the post, the government need to arrive at some norms and cap on wastage or VA. But still due to the fact that it can vary, there’re always some loopholes to cheat customers.
Yeah you are right even i am in the same jewellery trade.I know wastage and labour charges are very high. But no one can change this. its works like this only.i am telling you i am charging 60 Rs per gm labour and 5 % wastage charges on 22 ct Hallmarked chains,sets,pendants,M/sutra,Bangles,rings,topas,jhumkies,kadas.which i thought is fair enough.What do you say? Dheeraj Bhola
Wearing gold is risk in our country now. But gold is a good asset. Collect it in the form of coins. No working charge and no wastage ( as far as I know).
No friend let me correct you here if you buy 10 gram gold coin 999 purity from Bank then you have to pay 2500 to 3200 Rs more from the current gold price and if you buy from any brand then 2000 to 3000 Rs for 995 purity.
hi …. i have ordered a gold chain but since its too thin in width…i m not sure how to look for a hallmark….its still of 18 gms so m concerned…as to how to prevent any possible fraud….could you help….
See the hall mark in the edje of the chain.whether 18 or 22 hall mark is a must.
hi ajith
is it true that ornaments made of 23k cannot be accurately read by the machine as being 23k….the system still rates it as 22k?
thats what i was told by a jeweller…he said…ornaments cannot be tested accurately by the hallmarking system….unlike the plain coins of 24k….which are not ornaments…
Or you can say you pay for 23ct and get 22ct instead of 23ct gold.I don’t recommend you to go for 23ct. Do not believe shopkeeper use your brain.If you buy 22ct and its Hallmarked then only you know yes it is 22ct gold jewellery but if you go for 23ct then pay for 23ct and got 22ct gold jewellery then what do you do ? Look Friend 22ct jewellery doesn’t becomes 23ct if its stamped 23ct or as said by shopkeeper.It is compulsory to get only Hallmarked Gold Jewellery. Hope you will get your answer.
OFCOURSE! i did not believe the shopkeeper….his lies were ridiculous just like his selling tactics!…I PAID only for 22KT because thats wat the hallmarking stated!….Hope you will understand that if a customer knows about hallmarking…he knows enough NOT to take the shopkeeper’s word for anything!u wud b disappointed to know that unlike YOU many jewellers still refuse to sell hallmarked jewellery…they stress upon customer trusting their own STAMP that they put on the jewellery!…but ofcourse a wise customer knows better!
is KDM gold…or cadmium gold safe to b worn?
what is cadmium gold? if you use cadmium while making gold ornaments, inhaling cadmium vapors for 30 minutes will lead you to death.
what’s wastage charge?
one of the shop owner told me that some amount of gold is wasted in the form of evaporation while making ornaments. melting point of gold is 1040 degree and evaporation point is 2000 degree. what is the purpose of taking gold to evaporation point?
they are making us fools by putting wastage charges.
if the gold is wasted in making ornaments, give me the amount of gold that is wasted for which i am paying money as wastage charge….i will do whatever i want with that wasted gold.
Are you ok boss ? Did you know what you are saying ? How can any Jeweller gives you the waste gold once its already wasted in making jewellery.It is not possible by any mean but i must say wastage charges shouldn’t be more then 5% by any mean.
so prewin do u think it is safe for a customer to wear KDM gold?
is it not illegal for a bis hallmark store to use cadmium?
can hallmarking b done for kdm gold? because my bangle has all the 5 things?
KDM Gold is Not recommended by BIS Hallmark Centers. If your jewellery is Hallmarked then no need to worry because Hallmarked centers passed only those articles and get stamped those articals which do not have any amount of KDM . Further BIS REJECTS JEWELLERY with CADMIUM.
That is a wonderful news to hear! very comforting indeed!…however dheeraj the strange part is…the jewellery HAS the 5 BIS signs and it also HAS THE 23KDM SYMBOL!…the jeweller is supposed to b recognised as a BIS hallmark store….m intrigued as to what fraud they committed…one is a kada…n the other is a pendant…the pendant has a small hole for a chain…the hole bears a 23 KDM symbol…DO share what u think of it…what malpractice did the jeweller commit according to u…n wat action can b taken since the shop’s bill mentions the jewellery being hallmarked?
thanks a lot to mentor….
A Very inevitable n crisp clear information n tips regard gold purchase. Thank u a lot mr ajith bhai ……
hi ,
thanks for ur kind information i got some points frm u dear thank u soo much.
thanks you very much.It help us a lot.
Plz any one can tell me..is ds sufficient wastage and making chargs or not??? 10%wastage and 150rp per gram making chargs on 22k hallmark gold jewelry(weight of jwelry 100gm)
Is there any chance of fake Hallmark sign in the gold jewellery, if yea then how can we identify it.
my mother want to sell nuptual chain of 40 gmm .which was purchased 6 years back .now she want to sell and get ,new chain of 40 gm.local vendors are saying more wastage price on selling .plz tell us the best method to sell .and how much wastage will be charged.what other charges are applicable.
