JEDDAH, 5 May 2006 — As gold prices continue to soar, more and more women in the Kingdom have curtailed their gold-purchases. Some have even resorted to selling their jewelry at a profit.
Jewelry shops in Jeddah have reported that fewer people are buying gold and more have started selling due to the increase in gold prices. Jewelry purchased a year ago for SR56 a gram can be sold today for up to SR69, according to Hassan Al-Mudai, of Bin Sheikh Gold shop in Jeddah’s historic old quarter.
Maha, 22, who was married Wednesday, said that she did not buy any gold for the occasion. It’s customary for brides in Saudi Arabia to buy gold for their weddings with the dowry money given to them by the groom.
“I will buy gold when the prices go down. It is not logical for me to buy it now when the prices are extremely high,” said Maha, sounding more like a commodities trader than a jewelry buff. She said she decided to go for artificial jewelry for her wedding, despite concerns from her family that she might look cheap.
Um Mohammed, a young mother, said she pulled together a large collection of unworn and unsentimental jewelry to sell for a profit. “I can replace them with better more fashionable pieces when prices go down,” she said.
Um Mohammed says that most of her friends and family have switched to artificial jewelry after selling their authentic pieces for a premium.
Um Ali, a grandmother in her late 60s, said women she knows have been advising others to sell and stop buying new gold jewelry for now. “It’s a hot topic during female gatherings nowadays,” she said. “As soon as I got the news I pulled out a lot of my gold items and passed it on to my oldest son to sell.”
Shop owners told Arab News that the high price of gold has hit them with a sharp downturn in sales. Hanif Binayn, who has been in the gold business for more than seven years at Taib Gold market, said sales have hit the lowest since he started in the business.
“Our sales are lower than last year’s sales at this time by more than 80 percent,” he said.
Al-Mudai, of Bin Sheikh Gold, who has been in the business for more than 17 years, said sales at his shop are down by more than half over the same period last year. “A customer who might have bought six or seven items last year is only buying about two or three.”
Conversely, Ali Al-Hirabi, a manger at an artificial jewelry shop, said that they have seen an increase in sales along with the increase in gold prices. “It has done our business good,” he said.
Hussian Al-Masoud, who works for Al-Amari gold shop, said some customers blanch at the prices they see in their store, “but they cool down as soon as they return from a tour of other stores in the area comparing prices.”
