Consumers can leverage their possessions for cash at several types of stores. You’ve got consignment stores, thrift stores, and pawn shops.

But it can be hard to tell these options apart; what are the differences? What makes any one of these better than the others?

Read on to see how each type of store operates.

Consignment Stores

Before we compare thrift stores and pawn shops, we should also clarify what a consignment store is.

Consignment stores act as a sort of outsourced storefront for your items.

First, you bring in all the goods you’d like to consign. The store thoroughly inspects your items then creates a price list for all your items so you can decide if it's worth it. The store will then take your items and list them for sale. When your items sell, the store takes a small cut and pays you the rest as a check or sometimes in store credit. Occasionally, some stores will pay you a set amount up front instead.

Most of the time, your items are only listed for a specified period of time. If they don’t sell, the consignment shop will return them to you. Some will donate the items to charity.

To boil it down, you’re essentially paying a small fee to list your items for sale in a public place. It’s like a real-world eBay. 

Consignment stores exist for almost everything nowadays. As long as your items are in decent condition, you could make a good chunk of change selling it to a consignment store.

Thrift Stores

Thrift stores are often used interchangeable with consignment stores, but they are different in several ways.

First of all, items are donated rather than sold. You can’t earn much money donating to thrift stores, but qualified donations can save you money in the form of charitable donation tax write-offs.

Because items are donated, thrift stores don’t inspect items as rigorously. This is a good thing for both buyers and sellers. Sellers can offload more stuff they couldn’t at a consignment store or thrift shop and potentially save more on their taxes. Since thrift store get these items for free and don’t inspect them, they list them at rock-bottom prices, which is great for buyers.

Despite the low prices, buyers can find some hidden gems in thrift stores if they spend some time looking.

Pawn Shops

Pawnshops like Cash Express are different than consignment and thrift stores. They provide two methods of getting cash for your items:
Pawning items
Selling items

Pawning items the most common method. Rather than selling your items, you use them as collateral for a loan. The pawn shop will inspect your item to determine their value, then use this number to decide on a loan amount. They’ll also give you the length of the loan and calculate the total interest. All you have to do to get your items back is to pay the full balance of the loan plus interest within the time period set by the shop.

If you fail to do so, the worst that happens is the pawnshop takes possession of your items and resells them to other customers. No dings to your credit, no loan applications, no collections agencies, none of that.

Alternatively, you may be able to outright sell your item to a pawn shop. You may not make as much money as you could get through a pawn loan, though, because pawn loans are more profitable and flexible to pawn shops than buying and reselling. Think about it: you pay interest on pawn loans on top of the principal amount, earning the pawnshop money without sacrificing their loan amount. Fail to do so and they at least cover their bases by keeping the item and reselling it.

Need a pawn loan in the Philadelphia area? Just want to sell your items? Bring ‘em on into Cash Express! We’ll make sure to get money in your hand the same day you come in.

Since the dawn of time, people from every culture and country have occasionally found themselves a bit short on money. Fortunately, someone came up with a solution not too long after people first started needing fast cash - people could “pawn” their possessions as collateral for a quick and easy cash loan. Pawnbrokers hold onto the individual’s items, and in exchange, the borrower has a contractually-specified time period to pay the loan back plus interest. If they are unable to pay it back, the pawnbroker can take possession of the item and sell it to someone else.

Today, over 20 million people in the US visit one of the US’s 12,000+ pawn shops each year.

The Beginning of Pawn Shops

Rewinding 3,000 years, the first pawn shops emerged in Ancient China. They provided peasants a method of accessing short-term credit. At first, pawnbrokers didn’t operate as a shop; they ran their own independent operation. However, pawning soon came to be done mostly through pawn shops.

Moving over to Europe, pawnbroking exploded in popularity in ancient Greece and Rome. Many merchants pawned items in order to fund their new businesses.

As Europe entered the Medieval Age, the Catholic Church began to restrict pawn shops from charging interest for religious reasons. But the restriction wouldn’t last forever, as many began seeing the benefits of pawning in financing new business pursuits as well as helping the poor. It became so widespread that Queen Isabella of Spain allegedly funded Christopher Columbus’s expeditions by pawning her jewelry!

