VietNamNet reporters observed large numbers of customers waiting to conduct transactions in the early afternoon at the Saigon Jewelry Company, or SJC, center on Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street in Ban Co Ward, Ho Chi Minh City.

At the parking area, many customers had to wait under the sun as staff directed vehicles and arranged parking spaces.

Most customers were there to sell gold bars, gold rings and diamonds.

The SJC gold bar trading area was particularly crowded, with people waiting in lines that filled the walkways. Staff issued queue numbers and continuously directed customers to prevent congestion from disrupting the center.

The rush came amid a series of notable developments in the gold and diamond market. Among them, investigators announced that 3,400 smuggled diamonds, with a total estimated value of more than VND500 billion, had been brought into SJC's retail system for sale to generate illicit profits.

Do Quynh, a resident of Tan Dinh Ward, said she had come to the center to sell gold bars and rings.

Transactions at the gold ring counter were relatively quick, with immediate liquidity, while she had already waited more than 30 minutes to sell her gold bars and still did not know when her turn would come.

"Gold prices have fallen and the buy-sell spread is wide, but compared with the price I paid, I am still making a profit. So I decided to sell and take the cash to use for other investments," Quynh said.

Quynh said she had also brought gold bars purchased from PNJ to sell. She said PNJ's liquidity policy made it difficult to recover her money, so she hoped she would be able to sell the bars at SJC soon.

Similarly, D.P.T., a resident of Ban Co Ward, had been waiting for a long time despite having his young child with him. He said he would continue waiting to sell diamonds and gold bars.

He made the decision following a series of recent developments involving the gold and diamond market.

Despite the heavy selling activity, some customers were still buying gold from SJC, although they accounted for a small proportion of transactions.

Thanh Que, one customer, said she was taking advantage of the decline in gold prices to buy gold as a store of wealth.

She had just purchased one tael of gold rings for VND140 million, VND4 million lower than the previous day's price.

Regarding current transactions, an SJC representative said the company was continuing to buy gold at its location at 418-420 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street, Ban Co Ward.

For gold bars, gold rings and jewelry priced by workmanship, customers will receive payment on the same day after the purchase procedures are completed. Transactions conducted after 3 p.m. or involving amounts of more than VND500 million will be paid the following day.

For jewelry priced by item and diamonds, the purchasing process takes longer because diamond and jewelry inspection procedures are more complex, and can take one to two days.

However, with customer traffic currently high and the weekend approaching, customers may have to wait through Saturday and Sunday.

SJC was not the only dealer experiencing heavy traffic.

At Mi Hong, store employees said customer numbers for both buying and selling had become overwhelming since the morning of July 23.

At 3 p.m. the same day, VietNamNet observed customers taking queue numbers and filling the walkways and waiting areas as they waited for their turn.

Customers selling gold rings, however, were directed straight to the purchasing counter for immediate transactions.

Those looking to buy gold had to line up and wait to receive a queue number.

According to prices listed at 3 p.m., Mi Hong was buying SJC gold at VND136 million per tael and selling it at VND138.5 million per tael, resulting in a buy-sell spread of VND2.5 million per tael, the narrowest among gold dealers in Ho Chi Minh City.

In contrast to SJC and Mi Hong, most PNJ stores in wards including Tan Dinh, Ban Co and An Hoi Tay were relatively quiet.

Some customers attributed the difference to the company's product buyback policies and payment arrangements.

Thu Ha