The gold price has dropped back to the level of 2025, and there is no longer a need to queue up at Laopu Gold.

The international gold price has dropped back to the 2025 level, but people buying gold have become more cautious.

As of the morning of June 13th, Beijing time, the price of London gold was approximately $4,218 per ounce, a 25% decline from the high of $5,598.75 per ounce at the end of January this year. This price is close to the level at the end of 2025.

The continuous decline in the gold price coincided with the 618 shopping festival. The number of customers in offline gold jewelry brands has decreased significantly, while high - premium styles of ancient - style gold and IP co - branded products online are still favored by some consumers.

"Compared with the prices of 800 yuan and 1,000 yuan per gram last year, the current gold price at 1,269 yuan per gram is at a relatively high point," a salesperson at a Chow Tai Fook store in Beijing told Time Finance. The gold price, marriage rate, and birth rate all have an impact on the sales volume of gold jewelry.

A Chow Tai Fook offline store. Photo by Time Finance

A salesperson at Caibai Jewelry in Beijing said that June is traditionally the off - season for offline gold sales, and the peak seasons in the industry are concentrated in September and October. According to the recollection, the gold price has been rising from last year to the beginning of this year, and most consumers generally "buy more as the price rises". Especially in January this year, there was no stock of investment gold bars. With the recent decline in the gold price, many consumers have turned to continuous observation, which is reasonable, the salesperson said.

The unaudited sales list of the gold category in the first wave of Tmall 618 (data from May 21st to May 30th) shows that Chow Tai Fook ranks first, followed by Laopu Gold and Chow Sang Sang.

In fact, with the 618 shopping festival coinciding with the Dragon Boat Festival, major brands have launched various preferential activities.

The official Chow Tai Fook mini - program shows that a classic inheritance series bracelet weighing 58.23 grams is priced at 74,769 yuan, and after the discount, it is 73,273 yuan, equivalent to about 1,258 yuan per gram. Offline, according to the Chow Tai Fook salesperson, new members can enjoy a discount of 50 yuan per gram. A 11.58 - gram gold necklace from the National Treasures Yunjin Master Series at a Chow Tai Seng offline store is priced at 31,780 yuan, and after the discount, it is 29,238 yuan, equivalent to about 2,525 yuan per gram. In addition, during the Dragon Boat Festival, this series launched an activity of 20% off for two pieces and 8% off for one piece.

Major brands have launched different discount offers for priced jewelry. Photo by Time Finance

Chow Hong Ki has clearly focused on the IP co - branding track. It has many popular IP gold jewelry products and offers a 10% discount for one piece and a 12% discount for two pieces. A 1.48 - gram Kuromi co - branded bracelet is priced at 4,482 yuan after the discount, reaching 3,028 yuan per gram.

Although the gold price has dropped and stores have different degrees of discounts, Time Finance learned from salespeople of many gold jewelry brands that during this year's 618, most consumers are in a wait - and - see state of "buying on the rise, not on the fall". The younger generation tends to choose fixed - price gold jewelry.

Zhou Ting, the dean of the Yaokey Research Institute, pointed out to Time Finance that the current cold spell in the gold market is the result of the combination of the external price cycle and the internal nature of the industry. Externally, the rapid decline in the gold price has directly frozen the investment demand. The core demand of consumers who previously bought a large amount of gold was for value preservation and appreciation. After the gold price entered a downward channel, this group of customers generally entered a wait - and - see state, waiting for a more suitable time to buy at the bottom.

She believes that the internal factor is more fundamental. Most Chinese gold brands are essentially still selling precious metal raw materials and have not established brand premium capabilities equivalent to luxury brands. The product value is highly tied to the gold price, so the market performance fluctuates sharply with the gold price.

Time Finance observed that even Laopu Gold, which has relatively high premium capabilities, is no longer bustling in stores in the context of the fluctuating decline in the gold price.

During the non - working hours from June 7th to 8th, Time Finance visited three Laopu Gold theme stores in Beijing's Oriental Plaza, including the only Zen - themed store in the country.