Leading up to and during the Industrial Age, clothing was the most valuable item for most of the working class. The working class almost always needed extra cash to pay the bills each week, so it became routine to pawn your clothes on Monday and retrieve them when you get paid on Friday, just in time to pay off the pawn loan.

We also see more regulation as we approach the modern age. Pawn shop borrowers tended to be poorer, which was correlated with more crime. That includes stealing items and pawning them. England combatted this with the Pawnbrokers Act of 1872, one of the first widespread pawn industry regulations in the modern era. This Act did a few major things:
Protect pawnbrokers from unknowingly accepting stolen goods
Set how much interest pawnbrokers can charge
Established several other guidelines for the industry

Pawn Shops Today

In just the last century, pawn shops have spread all over the United States. In the earlier part of the 20th century, during the Great Depression, banks were failing left and right. This left people in desperate need of cash with little option but to pawn their items, making the best of a terrible situation. Nowadays, you can find a pawn shop in basically any city or town. They serve not only as a banking alternative to those without a ban account, but also as a place for almost anyone to buy and sell rare and interesting items.

Still, they haven’t lost their connection to history. Antiques, jewelry, and other old but well-preserved items are highly sought after by most pawn shops. Some people try to make up stories about how valuable their items are, but pawn shops have become adept at sniffing out fakers.

If you have some rare or valuable item and you’re in need of some quick cash, why not bring it on down to Cash Express?

On the surface, selling your item at a pawn shop seems simple enough. However, if you’ve never done been in a pawn shop at all (let alone sold an item), the process of going into a pawn shop and confidently negotiating your price can seem a little scary. On top of that, the media tends to portray pawn shops in a negative light despite the strict rules and regulations all pawnshops must follow. We’ve created a beginner’s guide to help ease those fears and show you exactly how you can make money selling your items at a pawn shop. Keep on reading to find out more.

Pawn Shop Basics. Pawnshops aren’t as complex as you think. You bring in an item and the pawnbroker will evaluate it and quote you a price. If they aren’t able to do so (usually items the broker doesn’t see often), they’ll call in a professional appraiser to further evaluate the item and arrive at a price.

Best Items to Sell. Jewelry is a favored item among pawn shops, especially if it has some gold in it. Pawnshops can melt down the jewelry and sell the gold raw, making these pieces so valuable.

Antiques are another hot commodity. Pawnshops are drawn to well-preserved old things like old firearms, coins, and other knick-knacks.

Pawnshops love electronics, too. It can be anything: a computer, a game console, a smartphone, etc. These items tend to be in high demand, so pawn shops know they can resell it and make some cash.

When to Sell Your Items. We’d suggest that you only sell items you don’t get much utility or sentimental value out of, although ultimately that’s up to you. Sure, you can sell us your family heirloom, but think of the potential emotional turmoil.

But what if you’re in a tight spot financially? Are you just supposed to go bankrupt?

You’re in luck because you can also get a loan from a pawn shop within a day by putting your items up as collateral. All you have to do is pay back the loan by the deadline or the pawnshop takes your item. No dings to your credit or anything.

Pawnshops may be more willing to loan you money too because they can recoup their money and earn interest on it.

Preparing Your Items for Pawning. First, research your item online to see what other people are selling it for. If you gather some hard data, you’ll strut into price negotiations with more confidence, possibly landing you a higher payout. You’ll want to research pawn shops as well to find the most reputable stores.

Before bringing your item in, get it into peak condition. Clean them up and make them look and function like new or as close to new as possible.

For electronics, take every measure to wipe your personal data. You can never be too safe when it comes to sensitive information.

Negotiation Tips. Remember: come in prepared. Know what your items are worth but also have a goal price in mind.

“Less is more” is the name of the game in pawnshop negotiations. Talk as little as possible to avoid giving away any information about the price or value of the item, as this will affect the pawnbroker’s offer. Let the pawnbroker make an offer first because otherwise, they’ll work to pay as little as possible if they have an idea of the item’s value.

