Pawnbrokers make a comeback
News that Albemarle & Bond, a prominent UK pawnbroker, is looking to add 15 new outlets to its portfolio in Scotland this year and a further 25 next year is a perfect reflection of the difficult environment in the UK. More and more people are now making use of the services of pawnbrokers, many of which had died a death during economic boom and were relatively unknown and very unpopular amongst the UK public.
However, times have very much changed in the UK and the pawnbroker sector is now very lucrative and showing significant growth. In simple terms, the general public are able to sell a large array of items to the pawnbroker in the hope of buying them back at a later date, with a charge on top, although if they do not return to buy back the goods they will be sold to other interested parties.
We have also seen a massive increase in the sale of gold jewellery and other gold items with the price of this precious metal benefiting from investors looking for "safe havens". However, before using the services of pawnbrokers and gold dealers you should make yourself fully aware of the terms and conditions of any agreements which you enter into. Unfortunately, many people seem to be unaware of the exact details of the services on offer!
Share this..
Related stories
FSA reveals traffic light warning system
As the FSA (Financial Services Authority) continues to reinvent the wheel, i.e. the UK regulatory system, a rather bizarre traffic light warning system has been revealed. The FSA wants to introduce a colour-coded system, very similar to the one in UK supermarkets, which would see the colour on a financial package reflect its perceived risk element. Mortgages, pensions, insurances and other investm...
Read MoreAre the Boxing Day sales enough to kick start the UK economy?
Retailers around the UK have been reporting massive sales today with shoppers out in force to grab the best of the bargains after Christmas. Many have been surprised by the substantial amount of money seemingly available to the UK consumer after months of concern about where the sales were going to come from. So have we reached the bottom of the retail market?
While there is no doub...
Do you buy now for Christmas or do you wait?
As we covered in one of our earlier posts, sales figures from UK bellwether John Lewis have been disappointing over the last two weeks. The company has also issued a rather downbeat statement with regards to the immediate prospects for the UK retail sector as we enter the Christmas sales period. So if you are a consumer do you by now for Christmas or do you wait?
While there is no d...
NNC calls for an end to misleading green energy claims
The National Consumer Council (NCC) and energywatch have put their weight behind proposals for a government-backed green energy accreditation scheme, to put an end to potentially misleading claims over 'green' energy tariffs.According to NCC research, two thirds of people say they would consider switching to a green energy tariff, but, only around one per cent have done so - the NCC and energywatc...
Read MoreBSkyB in talks regarding Tiscali UK asset purchase
Italian outfit Tiscali is in talks with BSkyB about the possible sale of the group's UK broadband operation which has been on the market for some time. After a very public auction it appears as if BSkyB is the only bidder left around the table and Tiscali is desperate to sell as soon as possible. The UK operation has approaching 2 million broadband customers and the asking price is around about th...
Read More