The holiday season can be filled with traditions, spending quality time with family, and rejoicing over the spirit of the season. Unfortunately, at the same time, it can also be one of the most financially straining times of the year. Between the costly expenses of airline tickets, road trips to grandma’s house, and purchasing gifts for everyone on your list, the bills can really add up.
A client of ours, Thomas Fischer, knows about the stress of the holidays a little too well. Just ten days before Christmas he learned that his father might have to endure a surgical procedure on the first of the year. He decided to take an urgent trip to Tampa, FL where his parents live.
“I knew I had a bonus coming, but didn’t have the cash on hand at the time,” said Fischer, a pharmaceutical representative. “Flying is never cheap during the holidays, and it’s even more expensive at the last minute.”
Fischer knew he had some personal items that could be used as collateral to get a loan, but the thought of entering a dangerous area of town to go to a pawn shop did not sit well with him. He decided to start researching online pawn shops.
He came across our website and was able to speak to a representative about pawning his 1952 Mickey Mantle baseball card from his collection. He found our process to be very easy; he sent a photo of the baseball card, got an appraisal, and used an email label to send his card to us. He received the funds within 36 hours.
“There is always nervousness when putting something like that into someone’s hands, but I felt comfortable doing business with them after talking to them,” Fischer said. “It was very important for me to see my parents, and it is only a baseball card. I could get another one of those, but I can’t get more parents.”
Fischer was able to pay for his flight to visit his parents in time for his dad’s surgery. His father is doing fine and Fischer was able to pay off the loan when he received his bonus.
The holiday season is a busy time for us as well. We always see an increase in the number of people pawning valuable personal items in hopes of receiving a short term collateral loan to pay off their holiday bills. Don’t let the financial stress of the holidays put a damper on the joyous season! Use the valuable personal assets sitting in your home as collateral to fund any unexpected expenses for the holidays!