1. Jewellery from a gold souk or shop
The classic route. You pay the gold price for the weight, plus a making charge for the design, plus 5% VAT. Making charges vary a lot by design and shop, so always ask for the price split into gold, making and VAT.
Good for wearing and gifting. Less good as savings: when you sell jewellery back, shops pay for the gold content only, so the making charge is lost.
2. Gold bars and coins from a dealer
Bars and coins of 24K gold (999.9) carry a much smaller premium than jewellery, and investment gold of 99% purity or more is zero-rated for VAT in the UAE. The catch is storage: you need somewhere safe to keep them, and small bars cost more per gram than large ones.
3. Gold accounts at banks
Several UAE banks let you buy gold inside their app. Some hold physical metal for you and some only track the price. Check whether you can take delivery of real bars, and what the spread between the buy and sell price is.
4. Gold apps that hold real metal for you
Apps like Lumos let you buy small amounts of real 24K gold, from a few dirhams, at a live price. The metal is held in a vault and insured, and you can sell any time or have bars delivered. This is the easiest way to save regularly, because you do not need to buy a whole bar at once.
5. Gold funds and ETFs
Investment apps and brokers sell gold exchange-traded funds. These follow the gold price but you own fund units, not metal, and you cannot take delivery.
What to check before you buy
- Is it real metal? Ask whether every gram you buy is backed by physical gold in a vault.
- The spread. The gap between the buy and sell price is your real cost. Compare it across providers.
- Other fees. Storage, card payments, small sales and delivery.
- Who holds it, and is it insured? An independent custodian and full insurance protect you if something goes wrong.
- Licences. Check which UAE authority licenses the provider. Lumos's licensing is in progress; see our Licences page.
Questions
What is the cheapest way to buy gold in the UAE?
For small amounts, an app that sells real gold by the gram with a low spread and no making charge. For large amounts, bigger bars from a dealer usually have the lowest premium per gram.
Do I pay VAT on gold in the UAE?
Investment gold of 99% purity or more, such as 24K bars, is zero-rated for VAT. Jewellery carries 5% VAT. Fees for services, such as card payments or delivery, also carry 5% VAT.
Can I buy gold with a small amount of money?
Yes. Gold apps let you buy from a few dirhams at a time. With Lumos you will be able to start from AED 10.
General information, not financial advice. Prices change all the time; Lumos prices shown are live.