New Jewellery Sales Down 9% Due to Recession and High Gold Prices

LONDON, December 14 - The rise in the price of gold and the recession are being blamed for a 9
per cent drop in new jewellery sales in the last 12 months.

www.froggybank.co.uk, the UK's leading cashback shopping website,
has analysed the spending habits of its half a million members between
November 2008 and 2009.

Not only are people buying less jewellery, but they are more likely to
sell existing gold items to make some spare cash.

froggybank.co.uk's marketing manager Nadeem Azam said: "While there are a
number of factors affecting jewellery sales, the cost of gold is certainly
having a major impact.

"Jewellery sales as a whole are down on last year, and the price of gold
jewellery has contributed heavily to the figures."

He added: "Families are still tightening their purse strings and
therefore are unable to splash out on extravagant purchases such as
jewellery."

"On top of this, the cash-for-gold schemes are proving to be a very
attractive option for people to make money quickly on their excess gold
jewellery - meaning they are less likely to buy more."

Consumers log on to www.froggybank.co.uk before making online
purchases, to earn cashback on everything they spend.

The network consists of 180 websites led by www.froggybank.co.uk,
the UK's first and only green 100% cashback site.

It's estimated there are more than 20 million online shoppers in the UK
who are yet to discover cashback and get back up to 100% of the middleman's
fee on all their online shopping.

Shoppers log onto a cashback site before making online purchases from
major retailers as normal.

The referral fee paid by the retailer to the cashback site is returned to
the shopper.

froggybank.co.uk has committed to work with PURE the Clean Planet Trust,
to offset one million tons of carbon by 2012.

That's equivalent to the annual emissions of 180,000 average UK homes.

100% of the cashback paid by retailers can be turned into charitable
donations that will support PURE. Shoppers can alternatively give the money
to another charity, or keep some or all of it for themselves.

Notes to Editors

- For any further information or interviews please contact Zoe Coll on
+44(0)8452-303049, or email press@vacmedia.com

Notes to Editors: For any further information or interviews please contact Zoe Coll on
+44(0)8452-303049, or email press at vacmedia.com