Yes Lady Finance Co

Yes! Now high end luxury bags are assets! At least in Hong Kong where the Yes Lady Finance Co, accepts them as collateral for loans.

This four-year-old company accepts purses on the spot, bringing in assessors from affiliate Milan Station Holdings Ltd.,a chain for luxury secondhand purses, to check the bags’ condition and authenticity.

Yes Lady provides a loan within half an hour at 80% of the bag’s value—as long as it is from Gucci, Chanel, Hermès or Louis Vuitton. Occasionally, a Prada purse will do the trick. Secondhand classic purses and special-edition handbags often retain much of their retail prices.

A customer gets her bag back by repaying the loan at 4% monthly interest within four months. Yes Lady says almost all its clients quickly pay off their loans and reclaim their bags.

The loan size ranges from about US$200 to US$20,600 backed by  a Hermès Birkin bag.

The company is carving out a niche in a city with 200 licensed pawnbrokers and over 900 more-typical lenders. The pawn industry, a common form of lending here, primarily targets low-income residents and domestic help from abroad. Pawnbrokers typically accept only watches, jewelry and electronics as collateral.On the other hand,Yes Lady, its Cantonese name translates to “Rich Woman,” caters to wealthy residents whose money may be tied up in stock—or luxury accessories.

Many Hong Kong residents go to non-bank lenders for flexibility in loan size and type of collateral. While banks are regulated by the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, non-bank lenders are subject to the more flexible guidelines of the Money Lenders or Pawnbrokers Ordinance. As a result, Yes Lady doesn’t need to ask customers for proof of income or to undergo a credit check. All it requires is a Hong Kong address and identification card.

While some customers use the money to buy stocks and to travel others use the service to raise money to pay for daily expenses or their children’s school fee when their money is locked up in savings or the stock market.By opting for this service they avoid all the complicated application procedures in the banks.