If you need to come up with something to pawn for 50 dollars at your average pawn shop then you will want to read this article
I get questions like this one all of the time.
People will randomly call up and simply asking “Hey, what can I pawn for 50 dollars?”
Really, when I think about what the person on the other end of the phone is going through and where their head may be at, it makes sense that they are more concerned about getting a target dollar amount than they are what they have to pawn to get there.
On top of it, I know that people who ask me this type of question are normally in a pretty tough spot because they never seem to care about things like interest rates or due dates for when a loan would forfeit if they don’t pay on it.
Fortunately for people in these situations, it’s normally pretty easy to get 50 dollars from a pawn shop.
On a national level, the average pawn loan is roughly $150, for three times the amount that we are talking about here.
So keeping this in mind, it probably won’t take too much to get you there.
With that in mind, I’m going to law a little ground work to give yourself the best odds of hitting your 50 dollar target when you don’t have much to work with in term of collateral.
Coming up with 50 dollars from a pawn shop should be pretty easy. Even something as simple as that gold ring that you have had in your drawer for years might get the money you need from your average pawnbroker.
Some Basic Rules For Getting The Most Money Out Of The Least Amount Of Collateral At A Pawn Shop
In these scenarios, I often find that the people I’m talking to typically don’t have much to work with in terms of collateral and therefore they are in a tight spot to meet their goals.
If you are also in this spot, following these rules will also help you get the most leverage out of whatever you are working with.
Make Sure It’s Clean
Whatever you are talking to the pawn shop, make sure it’s clean and looking as new as possible.
The reason for this is that when pawn shops are evaluating collateral that comes through the doors, what they are really determining is how much they would be able to resell it for if you defaulted on the loan.
They will then make you an offer based on whatever price they come up with. If your items look new, you will probably get more for them. If they look old, dirty, and beat up – don’t expect the best results.
Make Sure You Have All Of The Parts
The next big thing that you have to do is to make sure that you have all of the parts.
If your item is missing various parts and pieces, it’s much less likely that a pawn shop will loan you the maximum amount, and for the same reasons that your items should be clean when you take them in.
If a pawn shop has to find things like batteries, or a charger, or cords for whatever you are taking into them, then that will be an additional expense for them, which will come directly out of whatever amount they would have offered you had the item(s) been complete.
Make Sure It’s Fully Charged If It’s Something That Needs To Be To Work
When a pawn shop takes something in, they want to make sure that it works.
Because of that, if what you are taking them needs to be charged to power on and demonstrate that it is in good working order, then make sure you do that.
If a pawn shop can’t determine that you item works, they will offer you far less for it, or worse yet, not take it in at all.
Items You Can Typically Pawn For 50 Dollars
Okay, not this is what you’ve been waiting for. Let’s talk about some of the things that you can typically pawn and get at least 50 dollars out of at a pawn shop just about anywhere in the country.
TVs over 32 Inches
TVs are cheap these days. You can go to WalMart and get a brand new 32 inch TV for about $150. Because of that, pawn shops don’t loan as much on them as they used to, so if you need at least 50 dollars, make sure the TV is newer and over 32 inches.
TIP: Make sure you bring in the remote control (with batteries!) and the stand the the TV sits on. Trust me, your TV came with one, even if you can’t find it, try to.
Medium Weight Gold Jewelry
If you have a 10 or 14kt gold ring without any non-diamond stones in it, you can normally get around 50 dollars out of it as long as it is somewhere between 6-8+ grams in total weight.
If your ring is lighter than that, or has large non-diamond stones in it, then you probably won’t be able to hit your 50 dollar target, I’m sorry to say.
The same thing goes for bracelets, necklaces, pendants, etc. What pawn shops are looking for is the weight and purity in the gold. It might help you to read: How Do Pawn Shops Price Gold
Professional Brand Name Tool Combo Kits
If you have tools, they may work for you in this case, but they NEED to be a professional brand name in order to hit your 50 dollar goal.
What are professional brand names? Not Black N’ Decker, not Ryobi, not Craftsman.
We are talking about newer 20v Dewalt tools, newer Milwaukee tools, newer Makita tools, and maybe even newer Ridgid tools.
Other brands are far less likely to help you hit that 50 dollar target.
Newer Laptops In Perfect Working Condition
If you have a laptop that is at least 4 years old or newer and in good working condition, there is a good chance that you can get at least 50 dollars out of it.
If it’s older than that, the odds are against you. If it’s missing keys, is really dirty, or has a cracked case, forget it, it won’t happen.
Mind you, we are talking about full-sized laptops here. Mini-laptops aren’t going to cut it in most cases, but you never know. If it’s brand new, you may still be able to pull it off.
TIP: Be sure that you have the charger with you! Additionally, if you have any food crumbs in the laptop or anything along those lines, clean it up. Nobody wants to look at crumbs from a muffin that you ate 2 years ago.
Newer Brand Name & Model Cell Phones
I’m not talking about the “Free” phones you get when you sign up with a service provider.
We are talking about iPhones, most of Samsung’s newer phones, etc. if you have one of the cheap Samsung phones or a generic Android phone from 2013, forget it, you won’t hit your 50 dollar goal.
TIP: Make sure that your phone is fully charged and clean. Additionally, be sure that you take a phoen with a clean ESN as pawn shops typically don’t take phones that can’t be activated.
Newer Tablets
If you have a newer tablet, particularly an iPad, there’s a good chance that you will be able to get a 50 dollar loan on that.
If it’s more than about 2 years old (or 3-4 in an iPad’s case) then it’s unlikely that you will be able to get 50 dollars out of it, but it’s always worth trying.
If it is a 4G LTE enabled tablet, there’s a higher likelihood that you’ll be able to hit your 50 dollar target, so you may be able to go up to about 3 years old on Android tablets and still hit that 50 dollar mark – but it may be tough. This one is one the “Maybe” line.
TIP: Be sure that your tablet is fully charged and bring the cord/wall plug in with you! These are important to pawn shops and having them could seriously help your case when trying to negotiate a 50 dollar loan.
Those Are Just Some Ideas
This is by no means a complete list, but hopefully it will give you some ideas on what you can use to get a 50 dollar loan at a pawn shop.
If you follow the three rules I provided at the very top of this post, you will be far more likely to hit your target than if you didn’t, so keep that in mind as well.
