January and February are among the busiest months in the pawnbroking calendar. It’s not surprising as there are plenty of times of the year that compete for the title of ‘most expensive month’ but January has to be the overall winner.
With households struggling with the overspending brought about by the Christmas festivities, two thirds of us spend our Januarys paying back credit card bills and overdrafts.
Apparently 50% of us avoid the famous January sales in an attempt to save money and 36% would rather give up takeaways than alcohol!
Most significantly for our business, figures from a Financial Independent website suggest the average person runs out of money by 7th January!
In fact the majority of Brits won’t have paid off their Christmas debt until March payday!
This is how our pawnbroking and Asset Lending Service helps. Pawnbrokers will lend on a variety of things but gold is the most popular item – and why not – it has seen a resurgence in recent weeks with growing Euro troubles and has hit its highest price for 12 months!
As a result we have seen a growth in gold buying once again and it’s amazing what people have held onto that they no longer wear and wish to raise some cash against.
Across our 6 Brown & Gold and Christopher Brown Jewellers shops we had customers raise money against some fantastic items including a 21ct gold belt worth over £5000 where the customer needed a short term loan for her hairdressing business.
We also lent against a stunning 1.85ct diamond solitaire ring where we helped the lady concerned raise the £2500 she needed to pay for a vet’s bill for her horse which had become lame over Christmas.
These are happy stories and with nowhere to turn when short term cash is needed, we really feel we are adding a valuable service to the community.
What’s more, the customer only needed the money for a short while and claimed it was going to be much cheaper than adding the bill to her already burdened credit card overdraft.
We have made plenty of normal loans as well this month with most customers’ just wishing to borrow £100 – £200 to make ends meet until the end of the month. These loans are generally against gold chains, rings and bracelets.
Items that were redeemed before Christmas to wear for the festive period come back into our safe again over the next few weeks as they may as well be doing something useful for the owner rather than sitting in a drawer at home. They will be safer too!
With most Brits not paying off their Christmas debt until March payday, we have some busy weeks ahead – especially if the price of gold keeps rising.
Why not take advantage of our confidential lending and buying service and make your payday come sooner!