Don’t be scared to walk out if you don’t get what you want. You can always visit another pawn shop.

While you read our beginner’s guide, did any items you might want to sell come to mind? Bring them into Cash Express if you’re in the Philadelphia area! We’re especially interested if you have any precious metals, antiques, watches, tools, or similar items. Bring them in to Cash Express and get a fair price on your items fast!

A few entrepreneurs have enough money to comfortably invest in new ventures. Most, however, need to rely on debt in some way or another. In fact, even many wealthy entrepreneurs take out loans for new ventures if they think they can earn a return that beats their interest rate. 

But those wealthy people tend to have banks who are ready and willing to lend them money at a moment’s notice. For the aspiring entrepreneur who isn’t starting from a position of immense wealth or good credit, securing a business loan from a bank isn’t always possible. So where could you possibly get funding from your business without begging for money from friends and family?

Believe it or not, you can get financing from pawn shops like Cash Express without jumping through various hoops like loan applications or credit checks by putting up your possessions as collateral. Unfortunately, some media have portrayed pawn shops in a negative light, which may make you hesitant to loan your valuables to your local pawn shop. The reality is that they’re regulated by several federal statutes, not to mention state and local laws. The majority of pawn shops are just as well-run as any other store. 

Anyways, here’s how a pawn shop loan works:

First, you bring in the items you’d like to use as collateral on your loan. The pawn shop will evaluate each item and quote you your total loan amount. The loan amount won’t be the total value of the item, as you’re borrowing money rather than selling your item for profit. If you accept the loan, make sure to get a pawn ticket as they serve as both your receipt and a summary of your loan terms.

Simply repay the loan balance plus any fees before the deadline. If you don’t, though, the worst that happens is the pawn shop takes possession of your item. Most people opt to repay and get the item back, but failing to repay the loan brings you no consequences other than losing the item - no credit damage, no collections agencies, no foreclosure, none of that.

You might be doubting the viability of using a pawn shop loan to finance your business for whatever reason. There’s no way successful entrepreneurs finance new ventures through pawn shops, is there?

Wrong! Many wealthy entrepreneurs got to high-end pawn shops put up their luxury items like a fancy watch collection to secure the large loans required for their new ventures (like real estate deals) without having to go through the formal loan process.

Also, pawn shops might be more willing to give you a loan because it could be more profitable for them. Best case scenario, they get their money back and earn interest without having to sell anything. Worst case scenario, they keep your item for a fraction of its value.

Philadelphia has its fair share of pawn shops, but none can get you the cash you need for your new venture as fast as Cash Express. Just bring in the items you want to use as collateral; we’ll evaluate them and quote you a fair price fast so you can walk out with your loan the same day, ready to dive into your new business. After all, time is money, and few know that better than successful entrepreneurs.

Pawn shops serve their local communities, meaning they’re much more likely to only buy items that they’re local buyers are demanding. Thus, not all pawn shops will accept the same items. A pawn shop in one city may accept a drastically different selection of items than a shop in another city.

Despite the local focus of pawn shops, there are some items that no pawn shop can resist. These items vary in their value, but virtually every pawn shop including Cash Express will be more than happy to make you an offer on these items. If you have any of these and you’re in Philadelphia, stop by our shop!

Best Items You Can Pawn For $100

Electronic devices. Who doesn’t have several old devices sitting in a box somewhere? Basically, every home has some place where they retire their old electronics to, but you could clear that space out by selling them to pawn shops. Pawn shops won’t give you a ton of money per electronic device, but if you never use them, all they’re doing is taking up space in your house. May as well sell them.

Smartphones. Smartphones are evolving faster by the day, yet modern living virtually requires you to own one. Similar to cars, not everyone can afford the newest smartphone and would rather get a used one from a pawn shop. You can take advantage of the used phone market and make a few hundred dollars fast by selling your phone to a pawn shop.

Video games/consoles. Selling a few old games will make you a quick $100. If you love your games too much to part with them, consider selling your old consoles instead. Many new consoles are backward compatible with a lot of old games, so you can sell off your older consoles for a lot of money and still play the classics you grew up on.

