Recently, the gold market has been bustling. Many customers have reported a paradox when the gold price has dropped sharply, stores are open for unlimited sales but the number of customers coming to trade is not much.

On the contrary, when the price of gold suddenly increased, customers flocked to the store, not hesitating to wait in line even though the store staff announced "no sale". Typically, at Bao Tin Minh Chau gold stores on the morning of November 29, people lined up early but still could not buy gold.

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Customers lined up from early morning. Photo: Tien Anh

Sharing with VietNamNet reporter, Ms. Hoa (Hai Ba Trung, Hanoi ) said: "I waited in line to buy from 7am. From early morning, the number of people queuing was very large. Many people even spilled out onto the street."

At 10am, staff at Bao Tin Minh Chau gold shop (Tran Nhan Tong, Hanoi) announced that they would not sell plain round gold rings and asked customers not to gather in front of the shop. Many people were upset, saying that if the gold shop did not sell, it should have announced it earlier so that people would not have to wait.

According to Ms. Lan - a gold trader, the situation of waiting to buy when gold increases and "ignoring" when gold decreases is quite common recently. When the gold price is low, many stores have very few customers coming to buy, even though they open for sale in large quantities, even without limits.

“When the price of gold increased, the situation was completely reversed. Gold shops opened for limited sales or did not sell at all, but customers flocked to them, waiting in long lines to buy,” Ms. Lan shared.

Mr. Binh (Cau Giay, Hanoi) said that when people queued up in front of gold shops, it created a "hot" atmosphere, which made many people feel like they "missed the opportunity". This mentality urged people to rush to buy gold when the price went up.

“When the price of gold drops, people tend to wait and not rush to buy because they think it will go down further. But when the price increases again, they worry they won’t be able to buy in time and are willing to spend money even if the price is high,” Mr. Binh explained.

Gold shop employees said they cannot be proactive in opening sales when gold prices fluctuate strongly, because they have to wait for adjustments from suppliers, which makes gold buying and selling more unpredictable.

Ms. Huong (Hai Ba Trung, Hanoi) admitted that she often goes to buy gold with the crowd, "seeing many people going makes me excited too".

"Three days ago, when the gold price dropped to 84 million VND/tael and the store opened for unlimited sales, when I arrived at the store, I heard that there were few buyers and many sellers, so I had to wait a bit longer. However, this morning, the gold price increased quite strongly, so I decided to buy right away because I was afraid that the gold price might reach a new peak. But after waiting all morning, I still couldn't buy a tael of gold," Ms. Huong shared.

According to observations, outside the gold shop, there are many "gold brokers", willing to pay a difference of 500,000 VND/tael to buy gold from people (difference compared to the listed buying price of the gold shop).

Many "gold brokers" shared that they bought at a price difference of 500,000 VND/tael and sold at a price 300,000 VND/tael cheaper.

"Customers only need to transact with us, whether selling or buying gold, to make a profit of 300,000-500,000 VND/tael," this person affirmed.

Explaining the reason for selling gold 300,000 VND/tael cheaper than the gold shop, the above "gold broker" said that he could buy gold at a price 2-3 million VND/tael lower than the listed selling price of the gold shop, so reducing the price by 300,000 VND/tael for hand-to-hand sales is still profitable, and also maintains the transaction relationship with customers.

Gold prices plummet, Hanoi gold shops sell off plain rings

Gold prices plummet, Hanoi gold shops sell off plain rings

Gold prices plummeted today, gold shops sold unlimited plain rings. However, there were no longer many people jostling to get numbers to buy gold.
Out of turns to get a number to enter the store, customers 'fall' into gold transactions outside

Out of turns to get a number to enter the store, customers 'fall' into gold transactions outside

Gold prices jumped by millions of dong early in the morning of November 18, but gold shops only sell in the afternoon. Staff distribute purchase tickets within 15 minutes, with a limit of 1 tael. Many people "fall" into transactions outside the store.
Nearly 200 people packed the gold shop, sellers wanted to 'hand over' for fear of waiting for more losses

Nearly 200 people packed the gold shop, sellers wanted to 'hand over' for fear of waiting for more losses

On the morning of November 14, Bao Tin Minh Chau store (Cau Giay, Hanoi) was overloaded with customers. In just a short while, nearly 200 people were waiting their turn. Many were impatient to sell "hand over" to customers immediately.