Where to Buy Gold in Saudi Arabia
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is known for its vast and high quality gold reserves. For this reason, gold is sold here at a lower rate than in most other countries, and the fact that the sales tax or VAT is only 5% makes the prospect of buying the precious metal even more appealing!
Guide to Buying Gold in Saudi Arabia
Before you buy, think about your reasons for buying gold first, as this can help you decide when it comes to karats, design, and colour. Remember that pure gold is 24 karats, which means that it is 100% gold. Meanwhile, 18 karat gold is about 75% gold and 25% another metal, such as copper or silver. This is because pure gold tends to be soft and scratches easily; hence, it is usually combined with other metals if it’s going to be used as jewellery.
Common Reasons for Buying Gold
What are some of the common reasons for buying gold? How does this factor in making good purchase decisions? It all really depends on whether you’re buying gold as jewellery, as an investment, or both:
- As jewellery. If you are buying gold for jewellery purposes, consider choosing 18 karat or 21 karat gold. Of these two types, 18 karat gold tends to be sturdier, while 21 karat gold has a brighter yellow colour.
- As an investment. Are you keen on buying gold for investment purposes? Then opt for 24 karat gold or the 999.9 purity standard gold. These usually come in bars or coins that weigh between 1 to 1000 grams. You can buy and sell these for profit, depending on the market.
- As jewellery and investment. If you are planning to buy gold for both jewellery and investment purposes, buying 21 or 22 karat gold is recommended. It also helps if there are little or no stones in the design, as what matters most is the purity and weight of the gold.
Where to Buy Gold in Saudi Arabia
As mentioned earlier, you can buy gold in most shopping malls in the Kingdom. There are also gold souks (traditional markets) where you can buy the precious metal for cheaper prices.
Buying Gold In Saudi Arabia, where?
Souks are better than malls in terms of prices. However, in terms of high-end jewelry and precious gemstone based ornaments, it is the malls that offer the best variety. Every major city in Saudi Arabia has its own gold souk, Kandarah in Jeddah, Batha in Riyadh and so on and so forth.
Bargaining on gold?
Yes, yes and yes. You will not find any shop willing to negotiate on the gold rate, what you will find, however, is that they will be willing to negotiate on the making, wastage and premium charges. If they don’t budge you can always go to another seller who is willing to cut into his margins. After all, competition is cut-throat in the souks.
Know the Gold Rate
It definitely helps in haggling with the shopkeeper and may also help in deciding on when to purchase based on historical values and forecasts in case you are looking into gold as an investment. You can check the day’s rate on websites like Goldrate24.com or Livepriceofgold.com
Buying Gold In Saudi Arabia, when?
Gold prices are volatile. To minimize the variances in rates one should buy gold on Saturday or Sunday, as it is during these days that gold is not being traded on international exchanges.
Say No To Credit Cards
Cash or via a MADA debit card is the way to go. Credit cards charge extra fees that the store will not be ready to bear, so expect your price to magically increase if you are planning to pay by credit card. Someone has to bear the costs that the credit card companies charge and it’s not going to be the gold seller – well not in Saudi Arabia.
In an earlier post, we talked about where to buy gold here in Saudi Arabia. Specifically, we talked about physical stores, including malls and “souks” (markets). But what it you prefer to shop online? In this article, we’ll be discussing the best websites where you can buy gold from Saudi Arabia online.