Nice Article Ajit!!! Thanks for your effort of making people aware about the facts.
Dear other people,
Do you know how much chemical you wear every day in forms of colored/printed shirts? Have you ever checked shirt you bought they are just local made with international tag? How much chemical you intake from fruits? Adulteration is everywhere… Let me tell you one fact: Benetton t-shirt making cost is 70 bucks. (My friend is in merchandising) – How much do you pay for the t-shirt? 1000 or 1500? Huh!!
You are ready to pay 400/- for 50/- chicken pieces. You mean 350/- is the curry making charge? (Service charge and tip apart)
Have you ever considered how the jewelers would be surviving in this costly world? Where is the profit bracket defined? (That too you are buying gold on with ever fluctuating figures!) Would you pay the profit separately? How much would you pay? Iphone6 has making cost ~200$ and sold at minimum ~650$. More than 3 times profit… so shall 30000/- gold ornaments be charged at 1 lakh? Would you pay that much amount? That too you get to sell the gold with higher price in future (investment) (unlike any other goods)…
Therefore out of all these nonsense, gold business is still better TRANSPARENT (you know every bit nowadays!), LOW PROFIT INDUSTRY and OBVIOUSLY BETTER GOVERNED by BIS. Tell me who is governing others?
But Yes, it is always advised to have the knowledge (thanks to Ajit).
So I say if you are TOO concerned, the simple solution is PLEASE CHOOSE TO BE AWAY FROM GOLD buying! Buy mobile or insulin injected chicken (you know what I mean!) etc. and be happy 🙂
Best of luck…
Nice and very useful information. Many many thanks for this.
Thanks to improve my knowledge. Some goldsmiths claim TAKA at the time of selling old jewelry, i.e. the Metal value which was use in join parts of the ornament. I don’t know how to calculate the amount.
Hi,
Can we pay same rate as per 24k for 916 hallmark. One of jweller told 916 hallmark is better dan 24k and rate will be same for both please advise for this… is 916 hallmark gold is good ????
916 is 22k hallmarked. If you get real 24ct gold for the same price, it won’t be a bad deal but I am not sure what happens when you sell it.
Thank you for good suggestions
it’s helpfull for who thos don’t know about gold
thaks for details
Thanks for the information.what is the wastage charge for 10gms of 22karats gold
There is no wastage or making charges on gold jewellery all jewellers make public fool buy jewellery rate to rate. if jeweller is not ready to give rate to rate then threat them.if not possible then bring gold from bank & make it your own.it will be beneficial & there will be no making charges.like bring flour and making chapatis at home.
This is my experience.
I purchased some gold ornament from a famous jewellery in Thrissur Dt. At the final bill I found the total amount is
Gold rate + Making Charge + tax = total.
But the contreversy i feel that they put tax on the sum of Gold Rate + Making Charge. I am giving making charge seperate. But why they dont put tax only for gold. It was a big amount as tax. Is this common?? and what is the currect procedure.
Such a nice and easily understanding way you gave the information.
Thanks a lot
thank you Ajit. can anyone suggest the best place to buy 22 k gold in coimbator?
hi friends
first thing is if jewellers makes this business fully transparent so no one jewellers can survive.
basic funda is jewellers sell u 22k gold ornaments and they take 24k rate from u and when u return that jeweller that type they will give 22 k price.
its simple
and now i told u how jewellery business work . if jewellers make 22k gold ornaments it means it have 92% purity then jewellers paid 5% to makes .it means cost goes to 92+5=97
Means jewelles have only 3% profit .
just calculate the profit
if gold rate is 25000 per 10 gm
25000 *3%= 750 rs profit after doing 25000 rs sale.
Thanks for this knowledge
What will be the selling price against the gold coins and how much deduction differs in doing such transaction
I think Tanishq is selling the best quality of gold jewellery. Yes, their making changes are too high. If they reduce making charges, their profits will be increased manifolds but they don’t understand this.
Thanks for the info.It is so clear by your words where a consumer gets trapped easily. please share more if you come across any. and ???? I really wish gov to get some norms on reducing this wastage cost which is not actually wasted???? but asked to pay on it( open cheating)
Hi Ajith,
I recently bought a gold bangle with 16 gm from a reputed gold shop in Bangalore. They have charged 22% extra , when asked they said it includes labor charge and wastage and everything. And the gold rate on the particular day was 2438/- per gm.
Is it worth to give 22% extra for all those wastag, MC and al ?
Thanks,
Ashwini
kl maine tanishq jwellary shop se 5 gm ka golden coin liya . Aj k 10 gm gold k hisab si coin pda 16947 me to kya ap bta skte h ye ye rate sahi h
Dear sir,
today i am buying goldchain 24 grams in inia can You tell me around cast of the gold today india gold rate Rs 2403 wastage of chain & dollar
Hello
Firstly thank you so much for providing such great information… 🙂
I have a doubt can u pls guide me…
I got a necklace like around 37 grams they have mentioned 17000 rupees for value added in the bill
Is that true..they will charge that much huge amount…?
and one piece was broken its being just 6months can I ask them to exchange full necklace with out deducting value added amount..?
