‘To gift or not to gift’: Soaring gold prices make buyers look the other way

While a multitude of factors may be causing gold to rally to new highs, the trend may be reshaping traditional gifting habits on occasions such as weddings.

Jewellers in the state capital are reporting a significant decline in sales on account of soaring gold prices, which have crossed ₹74,000 per 10 gm.

Hesitant to gift gold anymore, VK Yadav, who lives in Alambagh, felt, “At this pace, my earning cannot keep up with the rising bullion prices. In such a scenario, it’s better to gift people cash or electronic items instead of gold.”

Secretary of Chowk Sarrafa Association Vinod Maheshwari said: “This change signals a broader socio-economic adaptation, where practicality outweighs the sentimental value often associated with traditional gifts like gold. Today, gold was trading at ₹74,400, which is ₹13,000 more than the January rate. Last month, the rate was ₹67,500. In just 15 days, there is ₹8000 hike in gold prices.”

He added the sale of gold had gone down by 50% despite the wedding season starting April 18.

“Due to present price fluctuations, the allure of gold as a gift item is being reevaluated by many. I’m not going to gift gold jewellery anymore,” said Nisha Srivastava, a housewife from Sneh Nagar.

Meanwhile, a leading bullion trader in the Chowk market, Adish Jain said traders who had accepted bookings months prior, when gold was trading at ₹55,000 to ₹57,000, were forced to honour their commitments. “New buyers are conspicuously absent. But we expect bullion prices to surge further. It may even reach ₹1 lakh by the end of this year.”