Buy gold jewellery today, and about 16% of your bill is gone the moment you walk out of the shop. Not because gold prices fell. Because of two charges you never get back: the making charge, and the tax on top of it. On a 10-gram purchase, that's roughly ₹26,625.
A gold bill has two parts. One is the gold. Priced by weight, at today's rate. The other is the labour — turning that gold into a ring or a chain. This is the "making charge." Some shops call it "wastage." Same thing, different name.
No government sets this price. Each shop decides on its own. That's the part most buyers don't know.
Making charges go up as gold gets less pure. Lower-karat gold is harder to shape, so the labour costs more:
Simple designs — a plain chain, a plain band — should sit at the low end. Fancy work costs more. If a plain design is quoted well above 25%, ask why.
Promised: 3–5% wastage. Charged: 23.5%. A teacher in Bangalore paid ₹78,300 for a necklace that should have cost ₹71,000.
Here's what happened, per Indian Jeweller. A woman named Varalakshmamma joined a Kalyan Jewellers gold-savings scheme. She was told wastage would be 3–5%. Eleven months later, she picked her necklace. The bill showed 23.5% wastage. She complained. A consumer court in Bangalore sided with her — ordered the jeweller to return the extra gold, pay interest, and pay ₹20,000 in damages.
The point isn't that every shop does this. It's that the making-charge number is yours to ask for, in writing, before you pay. Not after.
On top of the making charge, there's GST. Two separate slices:
If your bill shows one single "all-inclusive" number, with no making charge line and no GST lines — stop. Ask for the breakdown. It's your right to see it.
Here's the real math. 10 grams of 22K gold, at ₹14,200/gram (check today's rate — gold moves daily):
| Item | Amount |
| Gold value (10g × ₹14,200) | ₹1,42,000 |
| Making charge (15% of gold value) | ₹21,300 |
| GST on gold (3% of ₹1,42,000) | ₹4,260 |
| GST on making charge (5% of ₹21,300) | ₹1,065 |
| Total bill | ₹1,68,625 |
₹26,625 of that ₹1,68,625 — about 16% — is making charge and GST. That percentage holds roughly true whatever the gold rate is on the day you read this. Only the rupee figure moves with the price of gold.
Making charges aren't fixed. Walk into three shops with the exact same 10-gram design, and you can get three different bills:
| Shop | Making Charge | Total Bill |
| Shop A | 12% | ₹1,64,152 |
| Shop B | 18% | ₹1,73,098 |
| Shop C | 25% | ₹1,83,535 |
Same gold. Same design. A gap of ₹19,383 between the cheapest and the priciest shop. That gap is just one phone call away from avoiding — call two more shops before you buy.
When you sell gold jewellery back, a jeweller pays for the gold only. Not the making charge. Not the GST. Gold price hasn't moved? Your ₹1,42,000 of gold is still worth ₹1,42,000 — but your ₹26,625 is gone. For good.
Often it's worse. Many shops also cut another 2–10% off the buyback price for "purity testing." So ₹26,625 is the best case, not the worst.
Four simple steps. Takes ten minutes. Saves thousands.
On HUID: it's a 6-character code, mandatory on every hallmarked gold piece since April 2023. It links that exact item to Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) records — purity, the shop, the date it was tested. Checking it is free and takes under a minute.
One more thing worth knowing: hallmarking itself got pricier this year. The BIS raised its hallmarking fee from ₹45 to ₹75 per piece, from September 2026. A small cost — but it may show up as a new line on your bill.
The making charge exists because of design labour. A coin or bar needs none of that. So the charge is tiny by comparison. Same 10 grams of gold, three ways to buy it:
| Form | Making Charge | Total Bill |
| Jewellery | 15% | ₹1,68,625 |
| Coin (bank/certified dealer) | ~4% | ₹1,52,224 |
| Bar | ~1% | ₹1,47,751 |
Same 10 grams of gold. Choosing a coin over jewellery saves about ₹16,400. A bar saves about ₹20,900. None of that difference is design — it's purely the cost of shaping gold into something to wear, not to hold.
Yes, especially on bigger purchases. Each shop sets its own rate — there's no government rule. Compare the percentage, not just the final price, at two or three shops before you buy.
A 6-character code engraved on every hallmarked gold piece since April 2023. It links that exact item to BIS records — purity, shop, date tested. Check it free on the BIS Care app. "Record Not Found" means don't buy.
Lower-karat gold has more alloy mixed in, which is harder to shape. So shops charge a higher making-charge percentage on lower-karat pieces — even though the gold itself costs less.
TrendTurtles develops trading technology and does not provide investment advice. See our full disclaimer.
Before you pay: ask for the making-charge percentage and the HUID, in writing. Not one "all-inclusive" number.