Count bead bracelets, jade, luxury watches and designer toys by "money spent," not "money saved"

Cost

Free. Just don't count "it may be worth more later" among your reasons for buying it. The hard part is holding back from adding budget for "holding value."

What you get

First, the buying side. The tax rates in the Consumption Tax Items and Rates Table (《消费税税目税率表》) are as follows. "High-end watches": 20%. Under "precious jewelry and jade": gold and silver jewelry, platinum jewelry, and diamonds and diamond jewelry are 5%. Other precious jewelry and jade are 10%. "High-end watches" is defined as "all kinds of watches with a sale price (excluding value-added tax) of 10000 CNY or more each." Next, the cashing-out side, based on the Pawn Management Measures (《典当管理办法》). Article 36: the pawn term may not exceed 6 months. Article 37 concerns the pawn loan interest rate, meaning the interest on the money the pawnshop lends you. This interest is converted from the People's Bank of China's published 6-month statutory loan rate and the pawn term. Interest may not be deducted in advance, meaning it can't be taken out first from the money paid to you. Article 38: for movable-property pledge pawns (pawning things such as watches and jade), the monthly comprehensive fee rate may not exceed 42‰ of the loan, and the comprehensive fees charged each month are no more than 4.2% of the amount borrowed. For real estate mortgages it is 27‰, and for pledges of property rights 24‰. Article 40: if within 5 days after the term ends you neither redeem nor renew, the pledge is forfeited and the item no longer waits for you to redeem it. Article 43: forfeited items with an appraised value of 30,000 (3万) CNY or more may be entrusted for auction. Auction proceeds first cover the auction costs and the loan principal and interest. Whatever is left is returned to the pawner, and any shortfall is still claimed from the pawner (national)

Notes

When pawning, work out the numbers: the monthly comprehensive fee cap is 42‰ of the loan, which over a year comes to about half of the loan, and the loan interest is calculated separately. This "about half the loan a year" figure is a rough calculation of multiplying the monthly fee rate by 12, for judging the order of magnitude and not an exact annual rate. The tax rates and fee rates are numbers written out in the rules. But whether "this kind of thing appreciates in the long run" has no official statistic to cite, and this book makes no predictions and comments on no category. What it stops is only the part of the reasoning that treats consumption as investment: liking it and enjoying wearing it is fine if you buy it as consumption; adding to the budget with the reasons "holds value" or "will sell higher later" is where the money is lost. Gold also has two sides: investment gold bars bought and sold by the gram are not the same as jewelry sold by the piece. The price of jewelry includes design fees and labor fees, which are usually not counted on buyback. The listing price on a second-hand platform is not the transaction price, so don't take it as the market.

Evidence grade

A : Specific numbers from meta-analyses, large cohorts or randomized trials; for law and policy, the statute or official text.

Sources

1. 国务院 (2008). 中华人民共和国消费税暂行条例（国务院令第 539 号，附《消费税税目税率表》）. https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/2008-11/14/content_1795.htm
2. 财政部、国家税务总局 (2006). 关于调整和完善消费税政策的通知（财税〔2006〕33 号）. http://www.mof.gov.cn/zhengwuxinxi/zhengcefabu/2006zcfb/200805/t20080524_34758.htm
3. 商务部、公安部 (2005). 典当管理办法（2005 年第 8 号令，第三十六、三十七、三十八、四十、四十三条）. https://www.gov.cn/gongbao/content/2005/content_93074.htm

Translated from the Chinese original. Original book, section 5, tip 33. This section is about money and spending. It is general information, not financial or investment advice. Content may be out of date and rules differ by place. When you actually deal with an agency, a doctor or a court, follow what local officials, doctors and lawyers tell you. Disclaimer