Umsatzverlust durch fehlerhafte Behandlung nicht eingelöster Pfandgegenstände und Überschüsse

Definition

When goods remain unredeemed after the loan period, pawnbrokers must follow specific procedures: goods must be sold for the "best price reasonably obtainable" and generally cannot be purchased by the pawnbroker themselves.[1] If items sell for more than the loan amount plus charges and reasonable selling costs, the surplus must be returned to the pawner if it exceeds a threshold (e.g. AUD 10), with the pawner usually having 12 months to claim it.[1] To comply and maximise returns, pawnshops must maintain accurate data linking each forfeited item to its original loan, charges, selling costs and sale proceeds, then identify and manage any surplus. In manual environments, common issues include: failure to recover all permitted selling costs due to poor documentation, mispricing of forfeited stock because original loan data is not easily visible, and mistakes in surplus calculations leading to excess funds left unclaimed or misapplied. These errors not only reduce effective recovery on defaulted loans but can create contingent liabilities if surpluses are not correctly held for customers. Specialist software explicitly offers functionality to "manage the entire process from initial pawn to final sale or redemption" including tracking of unredeemed goods and their sale outcomes, highlighting that this end-to-end linkage is both operationally complex and financially important.[1]

Why This Matters

The Pitch: Australian 🇦🇺 pawn operators in used and recyclable goods lose AUD 5,000–50,000 annually through mispricing of forfeited stock and miscalculated surpluses. Automation of loan-to-sale reconciliation, cost recovery and surplus tracking closes these revenue leaks.

Affected Stakeholders

Pawnbroker / Store Owner, Store Manager, Finance/Accounting, Sales Staff handling forfeited stock

Related Business Risks