Online reviews are a great place to start when hunting for the best pawn shop. Whether you’re selling, pawning your stuff, or finding a good bargain, they can help you vet out contenders and gain insights.

However, the anonymity of the internet can be a cover. It’ll bring out the worst in people, or allow fake positive reviews to be left without contest. How can you know which to trust?

Let’s take a look at five ways to keep from getting bamboozled.

Misery Loves Company

Most reviews are left by people who have strong feelings about their experience. They feel compelled to write it out for others to see, whether it’s singing praises or warning people away.

Because most people expect a good experience to be the norm – and thus not worthy of praise – this means that most of the extreme reviews are negative.

So, you shouldn’t be dismayed by a handful of negative reviews. If there’s an overwhelming amount of negative reviews compared to the positive or neutral ones, however, then you should be concerned.

Unreasonable Expectations

Reviews that expect a pawn shop to be something unlike a pawn shop (such as a furniture store with consistent inventory) should be taken with a grain of salt.

Even though they come in with unrealistic standards, they may still have some legitimate complaints.

For example, a pawn shop isn’t going to have extra stock of a certain item, because they work with secondhand items. However, if a pawn shop doesn’t have a good inventory at all, then it means not many people want to pawn their stuff there.

No Complaints

A basic review, which says something small, is oddly your best bet for an actual experience that isn’t exaggerated or falsified.

Things like “great selection, friendly staff” is definitely written by someone that’s trying to fill their time at a restaurant while waiting for their food, or hanging out in the car as their partner finishes shopping. As such, they’re accurately recalling their real, lived experience.

Check the Account

Whether you’re on the fence about the review’s authenticity, or it seems too good to be true, the next step should be to check the account itself. Does it have other reviews for other websites? If not, it may be a fake account made by the owner – especially if the review is positive.

It gets a little trickier when it’s a negative review. As stated before, people feel more compelled to review a place if they’ve had a poor experience. So, it’s possible that someone created the account solely to warn people of their experience at that pawn shop.

Review Replies

Not every business owner will monitor all the different sites where people leave reviews. However, it shows good faith when they respond to negative reviews and take criticism well.

The downside? If all the replies are a copy-pasted response without variation. This means they’re more concerned with the appearance of looking like they care, rather than taking the time to actually improve their customer’s experience.

When you’re looking to pawn jewelry, what types pawn the best?

In general, avoid pawning anything you bought for twenty dollars at Target, as the resale value isn’t worth much to the pawnshop. Because of this, you won’t receive a great loan.

While you can still try to sell that cheaply-made, costume jewelry necklace, you might also want to dig to the back of your jewelry drawer. These five types of jewelry will receive much better loans:

Gold Jewelry

Gold is valuable even when it isn’t made into jewelry. As such, it’s usually a safe bet for pawnshops to take on as collateral for loans. If they can’t sell it directly, gold is still lucrative to sell for cash to a gold company or other precious-metal-recycling companies.

For you, pawning gold jewelry means you can get a better loan or sale, and you can walk into the pawn shop knowing they’re unlikely to turn you down.

While silver is also a precious metal, it’s not worth quite as much on its own. So, if sold for parts, it isn’t likely to recuperate its losses well. This means the worth of the piece is in the design, not in the metal.

Diamond Jewelry

Diamonds are very sought-after and can be sold at a high price.

You might get a better deal at a jewelry specialty pawnshop, where they can confirm the worth of the diamond setting in the jewelry and give you an appropriate deal or loan.

Without someone to confirm the karat, you might not get the best deal. If the diamond turns out to be a fake, the pawn shop will have to factor that into the possible loss.

Watches

A good watch can still fetch a good price at the right pawnshop. Depending on the metals it’s made with, how good the machinery is, and the design or brand name, you can get a good pawnshop loan with a watch.

This, however, really only applies to jewelry-type watches, not to purely functional and reliable plastic or polymer watches. Depending on how good it is and how much you originally paid for it, you might still be able to get a good price, but you shouldn’t expect too much.

Wedding Rings

Pawnshops can always go for a good wedding ring, since many people these days turn to secondhand rings to save on the cost of a wedding or engagement. A well-styled ring (nothing too gaudy) is going to be more attractive, and if you have the engagement ring and wedding band set, you’ll have a great deal on your hands.

Earrings

A well-made pair of earrings, especially those with precious metals or gems, can be worth a lot. Perhaps not as much as wedding rings or bands, but you can still get a good deal or loan from a pawnshop for the right pair of earrings. This is especially true during peak jewelry seasons – like Valentine’s Day or Christmas.

Before you pawn an item, there are five simple questions you need to ask.

Why? Why not just barrel in without the answers?

Taking a deep breath, looking at the situation, and making a thoughtful decision before going through with a pawnshop loan can save you time and hassle. Even if money is tight, you shouldn’t approach loans in a way that you’ll regret. As a plus, choosing the right timing can help you get a better loan!

Make sure to tick off these five questions before pawning your stuff.