Thanks so much in advance.. 🙂
17K on 1,10,000 valued gold may not be huge VA if the necklace design is not too simple. If something is broken in such a short time and if you bought it from a reputed jeweller they should fix it for free.
I bought Rs.80,000 worth cost of gold ornaments. Shopkeeper demanding 10% charges as hallmark gold. Is it right or not, please understand me in detail. Also tell me the charges of hallmarked jewelry / gold. I am very much confused about this. Every jewelers in area demanding 10% extra on hallmarked gold/jewelry. Send me the details hallmarked charges details.
Dear Mr.,
You can pay or show them BIS rate maximum.
link is below:
http://www.bis.org.in/cert/FAQsHM.pdf
If, any person demand more than it, you have either leave it or ask Invoice clearly show that additional Hallmarking charge then you can complain it to this link
http://www.bis.org.in/dir/hq.htm
Excellent post.it helped me a lot…
Hello sir
I bought gold 10.58 and 5.94 grm.that day rate was 2490 per gram.they have charge to me 8% police and making charge 1 grm on every10 grm .like 10.58+5.94=16.52grm they charge me 1.65 grm as making charge.
so sir plz guide me.
and where I complaint againt him.
Really good tips
Excellent information.
Dear Sir..
january last i will buy 40 gm gold chain.please tell me how much your cost.Qr
Thank you..
I already putting to make necklace of 15 grams in 24 carat in belgaum jewellary shop. they told me they getting return at 88% and 12 % wastage. Please tell me how much i pay them and what is the wastage and return price.
I want to know today’s 22 karat gold rate??
I wish to purchase gold for Bengal.what can i do? Readymade purchase or making through jewellers? Kind help me and given reply? My budjet is 50000 rs.
Good and very important details, thank you sir
Sir, How can I Check that the bill given by the gold/silver jewellery dealer is original ? what information a tax invoice of Gold/Silver jewellery bear on it? Thanking you in anticipation.
Is it kalyan jewellers safe…..for gold purchase….plz reply sir….it’s urgent
Although I come from the place where Kalyan Jewellers (and many others) was founded, I have never bought anything from them. Personally, I almost always went to Bhima (not promoting them, nor saying that they are all clean!). Having said that, if you are buying BIS hallmarked jewellery at reasonable VA charges, then the name of the shop doesn’t really matter.
Sir, How can i Check whether the bill given by the Jewellery shopper is original ? what information should it(Bill/invoice) bear on it ?
Sir what the policy about to exchange or returning of gold jewellery of 91. 6 hallmarked
Ideally, they should give you back the full amount as per the present day value of 916 gold. Some jewellers reduce nominally though – like 50 or 60 per gram.
I wanted to know to if some jeweller asking me for 82% wastage and making charges which includes labour chargeres wastage etc that for 14k diamond tops wat should I do. I m from delhi and he charge me gold rate of 3grMs of rs 2900 per grm. While my gold was of 3.67 grms. Should I complaint against him or wat should I do
I do not know how it works when it comes to the wastage charges for diamond jewelry.
Dear Ajith,
Many thanks for making sense on what is pure gold
and pitfalls to avoid while buying Gold.
I never buy gold cause this whole process just beyond my comprehension and mind it I Software Developer, so we are suppose to be smart people. But Glittering Gold can really fool you and you never came to know about it in your life time. Cause most of the cases we buy ornaments for wife, who preserve it for generations. We can not avoid buying gold, but thanks to you, we can at least remain vigilant on what we are buying. Thanks again
Pls suggest me bsi hallmark gold is good without bsi
The above article is quite informative…but I don’t understand why we need to pay the wastage charges of gold when d waste material is already recovered by the goldsmiths through different advanced machines…..??
really enlightening.
Pls write about other topics also
Here really I think no one knows about the correct meaning of wastage charges, wastage is the part where the gold Smith gets its profit, when you work on ur own or in any company for that u get remuneration or salary na now that’s your profit, so same way the wastage charges is the profit to gold Smith, actually this travels to many process like first there is gold Smith who prepares the jewellery then it’s supplied to wholesaler then to shop, the profits of all this adds up and comes to that certain %, if you think that you pay for gold then that’s profit, what will be his profit if he buys gold at rs25000 and sells at rs25000, so the wastage charges are profits……
Thanks, for writting.. It’s a great help to me. Very clear and nice instructions. Keep posting 🙂
Very helpful tips thanks
Now you can check the Purity of Gold.Legal Metrology Department launched the free gold testing facility at its PWD building near Golconda crossroads, Gandhinagar ,Hyderabad 20 days back. This legal dept is in all metro’s and mini Metro’s. BJP govt introduced recently excise duty on Gold Jewellery only to put an end to malpractices done by Jewelers. Now Soon Legal Metrology dept will give certificate and this is valid in any court. Legislation will be passed soon by Central Govt soon. once it is done you can sue Jewelers and take them to court ,if they sell impure Gold Jewels. This is giving Jewelers a Nightmare. All these years they were making huge money with help of Congress Govt . Now this govt is clean and they could not do anything and opposing the Kalal on Gold. Please support the Govt , not the Jewelers who were taking people for ride all these years.
nice details…..
