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author: ye manzhi

the soaring gold price has stimulated the nerves of the gold retail market.

on september 25, international gold prices hit record highs for four consecutive days. as of the close, december gold futures on the new york mercantile exchange (comex) closed at $2,684.7 per ounce, an increase of 0.29%. as of press time, the international gold price was at $2,647.99 per ounce, still at a historically high level.

affected by the rising gold price, the retail gold prices of major gold brands also rose. at present, the retail gold price of domestic gold brands such as chow tai fook, chow sang sang, chao acer, and lao fengxiang has risen to over 760 yuan/gram.

last year i could buy "hardware", but this year i could only buy "three golds"

in order to increase store revenue, major brands have developed different strategies according to different categories.

take the ancient gold brand laopu gold as an example. in late september, laopu gold increased the price of its gold jewelry, with the increase ranging from 4% to 11%; on september 30, its gold bars and gold coins also followed the price increase. a reporter from times weekly found that in the laopu gold taobao flagship store, a gold bar product "baby yellow croaker" with a weight of 20.12 grams was priced at 14,587 yuan before the price increase, and the price after the price increase was 15,090 yuan. a 30.38-gram "round bagua betting gold coin" has increased from 22,329 yuan on september 30 to 23,696 yuan on october 3.

as an ancient gold brand with a "fixed price", laopu gold products generally do not make frequent adjustments. "but if the international gold price changes significantly, it will also affect the price changes of goldware." the customer service of the above-mentioned flagship store further explained.

not only long-established gold stores, but also some traditional gold brands are also raising prices on "fixed price" gold jewelry.

a salesperson from chow sang sang bluntly told a reporter from times weekly that in mid-september, many small edition "fixed price" gold jewelry increased in price again. taking the small version of gold hand beads as an example, some styles have increased by 240 yuan from the original price. on september 29, several chow tai fook sales staff revealed to times weekly reporters that the brand's "fixed price" products will be adjusted in price after the national day holiday. "the notice i just received during the meeting this afternoon said (the increase) is about 10% to 15%."

however, with the arrival of the national day holiday and the traditional peak consumption season of "golden nine and silver ten", many gold brands have launched specific products for promotions to attract customer flow.

times weekly reporters noticed that on the eve of the national day holiday, gold brands such as chow tai fook, chow sang sang, and luk fook jewelery launched discounts, with discounts ranging from 40 to 50 yuan per gram on some product categories in their offline stores. lao fengxiang even launched discounts of 80 yuan. promotional efforts.

under the traditional concept of wedding customs, gold is still the first choice for most people as wedding jewelry. however, the continuously soaring gold price has affected the wedding preparation plans of newlyweds.

zhang wu, a white-collar born in the 1990s, planned to get married by the end of this year. as early as june this year, he and his partner had made many price comparisons and style purchases at major gold stores, but they were repeatedly dissuaded by the high gold prices. at present, gold stores have frequent discounts during the national day, but zhang wu is still hesitant, thinking that "it's still not cost-effective." "last year, i could buy 'hardware' (bracelets, rings, necklaces, earrings and bracelets), but this year i can barely buy it." a 'three-gold' set (ring, necklace, earrings), and the weight is also small. "

in the end, zhang wu reached an agreement with his partner and made a decision: temporarily giving up the idea of ​​buying "three golds" and directly choosing a single gold jewelry. "we now plan to buy a heavy dragon and phoenix bracelet, and we can deal with the wedding banquet first." but in the future, he will still choose to make up for the 'three golds'. "gold is of great significance to chinese people who choose to get married. it’s important.”

young people go to shuibei to "dig for gold"

wu qian, who is preparing for marriage, also feels the same way. in her opinion, no matter how expensive gold is, gold still has to be bought. “if you don’t buy gold, you won’t get married.”

however, wu qian's wedding, which was originally on the agenda this year, was put on hold and postponed because she and her partner were too busy with work and couldn't miss the time, as well as unable to choose gold jewelry at the right price.

"i think it's impossible to expect (gold prices) to dive. now i plan to wait and see whether there will be more intensive promotions during the spring festival next year. if the discounts are similar to this year's national day, we will jump right in." wu qian said bluntly.

in addition to major brand gold stores, going to shenzhen shuibei to pan for gold has also become a purchasing choice for many newcomers. for newcomers whose brand filters are not that heavy, shuibei gold is more cost-effective than gold stores with higher premiums.

compared with the retail gold prices of major gold brands that have begun with "7", shuibei gold still maintains an average price of around 600 yuan/gram. with such a price difference, the latter will naturally attract more consumers.

ni nui, who was born in 1995, just received his certificate not long ago. there is no wedding or wine, but gold is indispensable. she told a reporter from times weekly that she had bought a pair of rings at shuibei and planned to buy some necklaces, bracelets and other gold accessories to make up the "six gold". in terms of style selection, the styles we choose are small and everyday. “we did not choose the traditional large-gram styles.”

there are many newcomers who have the same choice as twisted. many "couples-to-be" who are preparing for marriage revealed to times weekly reporters that they plan to go to gold trading centers such as shuibei wanshan and shuibei no. 1 during the national day to choose gold jewelry. "shuibei also has many styles and brands. , many counters can also process it, and it’s cheaper than gold shops. you can buy more gold jewelry with the same price and budget,” a newcomer said bluntly.

however, although the number of new people going to shuibei to buy gold has increased, sales at local counters are still under pressure. many shuibei gold counter sellers bluntly said that due to the impact of the rising gold price, the number of people coming to buy gold jewelry in september this year has decreased compared with the same period last year. many new people just don’t want to buy and have a strong wait-and-see attitude.

"last year, the gold price was not that high, and national day and mid-autumn festival were at the same time, so more people came to buy gold to get married on national day. this year, the gold price is too high, and there were fewer people getting married during national day. just my counter, compared with last year in comparison, there are only 50% less people coming to buy," said a seller at the shuibei counter.

the price of gold has soared, and many newcomers have been discouraged and have chosen colorful treasures as an alternative.

qiqi, who has been newly married for four months, is one of them. due to differences in regional cultural characteristics, compared to newlyweds in the south, she grew up in a northern family and is not as obsessed with gold. after seeing that the price of gold continued to rise, she replaced the "three golds" with the "three treasures" and bought ruby ​​diamond rings, necklaces and earrings. "gemstones are not as expensive as gold, but they are also very grand, can hold up a lot, and are colorful. bao also has the function of preserving value.”

on social platforms such as xiaohongshu, some people also choose to use colorful treasures, gold and jade and other jewelry as accessories for their engagement banquets. however, many newlyweds generally believe that jewelry other than gold is not "noble" enough and "not worth much", which does not conform to the public's choice logic for traditional wedding jewelry.

due to their highly saturated color appeal and in line with the aesthetic needs of generation z, colored gemstones have become increasingly favored and valued by young consumers in recent years. their market size and demand have further expanded, and their prices have soared.

according to gongyan.com, the domestic market size of colored gemstone jewelry will reach 29.7 billion yuan in 2023. data from zhongyan.com shows that around the spring festival in 2023, the price of some high-quality, large-carat precious colored treasures at the country's largest production and processing base of colored treasures located in panyu district, guangzhou has doubled compared with the same period last year. among them, the price of sapphire (loose stone) has increased the most, with an increase of 30% to 50% in 2023 compared with 2022.

(at the request of the interviewee, zhang wu, wu qian, nuanniu and qi qi are all pseudonyms)