Spare a thought for the well-to-do ladies of Hong Kong, who are resorting to pawning off their designer handbags when cash flow falters.

An enterprising company called Yes Lady is offering a service whereby women can bring in their designer handbags and use them to secure an immediate loan of up to 80% of the bag’s value. Needless to say, only certain brands need apply: Gucci, Chanel, Hermès or Louis Vuitton will get you the quick buck, with Prada only making it in by the skin of its teeth – must work harder, Miuccia!

For those of you who don’t understand how pawning works (it was a mystery to us too til today), it’s like a moneylender with scandalously high rates (4% for Yes Lady - but it must be paid back within four months)  which takes your prized stuff and sells it on at a much higher price if you fail to pay back the loan. Makes Wonga.com look almost beatific.

Most of the Hong Kong ladies who use the service manage to get their prized handbags back, including the woman who borrowed US$20,600 against her Birkin bag whilst her stocks were tied up. The Wall Street Journal reports, however, that lots of Yes Ladies have so many designer handbags that they don’t care whether they get them back, probably using the 80% value loan to put towards a new bag.

We’ve got a whole stash of jazzy beaded clutches gathering dust under our beds that could do with being put to the same use…