Rings, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, and various other gold items find their way to goldsmiths almost daily. The recession has taken its toll, and citizens, although with great difficulty, are increasingly parting with their gold items that have been sitting in drawers for who knows how long, writes the portal glas-slavonije.hr.
And while those who ‘sink’ a piece of gold or several pieces to goldsmiths can say they have succeeded in their intention, goldsmiths share a similar view because, according to Robert Šafar, a retired goldsmith from Osijek, this is one of the basic ways for goldsmiths to survive, as after purchasing they acquire cheap raw materials which they then sell on and ultimately obtain a finished product that they will sell for several times the purchase price. – Let’s take an example where the goldsmith paid 10 euros for the gold purchase. For production at a gold manufacturer in Zagreb, Ivanić Grad, or Split, they will pay an additional four euros for production, and the product they will then sell in the store will cost 30 euros. However, despite this, many do not survive due to the weak purchasing power of citizens, as I have a friend who says he earns about 300 kuna a day. Fifteen years ago and more, I had daily sales of up to 20,000 kuna – says Šafar, adding that the sales crisis has affected him as well, which is why he closed his goldsmith shop a year ago. Goldsmiths in Donji Miholjac, Đakovo, and other smaller places are also barely surviving. By the way, the price of gold has significantly increased over the past year. Šafar says that a bar of pure gold cost 22,000 euros last year, while the price from the day before yesterday was 31,000 euros, which is a significant difference. Adding to this, Šafar notes, are excise duties, VAT, and margins, leaving the goldsmith with little if there are no customers for finished products. And if someone wants to open a goldsmith shop, Šafar says from experience that they must have at least five kilograms of finished 14-carat gold capital to even start operating. (www.glas-slavonije.hr)
