Gold Shopping: Buy New Or Change Old?

Gold lovers may be readying themselves for a buying spree. But does it make sense to exchange old gold instead of buying new jewellery and invest the money elsewhere?

- Amit Sethi

The festive season in India is not just about spending money on goodies and indulging your wants, but also about making investments. And when it comes to making investments during this time, gold is still on top of the list for most.

Over the years, gold buying has taken several different forms. First, many Indians have switched to non-physical gold and prefer to invest in instruments, such as Sovereign Gold Bonds (SGBs), and gold mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). Second, gold in physical form remains a popular choice. For instance, it is considered auspicious to buy metal on the festival of Dhanteras. Similarly, gold jewellery is an intrinsic part of Indian weddings, and many Hindu families organise weddings in November. Third, with the age-old tradition of accumulating gold in India, many families pass on jewellery to the next generation, but the newer generation, typically, prefers to exchange the old ones with new ones by investing a little extra.

Since physical gold is still the popular choice during the festive season, let’s understand what exchanging gold jewellery entails and whether it makes sense to buy new jewellery instead.

THE PROCESS OF EXCHANGING

People exchange gold for different reasons—it could be about wanting to wear new designs, or because of wear and tear of old jewellery, or simply because of lack of adequate budget to buy new jewellery. In the process, people typically end up spending more money, which constitutes their incremental auspicious spending.

However, the process of exchanging gold jewellery may not always be smooth given lack of standardisation in the market.