It’s really usefull artical. Thanks.
If buy 64 gram bangel , how can price it??
Hi Ajith,
I have been reading the comments here since a long time, it’s a great place to know about gold. You should start a forum, that would be great. Yesterday I went to grt jewellery shop. I got 28.9 grams of scrap gold melted. The purity of the melted gold was around 0.81% to 0.833%. The guy at the store said he would give Rs.65780/- for 28.723 grams of 20k gold. When I asked how, he says he is multiplying the weight × purity × price of 22k gold i.e 28.723×81%×2828. I was like you can’t do that you have to do it this way 28.723×81%×3000, because he has to multiply it with 24k gold price not 22k. He was like oh no, we don’t do that Coz we have to refine the gold and for that we need to buy 24k gold etc etc etc, all Bull crap. I then he gave me a final price of 69k. I didn’t go for it because even if I wanted to buy something new I would get just around 20 grams. I was wondering if should take the melted gold to a small local shop and ask him to make a bracelet with my gold. So the weight would at least be 28 grams.
This is a very common cheating method used by jewellers when calculating price of your old gold, so please buyers beware. For example, If a piece of your melted gold is 77% pure then that means there is 77 parts pure gold and rest is copper/silver etc. And that 77% should me multipled by 24k gold price.
Thanks and regards,
Rishabh.
I’m going to buy gold long necklace I need to know wastage charge and making charges
Hi everyone I think lalitha jewellers are the best coz they do not charge anything for making and they offer low wastage up to 6% and on few jewellery upto 8%. I compared it with malabar josallukas joyallukas kalyan RR gold palace Lakshmi jewelers and Sai gold palace
Hi Theju,
Where is lalitha jewellers? In which city? Any contact info?
It’s in Bangalore. I get to see their full page ads during auspicious days.
Finishing of that jewellery will be worst. It will be too delicate. And more over they charge 6% because they don’t deduct stones or beeds weight from it.. It makes a lot of difference. Minimum 3 to 4 grams of beeds will be there in long antique chain and in others.
I have 1 gram gold I think it’s today prize 22000 & I will ask shopkeeper how much rupees got that they will give me 15000 rupees only what is the difference between to amount how to calculate the amount ?plz give me the answer how to calculate the amount in shopkeeper
If it’s 916 gold, you will get today’s market price (with minimal reduction such as 50-60 rupees per gram by some jewellers). If your gold is not 916, then they usually reduce the way they want.
Hi Fahad, what is the purity of your gold, as Ajith has said, if it is 22k you will get the exact price. But if you have gold that is less pure like 21k to 14k, they usually use the formula as weight×purity×22k price.
Handmade and machine work what’s the best buying jewellery
Hmm.. Good question! I think, exquisite designs are best when they are handmade – just my thinking 🙂 but then the making charges may be quite high. Machine work usually offers low making charges. Hopefully other readers will comment further on this topic.
both r good but major thing is gold quality
I had a ring without BIS hallmark. I want to sell it and want to buy another one. is it legal or illegal. Please tell me asap.
thank you
its legal
Sir today I want to purchase gold bangle 60grms so plz tell me about making charges on kalyan jeweller jaipur.
Thanks.
DINESH jain
nice and very valuable information shared. Thanks.
Kesava
Thank you Ajith Prasad .. you are a saviour from cheater jewellers
Very helpful tips :-)) Thank you very much..
Very helpfull Information….Thanks a lot
916 hall mark today in Mumbai how much?
Dear ALL
Unless and other wise Women Folk stop buying Gold nothing is going to happen. I request one and all to educate our Families not to buy more and more Gold Jewels in future. If the sale of God jewel come down to 30-40% of last year, then It will give a jolt to the Cheaters. Even Central govt hands are tied in this matter and unable to take a strong decision since Jewellery Lobby is so powerful.Their vote bank is 10% in Gujarat and Norther state of ND.
Let us all take a oath to question jewelers on their wastage. If 50 Crores population raises against them, then things will change. For that street corner awareness is needed. Educated must change and change the ind set of their parents. Certain community in north even today insist on not less than 100 Sovereign’s of Gold.Marvadi’s ,Gujarati’s, Bhoomihar’s of Bihar, Patel’s,Rajestani’s demand not only money as dowry, but huge gold also. Same in case in Andhra Pradesh, Some Community in Kerala, and TN.
Totally agree Jayasankar. Historically, we have been slaves to these customs and craze for gold as people didn’t have any clue on other investment methodologies. Hopefully the new generation change their attitude. Personally myself is not a fan of gold. I have less than 2% of my portfolio in Gold ETFs though as recommended by experts for hedging against any potential market collapse.
