A: A pawn is a collateral or personal asset loan. It’s a loan that is given to a customer on an item the customer has that has current value. The item is held by the pawnbroker until the loan is paid off.
A: A person who lends money on an asset. A pawnbroker also purchases merchandise and acts as reseller.
A: You can pawn or sell almost anything of value that the store can resell.
Items available to pawn or sell (also known as collateral or assets) include:
Items we do not pawn or purchase include:
A: We base all our pawn and purchase amounts on the used goods market for our area. Our employees are trained to research the used value of merchandise in order for us to offer you the most money possible for your item.
A: Yes. Since a pawn is a collateral or personal asset loan and does not affect your credit, you may have multiple items pawned at the same time.
A: When pawning or selling an item to the pawn shop, you are stating that the item is yours to pawn or sell, and by pawning or selling the item you are entering into a legal contract. The pawn shop is required, by law, to gather information from your Government issued picture I.D. and turn that information into local law enforcement at the close of each day.
A: Anyone who is 18 years of age and has a valid government issued identification card can pawn or sell merchandise that is their property.
A: Pawns are for a period of 30 days. We must legally hold your item(s) for an additional 60 days past the 30 day contract; therefore, you have a total of 90 days that you can have your item(s) in pawn without paying a fee before you are in danger of losing the item(s). However, a fee will be incurred at the beginning of each 30 day period that the item is held by the pawn shop. The contract can be extended for an indefinite period of time by paying the monthly fee.
A: In North Carolina, the maximum interest that can be charged is 2% per month. Pawn shops can also add on additional charges, such as handling fees, storage fees, appraisal fees and more. The maximum for these additional fees can amount to 22% per month. However, American Gold Exchange & Pawn charges 20%.
A: There are no legal consequences if you do not return to pay for your item and it does not affect your credit rating. If you do not return within the specified period of time, the item will become the property of the pawn shop and the item will be sold to recoup the price of the loan and fees.
A: Yes! If you have items that you no longer want or need, we can offer to buy them from you. You must be 18 years of age, with a valid government issued I.D., because you will be signing a contract agreeing that you would like to sell the item and that the item is your personal property to sell.
A: Although it is common for people to think that items in a pawn shop are stolen, this is rarely true. Pawnbrokers work in accordance with law enforcement to ensure that stolen items are not received or sold. A daily report is given to the police on items received along with their serial numbers and the license information from the person who performed the pawn or sale. The police compare these serial numbers with those of stolen merchandise. Criminals know that pawn shops are required, by law, to submit these reports to law enforcement and national statistics show that less than 1/10th of 1% of items received by pawn shops are reported as stolen.
Pawn shops do not want to receive stolen merchandise. Not only is it unethical, but when a pawn shop receives stolen merchandise and that merchandise is retrieved by the police department, the pawn shop loses the money. It’s a business that the pawn shop owner is not interested in for multiple reasons.
The end.....it's that easy!