What is the difference?
Jewellery is gold made into something to wear: bangles, chains, earrings. Its price adds the craftsman’s making charge to the gold price, and the more intricate the design, the higher that charge can be. Bars and coins are plain pieces of gold of a set weight; there is almost no design cost, so nearly the whole price is the price of the gold.
There is a difference when you sell, too. Selling jewellery, you do not get the making charge back, and the shop keeps back a share of the weight or value. Bars and coins also have a gap between buying and selling prices, but it is usually smaller. So even for the same amount of gold, the form you buy it in shapes much of your real gain.
Say two sisters, Ruma and Shimu, have the same amount of money. Ruma buys a pair of designed bangles to wear at weddings. Shimu buys a small bar of the same weight and keeps it in the cupboard. If both sell five years later at the same gold price, Shimu will usually get more money back. But Ruma has also had five years of wearing the bangles. The story is only an example.
Why it matters to an investor
- To count the cost: with jewellery, the making charge and resale deduction mean gold has to rise a long way before you are merely back where you started.
- To separate purposes: buying to wear and buying to hold value are different decisions. Judging one by the costs of the other muddles the sums.
- To understand purity: lower-carat jewellery holds less pure gold; the carat decides how much gold you actually own.
- To make selling easier: knowing the receipt, hallmark and the shop’s buy-back terms in advance leaves less room to lose out later.
Where the costs differ
The biggest extra cost on jewellery is the making charge. In announcements in 2024 and 2025, the Bangladesh Jewellers Association (BAJUS) said the making charge on gold jewellery is at least 6%, and can be higher depending on design and quality. When selling, BAJUS guidance from May 2024 set a 10% deduction for exchanging jewellery and 15% when a shop buys old jewellery back. BAJUS revises these rates from time to time.
Bars and coins usually carry little or no making charge. But there is still a gap between the price a shop sells at and the price it buys back at. We found no separate BAJUS deduction rate for bars and coins; terms vary from shop to shop, so it is important to ask about buy-back terms before you buy. VAT applies in both cases.
Purity, hallmarks and receipts
Jewellery is usually 18, 21 or 22 carat, because pure gold is soft and other metals must be mixed in to make something wearable. Bars and coins are usually made of almost pure (24-carat) gold. The lower the carat, the less pure gold in the same weight, so the lower the resale value.
BAJUS guidelines from 2023 made a laser-engraved hallmark showing the quality compulsory on all jewellery. Whether jewellery or a bar, a proper receipt listing carat, weight, making charge and VAT separately reduces disputes when you sell later.
- Jewellery has a value that cannot be measured in taka: wearing it, gifting it, family memories. That is not a mistake; it is just worth knowing that the making charge is what you pay for that enjoyment.
Bringing gold from abroad
Many families with members abroad bring gold home, so here too the rules for jewellery and bars differ. Under the baggage rules as revised in June 2025, a passenger can bring one gold bar of up to 117 grams once a year, paying duty of Tk 5,000 per bhori; and up to 100 grams of gold jewellery can come in duty-free, also once a year.
These limits and duties have changed several times before and may change again. Check the National Board of Revenue’s (NBR) latest baggage rules before you travel.
Worked example
- Say the gold you buy is worth Tk 1,00,000 at the announced price. VAT applies either way, so it is left out of the sums.
- Jewellery: with a 6% making charge the cost is Tk 1,06,000. With a 15% deduction on sale, at the same price you get Tk 85,000. To break even, gold must rise by 1,06,000 ÷ 85,000 ≈ 1.25 times, about 25%.
- Bar: say there is no making charge and the shop buys back 2% below the price (a made-up rate). Cost: Tk 1,00,000; selling at the same price you get Tk 98,000. To break even, the price must rise by about 2%.
Result: the same gold, but jewellery needs a price rise of about 25% just to recover costs, while the bar needs far less. The rates are only an example; real making charges and deductions vary by shop, design and over time.
Common mistakes
- Treating jewellery purely as an “investment” without counting the making charge and deduction.
- Comparing only the price per bhori without checking the carat. One bhori of 21-carat and one of 22-carat do not hold the same amount of pure gold.
- Assuming bars and coins cost nothing extra. There is still a buy-sell gap, plus the cost of checking purity and keeping them safe.
- Buying without a receipt or hallmark, then facing a dispute over purity when selling.
Same gold, different costs: jewellery is for wearing, and if you want to hold value, first add up the making charge and resale deduction.