Gas And Gold Prices Are Driving Pensacolians To Pawn Shops
June 5th, 2008, 4:28 pm Hobby Shops
Jewelry, televisions, garden tools, generators, bicycles, motorcycles, fax machines, computers, vacuum cleaners, a bread-maker, tennis rackets, leather jackets and … crutches?
“Hey, I even have a wheelchair in the back. People bring all kinds of weird things,” says Darby, leaning on the counter of Interstate Pawn on Olive Road in Ferry Pass. “It’s a blessing to have a little bit of everything.”
Every item has a history. The Matchbox toy cars — was the owner a child who outgrew them or an adult who collected them as a hobby but came upon tough times? The tools for sale? Most were pawned by workers who have no work. That’s sad.
People trickle in to look at new cellular phones and used DVD players and golf clubs as well as to pawn or sell items. We’re not just talking about low-income people, either. Darby has seen people in $70,000 vehicles stop by to sell used DVDs.
Gas and gold are two elements driving business at pawn shops as Pensacolians face a faltering economy and rising prices.
Gas prices make them not only need money but also buy bicycles and motorcycles to save on fuel. Demand for gold prompts people to cash in on their jewelry, which a pawnbroker can resell in pieces or melt down for scrap, depending on price fluctuations.
“What’s been keeping me alive is gold and scrap gold,” says Darby, who bought the shop with a partner in December after managing another pawnshop. He’s so upbeat that he may open a second pawnshop.
But while hard times for individuals can be good times for pawnshops, there are downsides, too.
So many people are looking to pawn or sell video game equipment that “It won’t be worth a flip in a couple months,” he said.
And while a weak economy encourages people to pawn or sell items, it deters them from buying. With more than a dozen pawnbrokers in the Pensacola area, some customers make a circuit, trying to negotiate the best deals.
Tags: bread maker, crutches, economy, fuel demand, game, gold prices, good time, Hobby, machines computers, matchbox toy cars, new cellular phones, pawnbroker, pawnbrokers, pawnshop, pawnshops, price fluctuations, scrap gold, tennis, tennis rackets, two elements, vacuum cleaners, video game equipment, weird thingsRelated posts
