Despite the sky rocketing prices of gold, the pinch to the pocket was overridden by the spirit of Deepavali as jewellery lovers observed Dhanteras on Sunday. Though not many attractive discounts were on offer, customers flocked to jewellery stores riding on the sentiments of the auspiciousness of the occasion.
Though the increased footfall for the day was a sight for sore eyes, jewellery store-owners expressed a mixed response to the influx in customers. V Ravichandran, store manager at GRT Jewellers, expressed that despite the fact that customers were thronging stores, the amount they spent was the same and given the inflated prices, the quantity of gold eventually bought had gone down.
“Buyers are of course there, but the quantity they buy has receded as most of them have not considered spending more money than last year,” he informed.
Reflecting the same state of affairs was Krishna Kumar, manager for another gold store at Somajiguda. Citing another reason for the comparitively less affluent business this year, he pointed out, “There is comparatively lesser crowd this year as a result of the recent cyclones. Lots of people in the districts were affected and that has in turn affected the inflow of customers from outside the city.” Nevertheless the gift coupons for bulk purchases and free silver coin for every `25,000 worth of purchase has brought in a different tier of customers. “This year, most of our customers are working class people. To that effect, we have gift coupons and discount offers for using SBI card for payment and so on,” he added.
While many bought gold for pooja purposes, there were others who also used the opportunity to raise their investments. Shivkumar, a bank manager and resident of Tirumalagiri who was out shopping too, said, “It is good that prices are going up. If you see, gold prices have risen so much that investing in it has become an even better option.”
Investment or not, the decision to buy gold was mostly a sentiment-driven choice rather than a practical one. Said Dr Shravan Kumar, a resident of SR Nagar who exchanged old ornaments to purchase new ones despite knowing that it would incur a loss, “One has to buy gold on Dhanteras, right? It is certainly not the best time to buy, but it is an auspicious today, and that’s more important to me. Besides prices could further go up tomorrow.”
Just like the many customers that came to Ravichndran’s store, Sudha Swami, a housewife was another who had to cut down on the quantity of her purchase.
“This year, we have bought about 20 grams lesser than last year, as the higher prices have made it less feasible to shop more. We have to buy gold every year for the pooja, and it is a good investment. From now on, prices will only go up than come down. So, gold purchased now can also be sold later if the need arises and at the higher price,” she opined.
Echoing the same, Neha MK, another shopper, said, “We usually buy coins every year for Dhanteras, but this year we have decided to invest in ornaments as the prices are only increasing.”
Gold rates on Sunday hovered around `2981/ gram for standard 24ct gold where as pure gold (24ct) costed about 3249/ gram, with an increase of over a hundred rupees in a week’s time.
