So when you are in a bind and you need a little cash to help get your through a rough spot, one of the things that you may think about doing is making a loan at a pawn shop for some quick cash.
That having been said, one of the most frequently asked questions by people whom have never worked with a pawn shop before is to find out how much a pawn shop will loan you, either on one specific item or overall.
Unfortunately there is no one easy answer to this question as it’s going to depend on a lot of things such as what you bring into the pawn shop and how comfortable the pawn broker is making a large loan.
Some pawn brokers have no problem what so ever making a $50,000 or even a $500,000 loan on the right item(s) but others would definitely tend to shy away from such a large loan if they could avoid it.
In other words, what we are saying here is that in terms of the maximum amount that a pawn shop will loan you on collateral, it’s really going to depend on the pawn shop and specifically the pawn broker in question and their comfort level with making these kind of very large loans.
If you want to know how much a pawn shop will loan your best bet is to simply go to them and ask most of the time. Be sure to follow the three tips at the bottom of this article for the best results.
Why Won’t Some Pawn Shops Loan Unlimited Amounts Of Money
You have to understand that in all pawn shops the loans themselves come with the very real risk of begin defaulted on or forfeiting the merchandise that the loan was made against.
So if a pawn broker makes a $50,000 loan against an item, whatever that item is is going to be very “High ticket” meaning that if the pawn broker then has to turn around and sell whatever it is because the loan defaulted, finding a buyer for it might be a problem.
Really this is just common sense if you think about it. It’s much easier to find 500 buyers for a $100 item than it is to find one buyer who is willing to throw down $50,000 at once. The reason is obvious of course – the number of people out there with $50,000 just laying around to spend on something that a pawn shop has aren’t very many. However, there are many more people that have $100 that they can spend on a TV or a Laptop if they need one for school or work.
On top of that, you also have to keep in mind that while the pawn shop is trying to sell that one huge $50,000 item all of the money that they have invested in it is tied up and can’t be used to make other, more profitable loans to others consumers. It’s like being able to see your money but not being able to touch or use it to run your business and that’s not a position that any pawn broker wants to be in.
How Much Will They Loan On Common Items
So now that we have that understood, let’s talk about common loans. You know, loans against items that all of us have around the house or have access to. How much will a pawn shop loan against these things?
Well, it’s actually a pretty easy question to answer to be honest.
You will want to take whatever you item is and look it up on a site like eBay.com. Now, you don’t want to look at the current auctions or the buy-it-now offers – those don’t mean anything really.
What you want to do is check the box next to “Sold” to look at just the sold listings. This is going to give you a real good idea of what items like yours have actually sold for on eBay in recent history.
When you are making this comparison, be sure that the item’s condition and completeness is the same as yours. In other words, if yours is all marked up and is missing parts, it won’t sell for the same amount as one in much better condition and that has all of the pieces with it.
Once you’ve got this number, most pawn shops will loan between 40-60% of whatever that figure is typically speaking. That’s just a baseline, industry average for the most part that is normally pretty consistent no matter where you go.
Sure there will be some pawn shops that pay a little more and some pawn shops that pay a little less but typically speaking it is right in this range.
How To Get Pawn Shops To Loan You More
Now then, if you want to put the odds in your favor and get the most money possible for your items then there are some simple rules that you can follow which will really help you get there.
Clean It Up – Whatever you are taking into the pawn shop should be free of any major marks, dirt, or anything on the surface that you can’t get off with a little cleaning. Doing this will make your item look much more appealing to the pawn shop and they may be likely to give you more money based on that alone.
Have All Of The Parts – If it’s a consumer electronics item for instance, make sure that you have the wall plug or charger and that the batteries are charged up before you get to the pawn shop. You want to be able to demonstrate that the item works properly and isn’t missing critical parts that the pawn shop would then have to go out and buy if they wanted to try to resell the item at a later point in time.
Bring Any Documentation Or Original Packaging – The idea here is to be able to show a pawn shop exactly what an item is and have it in as close to new condition as possible and as easily resalable as possible by having the original packaging. It might not seem like a big deal but it can go a long way. This is particularly true with something like a diamond and a GIA certification. If you have a GIA certification for the stone, the pawn shop will know exactly what it is and will probably be more comfortable making a more sizable loan based on that alone.
By following these three tips you should have a pleasant pawning experience and get the largest loan possible out of your merchandise.
