I turned on the tv today and saw it — sachin tendulkar, the god of cricket, starring in a jewelry advertisement. In his calm, patriotic tone, he asked viewers to bring in their old gold and exchange it for new jewelry, claiming that this simple act would “strengthen India.”
It sounded noble, it sounded inspiring, but the reality behind the glitter is shocking. If you hand over your old gold in good faith, jewelers can quietly turn your trust into crores of rupees in hidden profits, and you will likely never realize it. Here’s the brutal truth, broken down with numbers you cannot ignore.
💣 THE PURITY LOSS ILLUSION
When a customer brings 100 grams of 22-carat gold to a shop in Chennai, valued at ₹11,42,500, jewelers rarely buy it at face value. Instead, they claim that melting and purity loss will reduce the gold’s effective weight. “Due to purity loss, we can only accept 92 grams,” they say.
Most customers nod and accept this explanation. But the truth is far more lucrative for the jeweler. Skilled employees can melt the gold with only 4 grams of actual loss, meaning the shop pockets an extra 4 grams — worth ₹45,700 — without the customer knowing. The so-called “loss” is mostly imaginary, a clever strategy to inflate profits while hiding behind technical jargon.
💣 TURNING 96 GRAMS INTO ₹12 LAKH
After adjusting for the real loss of 4 grams, the jeweler now has 96 grams of gold. They add making charges, polishing fees, and markups, boosting the total sale price to ₹12,16,360. Meanwhile, the customer only received value for 92 grams, worth ₹10,51,100.
From this single transaction, the jeweler earns ₹1,65,260 in pure profit. The gold hasn’t traveled internationally, no extra import fees were paid, and no real investment was made. All this profit came simply from exaggerating the loss and adding minimal charges.
💣 SCALING THE PROFIT MACHINE
Imagine a large jewelry shop that receives 10 customers per day under the same scheme. That adds up to ₹16,52,600 per day. Over 30 days, this becomes nearly ₹5 crore in profit, all generated from gold already in circulation and without spending a single rupee on raw materials or transportation.
The scale of this hidden profit is staggering. While customers believe they are contributing to “India’s strength” by exchanging their old jewelry, the real beneficiary is the jeweler, quietly counting crores in revenue.
💣 THE PATRIOTIC PR SPIN
Advertisements featuring sachin tendulkar are masterfully designed to trigger patriotism and trust. Lines like “strengthen India” make the transaction feel like a national duty rather than a business exchange. Consumers feel motivated, morally right, and proud, while jewelers quietly pocket immense profits from each transaction.
It’s a powerful combination: celebrity trust, national pride, and opaque pricing mechanisms. Together, they turn ordinary customers into unwitting contributors to an extraordinary profit engine.
💣 THE HARD TRUTH
Your old gold is far more valuable than you realize — not just in monetary terms, but as a source of leverage for jewelers. By exaggerating losses, charging minimal additional fees, and using psychological tactics wrapped in patriotic messaging, jewelry shops convert millions in trust and heritage into monthly profits approaching ₹5 crore.
Patriotism sells. Your old jewelry profits more. And your trust? That’s the real casualty in this glittering, profitable illusion.
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