Power tools. Brand new power tools aren’t affordable for most casual DIY’ers or handymen. Power tools are built to last a very long time, though, making used tools a much more affordable choice without sacrificing durability. You can easily make $100 or more just by selling an old power tool to a pawn shop.

Best Items You Can Pawn For $500

Firearms. Americans love their guns. Pawn shops are cashing in on this by offering healthy prices on firearms you no longer want. If you have a handgun or rifle that hasn’t seen and/or won’t see action anytime soon, Cash Express will hand you hundreds of dollars for it.

Wristwatches. Watches require the right materials and skilled labor, making them pretty valuable on the surface. However, watches are also a form of expression; they hold sentimental and psychological value, which can make people perceive them to be very valuable. You can get more than you’d think at a pawn shop if you have an elegant watch from a reputable brand.

Best Items You Can Pawn For $1,000+

Jewelry. Everyone loves some shiny jewelry, but not everyone likes paying the full price. For you, that means a lot of pawn shops will get you a good price on your jewelry. They can then mark up the jewelry and resell it to someone else for less than it’d cost at a jewelry store. Everyone wins.

Gems. Diamonds, in particular, are highly sought-after due to their rarity. If you have any diamonds you don’t want, bring them to Cash Express as soon as possible. You’ll walk out with more cash than you know to handle.

Precious Metals. Precious metals like gold and silver are always in high demand; just flip on your TV and you’ll see the commercials promising to pay you tons of cash today for your precious metals. But why are we so willing to buy them from you? Well, precious metals can increase in value over time like an investment. On top of that, we can easily exchange these metals for cash. 

Every so often, you’ll find lots of old junk around your house you simply don’t use or need anymore. You could throw it out, but why not make some money off it? Tons of people use eBay to clear out their old junk and pocket some extra cash; however, eBay isn’t always the best option. In fact, your local pawn shop (such as Cash Express) could be a great way to clear out your home and make money fast.

Now, don’t get us wrong; eBay is a solid place to offload old stuff for cash thanks to its massive number of users all over the world. You’re sure to find several interested buyers for almost anything your find around your home, and they don’t have to be local either. Also, you can command good prices since you have so many buyers available.

eBay isn’t without a few drawbacks, though. 

As a seller, you’ll have to pay fees to both list your item and sell it. You may have to relist your item several times if no one buys it, and it may not even sell at all. You’re also responsible for packaging the item and shipping it to the buyer. There’s always a chance that the buyer isn’t satisfied and brings a complaint about you or your item to eBay, causing you headache and delaying your payment.

Negotiating on price is difficult on eBay. Many buyers aren’t going to budge because they can’t be completely sure of all your item’s details without seeing it in person first. Even if you create an auction listing for your item, you can’t really negotiate once someone locks in the best bid. You have to take the winning bid most of the time.

Pawn shops are so much simpler if you’re just looking clear out your home and get your money fast. There’s no waiting around for your item to sell; we appraise it on the spot and have an offer for you that same day. Since you’ll be selling your item face-to-face, we’re open to price negotiation as well. 

Unlike eBay, pawn shops can offer you loans as well using your item(s) as collateral if you don’t want to part with your stuff. All you do is bring in your item(s) to Cash Express. We’ll appraise them and offer you the amount we appraise them for. If you accept our offer, you walk out with your loaned cash in hand within an hour! You the make payments within an agreed-upon time period. These loans don’t involve credit checks, complicated applications, or waiting. Your credit score is never at risk if you fail to pay back the loan; we simply take possession of the item.

Are you looking to get rid of your old stuff and pad your bank account while you’re at it? Or maybe you need a quick loan but don’t have time to jump through hoops? Cash Express proudly serves customers in the Philadelphia area. Bring your items in and we’ll get you your cash today!  

Ideally, everyone would have all the money they need all the time and no one would need to borrow money.

But let’s face it: everyone comes up short on cash sometimes. 

When this happens to you, you’re usually stuck with one of two options: either pawn off your valuables to a place like Cash Express or take out a short-term loan.

