Gold Prices Fluctuate at High Levels—Why Are Today’s Young People So Enthusiastic About Buying Gold?

Gold prices have fallen, and young people are buzzing.

This is Amanda’s recent impression of using Xiaohongshu. “Every day I scroll through posts about the sharp plunge in gold prices, and everyone chiming in with comments like ‘Waiting for 400’ or ‘Kick me when it hits 400’—meaning, let me know as soon as the price drops to 400 yuan per gram so I can snap up some at a bargain… Of course, I’ve left a comment too.”

Amanda never expected that, after missing the “young investors’ fund-buying boom” of the past two years, she would unexpectedly start buying gold this year.

“Sometimes I buy it as soon as I get my paycheck—gold beans, gold jewelry, you name it... I’ve probably spent around 10,000 to 20,000 already.”

Of course, Amanda is by no means an isolated case; a “gold-buying boom” appears to be sweeping through the younger demographic.

Penetrate the young market

At 24, Yifan made her first gold jewelry purchase last June. Previously, she had always viewed gold as a product for middle-aged and older consumers, associating it with being “old-fashioned” and “tacky”—until she stumbled upon an original-design gold piece on an online shopping platform.

“That’s a ‘Hug Tiger’ gold bead—a cartoon-style tiger with its four limbs wrapped around a black wrist cord. It’s absolutely adorable.”

A “Golden Tiger” customer opened the door to Fanyan Gold Shopping; over the following year, she went on to purchase four necklaces and one bracelet, with a total value of nearly RMB 10,000.

“High looks” is one of the reasons why Yifan buys gold, and Yin Yi is no exception.

At 24, Yin Yi is still a student, yet she has spent more than RMB 20,000 on gold jewelry in the past two years—nearly half of her income. She says the exquisite craftsmanship of the pieces is what convinces her to splurge.

“Just look at the Phoenix Ring, the Bamboo-Section Bracelet, and the Magnolia Bracelet—these gold pieces with a distinctly Chinese aesthetic—are they not far more exquisite than high-end designer jewelry?”

The enhanced aesthetic appeal of gold jewelry can be attributed to the transformation undertaken by major gold brands in recent years, as they have launched youthful, personalized collections and created sub-brands specifically targeted at Generation Z.

Overall, the data show that this has successfully and precisely captured the hearts of young people.

According to the “2022 China Gold Jewelry Industry Insights Report,” over the past five years, Generation Z’s willingness to consume gold has grown rapidly, increasing from 16% in 2016 to 59% in 2021, making them the age group with the highest potential for gold jewelry consumption.

On Tmall Supermarket, post-1995 and post-2000 consumers have also become the core online shopping demographic, accounting for over 50% of all shoppers.

Moreover, young people’s curiosity about gold has risen sharply.

According to statistics, on this year’s Valentine’s Day, consumers under the age of 30 accounted for more than half of all searches on Tmall Supermarket.

Meanwhile, on Xiaohongshu, the number of posts related to “gold” has surged: as of May 24, there were over 6.83 million such posts, a 103% increase compared with January of last year. From 2021 through February this year, the corresponding search index has also shown a fluctuating but upward trend.

Saving-oriented consumption

Beyond its attractive appearance, “investment and wealth management” is the primary reason young people buy gold.

However, unlike mutual funds, younger investors do not seem to be aiming to make a fortune from gold; rather, they seek to satisfy their consumption desires while leveraging gold’s stable store-of-value properties to hedge against inflation.

They refer to this behavior simply as “saving-oriented consumption,” and Yifan is one of those who exhibit it.

“Most of the gold jewelry I buy is pure gold. For a piece priced at 1,000 yuan, I’m essentially spending 200 yuan on the design, while the remaining 800 yuan is just a conversion from paper currency into gold… Unlike experiential spending like dining out or shopping, it almost feels like I haven’t really spent any money at all.”

There are also many similar posts shared on Xiaohongshu.

By scraping and analyzing four typical viral posts and their more than 2,000 comments, we find that there is still a sizable group of supporters for “savings-oriented consumption,” accounting for over 41% of respondents. The most common sentiment is: “Buying gold is just like saving money.”

Conversely, only a small minority—just 6.4%—are optimistic about the upside potential for gold prices.

Moreover, compared with gold jewelry such as necklaces and bracelets, “savings-oriented consumers” are more inclined to purchase gold beans.

According to Pinduoduo’s data, among the various forms of investment gold favored by young consumers, gold beans account for the largest share at 22%, followed by gold bars, gold stars, gold sunflower seeds, and gold ingots.

Lemon is a devoted fan of gold beans. He says he always has a bit of spare cash each month: depositing it in a fixed-term account would mean the amount is too small, but leaving it in his pocket would make him unable to resist spending it—so gold beans priced at around 400 yuan apiece are just right.

