Most Important Tips 👉Before Buy Gold
1. Check Gold Hallmarked?
Sri Lanka has hallmarked jewellery showrooms but there are not still wide swathes of the country.
This makes it imperative for you to ensure that the gold you are buying is from a hallmarked jeweller.
The complete list of hallmarked jewellers – can be found on www.goldceylon.lk website or www.ngja.gov.lk web.
In case you have any complaints and concerns about hallmarking, you can contact Assay Office National Gem and Jewellery Authority as well. (Tel 0112390952)
Sri Lanka hallmark sign remains the benchmark you need to insist upon when buying gold.
Buyers beware. The lack of hallmark certified jewellery is particularly rampant in Sri Lanka, which accounts for over 80% (approximately) of our annual jewellery consumption. So even if gold is cheaper in a smaller town or your village, careful buy it unless it is hallmarked.
2. Check the per sovereign price of gold
Always check the per sovereign price of gold ahead of your purchase.
The means of arriving at it vary from city to city and are decided by various associations of gold jewellers. The biggest jewellers almost always sell at the same rate. In Sri Lanka Colombo Gold Market decides daily gold rate in Colombo and other cities. But in Jaffna, Batticaloa and Kalmunai Gold prices sharply differ from Colombo.
One way of ensuring that per gram price of gold is reliable is by checking in more than one well known showroom or you could check rates on reliable website www.goldceylon.lk ahead of purchase.
3. How much Gold (Weight) are you really getting?
The pricing composition of gold jewellery is usually complicated.
On top of the per gram price, a buyer has to pay for wastage (which varies from ornament to ornament and the mechanism of calculating which only the jeweller knows). Additionally, there are making charges too, in some instances. Once you settle on a piece, making charges or a percentage of the wastage disappears from the pricing chart, but that hasn’t simplified the picture for you, has it?
A better way of simplifying it all would be finding out how much gold you actually get in hand for the price you are paying.
For example, if the final price is Rs 230,000 for a 10 gm gold chain – you have essentially paid Rs 184,000 per sovereign. Check the actual per sovereign rate on the day and see how much more you are expected to pay. If your heart is still in the deal post this calculation, only then go ahead.
4. Check on Buy – Back (Resale) terms
Also, check and see what your jeweller is willing to offer you if you were to return the gold jewellery at a later date and wish to exchange it for a more contemporary design.
Most top jewellers these days promise to buy back gold at the prevailing rate should you choose to go down this route.
While this means that you won’t be compensated for the wastage that you paid for or the making charges, it means you at least have an assurance to fall back on.
Also, check if there is an exchange and buy-back period and policy and that you are aware about it. This will ensure that you can return your ornament in case you have any grounds for complaint.
5. The Bill, please
To ensure all this, do insist on a bill.
A bill that jots down every important detail of the purchase goes a long way towards ensuring transparency and providing you with assurance. It is something you can turn to, in case you are forced to approach a consumer court too.
It is also your contribution towards ensuring a more transparent gold market in the country.
Published by © www.goldceylon.lk