In Shanghai, you can sell your gold to the ATM

A strange machine has recently become the attraction of one of Shanghai's busiest shopping malls: a vending machine for selling gold.

And for good reason: the price of gold has increased by 40% in one year.

“Located on the second floor of Global Harbor, it offers an automated, no-haggle alternative to jewelry stores: real-time purity checks, live pricing, and fast bank transfers,” reports Chinese online magazine Sixth Tone , which visited the site to see how this unique vending machine works.

The principle is simple. You place your gold object on a tray. The machine picks it up, weighs it, tests its purity, and offers a price based on the market rate.

Once the seller accepts the price, “the machine then performs a second test by melting the gold [at 1,200°C] to check [again] its purity.”

“The process lasts about twenty minutes,” the Chinese media outlet specifies, “during which customers can follow the procedure in real time on a screen.”

He Xiaofang, 49, came to sell nearly 90 grams of gold, “mostly in the form of old bracelets and necklaces.” He left with more than 60,000 yuan (about 7,300 euros), after deducting the service fee of 1,615 yuan (about 195 euros), reports Sixth Tone : “No haggling, no paperwork, just a bank transfer.”

Seduced by this new service, sellers flock to the area, and you have to wait several hours before you can approach the distributor.

Among the users, 70% are women aged 50 to 70, according to Le Chunxiang, the person who supervises the use of the machine.

On average, 30 transactions are processed daily, between 10 a.m. and 10 p.m.

“A symbol of prosperity, protection, and good fortune, gold has long held great cultural value in China. Traditionally given at weddings, births, and festivities, it is a highly prized store of wealth, particularly among generations

older.”

Chinese media Sixth Tone

After three hours of waiting, Zhang Yewan, in her thirties, finally gets to the machine.

This innovation appeals to him: “In jewelry stores, the actual price is vague, and I don't have complete confidence in the valuation. With a machine, at least, the process is standardized and transparent. Even if the price difference isn't huge, I prefer to trust the technology.”

Located in Shenzhen, the group that develops these machines, Kinghood, has already “deployed them in around a hundred Chinese cities, in shopping centers, office buildings and bank branches.”

Given the success of the first distributor in Shanghai, a second should soon be installed, “a sign that demand is only growing,” estimates the Chinese media, while the price of gold continues to rise in the context of the tariff war with the United States.