Questions to Ask Yourself

Can I Live Without This Item?

While this can also be a literal question (don’t try pawning your medication – that’s illegal), this question should be asked more generally.

If you can’t get your stuff back, will you regret it? Did it have sentimental meaning? Will losing it make you feel like your life is lesser without it?

Even if you’re indecisive on the answer to this question, asking it will let you examine why you like it or would like to keep a certain item. It’s better than deciding it after the pawn!

How Much is This Item Worth?

You may need a certain amount of money from a pawnshop loan. So, you need to pick the right item to get you what you need.

If you need a hundred dollars to tide you over until the next paycheck arrives, pawning a TV you bought three years ago might only fetch you fifty dollars at best.

When Am I Expecting Money?

If your goal is to pay back the loan and retrieve your collateral, ask yourself: when will you get your next paycheck, how much is that paycheck, and how much do you have to pay off the loan once you subtract your expenses (like rent, food, and transportation costs)?

Figure out how quickly you can pay back the loan. From there, you can decide whether or not pawning your item is a safe bet.

Questions to Ask the Pawnshop

How Long Do You Have to Repay the Loan?

Know the terms of your contract with the pawnshop. You need to know how long you have to pay back your loan in order to retrieve your collateral.

The last thing you want is to finally scrape together the money, head to the pawnshop, and realize that you no longer have claim to your item. If it’s already sold or is being sold for more than the money you owed, you’re out of luck.

What is the Interest Rate?

Loans aren’t free, so you’ll need to figure out what the interest rate is from the specific pawnshop you’re going to apply to.

This will also help you calculate how much you’ll eventually owe. Better yet, it can let you shop around and see if there are other pawnshops in the area with lower interest rates. Don’t just go for the first option – find the best option for you. Otherwise, you’ll pay more later.

Pawning isn’t for everyone. What are good reasons for not going through with a pawn store loan?

We have you covered.

Here are five simple questions to think over before you commit to pawning an item for a loan. They may be simple, but they’re enough to ensure you know what you’re doing before stepping foot into the pawn shop.

Can You Part with It?

When you pawn an item for a loan, there is always the possibility you’ll never get it back.

Some people feel the need to get a pawn loan because of unexpected expenses, while they’re between paychecks, or because of a gap in their income. Keep in mind that loans come with interest, so if you pawn something for a $200 loan and you know you’ll have an extra $200 at the end of the month to pay off the loan, understand that you won’t be paying off the whole loan.

If the item has a lot of sentimental worth and you have other items you can pawn, consider pawning those instead – or reconsidering pawning altogether. The last thing you want is to lose a family wedding ring because you thought you could pay back the loan in time.

Is It Worth Enough?

Looking up the worth of an item before you go to pawn it is integral to the process if you want to come out satisfied with your loan. If you need $100, pawning a glass terrarium you bought for $80 isn’t likely to cut it as collateral. When it comes to the loan, you need to find something of equal or greater value to the money you want to borrow.

Are You Expecting Money?

If your goal is to pay off the loan to get your collateral back, make sure you have money coming in before the time your item is forfeit. Whether it’s an upcoming paycheck or collecting money a friend owes you, making sure you know you’ll have the money in the future can go a long way to ensure you don’t lose your item.

Can You Prove Authenticity?

If you’re going to pawn a historic or antique piece, you’ll be at a disadvantage to argue for a good deal unless you can prove what it is. This is extremely important for pieces of art like paintings or sculptures. Proving it was made by the actual artist as well that you bought or inherited it can go a long way in getting you the best loan.

Do You Want to Sell or Get It Back?

You can sell an item at a pawn shop instead of using the item as collateral for a loan, and if you’re not interested in getting the item back, it can be better to outright sell than to opt for the loan as you could possibly get more money for selling.

Conclusion

If you’ve taken into consideration all five of these ideas and still decided to pawn an item at a pawnshop, by all means, you should do it. Sometimes things get tight and a pawn shop loan is the only available recourse to help you and your needs.

There are some items that a pawn store owner may outright deny, whether you’re bringing it to sell or pawn for a loan. Among the weird and interesting things they might turn down, items that are too big commonly get rejected.

What’s too big?

Let’s find out.

What is “Too Big”?

Size

When talking about “too big”, most people think of the actual size of an item. With physical pawn store locations, the idea is to ensure it can fit into their place of business. Often, this may mean fitting through the front door. While some pawn shops might have a back door or garage for larger items, using a door frame as a general reference would be a good idea.

For online pawn shops, shipping costs are the big problem for large or unusual sized items, as postal services upcharge for such items. Thankfully, online services often take this into account and have size and/or weight restrictions for what they will take.

Weight

Weight also plays an important role in understanding what “too big” can mean for an individual item. Is the thing you’re trying to pawn only movable with a large team of people or special equipment? Then it might be too big for a pawn shop to consider a safe or practical investment, in case you default on a loan.

For online pawn shops, weight plays almost as much of a role as size does. Trying to send them five heavy-weight bowling balls in the mail might be too much for what it’s worth to ship them around.