Deciding to sell valuable can be hard if they have sentimental value attached to them. Imagine how heartbreaking it must be to trade in a family heirloom just to hold you over until your next paycheck! Most people aren’t willing to do that. 

And then there are also people who don’t really have any valuables to sell. Both these people and those who don’t want to sell precious items are left with one choice: seeking out a loan.

However, getting a loan when you have either a bad credit history or no credit history at all is difficult. Most lenders don’t want to take a chance on people who are bad with debt nor do they want to hand out money to those who haven’t proved their creditworthiness yet.

You get stuck in a vicious cycle of “I need to build credit to get credit, but to build credit I need to get credit first”.

One solution is to seek out a credit builder loan. These loans let people with no credit history prove creditworthiness by paying monthly for the loan and only getting access to the money once it’s paid off. They aren’t built for getting you money right away, unfortunately, so these won’t serve you well in a pinch.

You could try for a personal loan, but the application process takes a few days since lenders have to process your application and perform credit checks. Not only does this take a few days, but good luck getting a personal loan without any credit history.

Credit unions are more willing to take chances on you if you have a questionable credit history, but they tend to have restrictions on the amount you can borrow. If you need a lot of money quickly, credit unions might not be able to provide you with the funds.

Is there any way to quickly get a loan with no credit to avoid selling off precious items just to keep you afloat?

Believe it or not, you can actually use your prized possessions to get the money you need without selling them using a pawn loan from a pawn shop like Cash Express. We hold your items as collateral for the loan so you don’t have to sell them to get the money.

Almost any item will do, whether you have a rare coin, an old book, a fancy watch, or even a car! 

To get a pawn loan, first bring your item or items you’d like to take the loan against into our shop. We’ll appraise the value of the items to determine how much we’ll loan you, just like we would if you were selling it to us. If you accept our offer, you can walk out with cash in hand the same day. All you need to do to get your items back is repay the pawn loan and we’ll return them to you.

There are no credit checks or lengthy application process for pawn loans. Just walk in, get your items appraised, and walk out with your money within an hour or two.

So if you don’t have a credit history and find yourself in a financial pinch, bring your items to Cash Express and we’ll see if we can get you the money you need.

Power tools are essential for DIY projects around the house, as well as fixing things that break. Anything from plumbing issues, to building a desk from scratch, to managing your landscape is nearly impossible without the right power tools.

But new power tools carry a hefty price. If you need a whole set of power tools, new ones could set you back a paycheck or two. A quality drill alone could run you over $200! When you’re trying to do some home improvement on a budget, that just isn’t feasible.

Buying used power tools at pawn shops makes it easy to build up your toolset without going broke. Most pawn shops will have exactly what you need for much less than what you’d find if you were buying brand new tools. In addition, non-power tools like screwdrivers and hammers are an even better deal. Prices on these non-power tools can be so low that you won’t even notice the impact on your wallet.

Many people in the market for power tools hesitate on purchasing used tools due to safety and reliability concerns. However, power tools are designed to last for the long haul. They’re engineered to take a lot of punishment over many years, which is part of the reason they’re so expensive as new in the first place.

If a power tool is at the end of it’s life, then it’s probably made it’s way to the garbage instead of a shelf. And then of course non-power tools last even longer due to not needing a power source to use them.

Cash Express has a ton of power tools that you can get for much less than you could get them at a home improvement store. Drills, circular saws, and tape measures are just some of the things we have available. You can walk out with the toolset you need within an hour or so without breaking the bank.

If you have bought power tools and no longer need them, we can get you a good price for them too. That way, you can recoup some of the money you spent on those new tools and offload things you no longer need.

So for those of you looking to do some projects around the house, pay a visit to a pawn shop like Cash Express to grab the tools you need without breaking the bank. And if you have tools you no longer need, we’ll gladly get you a fair price on those as well.

