Buying Gold in Taiwan

I’ve heard that Taiwan is the best place to buy gold, so what I’m wondering is:

If the “London Fix Price” for gold is US$350.25, is this how I calculate the value of a 5 gram piece of 24k jewelry?

350.25/31.1 = 11.26 x 5 grams = 56.30

And why would the “London Fix Price” be in US dollars anyway? Or am I missing something?

Thanks!

I heard that gold is much cheaper in China than in Taiwan.

About calculating the value of a 5-gram piece of gold jewelry, it depends what kind of jewelry it is. Different kinds of jewelry have different values depending on how much someone is willing to pay for it, which depends on how well it is made, how attractive it looks, how intricately it is carved, etc. In addition, you have to look at the quality of the gold. For example, is it shiny and well-polished or dull and scratched up or worn down?

So the “spot price” for gold has nothing to do with the value of a piece of gold jewelry. The “spot price” is just the current price for trading gold bars or bullion or ingots. Certain commemorative coins are also traded on commodity markets, but the trading price of the coins is always much higher per ounce than the trading price of gold bullion.

But you are correct that there are 31.1 grams per troy ounce. Don’t forget that “ounces” always means “troy ounces” when dealing in the precious metals market. (There are only 28.35 grams in a “regular” ounce, which is technically called an “avoirdupois ounce”.)

The “London Fix Price” is in US dollars because the US dollar is the standard currency for international trading. The Euro is also an international trading currency, but they don’t use Euros in Britain. And I know that gold is also traded on the “New York Commodity Exchange”, as well as lots of other places.

A belated thank you, Mark, for responding to my initial post.

I was at a local jewelry store today looking at baby bracelets and the prices seemed pretty reasonable at about $2100 to $3500 for chains to light bangles.

What I’ve been told by friends is that I can buy gold here and pay for the value of the gold PLUS a labor charge of about $800 to $1000. Have I got it all wrong?

no you got it right bh. in the gold shops you’ll see the days unit buy/sell prices for gold shown on the wall. this is the same price you will pay anywhere in the world, more or less. when you buy a piece they will tell you how much you are paying for the weight of the gold and how much for the workmanship, this is called “gongqian” and varies depending on the craftsmanship. if you sell the gold back to a shop you only get the money for the weight

[quote=“braxtonhicks”]
And why would the “London Fix Price” be in US dollars anyway? [/quote]

On the international commodity markets, gold is priced in US$ as US$ is the foremost
reserve currency of the world (on it’s last legs as we type). Same goes for oil, etc…

If you want to buy gold for jewelery - you should have bought last year when it was cheap. If you want to
stash your cash/invest - gold bars are better.

Go to gold.org for more info.

You can buy gold in chunks. I bought the equivalent of about 12 ounces here once when the market was WAY below 300. There was no extra charge as I recall, or if there was, it was negligible. Of course if someone had ransacked my house they may have found it, but I eventually waited until the price went about where I wanted and sold it. It is amazing how heavy such a small brick of gold is. A lot of gold (price-wise) doesn’t take up much space. Those movies with people picking up footlong gold bars and tossing them around (Three Kings) certainly suspend my disbelief now.

Thanks for the info everyone. Has anyone had experience having a goldsmith make something for you?

Not here in TW, but in Birmingham (UK, not alabama) theres a section of the city where there is a gathering of goldmsiths, experienced craftsmen and artists. I had an anklet made out of white gold from one of the backstreet stores, I cant remember now how much it cost, but I was 17 at the time and not exactly flush for cash.

I asked around a lot before i did it and this is some of the advise (wrong or right) i gathered

Find a goldsmith that:

a) had an idea of the basic design you wanted
b) had other work on display, so that you can see the quality of what has been produced
c) agrees a price for the work before you start, agrees a price for the gold, and a price for any stones or special work (inlaying of other metals etc) Getting it all separated out can really be a bonus.
d) agrees to make minor modifications at no extra charge afterwards (within reason)

As for TW i dont know, but I hope this helps.

Ironically I got offered a job as a jewellers apprentice at that store less than a year later… but thats another story.

Rob

Thanks for the tips. There’s a goldsmith who supposedly does custom work in 14k gold. (Kuma Ko) I’m going to give him a call.

hi. i am intrigued with the idea of buying gold. the places i have found add on a 10% (or more) surcharge onto the market value of the gold. at 400 US an ounce, those niggling surcharges pile up.

has anyone found a better way?

thanks and seasons greetings.

I’m still a little unclear too, but I have found some decent deals in my neighborhood. For example, a child’s 24k gold bracelet that weighs just a bit over 1 gram (I think that’s what the 1.03 means on the package but I could be way off) is about NT$2000. Now, to me, that seems reasonable, but I want to know if there’s some formula I should be aware of.

How do you know how much gold is in it ? Do you just trust the shop !?

They weigh it right in front of you, except that at the three different shops I’ve been to so far, they don’t seem to care to explain anything or show me what the weight is. I try to look at the weight or the calculator to see what they’re doing and it’s as if they don’t care to make it easy for me to figure out. Seems odd but maybe I’m making something out of nothing. I just remember that the times I’ve bought pearls the ladies I’ve bought from always showed me the weight, then calculated it for me so that I could see.

i want to buy ounce coins (or larger, but where to find?). i know SA, AUS and Canada all mint gold ounce coins.doubting the weights of such never crossed my little mind.

But how do you know it’s actually gold ?

You can buy Canadian gold coins at the Banks here. I believe it was China Trust that I saw the poster?

hexuan:

i can’t go wrong buying canadian, right?

if all else fails i’ll take a bath with in and should “eureka” when the water overflows.

If anybody is interested in buying gold for investment purposes you can check this site out
for info on where to do so in Taiwan:

gold.org/value/invest/whereb … mit=Submit