Yes Lady Finance, a Hong Kong based mortgage brokerage, gives loan against designer handbags.

Yes Lady Finance, a Hong Kong-based mortgage brokerage, gives loan against designer handbags.

The firm offers loans which are approved within 30 minutes. The loan amount consists of up to 50 per cent of the actual value of the designer bag. Customers are allowed 4 months for the repayment of the loan amount, while the interest rate is 4 per cent. The accepted designers include Chanel, Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Hermès.

Byron Yiu informed Reuters that most people were able to repay the loan amount as they were eager to get their coveted possessions back. The chief executive and chairman of Yes Lady Finance said that the company gave cash when a client wanted to sell a designer handbag. However, they had a feeling that most clients were sentimentally attached to their possession.

Mr Yiu further added that the company had come out with a solution when they decided to run a financial firm which would allow people to use their designer handbags for borrowing money when they were in need of cash. It turned out to be an extremely popular service as people were not required to get rid of their prized handbags permanently.

The amount of loan starts at around HK$1550 (equivalent to $200). On the other hand, the loan amount can go significantly higher subject to the handbag's quality. A recent example was drawn by Mr Yiu when a customer secured a loan of HK$250,000 (around $32,200) in lieu of a designer handbag made of crocodile skin.

Even though a handbag is essentially a female accessory, the company has both female and male customers. Most of the customers bring posh handbags when they turn up for securing a loan against the same, Mr Yiu said. He further informed that people had a tendency to bring multiple designer handbags to secure a bigger amount.

Milan Station experts are responsible for the assessment of the authenticity of the handbags. Interestingly, the company does not reveal it to the customer if the handbag is found to be a fake. They hide the truth to save the customer from embarrassment. They make up a fictional reason for not authorising the loan amount in that case.

 Video courtesy: YouTube/JewishNewsOne