In recent times credit has become very restricted. It has become harder, even for the upper-middle class to secure loans. This is why posh pawnbrokers are springing up every day. Unlike your normal run-of-the-mill pawn shops, pawnbrokers for the rich accept a wide variety of items from Rolexes to Picassos which are used to secure loans of $100,000 and more. Besides watches, bullion and artistic masterpieces, rich people are pawning designer Jimmy Choo shoes, Vintage Channel dresses, Porsches and even Lamborghini’s. High-end pawn shops have been on the rise since 2009 because even rich people have liquidity problems from time and time. They find it easier and convenient to pawn their valuables for cash when they need it because they know they won’t lose the pawned merchandise unless they default on loan repayments.
If Melbourne pawn shops buy and sell everything, including garden implements how do you know that they will be able to value your luxury items, especially jewellery? The first thing you need to do is to research those pawn shops in your area. Find out what they are best known for and if jewellery is not their primary concern, then find a pawnbroker who does specialise in jewellery. Remember that the price should not only be about the gold content, but about the design and the precious stones. The pawnbroker will be eager to buy things that he knows he can sell should you fail to pay your loan back. That means he will consider the design, what is in fashion and which vintage jewellery is a classic that collectors or aficionados will be interested in.
The phenomenon of high-end pawnbrokers is slowly catching on. Pawnshops are already competing with cash-for-gold businesses when it comes to jewellery. The good thing about these posh pawnbrokers is that when they valuate jewellery they look at it in its entirety. They aren’t just interested in the gold. So, design matters, the material used to make the jewellery matters and the condition matters. If you bring your grandmother’s old, vintage necklace with a gemstone or diamond, pawnbrokers will consider the gold as well as the stones, whereas gold buyers are only interested in paying you for the gold content. If you have heirloom jewellery or a 19th-century cocktail purse that your grandmother left you in her will, you should look for a pawn broker with experience in handling luxury goods. Some people take it further and pawn things like yachts. Even the world famous fashion and lifestyle photographer Annie Leibovitz pawned her apartment and the rights to some of her work and so do many people who find that they need money to pay for something or fund a project.
While pawnbroking is a trillion dollar industry in The U.S, the UK and in Asia, it is a small industry in Australia with an estimated annual revenue of $615 million. There are a lot of small-time pawn brokers who offer loans against valuables like gold jewellery and electronics. They sell about 2% of the pawned items that have not been redeemed by owners. You very rarely see luxury goods and high-end merchandise in Melbourne pawn shops but things are changing. The number of middle to high income earners in Australia has grown. Most of these people do not come from rich backgrounds and they may be familiar with pawn shops. Traditional credit companies take their time to approve loans. Sometimes you just need the money without the hustle. It might be too small an amount to mortgage your home for, but substantial enough to pawn your Dodge Viper Roadster for. You could sell it, but that would take time besides, you really don’t want to part with it. Pawning it means that you present it to the pawnbroker with papers and get the cash in minutes and you can get it back when you finish paying off the loan.