Pls add 10 to 20% gold in your portfolio for next two years. Gold may touch 34000 in this year or second quarter of next year
I ordered 16gm gold set he charges me as per 30600 rate for it but 22kart today’s rate is 28430. total cost of jewelry is53000/- please tell me can he charge 30600 for 22 karat gold if actual rate is 28430
Regards
Sanjay
Dear sir,
Recently I exchanged my baby’s earrings. It is 0.75gm. I bought it for 2755 rs but the sales men said he would give me 1000 rs only. My earring is bis 916 hallmark. Can I go and get back my jewel returning his money. Pls help me.
The 22ct gold price is close to Rs.3000/- per gram now. You should have got at least 2000 rupees for your 0.75g earring. Having already exchanged it and billed for the new one, I doubt if he would be ready to give back your original earrings.
It’s always better to go to the original vendor whenever you want to sell or exchange. Jewelers are supposed to pay you as per the current price of gold (if it’s 916). Some deduct 50 or 100 rupees per gram. Whenever you go for an exchange, first ask them how much would they give you. Most jewelers first sell you their ‘new fashion’ gold jewelry and having fallen for that, they would pay you less for your old gold. 90% of the customers would find it difficult to walk out of that trap.
I have purchaged one gold chain&one gold ring wt 14.880gm from kapoor jewellers Dehradun and they charged polish wastage 1.750gm &making charges 300per gm During purchaging they did not clear regarding polish wastage I wants to know it is justified If not what I can do
Dehradun
Frankly, I don’t know what polish wastage is :/
Hie Ajith,
We have bought a mangalsutra of 3.50 Gms at that time the price of gold was Rs.25350 So what will be the making charges can u tell mee because he told us 10000.
10K for 3.5gms of gold (provided it’s 22k) sounds like a very good deal.
Very well written in a simple and lucid manner .mam what are the intricacies of exchanging gold coins how much money will I get for. Gold coin if I exchange it to buy jewellery at the same shop or in other jewellery shop
996 or 997 (Not sure if someone is selling 999) pure gold coins should fetch you the current market value of 24k gold and 916 BIS gold coins should get 22k market value. While exchanging, of course you will be charged for the VA for what you buy, regardless of whether you exchanged or paid cash.
Yesterday I had get a ladies bracelet and they r taking 16percent wasted + vat +ston cost is it correct ples explain me clearly
I, frankly, do not know when stones and intricate designs are involved. It should be more than the normal cost of machine cut or simple design jewellery.
Hi
Myself jyothi today I went to tanishq to take new necklace and gave my old necklace 26.5 gram by which I got 75,000 today’s gold rate was 2,884.9. I took new necklace which is 24.205 gram it costed 87,410.30 Rs. I am not understanding abt the wastage making charge vat etc..
I do not understand how Tanishq works. I hear that only they buyback the jewellery they sell and nobody else?
Tanishq buy gold jewellery of any make and pay decent amount as per prevailing gold price
Very usefull tips for people like me who have little knowledge abt jewellery purchases.
Thanks a lot for the good information.. It helps a lot me. There are some wives who will check all these things before buying or exchanging. And there are some husband who may not take care of these. 🙂
Hi.
I m buy 10 grm gold chain(18K ) price was 29600, plz advice me for actuals cost of my gold price 750 Hall mark.
Better buy 22K BIS products. I feel, 18K (or lower) products are proportionally more expensive compared to the gold content in them. Can’t comment on your chain’s pricing as cost can go up based on design.
Hi Ajith
I have brought a gold chain’ so I want to know how to check 91.6 hallmark on it ?
They charged me around 3000 extra stating its 91.6 hallmark gold and that time I don’t know anything about all these . But they didn’t chaeged me anything for waste charges , but yes they added vat and making charges
As I read in in u r article above which doesn’t have these charges
Please help me in this
thanks for your precious view to those people who does not know about to purchase gold items .
thank you
I am goldsmith but I have no certificate for this craft. I can make many gold jewellery, by hand, like earrings, necklaces, nose pins, baby rings, some types of chain, chur, wristlets etc. But we can not get the real wastage because jewellery showroom owner gives us just 5% to 6% and this 6% is divided to three people.3.5% goes to handmade karigar, 1% chhila karigor, 1% polish karigor and .5% has got the paikar. There after real truth; the 3.5% which got the handmade karigor they are finally got just 2% because 1.5% goes to jewellery workshops just for the filling and cutting which is called nehara and it’s loss from hand of hand made karigor. It’s real true in West Bengal jewellery making. We are crying today for the wastage. A huge number of karigors driving Toto for her family, We can not get the right wastage from jewellery showroom. Please do something about it. We are crying 🙁
Dipak Roy, Thank you very much for your comment and explanation given. It’s alarming to know that when a 50,000 rupees jewellery is made, the man who really hand-made it gets only 1000 rupees for days of hard work. I hope the looting by major Jewelers stop in the near future. There should be clear norms for handmade jewelry as well as machine cuts on how to distribute the expenses.
Where are you based ? Do you take direct orders?
