Gold ATM draws large crowd in Shanghai amid surging prices

Amid surging gold prices, Shanghai has introduced its first “gold recycling ATM“, drawing significant public interest, particularly from older residents seeking to cash in on the jewelry they’ve held for generations.

Located in Shanghai’s Global Harbor shopping mall, the new machine saw long queues of customers, with appointments booked through the upcoming May holiday. Social media posts circulating online showed that the machine provides a fast, transparent process: users deposit their gold items, which are then weighed, melted and assayed.

For instance, a 40-gram gold necklace was appraised at 785 yuan ($108) per gram, resulting in a payout of over 36,000 yuan ($4,900) within 30 minutes, correspondents from local news publication Chinatimes.net observed.

Operated by Shenzhen-based jeweller Kinghood Group, the ATM — which is built into the company’s Smart Gold Store concept — is designed to take gold items of over 3 grams with a purity of at least 50%.

The recycling process includes identity verification, melting at temperatures exceeding 1,000°C, and a second assay to determine purity. A service fee of 18 yuan ($2.50) per gram is deducted before funds are transferred to the user’s bank account.

International recognition

Kinghood has been a trailblazer in China’s gold industry since 2019, debuting the first generation of its Smart Gold Stores with a unique “gold ATM terminal” that integrates purchasing, customization and recycling services into a single platform.

Last year, the company unveiled the first global version of the Smart Gold Store, featuring advanced hardware, including high-precision electronic scales compatible with major global measurement units and a universal detector with an accuracy of 0.01%.

According to Kinghood, the system supports mobile phone registration in more than 200 countries, multi-currency payments in at least half of them, and real-time price docking with the international gold trading markets. It can be customized to diverse regulatory, measurement and language requirements worldwide.

Since its launch, the Smart Gold Store has swiftly gained industry recognition by winning the Manufacturing Innovation Award at the 2024 JWA Sustainability Awards, organized by Informa Markets Jewellery.

Kinghood has said it plans to continue to iterate the international Smart Gold Store, developing universal payment interfaces and local gold price interfaces to quickly adapt to various countries and regions.

Local market disruption

Xie Chengcheng, operations manager for Kinghood’s Shanghai region, confirmed to Chinatimes.net the group’s plans to expand, aiming to deploy over 100 gold ATM machines across Shanghai, with installations already in cities like Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

Kinghood began rolling out the Smart Gold Stores last year as part of its strategy to expand its traditional retail business. By September, the group had installed machines in 40 cities across the country, all located in convenient spots, such as banks, supermarkets and retail shops.

However, the ATM’s introduction has disrupted traditional gold-buying practices. Local “gold scalpers” and small-scale buyers reported a decline in business, citing the ATM’s efficiency and transparency as key factors. Some expressed concerns over reduced cash flow and the inability to match the ATM’s service speed.

“Our store’s gold buyback price is 715 yuan per gram, and the selling price for AU999 gold jewelry is 850 yuan per gram. Since we have our own gold mining rights, both our selling and buyback prices are slightly lower than other branded stores. That said, customer traffic is still relatively quiet at the moment,” a sales representative from China Gold told reporters at the mall.

“We’re doing a bit better compared to others, but gold shops without direct mining sources are seeing even weaker business,” the sales rep added.

Increased public interest

On April 16, when the Shanghai ATM first launched, gold prices were soaring to new heights, offering an opportunity for long-time gold holders to liquidate their assets at unprecedented prices.

COMEX contracts were trading above $3,400 per ounce, while domestic physical gold prices exceeded 1,000 yuan ($137) per gram. The Shanghai Gold Exchange reported real-time prices above 788 yuan ($108) per gram.

“The introduction of smart gold ATMs primarily serves a recycling function from a business perspective. This reflects the fact that, with rising gold prices, the value of gold held by the public has increased significantly, leading to a stronger desire to cash out,” Xu Weixin, a member of the Shanghai Gold Association, told local reporters.

However, Xu advised people to “not rush into selling their gold holdings” and consider holding them a while longer. “There is still strong upward momentum for gold, mainly driven by central banks and institutional investors accelerating their gold purchases,” he said.