It can be surprising how quickly people can accrue jewelry that may end up being unwanted in their lives, and then not know what to do with it. It is difficult to just “get rid of” something that could be worth a lot of money potentially, or might have lost the sentimental value that was attached to it. Whether you need some extra cash, want to clean out and refresh your jewelry collection, or are trying to downsize, a pawn shop might be the best option for you. Rather than trying to assess the value on your own and wait for someone looking for a bargain to purchase on eBay or Craigslist, your local pawnbroker will be able to give you a payout on the spot, and a fair price since they will be knowledgeable about jewelry value. 

So, how much will you get for your jewelry? It depends on a couple things, most importantly quality of materials. First, let’s talk about gold. You will always be able to make a decent sum of money from gold jewelry, although the exact value can rise and fall according to the market. 24 karat gold will of course bring in more money than something that is only gold-plated. But any kind of gold jewelry will always be popular, and if you are in need of money or want to get rid of some jewelry that does not fit your style a pawn broker will be able to help you out.

Watches can bring in a tidy sum of money, especially if they are a popular or luxury brand name. Make sure that the watch is in good condition and working order. Patek Philippe, Piaget, Rolex, Seiko, and Swatch will all be good options to pawn since they are in demand, as well as other big brand names. 

Diamonds are always a great option for pawning. They will always have a relatively high value in the market and are a popular item to buy, so a pawn broker will give you a good price for yours. When you’re thinking about the value of your diamond, consider the four C’s. That is, use the clarity, cut, carat, and color to come up with a price estimation. This is a good system for considering most gems like rubies and tanzanite, as well. 

Antiques always depend on the location. Make sure to look for a pawn shop that has a good demographic for selling antiques, or else neither of you will be able to land on an appealing deal. 

In preparation for taking your jewelry to the pawn store, there is a little preparation you can do to make the process smooth for everyone. Evaluate how much your items are worth in the market, and then understand that a pawn broker may not be able to offer you the top price if the item isn’t selling particularly well in your area. Then, make sure to clean all of your jewelry to present them in the best light and quality possible. Then, sit back and let your pawn broker take care of your unwanted jewelry!

As the weather warms up, the birds start chirping again, and the flowers bloom, spring brings a feeling of refresh. Many take this opportunity to comb through their houses and get a little spring cleaning out of the way. There are a lot of ways to purge what you don’t want from your house, but have you thought of making a little cash on the side? Not by having a yard sale and simply hoping that someone will come by and take an interest in something — you can take your items to a pawn shop and ensure that you will be getting a fair exchange.

Pawn shops aren’t just for short term loans. You can sell your items to your local pawnbroker and save yourself a lot of hassle. Before you bring in your unwanted goods, though, there are a couple of things to consider. Pawnbrokers are running a business selling items that have more than just sentimental value, which means they typically will not offer a high price for “collectible” things like Beanie Babies, baseball pennants, Hot Wheels cars, Precious Moments figurines, marbles, and Cabbage Patch Kids. 

It’s also important to realize that pawn shops are not a place to get a few dollars out of your old trashed stuff. Pawnbrokers are trying to offer quality items for their customers and will not want your broken, torn, stained, or nonfunctional castoffs. Vintage doesn’t just mean old, so try and make sure you present your items in the best quality possible by cleaning them off.

Pawn shops consider their customer base when deciding what to buy, based on what sells well in their area. Prices in higher demand will, of course, go for a higher price. This varies from location to location, but items that always tend to go for a higher value include antique Fiestaware, American Girl dolls (quality is key here — dolls in the box garner the highest value), vintage video games, modern electronics like Apple products, depression glass, antique toys, sports memorabilia (autographs increase value), and gold and silver jewelry. So try going through your attic for those old instruments and childhood memorabilia taking up space, or clean out your garage and take power tools you don’t need to your local pawnbroker.

You could attempt to put your items on Craigslist and eBay and hope for the best, spend a lot of time and effort advertising on Depop and Poshmark only to pay for shipping, or drag all of your unwanted items out for a garage sale that will only attract bargain hunters. Instead, you can turn your clutter into immediate cash by taking it over to your local pawn broker, whose job it is to know the value of anything people bring in and give a good deal. Gather up those unwanted items and give them a try! You’ll walk away with a clean house, a clear mind, and a pocketful of cash.