Gold price crashes 15%; is it time to buy yet?

The yellow metal has been on a roller coaster ride for over a year now. Gold prices which sky-rocketed to hit the record high of over ₹56,000 per 10 grams in August last year have eased by around 15% from the record-high price. So is it a good time to buy gold? What if the gold price descends from the current levels in the coming months? Should you wait for a few more days or months or a year to make your jewellery purchase? Well, jewellers have an ideal solution. Some of the biggest jewellery houses allow gold and diamond buyers to pre-book the gold price by making some payments in advance. Under this plan, the customers enjoy the benefit of paying the lower of either the gold price at the time of booking or the gold price at the time of maturity. Thus, the buyers may enjoy complete protection from the rise in the gold price imminently.

Here are the gold price protection plans from some of the renowned jewellery houses:

C Krishniah Chetty's Gold Rate Protection Plan: CKC, a Bengaluru-based jewellery house has launched 'Gold Rate Protection Plan' as a special offer for the ongoing festive season. The plan offers the consumers an 'averaged' rate of gold, diamond, silver and platinum. The plan allows you to pay a higher instalment in any month, to benefit from the dip in the gold price. The monthly instalment starts from ₹500. The USP of the plan is that at the time of maturity, the consumer may select the lower of either the averaged rate or the current prevailing rate of the metal at the time of maturity to buy jewellery. They also have a one time or one instalment option as an additional benefit between 9 to 12% per annum for those clients who do not wish to make monthly payments.

Canderes Double Gold Rate Protection plan (DGRP): An online store Candere by Kalyan Jewellers allows gold buyers to stay protected from the fluctuating market gold rates and extra charges levied by stores. You may choose the DGRP option while checking out and choose the applicable payment plan (2-6 months for gold, 2-12 months for diamond) to avail of the benefits. This plan allows you to make your monthly payments based on the gold rate while booking rather than as per changing market rates. With zero processing fees and interest rates, you only need to book by paying 10% of the sum. The plan is valid for all gold jewellery in 14K, 18k and 22K gold.

Malabar Gold & Diamonds Book Gold Online plan: Kerala-based jewellery house offers a booking option of gold. As per the plan, a buyer may book jewellery by paying a minimum of 5% of the total amount in advance and get protected from the rise in gold rate in future. If the price changes at the time of purchase, the buyer can obtain the jewellery at the booked rate or prevailing rate whichever is lower. This plan protects the fluctuating gold price for a maximum of up to 365 days. However, the number of days for which the plan remains valid for the person who has pre-booked the metal depends on the percentage of the advance paid at the time of booking. For instance, if the buyer makes an advance payment of 20%, then the stipulated period within which the buyer needs to purchase gold jewellery will be 90 days. Similarly, if 50% is paid in advance, the offer remains valid for 180 days. The higher the advance payment, the longer will be the validity of the scheme for the buyer, and if the purchase is not made within the stipulated period, the benefit of a lower gold rate will be applicable only for the gold weight equivalent to the amount advanced.