A Philadelphia pawn shop works like an ATM machine, credit card and storage facility all in one. In today’s downward economy, people are turning to local pawn shops to make money on valuables they no longer want or need at a lower interest rate than any credit card could ever give them.
People are losing their jobs or if they have a job, finding it difficult to make ends meet from paycheck to paycheck and therefore need a place where they could make a few extra bucks without going to the bank, which would probably turn them down because of their credit. In addition, banks do not make smaller loans which many people need to pay utility bills or mortgage payments. Pawn shops allow individuals 18 years of age and older, with a valid ID, to sell Gold for cash or other valuables such as sporting goods, firearms, musical instruments, power tools, computers and laptops, digital cameras and camcorders and DVDs and CDs.
Pawn shops are structured in such a way that they can make loans on valuables, with a 3% to 5% interest rate, for 30 days without credit checks and holding only the valuables as collateral. If at the end of the 30 days the person who owns the valuable has not returned with the loan money and the interest, then the pawn shop has the right to sell the valuable in their store to recoup their money. Some states require the pawn shop to wait an extra 30 days before the pawn shop places the valuable on their sales floor in order to give the owner of the valuable time to raise the loan and interests money.
Selling Gold to a pawn shop is also like a storage facility because a lot of times pawnshops are safer than a person’s home if there has been a rash of burglaries in the neighborhood. Many times people will take their valuable jewelry to a pawn shop for cash because there have been burglaries in their neighborhood and leave them there until the thief has been apprehended.
