If you are buying gold for investment, gold shop is among the places you may go to purchase your investment. In Malaysia, our gold prices are standardized nationwide as most of our gold shop retailers are member of Federation of Goldsmith and Jewellers Association of Malaysia.
Federation of Goldsmith and Jewellers Association of Malaysia
FGJAM in short, set and publish standardized price for gold on a weekly basis. This creates a uniform gold price and healthy competition among gold retailers.
Price tag for a piece of gold in retail store is calculated by adding “Retail Gold Price” and “Workmanship”. Gold shop profits from margin over gold price as well as workmanship. Thus, for every gold ring, necklace or bracelet you buy from them, they will quote you two prices, the retail price of gold and workmanship.
Retail Gold Price
“Retail Gold Price” in summary is market price of gold – a price which includes overheads.
Salesmen need commissions, landlords want rents, security guards require bullets, lights run on electricity and a long list of other expenses. All these are compiled by FGJAM, which then published as “Retail Gold Price” on a weekly basis.
Workmanship
It is the price you pay for the time, effort and skill spent on creating a piece of jewelry. It varies from one jewelry to another jewelry. The more complex a jewelry is, the more expensive the “Workmanship” is.
In general, you can bargain on the “Workmanship” price but not the “Retail Gold Price”. FGJAM prohibits discounting on “Retail Gold Price” – a rule which is agreed by all its members. [Read more →]
Here is a quick one. I previously blogged about UOB running out of stock for their gold bullion product. UOB is finally out from the Gold Bullion dry spell. They have now replenished their bullion silo with the new 2012 Australian Kangaroo Nugget. Only Australian Kangaroo are available though. I confirmed this as I have paid Jalan Raja Laut’s UOB a visit last Friday. Get it while it lasts!
On another end, a Maybank representative updated me that Kijang Emas will only be in stock from next year onwards.
One of the most anticipated silver bullion by Perth Mint will be releasing this coming 1st September. You would have guessed it right, the fifth animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac, the 2012 dragon lunar.
Of all animal in the Chinese zodiac, dragon has always been the favorite. It is also the best selling animal for Lunar Series 1.
In this post, we will be looking into information and facts on what you should know about the lunar series.
It’s crucial to understand how does spread works before we start investing in precious metals. Spread in short means the margin between the buying and selling price. The formula is as followed:
1 oz of Kijang Emas selling at RM5,060, buying back at RM4,864.
Apply the formula and therefore it’s: (5060 – 4864)/ 4864 x 100 = 4.03%
With that, the spread for 1 oz of Kijang Emas is 4.03%.
The higher the spread translate to the more ‘expensive’ it is to trade with the vendor while the lower the spread is the vice versa. Many of the time, we won’t feel the pinch immediately after purchasing our bullion. This is because most of the time, we don’t sell it back on that day same day that we bought. But if you happened to do that for whatever reason, you will immediately lose out the spread. This is where the vendor makes their profits.
“Retail Gold Price” in summary is market price of gold – a price which includes overheads. 
One of the most anticipated silver bullion by Perth Mint will be releasing this coming 1st September. You would have guessed it right, the fifth animal in the 12-year cycle of the Chinese zodiac, the 2012 dragon lunar. 
