Pawn Shop Loans
Uh-oh, it’s your Aunt Hazel’s birthday and you forgot, now you’ve
spent all your paycheck and have no money left to buy her that wonderful
present she deserves. What are you going to do? Maybe you could consider
a pawn shop loan.
A pawn shop loan is one in which the loan company, which is the pawn
shop, buys your goods from you, and you have a certain amount of time to
buy it back from them or they take ownership of them. Keep in mind, you
will not buy the merchandise back from the pawn shop for the same price
they gave you – it will be considerably higher. That’s how they make
their money.
The goods can include anything from TV sets to DVDs, and from guns to
jewelry. The amount of time to buy it back usually is a matter of a few
weeks. If you do not come back and pay back the loan to get your
goodies, they resell it to someone else for a tidy little profit.
So is it worth it to do this? The short answer is no, but everybody
has situations in their lives when they have to take desperate measures,
and if you feel certain you can purchase your goods back on time, a pawn
shop could actually be a helpful financial tool. But keep in mind, the
money end of the transaction always going to be in their favor.
Like most states that regulate payday loans, most also regulate pawn
shop interest rates. But, they are still very high and you will almost
always be charged the maximum interest rate allowed by law.
Often times, if you need more time before you can afford to get your
goods ‘out of hock’ you can simply go to the pawn shop and pay the
accumulated interested to buy yourself more time.
Oh, by the way, do not expect any pawn shop to give you what you
think your merchandise is worth. In other words, if you have a TV and
you’re certain it’s worth every bit of $300, you’ll be lucky if the pawn
shop gives you $50 for it. Also, they no longer take your ‘junk’. They
all seem to have gone the route of only buying quality ‘stuff’ so they
can resell it easier.
And along hose lines, you might think that buying stuff from a pawn
shop would be a real cash saver. Oh, contraire. There was a day when
that was true, but not so much any more. In fact, quite often you can
buy something new and better for about the same price or even a lower
price.
So, should you consider a pawn shop if you need some fast money to
buy Aunt Hazel that wonderful birthday present. Sure – as long as you
understand the terms and agreement and that you will come out a bit on
the short end. But, that sure beats disappointing your aunt, now doesn’t
it?
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