The Gift That Keeps On Giving

image courtesy: http://goo.gl/VxUip

I had one of my most bittersweet moments of married life when my husband, on this Women’s Day got me a single rose and then apologized for it. He said he was sorry he couldn’t get me anything better as his business was not doing well and that we’d have to prepare for some tough times ahead. He said he was considering an online loan against his car, but that wouldn’t fetch much. Now I’d been a stay-at-home mom all my life. Apart from that, I gave piano lessons to children in the neighbourhood. Gary, my husband, had always taken care of everything financial.  

I had also never heard of an online loan in my life. The first thing that came to my mind was selling of or pawning off the jewellery I had, some of which Gary had given me. Though I wanted to help my husband in any way I could, the thought of parting with my jewellery and that to with people I had never seen was an emotionally draining dilemma. Thankfully my friend Libby came over that day, and when I asked her about online loans, she had the good sense to explain it all to me. 

Her brother Daniel had apparently pawned his vintage wine collection for a short term business loan. Due to an unfavourable credit record, Daniel had been unable to get the banks to grant him a loan to expand his business. After hearing about this from a neighbour, Daniel searched the internet for a reputable and authentic online pawn store. After drawing many comparisons between different websites he made a list of the ones that seemed suitable. Then he sent these establishments an e-mail with a description and photo of his collection. When some offers came back, he compared the loan amount offered by them with the amount a vintage wine expert had told him his collection could fetch. After he decided on one store, he got a legal consult about the papers and contracts, signed them and had the collection picked up. Libby then said the most surprising thing. She said Daniel got his loan amount within a day!

The infusion of money helped him to expand his business and I suppose he is doing very well, because he just got himself a brand new car. Well, back to what Libby said. After his business picked up, Daniel made monthly payments including the interest amount to the place that offered him the loan. And once his payment period was over and his debt repaid, he got back his vintage wine collection. It was all good and was returned without even a single scratch.

Now after hearing this story my dilemma about whether I should consider online loans against jewellery or not, was solved. I called Daniel and asked him to send over the sites he had looked at and the contact information of the establishment he had used. After working through some paperwork, the loan amount is to be transferred today. I am so happy I could help out my dear old Gary.

image courtesy: http://goo.gl/c1fJS