Do you charge 6% Wastage on 916 jewellery
I have exchange the 916 gold chain and taken new chain.i need know what will actual cost which I have pay to shopkeeper .
Cost per grm =2850 per gm
Making cost =250 per gm
Vat=1.2%
Old chain weight=10.610
New chain weight =15.000gm
I have purchases a gold chain recently from
Reputed “kamal jwellers p ltd “of dehradun.
The tag mentioned gross wt:10.59’ne wt 10.59,margin 16%’
Rate of 22 karat quoted :2810/ gm
Calculated as:
10.59+10% for wastage+ 10% for making+300/gm for hallmarking+1% for vat(sales tax): something around 41000
Owner sett led to 38800/- whereas i was emphasizing that when the tag mentions 16% why he is charging 20%( 10%+10% for wastage & making)
Further i paid ?38800 by cheque& he gave me receipt in the shape of order form with rate 2810/gm, for 13.808 without mention of article or its description or photo etc.
How should i proceed before taking delivey ?
Your article is very useful.
I have come across with another loot in the name of hallmarking charges in addition to wastage charge10%+making charge10% that too @ 300/gm ???
Sir, it’s common number of making charges u have to face 450 to 500 in metro cities. Thank him for less charges that is not a loot.
Thank you for your nice coments but the local jewelers take less charges with comparison of branded jewelers.abot x10 more charged by branded
Thanks
I have purchased 23 karat of gold of weight 115 gram when rate of gold was Ra 2750 per gram. Gold Smith added 13 gram KDM polish in it and finally counted 128 gram gold. He made my bill of Rs 367000/-. Please advise me
Thanks, for the info.
My question is : who will pay the hallmark charges? Jeweller or a buyer?pl clarify. Thanks
I have a question regarding gold price –
Why 24 carat Gold rate (suppose Rs. 30K) is not equivalent to 91.6? (i.e. Rs. 27480) for 22 carat, in Gold market?
Example – On 23/12/2016 price of 24 carat gold was Rs.28855.61 per 10 gram in Mumbai, but price of 22 carat gold was Rs 26980 instead of 26431.73 ( 28855.61 * 91.6?).
I have exchanged my sister’s bangles which were weighing 51.450 g n the carat was21.900 after melting. I perchaged a chain weighing52.500g.they charged 1 lakh73000. which containing 31000 making charges . don’t u think the making charges r too high
Hi,
I bought one Diamond bangle (1 piece) from Mysore having weight 11.730 gms which having gold charges 25500 & diamond charges 19000. they charged me 11500 as wastege charges. Could you plz suggest, is it fair enough to charge 11500 as wastege charges or they charged me more. Kindly suggest.
I want know about recently making charge and wastage charge for gold jewellery.
Nice information thank you so much
Good day..
I bought a bracelet in Malabar gold in Saudi Arabia. They have take 400 ? /Gram as making charges. Is that reasonable price for bracelet. Or high. They saying that according to item the making charges will vary. Collected only making charges.. no other than wastage charges taken.. I think so..
Did I pay excess…?
I wanna know regarding the tags attached to ornaments in jewellery shops. How they define..? Their will be item weight. Other than weight what will be present on tag.. like making charges will present on each item in the form of code..? Pls clear my doubt.
Your reply is appreciable..
Thankyou.
I bought 28 grams of 916 kdm Kolkatta design. What will be wastages for 28grams of gold?
Hi
I am going to pyrchase 50 gram 22k gold for neckless and bangles.today. when i ask showroom customer they told me
current 22k rate + 28% making+1% vat=your amount.please suggest this is very high valye rate.
dear sir, while other business have profit margin of 30% to 40% like hotel,cloth etc….then what is wrong if a gold smith earns 7% to 10%. when you purchase clothes of 10,000 tell me can u resell them in cloth stores??? what is the amount you will get for those clothes after one year….do cloth or mobile shop keepers secure u that you will get at least 60% return money…off course not….but we gold smith can give u 9160 rupees for 10000 after 1 year or 10 year or more too….think and talk sir.
Good advice
Thanks ,, I gain a precious information for gold
Why there r taking wastage charges more. suppose for 10 gms the jewellery shop may charge 1gms of amount of wastage may be more… How to eradicate this system is there is a way plz send….
Problem is Central govt is unable to control the loot by the Jewelers. If Central govt imposes any strict rules on this immediately the Entire north Indian Jewelry community goes for agitation. Loot is going on for the past 50 Years. Let us al write to PM and FM to bring in rule to curb this loot soon.
Let all people stand united and fight against these Jewelry shop Owners.
Jayashankar,
Lets to a change petition for the same , government is hard bent on addressing black money but it cant put a blind eye to black money mine, which is indian jewellery trade.
Everyday millions of people are being conned, my reservation is why the government even allows confusing karat and .917 type markings why cant we have a definite 90%, 75% gold purity written on the recipts.
Lets nail this.
