What is a Pawn and What is the Difference Between Pawning and Selling?
Too many times I have had customers come up to me with a piece of jewelry or a firearm and tell me that they wish they didn’t have to get rid of their item, but they needed a bill paid and didn’t have any other option than to “pawn” their valuables and never see them again. When I hear that they want to keep their item and think that pawning means that they must lose it, I jump at the opportunity to let them know that they have options!
A lot of people are not sure what pawning is or what the difference between pawning and selling is.
I am here to explain!
What does it mean to pawn an item?
Pawning is a collateral loan. If you are in need of a small loan for gas money or a larger loan to take care of a mortgage payment, you can get it by pawning an item of value such as gold and diamond jewelry, firearms, luxury handbags, electronics, and even cars, boats, and motorcycles. The list of items you can pawn goes on, but remember that the more value an item has, the higher the loan amount will be.
If you want to come back in and pick up your item, then you will be pawning it. This means that you will bring in an item that we will look up and let you know how much we can loan on it. Once we inform you of the loan amount that we can provide, and it is agreed upon, we will enter both your and the item’s information into our system. We will explain what the payback amount is and when the item needs to either be picked up or extended. The great thing about pawning an item with us is that if you aren’t able to afford to pick it up within the 30 day time period, you can make an interest payment and extend it out 30 more days! Our interest amount is 25% of the loan, so if you are getting an $80 loan and you can’t pay the full $100 to pick it up within the 30 days, you can pay an extension of $20.
All that is left of the pawn process at this point is to sign and thumbprint a pawn ticket and you get cash in hand, on the spot. There are no credit checks or wait periods involved.
Once you come back to pick up your item, you pay back the loan, and any interest accrued, in cash, and receive your item back. If you decide not to pick up your item, after the period of the agreement has ended, it will be priced and sold in store.
What is the Difference between Pawning and Selling?
Selling an item means that you have no desire to get it back and are forfeiting ownership in turn for cash. Pawning is a loan on an item that you intend on coming back and picking up
If you are in need of getting a quick and hassle-free loan, contact one of our four Loan Star Pawn locations here.
You can also shop our selection of items for sale here!