11/3/2013 by D. Cammarota
What is a Pawnshop?
In the most simplistic terms, a Pawn Shop is a business that engages in collateral-based lending. Given this, it also sells items that have been left by borrowers and most Pawn Shops buy items outright for sale. The practice of collateral-based lending has been around since ancient times, but became a popular enterprise in Italy in the Middle Ages. In the beginning, pawning was practiced as an act of charity by the Franciscan Monks who lent money on tangible goods without charging interest. It has been reported that this enterprise was picked up on by the famous Italian banking family, the Medici's who then turned it into a for-profit business.
Pawn Shops have grown by leaps and bounds in the United States - especially in the last 5 years. We are very familiar with the famous Pawn Shop in Las Vegas depicted in the hit reality television show Pawn Stars. A Pawn Shop in GA is credited with beginning one of the first on line pawn shops and a Pawn Shop in LA recently helped police nab a burglary suspect by following the trail of stolen goods. And, if you're looking for a Pawn Shop in Florida, you don't need to look far as the latest consensus shows Dade County Florida having more pawn shops than any other country due to the flailing economy.
Whether you are looking for a famous Pawn Shop in Las Vegas, a revolutionary on line Pawn Shop in GA, a heroic Pawn Shop in LA or a newly opened Pawn Shop in Florida, you will certainly have no trouble finding one. Pawn Shops are a fixture of the American business landscape and will surely continue to grow be so for centuries to come.
Comments (5)
steve webb #ace auto pawn paducah, ky on 1/12/2014
Pawnshops have basically came out of the closet in recent years with shows like Hard Core Pawn, and Pawn Stars. The tightening of credit at banks and lending institutions and a real not caring attitude towands small loan customers have made pawnshops the poor man's bank .
Steve on 8/6/2014
Pawn shops have certainly flourished in recent years. The problem is, as the number of shops increases, so do their prices. I used to shop pawn shops for the bargains. Now I can go to Walmart or Costco or any number of retailers and generally buy new items for the same or sometimes less than pawn brokers are getting. Don't get me wrong, there are bargains out there and there is always room for negotiation but they seem to have taken the fun out of ii when everyone wants to be a TV star.
Robert Shoptaw on 9/1/2014
Great online community . Support your local pawn dealers. Robert Shoptaw 857-255-9841
Uday on 9/26/2014
I can't imagine ever hainvg to take out a payday loan especially. They lead to getting hardly any money back because of the astronomical interest. I think your insurance for saving money is keep your credit clean and have a normal job that pays direct deposit.
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Mark F on 12/30/2013
Love Pawnshops, own a pawnshop in LOck Haven PA www.lockhavenexchange.com. Come see me and love Pawn Stars too by the way.