188 CultureShock! Egypt
leave you alone after that. It is only the rudest person who
will harass you after that.Gold
Shopping for gold requires a special comment. Egypt is known
for its gold shops. Gold sold is usually 18, 21 or 24 carats.
Only rarely will you ever find anything of less quality. You
should see a little scratch or nick on each piece of jewellery
made with Egyptian gold. This is actually a government tax
stamp. The stamp is used to certify the quality of the gold
and that appropriate government tax has been paid on the
gold used in the jewellery.
Finding a good gold merchant is not difficult if you know
a little about how to shop for gold. The most reputable gold
merchants are always willing to weigh the gold and show you
the scale to verify the weight. If a merchant tells you all of
their gold is sold by the piece, not weight, theirs may or may
not be a good place to buy. Tell them that you want them
to weigh the piece anyway because you want to know how
much gold is in the piece. Then you can gauge their price
by what you feel is an appropriate amount to pay per gram.
Some very small pieces are sold only by the piece and are
only rarely negotiable.
Current gold prices are printed daily in most newspapers.
The price you should pay revolves around this rate even
though the gold in the jewellery you are buying may have
been purchased at another rate. The real negotiating area of
gold prices revolves around the cost of workmanship in the
piece. The following is just an example because the price of
gold fluctuates, but should give you a general feel for how
to bargain for gold.
If the published price for 18 carat gold is, for example,
E£ 50 per gram with the tax stamp, you should expect to
pay somewhere in the range of E£ 60–65 per gram for a
finished piece of jewellery. Unless the piece has very intricate
workmanship, you should never pay more than about E£ 10–20
per gram over the going rate for Egyptian gold—usually many
times less. Italian gold is also popular in Egypt, but the cost
is generally higher per gram than Egyptian gold.