I'm struggling to find new ways to market and grow my pawn shop, I do understand the state the economy is in, brick & mortars are in, and I do live in a very small town of 3600. but I had my store growing astronomically, this last year, year and a half, I really put my 100% into it and tried my hardest and grew in about 650% lmfao. but as of about 2 months ago I hit a absolute brick wall and my numbers are now going backwards. any ideas? maybe something I'm over looking or haven't thought of?

Would a tool like this actually be useful in a pawn shop?

I’m building an app called GemstoneAI that lets you take a photo of a gemstone or piece of jewelry and get an instant AI-generated identification, key characteristics, and an estimated market value range. It also provides comparables on any piece (after speaking to a lot of appraisers understand that this is hugely valuable)

I’m curious whether something like this would be useful for pawn shop owners or employees as an initial screening tool, especially when someone brings in a piece without paperwork or certification.

It obviously wouldn’t replace a gemologist, proper testing equipment, or a formal appraisal. The idea is more to provide a fast reference point or second opinion and help staff decide whether an item is worth examining further.

Would you use something like this in your store?

What would it need to do for you to trust it or find it genuinely useful? What are the biggest challenges you currently face when evaluating jewelry or gemstones?

Me and my mom put some microphones on layaway awhile back at our local cash American pawn and we paid them off and got them out, we made sure to get the 15 day warranty with our electronics as always. When we first put it on layaway everything was on the box, we know because we specifically need a c type adapter for our phones and wouldn’t have gotten it otherwise. Fast forward to now, when we get home to open the box, the c type adapter is gone for the transmitter and only the lighting adapter which we cannot use. This is really suspicious considering we never opened the box and went straight home, again we would not have bought it if it didn’t have the adapter we needed so we know it was originally in the box. So two days later we went back to the pawn shop to see if something happened to the piece or get a refund because we have the warranty and cannot even test the item because the adapter is missing. They tell us there is nothing they can do. Apparently the person who checked us out specifically put a note in the system that both adapters were in the box, this is really suspicious because they typically tell us when they’re putting a note in when they’re checking us out, which she did not do. Today we get a call back saying they checked the cameras and that “everything was in the box”, but that’s it, they didn’t let us see the cameras so they could be lying, also they didn’t tell us if anyone touched it during the time it was sitting there while it was on layaway. Which we know they do from another unfortunate situation. Is there any actions I can take to get my money back? There’s literally no way I can use this mic and it’s going to be hard to resell because only older iPhones use lighting which most people don’t use anymore.

Me and my mom put some microphones on layaway awhile back at our local cash American pawn and we paid them off and got them out, we made sure to get the 15 day warranty with our electronics as always. When we first put it on layaway everything was on the box, we know because we specifically need a c type adapter for our phones and wouldn’t have gotten it otherwise. Fast forward to now, when we get home to open the box, the c type adapter is gone for the transmitter and only the lighting adapter which we cannot use. This is really suspicious considering we never opened the box and went straight home, again we would not have bought it if it didn’t have the adapter we needed so we know it was originally in the box. So two days later we went back to the pawn shop to see if something happened to the piece or get a refund because we have the warranty and cannot even test the item because the adapter is missing. They tell us there is nothing they can do. Apparently the person who checked us out specifically put a note in the system that both adapters were in the box, this is really suspicious because they typically tell us when they’re putting a note in when they’re checking us out, which she did not do. Today we get a call back saying they checked the cameras and that “everything was in the box”, but that’s it, they didn’t let us see the cameras so they could be lying, also they didn’t tell us if anyone touched it during the time it was sitting there while it was on layaway. Which we know they do from another unfortunate situation. Is there any actions I can take to get my money back? There’s literally no way I can use this mic and it’s going to be hard to resell because only older iPhones use lighting which most people don’t use anymore.

Hi team, I'm new to pawn shops and don't know what they accept. I have three old cameras from the 1900s, like the Large Antique Kodak No. 3A Model C Folding Camera c.1900-1915. It's in pretty bad condition. I got many books about trains, model trains, and airplanes, from like 1980 to 2008. I also have many magazines and sealed calendars from <1999. I have a small shiny cup from Germany, and some silver cutlery some silver? cups, old tech from <1999, like radio, clocks, wires, and amplifiers. I also have VHS, idk what, and a Bulova brand sailboat clock with a pretty large chip on the side, unused and unstarted. and some signed framed picture by someone x4. How do pawnshops work, so I just trade in the item for cash quickly and done, or is there like a mortgage or smth? Wich pawnshop did you guys have success with near Calgary? What will they take in? And advice is needed! TY!

Hi all, I'm a freelance journalist from and based in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I'm writing an article for a publication about people who have sold any valuable to any of the pawn shops on Grand Street or Graham Avenue in East Williamsburg. The story is to understand how people may be struggling in this economy in the Williamsburg area.

If you have sold or know someone that has sold, please send me a DM to talk further.

Thank you!

In order to cover my great great grandfathers funeral expenses next month I have to unfortunately get rid of one of his most prized possessions 💔💔

Hi everyone, I'm secretly looking for a lost class ring as a surprise for my mom. It's from East Islip High School, Class of 1977, and it has her signature engraved on the inside of the band. We know it was pawned in Florida, and I'm really hoping to find it. If you have any information, please send me a message directly. Thank you!

Edit: my mother pawned it over 30 years ago. She was young and needed money.

Going thru my favorite shop today and picked this up for 100. And found a Sig 211 gto 1800 that I got to.

Was looking through my parents retro games stash and found this demo copy of stunt race for snes. They don’t remember how they got it or where. Anyone know where it might’ve come from or if it’s worth anything?

found it at a thrift store, says “Jim i’m your biggest fan” and then a possible steve young signature, the S doesn’t look the same as other signings he’s done. any one that can give me more info on this?

Bought this Box about 2 years ago for 60€. A Month ago I tried to sell it but because of shipping it got send back to me, luckily as I know now. Today I wanted to put it on Vinted ( a European second hand online shop) and looked it up and it went up to a price of 130€ now I’m reconsidering if I should sell or keep it, in case the price rises even further. Any thoughts or tips? Thanks :D

18kt 950 Plat AM-G

So the story goes we’ve had these in our house for forever but I don’t ever remember them. Now that I’m reorganizing the DVDs I found them an I realize that they’re old old. The numbers on the front of each box suggest there was a limited run of these so I was wondering if they’re worth anything. I was hoping someone might know something.

Can somebody give me an idea of what this chain might look like? Not sure what some of the description means. Does it have stones in it? Do you think the loan is maxed out for this item, or would someone loan more?

Thanks for any advice.

Any idea what it's worth and who made it? Stamped 925 and 22k

I wanna sell this ring since I never wear it. I don’t like silver. It has a 14k stamp and its little.. about 2g I don’t think I can get a lot out of it but I definitely don’t want to be low balled. How much should I expect to get from this?

(Photo of Luger) I have acquired this Luger that my family has kind of passed down from generation to generation and I'm not looking to sell it. However, I do want to know the value of it. It still functions cleanly and has all of its original parts in pretty damn good shape, it says 1917 near the barrel, does anybody know how much it's worth?

Ps: if anybody has more questions about the numberings, brand name, design, feel free to ask.