According to VietNamNet reporters' records on the morning of October 1, at Tran Nhan Tong gold street (Hai Ba Trung, Hanoi), while gold shops were sparsely populated, Bao Tin Minh Chau's two locations (at No. 15 and No. 29) were always crowded even before opening for sale.

People said they waited from early morning to be able to buy gold.

At 9am, Bao Tin Minh Chau gold shop staff announced that they would not sell gold this morning. But 15 minutes later, shop number 15 suddenly sold a maximum of 5 taels per person, causing many people to flock there.

Mr. Dung, who has been waiting to buy gold since 8am, said that buying gold now requires luck. The gold shop does not have a fixed time frame, making buyers always wait.

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Buyers continuously talked to relatives inside the gold shop because they were impatient. Photo: Tien Anh

Gold shop security staff said that the reason for not having a fixed selling time is because it depends on the gold available at the store and to avoid crowds, leading to disorder.

Accepting the long waiting time to buy gold, Mr. Bac (Hai Ba Trung, Hanoi) said he did not want to buy gold from other brands besides Bao Tin Minh Chau when he had to wait a long time to receive the product, sometimes even having to wait nearly 2 months to receive a few taels of gold.

At around 9:30, when the number of customers was overloaded, the store announced that each person could only buy a maximum of 2 taels.

However, inside Bao Tin Minh Chau store, the number of people waiting in line still stretched out to the door. At 9:45, the store announced that it was closing because many people still had not purchased their items.

Mr. Trung (Cau Giay, Hanoi) said that this morning he took his wife to buy gold. "My wife was lining up inside, I was waiting outside, feeling nervous and anxious no different from taking my child to the graduation exam," he said.

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The surrounding shops are sparsely populated. Photo: Tien Anh

What is puzzling is that many other gold shops on this street are very quiet. Even though they are in the same "ecosystem" as Bao Tin, a store of Bao Tin Manh Hai has almost no customers coming in and out, even during the golden hours (9-10am).

According to records, at Bao Tin Minh Chau stores, in recent days, the busy time only lasts about 1 hour in the morning. During the remaining hours, although the stores are still open, because they are not selling, the employees are quite idle, sitting around surfing their phones.

Early this morning, Saigon Jewelry Company (SJC) listed the price of gold rings of type 1-5 at only 81.4-82.9 million VND/tael (buy - sell), down 100 thousand VND/tael in both buying and selling compared to the end of yesterday's trading session.

Doji Gold and Gemstone Group also lowered the price of 1-5 chi gold rings to 82-82.9 million VND/tael (buy - sell), down 300 thousand VND/tael for buying and down 450 thousand VND/tael for selling compared to yesterday's closing price.

Meanwhile, the price of SJC 9999 gold bars suddenly increased by 500 thousand VND per tael in both buying and selling compared to the end of yesterday's trading session, to 84 million VND/tael (selling).