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 everyone struggling due to the overspending brought about 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 twice as many of us (36%) would rather give up takeaways than alcohol!
Most importantly 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 and statistics from MoneySupermarket.com tell us that 13% of us go into the red within a week of being paid!
This is how our pawnbroking and Asset Lending Service helps. Pawnbrokers will lend on a variety of items but gold and luxury watches are the most popular pawns. The gold price has remained strong ever since Brexit and although it has fluctuated a little, it still remains the solid investment it has always been.
As a result we have seen a growth in gold buying once again and it’s amazing what people own that they no longer wear and wish to raise some cash against.
LOCAL LENDING…
We now have 8 shops in total in the company with four Brown & Gold shops in Seacroft, Batley, Toxteth and Prescot and four Christopher Brown Jewellers in York, Pontefract, Shipley and Liverpool.
Over the year our customers have raised 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 and even a set of luxury handbags to help the owner meet his cash-flow requirements until his pension matured.
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, when our customers only need a short term loan it proves to be a sensible option rather than adding to the debt of an already burdened credit card overdraft.
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 with the price of gold remaining strong.
Why not take advantage of our confidential lending and buying service and make your payday come sooner!
Chris Brown
