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AyRojgar

Gold and jewellery shop

Buying and selling gold and silver at the BAJUS-fixed rate. 22-carat was Tk 19,970 a gram; the shop earns from a 6 percent making charge and a 15-17 percent weight deduction on old gold.

  • Last reviewed: 19 September 2026
  • Version 1
Gold and jewellery shop

Gold and jewellery shop

Starting capital
৳50,00,000 – ৳2,50,00,000
Editorial estimate
Manpower
2 – 6 people
First sale
30 – 90 days
Editorial estimate
Break-even
30 – 60 months
Editorial estimate
Kind of work
Shop · Hard

About the business

A shop buying and selling gold and silver ornaments. The price is not yours to set: the Bangladesh Jewellers Association (BAJUS) fixes the rate by carat and every shop sells at that rate. On the sheet dated 12 September 2026, hallmarked 22-carat gold was Tk 19,970 a gram, 21-carat Tk 19,075, 18-carat Tk 16,380 and traditional gold Tk 13,380; one bhori is 11.664 grams, so a bhori of 22-carat works out at about Tk 2,32,930. Silver 22-carat was Tk 430 a gram. The shop's earnings come from two places. First the making charge: BAJUS advises a minimum of 6 percent, added on top of the gold price. Second, buying old gold back: when a customer sells an old ornament the shop deducts 15 to 17 percent of its weight before paying, so it pays for 83-85 grams and receives 100. That deduction is the real income. VAT has also changed - the old 5 percent of total price has been replaced by a fixed Tk 2,500 per bhori, and it is adjusted inside the announced price, so nothing is charged separately at the counter. There are roughly 40,000 jewellery shops in the country but only 8,000 hold VAT registration and about 1,500 pay regularly. The government is amending the 2018 Gold Policy to bring every step - how much gold a trader holds, where it came from, how much is sold - under registration and monitoring.

Unit economics

ItemRangeEvidenceSuggest a correction
Monthly working capital৳3,00,000 – ৳14,00,000Editorial estimate
Selling price৳13,380 – ৳19,970 / unitOfficial source
Variable cost৳11,105 – ৳16,975 / unitMarket quote
Gross margin15% – 17%Market quote
Time to first revenue30 – 90 daysEditorial estimate
Break-even time30 – 60 monthsEditorial estimate
Cash cycle0 – 1 daysEditorial estimate
Waste / loss0.5% – 2%Editorial estimate
Daily capacity5 – 50Editorial estimate

What you need to start

  • An accurate electronic balance, a means of checking hallmark and carat, strong glass showcases, a safe, CCTV and good lighting.Equipment
  • Gold stock to fill the showcase. One bhori (11.664 g) of 22-carat gold alone costs about Tk 2,32,930 at the 12 September 2026 rate, so most of the capital sits in stock even in a small shop.Starting stock
  • Bangladesh Jewellers Association (BAJUS) membership. BAJUS sets the daily gold and silver rate, the minimum making charge, and the deduction rates for buying back and exchanging old ornaments.Licence
  • Trade licence from the city corporation or municipality: form Tk 10, licence book Tk 50, standard tax Tk 30, non-judicial stamp Tk 150-300, licence fee Tk 100-60,000 by trade type, plus VAT and signboard fee. Issued in 3-5 working days with papers ready.Licence
  • VAT registration and TIN from the National Board of Revenue. This financial year's budget set a fixed VAT of Tk 2,500 per bhori on gold ornaments, replacing 5 percent of total price. It is adjusted into the announced BAJUS price, so it is not charged separately to the buyer.Licence
  • Reading carat correctly, weighing precisely, and doing the rate, making charge and deduction arithmetic quickly. One misread carat can wipe out a month's profit.Skill
  • A legal importer or wholesale supplier, plus a skilled goldsmith. Buying old gold and remaking it is itself a major source of supply.Supplier