There are several copper - gilded Buddha statue ornaments on display in the Zen - themed store, with a price of about 20,000 yuan. A Ruyi ornament is priced as high as 199,220 yuan. Currently, the store is offering an activity of 100 yuan off for every 1,000 yuan spent. In addition, compared with the situation at the beginning of the year when popular products needed to be restocked, popular styles such as the cross vajra, rose window, and the new filigree enamel Goddess of Light Butterfly are all in stock at the Laopu Gold store in Beijing's Oriental Plaza.

A Laopu Gold store. Photo by Time Finance

During the visit by Time Finance, there was no need to queue at the three Laopu Gold stores. The store staff admitted that although the on - site customer flow was small, the overall sales performance of the stores was still good, and the specific sales amount was not convenient to disclose.

Laopu Gold stores in Guangzhou's Taikoo Hui, Beijing's Oriental Plaza, Chengdu's IFS, Wuhan's MALL, etc. have also simultaneously launched Dragon Boat Festival promotion activities, including a discount of 100 yuan for every 1,000 yuan spent; and step - by - step gifts according to the actual payment amount. Customers who spend 30,000 yuan, 50,000 yuan, 80,000 yuan, or 200,000 yuan can get corresponding gifts.

Recently, Citigroup issued a report stating that Laopu Gold's sales in May are expected to exceed those in April driven by the festival promotions. However, it was observed that the performance of the Tmall 618 activity so far has been weaker than expected, possibly due to the loss of price - sensitive customers caused by the high premium.

While the offline gold jewelry market is cold, online gold consumption has boomed with the popularity of the 618 shopping festival.

Time Finance learned from a relevant person in charge of Taotian Group that during this year's Tmall 618, the sales of 438 brand merchants in the gold jewelry industry have doubled. IP co - branded gold, 999 silver jewelry, and brand new product releases have become the three major growth drivers of this promotion.

The unaudited sales list of the first wave of Tmall 618 this year (data from May 21st to May 30th) shows that the top five in the gold jewelry industry list are Chow Tai Fook, Laopu Gold, Chow Sang Sang, Lao Miao, and Lao Miao; Mankaron and Chow Hong Ki have entered the top ten.

The left picture shows the list of paid GMV of gold category stores during the 2025 Tmall 618 (data from May 13th to June 20th); the right picture shows the list of paid GMV of gold in the first wave of the 2026 Tmall 618 (data from May 21st to May 30th)

In the list of paid GMV of gold category stores during the 2025 Tmall 618 (from May 13th to June 20th), Laopu Gold ranked first, followed by Chow Sang Sang and Chow Tai Fook.

In the sub - category, as of 6 p.m. on June 11th, the hot - selling list of Tmall gold pendants (sorted by the sales volume and transaction amount in the past 7 days) shows that the top three hot - selling products are all from Laopu Gold, including high - end styles such as the cross, vajra, and cross priced over 10,000 yuan; the remaining seats on the list are occupied by brands such as Chow Tai Fook, Chow Sang Sang, and Mengjinyuan.

The hot - selling list of Tmall gold pendants as of 6 p.m. on June 11th (sorted by the sales volume and transaction amount in the past 7 days)

In terms of discounts, the official Laopu Gold Tmall flagship store has launched five levels of coupons, such as 1,000 yuan (usable for a purchase of 50,000 yuan) and 2,000 yuan (usable for a purchase of 100,000 yuan), with an overall discount of about 98%. The priced gold at the official Chow Tai Fook Tmall flagship store is discounted up to 88%, and the fixed - price product area shows a discount of up to 60%. The discount at the official Chow Sang Sang Tmall flagship store ranges from 80% to 96%.

Although the short - term fluctuation of the gold price affects consumers' purchasing sentiment, players in the ancient - style gold track are still opening new stores. On May 30th, a new Laopu Gold store in the Parisian Macao opened. In addition, at the beginning of May, the first Shanghai store of the gold brand Junpei was launched at Songyun Building in Yuyuan Mall.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Time Finance APP" (ID: tf - app), written by Wu Jiamin and Li Qian, edited by Li Qian, and published by 36Kr with authorization.