Sir what should the actual making charges
i have taken a pendent 22 karat of 1.5 gm with 5.5 ratti manik plz calculate and tell what its cost should be
I bought a earrings aith the mark of 916 only. Is this pure or not. No other mark on
Yesterday I purchased ear tops for my little daughter. I rarely purchase gold.
Gold rate on 29.4.17 ,916, 22k
28890
Wt .69 gm (us me zerkin bhi lage huey the)
Cost== 2000
Taking charges = 400
Hall mark charge = 250
Vat===26
Cost to me 2676
I m worried and felt cheated.
I have got the bill
Pl advise.
The whole indian jewellery industry is a con market at best, there is no professionalism whatsoever.
I bought a (supposedly) 22 karat 6 gram ring at Lucknow ,vrindavan jwellers.
The price was going gold price + making charges 700 rs per gram.
So what I had was 6gm of 22karat gold ring at VA of 4200 rupees.
Now I decided to get the ring remade so I went to the same jeweller and this is what I was offered –
The gold was annouced as having 72% which is less than 18karat, on asking why 22karat is being taken as 18 karat the answer was there is ‘tanka’ , the joint which makes the total gold value lesser. But didn’t I pay for 22karat by weight ?
So my 6gram ring was valued as 4.2 gm 24karat ring , making charges would be 750 rs per gram and resulting ring would be 4.2 gm in 22 karat (supposedly)
But infact I will be given 18karat 4.2 gram ring , that means in every making cycle im loosing 30% gold on top of making charges.
Shouldn’t my gold stay in orginal value when making is only changing the design ? But seems indian jewellers have devised a short cut to riches.
As a learning I have decreed at home thst going forward we are not getting any gold item made in India full stop.
which gold is going to get minimal amount of wastage???
anyone can advise me please??
Hi ajay tanisaq per jewiary per extra kya lagta hi 10 gm per rate se
Is there any chance to make good of this wastage percentage/cost as it is retreavable from the machine/factory…?
Perhaps that’s one reason why machine cut gold ornaments are cheaper?
why excise and vat applied on making charges or labor charges is there any notification or else please help regarding this
Dear Ajit,
I am planning to purchase 24k gold 20 grams in Saudi Arabia. Per gram rate was 158 SAR/gram. Let me know how much I have to pay certification charges.
Thanks
Mani
I have no idea about this Mani. i.e. the cost of certification for externally purchased gold jewelry
Hi Ajith,
After reading your wonderful blog, I have a query ….
Recently I purchased a gold bracelet of 30 grams. I told the jeweller to put a hall mark on it. But, instead he put 23 KDMV mark on it.
The jeweller is known to me and says that he has given me a good bargain..
Have I been looted???
Superb information
Iovely…
i have purchase the ear rings from Khazana showroom.
at that time gold price was 2660 per gm and
they have charged Rs 4282 As a wastage for 7.690 net wt grams.
Iam still confused why they are charging this much of amount
can any one suggest on this
Sir I want known basic thing s for purchasing of gold , 5gm. What is the procedures of calculations
Sir, I tried to change my mother Nonthadu , old exchange and new then so I negotiate with one known gold seller..But i didn’t know about gold and purchase please help me..
Description : old gold : 82.84 concentration % and wt : 20.540 and carat :19.9
For new : 36 grams + 2.5 grams (wastage charge) = 38.500 grams..
And the costed my old objects as like
20.540*82% = 92. Then old gold 18.300
38.500 – 18.300 = 20.200(cost for ne)*2740(per gram cost) =?55,350
Is this sufficient cost…
Hello,
I’m in Bahrain, Recently i bought Gold 22 k earing 6.5 Gram.
I was not knowing about All this gold terminologies.
In the name of ‘ Making Charge’ i have been looted by Malabar’s salesmen, he has charged 3 BD (510 rs/ Gram)
I must have read your blog earlier. 🙁
What is VA in the gold purchasing bill?
Value Addition, it’s mentioned in the post
Yes it’s true & I know all this things but there are no option because people not so little about that & if I have knowledge & raise my voice nobody supports me there are no govt restriction on gold jewellery because of this there are problem
I have exchanged my old chain n purchased new one. The gold smith charged Rs.400 per gram. Is it judtify. Pl.let me know.
Can we mention wastage and macking charges seprate in only estimation paper is it is a crime if we mention
In 20 grams of gold , what is the percentage of pure gold ….Plz reply …
If i sell today 12.100 grms of 22crt gold ornaments howmuch money i WL get out of this
sir if I want to purchase a chain of 10grams how many rupees cost for that and what will be purity of gold please reply
Thank you for your valuable information
Give me some more information as you have
Details given by u are exremely useful in gold transactions.Thanks a lot.
I would like the advice or guidance to buy old ornaments for business purpose.
I think this is among the most vital info for me. And i am glad
reading your article. But should remark on some general things, The site
style is great, the articles is really great : D. Good job, cheers
They r taking minimum 350rs per gram by the name of making charge. & They r is a big shop who r taking 1950rs per gram.
Quite helpful indeed. I will surely use the tips when I go next time for purchasing jewellery.
