An article in the Sunday Herald on May 2010-05-31 by Catriona Stewart says "Pawning is reborn"
It's hardly the typical pawnbroker.
Instead of wedding rings, it's looking for private jets; it would rather accept a rare work of art than a much-loved guitar; and a Rolex is preferable to a clapped out hi-fi.
Welcome to the topsy-turvy world of Borro.com – the world's first online pawnbroker, which caters for the likes of down-on-their-luck hedge-fund managers, bankers and even premiership footballers who have run into a spot of cash-flow bother.
Among Borro's main clientele are wealthy British-based EU nationals who have fallen on hard times due to economic instability in their home countries, and are now turning to high-end money-lenders trading in fine art, heirlooms and luxury cars to raise loans of up to £200,000.
But on the streets of Glasgow it's a different story …
There aren't many pawnbroker customers in Glasgow looking for a loan against their Banksy sketch or private Learjet. Not many stockbrokers or footballers are in the queues, either, hoping for a few hundred quid to keep their head above water until the next pay-day.
Instead, customers at one outlet in the city's west end are cashing in small items such as cheap jewellery and mass-produced electrical goods.
On the high street, the cash-strapped and desperate take away an average of between £100 and £150.
Rob, a postal worker, regularly uses the pawnbroker as a high-risk bank, taking out loans to tide him over between pay cheques.
"I flit between pawnbrokers as I don't want to become a familiar face," he says. "I'm a bit ashamed of not being able to manage my money well enough to stay away from the shop and I'd hate for anyone I knew to see me coming out."
Across the city, in one of Glasgow's more deprived areas, Marianne, 36, is trading in a gold ring to raise money for her daughter's birthday present. She has never visited a pawnbroker before, she says – but friends frequently do,
so she thought she'd give it a try.
"Times are tight," she says. "I am mortified I haven't put enough away for my wee girl's birthday but bills have to come first."
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