“It’s the best of both worlds: you’ve spent money without completely blowing your budget, you’ve enjoyed the pleasure of consumption, and at the same time you’ve secured a degree of financial stability for the future.”

“Saving up little by little” is also a source of joy for gold-bean enthusiasts.

“Buying one now and then feels very satisfying as you accumulate them—you can melt them down to make new gold jewelry, or keep them as a financial safety net for future needs,” commented user Zhang Zhang.

“Copying homework”

While “making a killing” is unlikely, even just hedging against inflation fails to satisfy the appetites of some young people.

“Is there any homework I can copy? Can I buy it now?” “Class representative, please kick me if there’s homework!” “Please let me copy the homework”... This is just a snippet of chat logs from a WeChat group. Although the group has fewer than 130 members, if you’re not careful, you’ll find over 500 unread messages.

This is a discussion group related to gold purchasing, where “homework” refers to low-cost channels and methods for buying gold—specifically, acquiring gold jewelry at prices equal to or below the broader market average—and “copying the homework” means asking others to share these purchasing strategies. Consequently, the group’s “core value” is straightforward: maximizing returns from gold investments.

It sounds fancy and high-end, but in reality most of these “tasks” simply involve hunting for coupons, exploiting platform promotions to buy gold at prices below or equal to the market average, and then selling it when gold prices rise.

Xing Cheng once shared his “homework.”

By downloading an app and opening a credit account, she received coupons worth 50 yuan and 80 yuan, which she used to purchase a gold bean priced at just under 300 yuan.

In fact, this kind of “homework” is quite common on Xiaohongshu as well.

A search using keywords such as “gold” and “buying gold” yielded 130 highly discussed posts, over 50% of which focus on gold investment. In addition to the previously mentioned topics of “savings-oriented consumption” and “buying at low prices,” the content also covers strategies for minimizing losses when selling, purchasing, or trading in gold.

Xiaobai is one of the class representatives; she calls herself the “No. 1 Golden Blogger on Xiaohongshu” and has already posted around 400 notes, all focused on buying gold at low prices.

For example, in her latest post, she outlined the so-called “ultimate gold-buying guide,” covering such questions as which types of gold best preserve value, which season offers the lowest prices for gold jewelry, and whether platinum or white gold is more valuable.

Investing in gold can also result in losses.

“Copying homework” may seem simple, but it’s not suitable for all beginners and does require a certain level of experience.

Yang Yi has already suffered losses due to the “fixed-price” arrangement.

In March last year, Yang Yi launched her “gold-buying savings plan,” but it got off to a rocky start. Unaware of the differences among “overall gold market prices,” “fixed-price products,” and “weight-based products” before making her purchase, she spent 14,000 yuan at a brick-and-mortar store of a certain brand on a bracelet weighing just under 15 grams—working out to a unit price of 1,000 yuan per gram, more than twice the prevailing overall gold market price at the time.

“Because this is a fixed-price item, the salesperson didn’t disclose the weight, instead emphasizing the designer brand and exquisite craftsmanship,” Yang Yi said. “While this type of gold jewelry may look attractive, it’s actually very poor value.”

Based on experiences shared by online users, “fixed-price” offers are the most common consumer trap for newcomers.

Among the aforementioned 130 posts, nearly 15% are related to “avoiding pitfalls.” Of these, the most common issue—accounting for about 40%—is being caught out by “fixed-price” offers.

The remaining issues include purchasing counterfeit gold, insufficient gold weight, and inadequate gold purity.

Yang Yi, who could be called a “veteran gold digger,” fell into a new trap—cashback—in March.

This is a common promotional tactic used by livestream sellers, and Yang Yi has participated in such cashback campaigns many times before, so she is thoroughly familiar with the rules.

Moreover, this wasn’t Yang Yi’s first time buying gold in this livestream room; her previous smooth cash-back experience had lowered her guard, so she persuaded a friend to make a one-time purchase of over 100 grams of gold in early March.

As a result, two months have passed, and the cash rebate of tens of thousands of yuan still hasn’t arrived.

Yang Yi stated that she had originally planned to sue the merchant, but the lawyer she consulted said there was insufficient evidence and the case would be difficult to pursue.

“The merchant is passing the buck, claiming that the cashback was a personal initiative by an employee. But the very employee who promised the cashback says they’ve been sued by the company… Now we’re at a loss as to what to do.”

Although it remains uncertain whether the cashback will be successful, Yang Yi says she will continue to buy gold.

“Relatively speaking, gold is considered a hard currency—so even if it falls, it’s no big deal.”

At the same time, she advises all beginners to proceed with caution: “Even groups where people share homework answers often contain numerous phishing and scam links. Pay close attention, study others’ experiences, and avoid getting scammed.”