What a jweller include in his billing
Please specify the “panikooli less”/ “minimum panikooli” jewellery in Pathanamthitta or Kottayam districts.
Wattsapp/ sms no: 8848175931
How I justify this to sales person of the shop. They actually charge us so many around 300- 500 rupees @ per gram gold.
Jeweller add polish by wt saying varying from 5% to 20% which does not increase weight the ornament but charge the buyers wt of polish by the prevailing gold rate
Dear Team,
if i wanted to by 10 grams 22 carter gold chain what will be total cost like as below-
Expl Gold 22 Karat 10 grams 28500 rs
making charges- ?
Wastage charges if any ?
Total cost of 10 grams 22 Karat gold chain-
how i can understand what jeweler is charging me.
also please advise making and wastage charges are same over in our India or different-2 depend on city
regards,
Dear Sir
recently purchased ear rings from GRT. i checked the value addition is differ from each ear ring . is it true or they are cheating with us. for my case the more gram (3.456)having less value addition than less gram (2 .34).
pls advise on that .
Really helpful to you, for sharing such a good informative column.
Nice blog and your all presenting information are very great and it’s really good well done.
How to consider the wastage persentage in gold.it will be considered full weight or not
Firstly I want to thank u for this information. Next week I’m planning for buy a gold chain for me. I’m surely ask about wastage charges, making charges out of which they make fool of us. Thank you. Jagooo grahak jagoo
When we buy gold ornament we pay for gold of 21 / 22 carat + stone charges + making charges + margin etc.
When chain or ring is made for 21/22 carat you add copper to make it storng. Example if i buy 8 garm ring of 22 carat what is % of copper is added in 8 gram gold for which we pay as price of gold.As the ring weight is 8 grams which consist of gold + copper.
Very good and useful information
According to you what is the least profit in percentage of a jewellery shopkeeper with labour cost have to take from a customer
You have to rply
Please help me out. I got the jewellery at the price of 23 carat and now I got check my jewellery to hallmark centre and I got to know that in my jewellery gold percentage is 80% and carat is 19 % . Then I went to the jewellery shop where I got the jewelry to know the Actual reason behind this. Then shopkeeper told me that that percentage is good because he didn’t charge making charge for the jewelry which comes 450rs/gm for the hallmark.
Please suggest me what to do know.
all jewellery shops are cheating people in different manner. in erode Radha jewellery waste 25%and making charge rs 500 / gram all together 34 % / gram they reducing after long negotiation just coming for discount 5% /gram altimatly they need rs 7000 / gram profit it is huge malpractice cheating government and people. For this government to brings rules in common so that some what can be controllable
Went to Joy Alukkas today. A friend was purchasing I just accompanied. Coimbatore branch. Today’s gold rate was ?2884 and selected a plain gold ring 22k which weighed 8.071 grams. Checked weight and also purity and hallmark all accurate. Gold value was only ?23276.76 and VA (making charge plus wastage) in the name of value addition amounted to ?2936.83 and this is after trying maximum level best for bargaining, depends on individuals skill and the sales persons mood and their margin line to allow the play line. Total came to ?26213.59 and 3% gst was there so after adding net total became ?27000 and joy Alukkas profit totally in this transaction amount to be ?2936.83 and ofcourse the gst amount goes to govt. So is this a fair deal? Kindly pour your thoughts and advise please. Thank you.
916 hole mark gold raj today nekles rate gold+ meking charge +Gst tax
Muje ek chain sale karni h
11.650g ki h
This is number one cheating,highway robbery.People don’t know the hidden amount they are paying and most of them don’t know the calculation.This is the plus point for the cheaters.
What is mean by VADD how it calculated
Hi Thanks for the info…i have a doubt. I had planned to buy 16 grams of gold bracelet in EMI option, they are charging me 16000 Rs as Making and Wastage charges. Design or pattern is simple Chain Bracelet. This is not acceptable charge i felt or may be is it because of EMI option its charge is raised. They mentioned it has Making and wastage charges, and it is of no cost EMI.
Please suggest me Ajith Prasad Sir..Awaiting for your suggestion..
Plse reply me Sir..what is the meaning of VADD while purchasing gold? It comes to a huge amount..
Lovely tips, specially gold jewelllery weight tips. It helps me to buy gold jewellery.
Thank You Very Much, Its really Very useful, It will help me to buy gold
very usefull information regarding selling the gold
Hi Ajith,
Recently we went to jewellery shop to exchange our old gold jewellery with new jewellery.
Our old gold weighed 45grams(916 hallmark) and jeweller said we will get 91.6% on the total weight though we are exchanging it with same jewellery shop.
91.6% of gold weight times today’s 22ct gold price.
Please advice if we are getting right deal as the jeweller says we get weight to weight exchange and yet we are loosing 8.4 % .
Thanks
Krishna
I have purchased necklace of gold of weight 5.4 gram,With wastage charges of 18% and MC 350/gram,plus 3% gst,Its 22k gold but jewellers calculated gold amount with 24K carat gold i.e 52500. is it correct calculation?