How the work is done

  1. 1Look for a spot in the part of the market where gold shops already sit. People do not visit one jeweller; they walk a row of ten.
  2. 2Take the trade licence from the city corporation or municipality and check that the trade is written as gold ornaments.
  3. 3Get a TIN and VAT registration from NBR. Only 8,000 of the country's 40,000 shops are VAT-registered, and the new gold policy is closing that gap.
  4. 4Take BAJUS membership. The daily rate, the making charge and the buy-back deduction are all set by BAJUS, and without membership even the news reaches you late.
  5. 5Fix where the metal comes from - a legal importer or wholesaler. The new policy requires a record of where gold came from, so buying without receipts is dangerous.
  6. 6Fit the shop out: solid showcases, good lighting, an accurate balance, a way to verify hallmarks, CCTV and a safe. Security matters more than decor in this trade.
  7. 7Arrange a skilled goldsmith, in-house or on contract. That is the only way the making charge stays with you instead of going to someone else.
  8. 8Check the BAJUS rate every morning, set the counter price from it and write the day's rate down. The rate can change twice in one day.
  9. 9Put the buy-back rule on the wall: how much is deducted from weight, and how much on an exchange. Spoken terms cause arguments; written terms do not.
  10. 10Build stock before the wedding season, roughly Agrahayan to Falgun. A large share of the year's sales happens in those months.
  11. 11Keep a receipt for every transaction: weight, carat, making charge, VAT. The new policy will ask for a record of stock and turnover.

Seasons

  1. JanHigh
  2. FebHigh
  3. MarNormal
  4. AprNormal
  5. MayNormal
  6. JunNormal
  7. JulNormal
  8. AugNormal
  9. SepNormal
  10. OctNormal
  11. NovHigh
  12. DecHigh
HighNormalLow

Where it works well

  • Strong fitChattogram · A large city with a port-based merchant class and remittance families; all three pull jewellery demand.
  • Strong fitDhaka · Tantibazar is the country's wholesale gold centre and the Baitul Mukarram area carries the row of retail shops. Both stock and craftsmen are easiest to find here.
  • Strong fitNarayanganj · A trading city, an hour from Tantibazar in Dhaka for restocking.
  • Strong fitSylhet · A district dominated by expatriate families. Gold use at weddings and social occasions is relatively heavy here and larger sets sell.
  • PossibleBogura · The trading centre of the north; buyers from several neighbouring districts come here for big purchases.
  • PossibleCumilla · A major remittance district, and being on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway makes supply easy.
  • PossibleKhulna · A divisional city where shrimp and export-linked incomes support good wedding-season sales.
  • PossibleRajshahi · A divisional city with a large student and salaried population, though the 200-bhori robbery of 20 June 2026 shows security cannot be budgeted cheaply here.
  • PossibleRangpur · A divisional city, but with lower purchasing power - lighter pieces move better.
  • Weak fitCox's Bazar · A tourism town: local wedding demand is limited and tourists do not buy gold.

Risks and cautions

  • HighWorking capital: All the capital sits inside the metal. One bhori of 22-carat costs over Tk 2,32,000, so filling a showcase runs close to a crore. When the price rises the stock is worth more but restocking costs more too; when it falls the loss is on stock already held. On 29 January 2026 a bhori peaked at Tk 2,86,000; by 28 July it was Tk 2,20,858 - a fall of Tk 65,000 a bhori in six months. A shop holding 50 bhori saw Tk 32 lakh come off its book value.
  • HighCompliance: The government finalised a draft amendment to the 2018 Gold Policy on 6 August 2026. Every step of buying, selling and holding legally imported gold comes under registration and monitoring - how much a trader holds, where it came from and how much is sold will all be visible to regulators, with NBR, Bangladesh Bank and EPB involved. Of the country's 40,000 shops, 32,000 have no VAT registration at all, and they are the ones the policy will hit hardest.
  • HighDemand: The price has risen so far that ordinary buyers have stopped coming. The BAJUS president himself says sales are down simply because gold is expensive, and people travelling abroad buy there instead because no VAT is payable. Sales fall but the showcase still has to stay full, so the money is tied up and not turning over.
  • HighOther: Theft and robbery are the most direct risk and one incident equals the whole capital. On 20 June 2026 a goldsmith's shop in Rajshahi was robbed of 200 bhori of gold and Tk 25 lakh; on 5 March 2026 a shop in Goran, Dhaka lost 70 bhori of gold and 150 bhori of silver to theft. Counterfeit notes are used too: on 9 August 2026 a man was arrested for trying to buy gold with Tk 57 lakh in fake notes.
  • MediumDependency: You do not control the price. BAJUS sets it, and BAJUS follows the international market and the tejabi gold rate. On 27 and 28 July 2026 the price rose one day and fell Tk 2,216 a bhori the next. Stock bought in the morning is not worth the same by afternoon.

Sources

What changed

No corrections have been published yet.

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Stories about this business

What went wrongGold traders in Hazari Goli, Chattogram, in a Samakal report

Gold advanced to a workshop never came back, and both 6-crore cheques bounced

Thirteen traders in Hazari Goli handed gold and cash advances to one casting workshop between 9 and 12 October, an exposure they put at about 60 crore taka in total. Both of the 6-crore-taka security cheques he had given them bounced.

Reasons
Other, Dependency

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