Tips for buying gold jewelry in India

[lambskin]

I will be in Delhi, India for a couple of days and would like to buy a gold chain and perhaps a bangle. I am not Indian. I would love some tips as to how to bargain when dealing with 22K pieces. I understand that gold has a daily price but how does that factor into labor and profit. I do not like the more intricate pieces but gold is really high priced so I do not expect cheap. I really want to make an informed decision. I realize each piece is unique as each store is different. But is there some sort of starting calculation in regard to gold price and labor cost? ANY help would be most appreciated. Thank you.

 

[thecat]

Gold is sold by weight and most stores should sell at the same price. There will be one or two stores selling slightly higher or lower. I don't know the reason for slightly higher price but slightly lower prices are to attract customers. Pop into a few stores to see if their gold price is the same. You can bargain on workmanship price but most charge low to begin with.

 

[lambskin]

Thank you for your post. Do you have an idea as to the high and low labor cost percentage? For example, if a chain is 5 grams of 22K gold, then how much for the labor i.e. a range for simple to moderately intricate? Is there a sort of a range of percentage to calculate? I know I will have to bargain hard as I am a tourist and not a repeat customer I just want to make sure that when the calculater comes out I have some idea as to what the store's formula is. Also, are the stores in India selling 18k?

 

[rinkyb]

My two cents...go with a bigger store, they may charge more in labor but safer to buy from them than an unknown smaller store. You can ask around for reputable stores in Delhi, I don't know any there unfortunately. Another point is that make sure that the gold is BIS hallmark, do not buy without that. The labor charges are usually/gm and are fixed so there is lesser chance of bargaining, but you can try. Best of luck and post pics

Thanks,
Rinky