【South Korea】”Honey, I Spent 10 Million Won on Home Shopping”… Gold Prices Soar, Leading to ‘Sellout After Sellout’ – Money Today

Demand surges due to preference for safe assets… Proportion of customers in their 30s and 40s increases.

Lotte Home Shopping’s ‘Gold and Silver Live’ mobile broadcast, which started in October last year, has seen order amounts increase more than fourfold recently. 50g gold bars worth over 10 million won and 1,000g silver bars priced at around 6 million won are selling out every session. More than half of the buyers are reported to be customers in their 30s and 40s. The usage rate of interest-free installment benefits when purchasing products has also increased. A Lotte Home Shopping official explained, “Recently, the proportion of purchases of physical asset-type products like pure gold bars and silver bars has expanded compared to jewelry items such as necklaces and rings combined with gemstones.”
According to the retail industry on the 28th, the number of gold and silver buyers has increased significantly this year. Demand has risen across all channels, including home shopping and convenience stores, without exception.
In December last year, Lotte Home Shopping’s order amount for pure gold and silver was 12 billion won, with order volume reaching 10,000 units. This month, order amounts and volumes have each increased by more than 30%. In particular, the company explained that products like ‘gold bars’ and ‘silver bars’ from specialized companies that handle everything from production to distribution have sold out the secured inventory in every broadcast. The sales broadcast for ‘Gold Bar (50g)’ and ‘Silver Bar (1000g)’ held on the 21st sold out the prepared inventory in just 55 minutes.

Hyundai Home Shopping (87,300 won, 0%) has also expanded the proportion of gold and silver sales broadcasts on TV home shopping and mobile live broadcasts by about 25% this year. Average broadcast sales have approximately doubled compared to the same period last year. The Gold Label 24k jewelry broadcast on the evening of the 25th achieved sales of 2 billion won in a single session.

Convenience store GS25 launched 18 specialized products for the Year of the Horse, including four types of red horse gold bars (3.75g to 37.5g) and 1,000g silver bars featuring horse imagery. Despite the 37.5g gold bar being priced at 10.1 million won and the 1,000g silver bar at around 6.3 million won, most of the inventory prepared for the pre-order period was sold out. From the 9th to the 27th, the pre-order period alone generated approximately 830 million won in sales. The most popular product among consumers was reported to be the highest-priced 37.5g red horse gold bar.

Convenience store CU also expanded its product lineup ahead of this year’s Lunar New Year holiday, after gold-related products launched during last year’s Chuseok holiday became so popular that they sold out a week before the holiday. It is currently selling products ranging from small items priced at 63,000 won for 0.1g to the Year of the Horse pure gold bar (one don) at 990,000 won. The most expensive Year of the Horse pure gold bar (one don) has already sold out.

Seven-Eleven also launched five types of gold bars ahead of this year’s Lunar New Year holiday, including ‘Golden Dried Croaker Gold Bar’ and ‘Twelve Zodiac (Horse) Heart Gold Bar’, with cumulative sales exceeding 340 don in just ten days. This represents a 33% increase in sales compared to last year’s Lunar New Year holiday period.
This phenomenon is interpreted as a result of increased interest in safe assets due to recent economic uncertainty. While precious metals have traditionally seen high demand for gifting purposes, industry officials explain that recently, demand reflecting expectations of asset growth through investment and collection has become more prevalent.
In particular, the supply of gold and silver is limited to authorized places like the Korea Gold Exchange, so the total amount that each channel can procure is also limited. This has led to a simultaneous supply shortage across all channels, which is also a notable characteristic.

Meanwhile, according to the Korea Exchange, as of this afternoon, the price of 1g of gold is set at 251,800 won. Compared to the price in early October last year (187,300 won), it has risen by more than 34% in about three months.