Shoppers at a city jewellery store before Dhanteras. A Telegraph picture

A small dip in gold price has sent buyers rushing to jewellery stores in the run-up to Dhanteras. The trend this year is to book jewellery while the gold price is low and take them home on Dhanteras.

“The price of gold has dropped by about Rs 500 per 10gm over the past few days. We don’t expect it to dip further. In fact, the price may go up a bit before Dhanteras-Diwali,” said Bachraj Bamalwa of Nemichand Bamalwa & Sons and the vice-chairman of the All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation, adding that the festive buying has begun.

From Rs 19,650 per 10gm for 22-carat gold on October 19, the price dropped to Rs 19,230 per 10gm on Tuesday, said Bablu De of Guinea Emporium who is the working president of the Swarna Shilpa Bachao Committee.

The price of gold had been on the way up for the past couple of months, peaking after Durga Puja before dipping. Jewellers are confident that the overall increase will not dampen the Dhanteras market.

“Customers have absorbed the price hike well. The sales, in terms of volume, may be a little less than what it would have been had the price not gone up but Dhanteras is one occasion when people will buy gold,” said Bamalwa.

The possibility of a further increase in price may have boosted the market. “People are booking in terms of the value of bullion. If they want to buy a certain piece or amount of gold, they are paying the prevalent rate. Because it is auspicious to take home gold and silver on Dhanteras, they’ll just pay the making charge on that day and take the jewellery home,” explained Sanjiv Kejriwal of Gold Silver Arts.

He expects “at least 35 per cent” of his total Dhanteras sales to come from advance bookings this year. “Last year, advance bookings made up only 20-25 per cent of total sales,” he said.

On Dhanteras last year, the gold price was Rs 15,600 per 10gm.

“This year, gold buying started before Durga Puja. Now, for Dhanteras, people are making advance bookings so that they don’t have to pay more if the price goes up. Last year, there were few advance bookings at my store, but this year I expect the number of advance bookings to go up by 15 per cent,” said De.

At Sawansukha Jewellers, Siddhartha Sawansukha is expecting 35 to 50 per cent of his total Dhanteras sales to come from advance bookings. Last year, the figure was between 28 and 30 per cent.

Chandrakanta Roy Chowdhury of M.P. Jewellers, however, said advance bookings are made only by those shopping for weddings and other big occasions in a bid to make the most of the discounts on offer this season. But the serious Dhanteras shopper still likes to buy on D-day, according to Roy Chowdhury.

If customers are booking early to ensure that they get the best deal, many jewellers are doing their best to increase footfall in their stores.

“I have noticed that the trend of offering discounts is on the rise and more and more jewellers are resorting to it,” said Bamalwa, who doesn’t offer discounts at his store.

Joydeep Sirkar of B. Sirkar Johuree said: “We are offering 20 per cent off on making charges and giving gifts. We are also conducting lotteries. Last year too we had offered the same discount but this year we are offering more gifts.”

Sawansukha is offering up to 100 per cent off on the making charge in gold and diamond jewellery. “We are calling it the biggest jewellery offer on Diwali. Last year the offer was 50 to 100 per cent off on making charges,” said Sawansukha.