Mainly because the bank’s gold is relatively single. Even though the price of gold bars in gold stores is one-third higher than that in banks, gold bars are still not the main business of gold stores. Even many small gold stores are unwilling to sell gold bars because of low profits and poor liquidity. For some old gold stores, gold bars are just to expand the categories in the store. On the one hand, this is because the opportunity costs of banks and gold stores are different.
1. Banks do not have independent pricing power for gold bars. The price fluctuates with the fluctuation of international gold prices, and there is almost no opportunity cost. For gold shops, instead of making gold bars, the same gold can be made into various exquisite jewelry. Jewelry is the opportunity cost of gold bars. When the passenger flow is constant, gold bars occupy the cost of jewelry selection.
Second, on the other hand: from production to sales, the final costs of banks and gold stores are different. Gold stores generally purchase goods in batches at a certain point in time, process them after purchase, and finally put them in the store for display and sales. In these links, the store's rent, labor costs, etc. are much higher than those of banks. The gold bars of banks will remain unchanged for thousands of years, but the gold bars of gold shops will come in a variety of ways, and will be printed with various zodiac signs or blessings according to different years. There are various symbolic meanings. The rent of a Mong Kok store in Hong Kong may exceed HK$2 million per month, plus a few labor sales expenses, etc. These costs must ultimately be paid by consumers, and prices will naturally rise.
3. Finally: Bank gold bars and gold store gold bars have different added values ??and different consumer entities. The main function of bank gold bars is investment value, while gold store gold bars also have preference value in addition to investment value. In addition to investment in gold bars in gold stores, the most important consumer group also needs gifts. Buyers will have different acceptance levels of prices due to different meanings. For example, the price of gold bars for the zodiac sign of the zodiac will be higher than that of other zodiac signs. As the saying goes, it’s hard to buy a good product, and differences in consumer demand will produce price differences.
4. Gold bars are a type of physical gold investment. The investment varieties in the gold market are mainly divided into physical gold investments and gold investment derivatives derived from physical gold. The derivatives mainly include gold. Futures, gold options, etc.
5. Gold bars originate from ancient currency circulation and are more used in the fields of collection and investment. Major banks and financial institutions around the world reserve and circulate gold bars with their own signatures, such as the Shanghai Gold Exchange standard gold bars.
6. Gold bars are divided into ounces of gold and grams of gold. The internationally accepted gold bars are 400 ounces (12.5 kilograms).
What about the value orientation of gold bars? Gold bars are similar to gold coins and are mainly divided into commemorative special gold bars for collection and general investment gold bars. Commemorative special gold bars are generally issued at a higher price than the value of their gold raw materials, and their prices are generally fixed. For example, the New Year gold bars and 2008 Olympic gold bars issued by our country in recent years are all commemorative special gold bars. The main difference between common investment gold bars and common gold coins is the difference in specifications. Typical common gold coins usually have four models: 1 ounce, 1/2 ounce, 1/4 ounce and 1/10 ounce. The specifications are generally smaller. However, there are also 1 kilogram, 10 ounce, 2 ounce and 1/20 ounce gold coins; and the specifications of gold bars are relatively large compared to gold coins.
At present, gold investors in my country often have cognitive biases when choosing gold bars and gold coins to invest. I think that as long as gold bars and gold coins are available, they should have the same price, the same quality, and the same investment function, but this is not the case.
7. As far as the pricing mechanism is concerned, the sales price of commemorative gold bars and gold coins is basically fixed, but it already includes a high premium, which is usually more than 10% higher than international gold raw materials. It is not recommended for ordinary investors who have no awareness or knowledge of collecting. Buying this type of gold bars and gold coins is like buying commemorative stamps. Are you a fan of this type of collection? Secondly, this type of gold bars and gold coins have poor liquidity, and it is difficult to liquidate them at the desired price once purchased. Ordinary gold dealers only use them as gold raw materials to repurchase them. After deducting relevant expenses, the repurchase price is usually lower than the current price of gold raw materials, making it difficult for ordinary investors to realize investment returns. This kind of gold bars and gold coins are suitable for collectors, and are at least suitable for people who have collected them for more than 3 years. It is not suitable for investors to conduct short- and medium-term swing trading of such gold bars and gold coins. For most investors, the first choice for investing in physical gold should be investment gold bars and gold coins. Their premiums relative to international gold raw materials are low, and their prices change at any time with the international gold price.