Selling Your Jewelry vs Luxury Asset Lending: What’s the Right Option For You?

Difficult times can strike and usually with little warning. The pandemic has shown us that things can dramatically change course for the worst. In such times, it is prudent to look at our assets and strategically leverage them to tide over difficult times. With luxury asset lending, you can now get loans on the valuable assets you hold and get the much wanted liquidity to either save your business, pivot to a new business vertical, expand, diversify or simply have enough cash to see off the difficult period in life.

How Can You Benefit From Luxury Asset Lending?

Luxury asset lending is simply borrowing money against luxury assets. These are essentially short-term loans wherein you put up your luxury asset as security collateral. When you are buying a house, or a car, the bank usually uses these very assets that you are buying as collateral. So in the worst-case scenario in which you are unable to pay back the asset loan, the very asset you were trying to buy is now taken away by the bank.

In luxury asset lending, you are putting up an asset as security that you can usually do without – classic cars or bikes, fine art, yacht, fine jewelry, luxury watches, real estate, and much more.

While earlier, if you were putting up your family heirlooms for sale, or to raise funds through luxury asset lending, you would be usually looked down upon in your social circle. This may also be thought of as an act of desperation. However, in recent years, the financial markets have matured to a level where novel financial instruments are seeking to leverage the inherent value of a wide variety of assets including luxury assets. People from all socio-economic strata are looking to maximize their financial opportunities through unlocking value from luxury assets, the most common of which is jewelry.   

Selling Your Jewelry vs Luxury Asset Lending: How to Decide?

While both are ways to raise funds when required, there are certain inherent differences that you should consider while going with a particular route.

Selling your jewelry is a quick and efficient way of raising funds. In this scenario, you are selling jewelry that you do not wear and do not wish to hold on to. For instance, you are in possession of a solitaire ring that was gifted to you by your ex. But you wish to move on and looking at it brings back bad memories that you would rather not go back to. So you decide to sell it and use the money to plan your future and maybe take that long-awaited vacation. There is no pressure of paying back a loan because it is an outright sale – you sell your jewelry to a buyer and get paid for it. Plain and simple. But what if you want to hold onto the asset and you’re looking for a shorter-term solution? This is where luxury asset lending comes into the picture. 

Luxury asset lending is essentially a type of collateral lending, where you are putting up your luxury asset as security to get a loan. You do not intend to sell the asset; however, you are simply leveraging the inherent value of the asset. You have, for instance, an heirloom gold jewelry set. While you adore the necklace and earrings pair, it is simply lying around at

home, except for the couple of times every yeR that you take it out for a spin on formal party nights. You decide to raise funds by putting it up as collateral and using the money to expand your business. Once you have paid back the loan amount, you free up the asset which is yours to do as you please.   

Getting the Most Out of Your Luxury Assets

If you are in need of money, you have two options (three, if you consider an outright sale of your jewelry) – either to apply for a bank loan or go for luxury asset lending. But if you have ever approached a bank for a loan, you’ll realize what a cumbersome process it can be. In this scenario, luxury asset lending trumps bank loans. While interest rates for luxury asset lending may be on the higher side, there are other aspects of convenience that score over a traditional bank loan.

• Get Money Faster

Whether you are applying for a personal loan to tide over a difficult financial situation or are looking at a high-end loan to expand your business, banks usually have a complicated system in place. From checking your credit history, your past financial transactions, etc. banks usually take a few weeks to process the loan. A luxury asset lender, on the other hand, has a network of luxury asset appraisers and valuers who don’t take much time to assess the value of the asset you are putting up as collateral. It is common for such loans to be processed – from the time you start the process to getting the money in your account – within five working days.

• The Pocess is Discreet

When you go the bank route, there will be credit checks. The more banks you approach, the more credit checks there will be. This will all be recorded in your credit history and may negatively impact your credit score. If the bank feels that you might not be able to pay the loan back, it may reflect very poorly on your ratings and the next time your approach a bank for a loan, you may find it difficult to secure one. A luxury asset lender usually does not need any credit checks, since they are offering the loan based on the value of the luxury asset. The entire transaction, though completely secure, does not leave any financial footprints.

• You Aren’t Stressed

When you are buying a home loan, you are mortgaging your home in lieu of the loan. If you fail to pay back the loan, the bank takes over your home. In case of luxury asset lending, you are not stressed since you are putting up an asset as collateral. It’s safe with Vasco and ready

to get back into your hands as soon as you clear the loan. And if you have an urgent requirement – you need to wear that vintage gold necklace for an important formal event, for instance, we’re flexible enough to let you take it out! With funds raised from luxury asset lending, you are able to protect yourself from financial uncertainties, the likes of which we have experienced during the pandemic. When you have access to luxury assets, business owners can save their business from uncertainties.    

What if I Need to Sell My Jewelry?

If you are in possession of jewelry that you do not wish to keep, or old silverware that you wish to sell, you can approach either a consignment jeweler or a luxury asset buyer. The difference is that with a consignment jewelry seller, you usually, after commissions, get around 50-60% of the total value of your jewelry  and you get paid only when your jewelry gets sold.

In the case of a luxury asset buyer, you show them the jewelry, and they arrive at a fair value through their vast network of fine jewelry valuers. If this valuation suits you, you sign over the dotted line and you get the money immediately.

Do I Sell or Loan?

Whether you decide whether to sell your jewelry or to explore the possibility of luxury asset lending should be based on your financial situation. If you want liquidity immediately, aren’t sure you wish to take a loan you might not pay back and are in possession of jewelry that you can easily part with, selling jewelry outright is the way to go.

If, on the other hand, if you are a small business looking to raise funds to expand, or inject some cash flow into it, are in possession of a luxury asset that you can put up as collateral, and are confident of paying back the loan amount through judicious financial planning, then luxury asset lending is the way for you.

So Where Do You Go Next?

Vasco Assets is a trusted name in luxury asset buying and lending. As a multinational luxury conglomerate, Vasco Assets offer a wide range of services to help you achieve your financial goals.

If you wish to sell your jewelry outright and are trying to find where to sell jewelry in Orange County, Vasco Assets can help. With a worldwide network of industrial buyers of luxury and commodity goods along with accredited investors, we can offer to buy all kinds of jewelry after arriving at a fair value, considering the rarity, history and the material used for the jewelry – precious metals, gemstones, etc.

Vasco Assets are also premier luxury asset lenders who can offer you loans on your luxury assets. We offer complimentary valuation services. With a minimum loan size of $2,500, our rates are negotiable and fall anywhere between 2-10% with an average of 5%. Your assets are insured by Lloyd’s and Partners, London, England for twice the loan amount, and are stored in secure vaults.  

If you are looking to raise funds either by selling your jewelry or through luxury asset lending, contact Vasco Assets today by calling us at 949.679.2300 or 800.688.2994, or by writing to us at info@vascoassets.com.