Honesty is their best policy

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Breaking new ground: Levi and Heng with their wooden collection box and a bracelet at their shop in Gurney Plaza in Penang. 

GEORGE TOWN: There are no workers at this stall at Occupy Beach Street here because it is a business solely based on the trust of its customers.

Next to the unattended products – bracelets, necklaces, beads and other trinkets – are a sign and a box for buyers to put their money in.

The owners of the “Honesty Shop”, 28-year-old Joshua Levi Rasen and his girlfriend Heng Cher Gee, 25, realised that customers were not comfortable when they approached them to sell the items and decided to try a different strategy.

“We set up a display shelf, the sign and the box. The price tags are there. They just need to put the payment into it,” he said Joshua.

The stall is open on Sundays.

“Most of my customers are honest and trustworthy but there have been times when people put in less the prices stated,” he added.

Joshua and Heng also own another shop called WTF (Worth The Fun) in Gurney Plaza, which was opened in December last year.

Joshua, who quit school at the age of 15, said there were workers at the shop in Gurney Plaza, in line with regulations set by the mall’s management.

“However, we also have a “honesty corner” where we place bracelets and necklaces.

“Customers can put their money in the wooden box in front of the display shelf after taking the items,” he said.

Joshua, who once worked as an assistant manager of a food and beverage outlet in 2010, is also an author.

He wrote a book on mixing cocktails titled The Art of Mixology for Dummies (Kindle version) which is available on Amazon.com.