What You Can Pawn

Way Too Big

Despite the ambiguity of what a pawn shop might or might not consider too big, there are some items you could reasonably assume they won’t want to take. This includes:

• Industrial fridge.
• A 20-foot-tall iron sculpture.
• A stalled or otherwise broken car.
• Portable sheds.

Just Big Enough

Some large items might fall into an iffy area, but it’s alright to assume these items will be taken by most pawn shops.

• China cabinets.
• Industrial shelving (especially if you can take it apart).
• Bed frames.
• A tool cabinet.

Call Ahead

Don’t forget to ask the pawn shop themselves if what you want to pawn is too big for them. All pawn shops are different and may have different standards for what they will consider too big. Pawn stores that deal in loans on cars may be willing to use a car as collateral, and an art specialty store might be interested in the aforementioned 20-foot-tall iron statue, so long as you can transport it to them at your own expense.

A good rule of thumb is: if you can fit the item in question into the back of a truck reasonably and safely, you’ll be fine. When in doubt, give the pawn shop owner or manager a call just to save yourself a trip.

Before you enter a pawn shop, it’s wise to understand how you can receive the best deal, whether you’re pawning an item for a loan or looking to buy or sell.

Pawn shops are one of the last few places in modern commerce where you can haggle and are expected to protect your own interests. As such, going in without all the information leaves you at a disadvantage.

Before walking in, here’s what you should know:

Research Market Value

• What is the going rate for an item you’re trying to pawn, sell or buy? If you don’t remember what you originally purchased the item for, look up similar items and how much they’re selling for now. Don’t go into a pawn shop unaware of the price you should expect, or you’ll be at a disadvantage.
• Once you have a good idea of pricing, start the haggling process with a slightly higher figure than the general market value. This is done with the expectation of coming down in price and reaching a compromise later.
• Be suspicious if they try to convince you it’s worth a fraction of the price. Even a used or secondhand item shouldn’t lose all its value, so long as it’s in good condition.

Understand Flaws and Fixes

Are you trying to buy something that might have a few flaws in it? Are you trying to sell something that needs to be fixed?

Knowing its flaws and possible fixes helps you understand the item’s value. An unfixable item isn’t worth buying or selling to a pawn shop owner. However, someone may convince you to buy an unfixable item, saying that the flaw is totally fixable. Likewise, they could haggle you down to a lower price by convincing you a minor flaw diminishes the total worth.

Learn How They Operate

What is the interest rate at the pawn shop? How long do you have to pay back the loan before your collateral is forfeit?

Read their rules carefully and completely before engaging in any business. When negotiating, this will help you avoid any confusion and seem knowledgeable to the pawn shop owner.

As a plus, when you don’t have to reiterate the basics, it saves time and makes business go a little smoother.

Know Your Options

Before walking in, you should decide: Can you get a loan, sell your item, or buy a particular item somewhere else?

Whether it’s at an official store or a different pawn shop, it’s wise to shop around. Places that have multiple pawn shops or other venues for buying and selling used goods give you options. You also have the upper hand; if you don’t like their offer, you can take your business somewhere else.

The difference isn’t always significant or drastic. You can’t get away with unreasonable demands just because they have competition. However, you can feel safe in the knowledge that you don’t have to accept the deal; you can go elsewhere

Are online pawn shops better than the brick and mortar kinds?

Yes and no.

Each of these pawn shops have their own pros and cons – which could make them ideal or annoying for you. Which should you choose?

Let’s take a look.

Physical Pawn Shops

Pros

Cheap Transpiration

Physical pawn shops and locations are easy to access. Taking your stuff to them or buying from them is relatively easy and cheap, if you have the right kind of transportation.

For example, buying an old piano from a physical pawn shop is far easier and cheaper if you own (or have a friend who owns) a truck. Paying for the shipping costs would be unreasonable. Even renting a truck to drive for a couple of miles is often cheaper than buying a large, oddly shaped item from an online seller.

Bigger Collection (Literally)

For this reason, many online pawn shops might not accept large items to buy or sell. A physical pawn shop will have a more varied collection, with furniture, heavy tools, and even vehicles to choose from.

Faster

A physical pawn shop may also be a faster experience. If you walk in, find something you like, and buy it, you can walk out with it immediately. No waiting for shipping time or bank processing. The same applies to selling and loans.

Cons

The cost of renting or owning a physical business is often passed down in the prices, how much they’re willing to pay sellers, and the loans they’re willing to give. In addition, a physical shop needs at least one employee at all times in order to operate, so those expenses add up fast.

Online Pawn Shops

Pros

Lower Base Prices

There’s no need to hire full-time employees, there’s no rent to pay, and there are generally fewer licenses to have. All this adds up, so online pawn shops can save on operating costs – and therefore lower their prices.

Accessible

The novelty of the internet is accessibility. You can visit an online pawn shop from anywhere, at any time – even from the comfort of your home! You can browse at your leisure, explore different online pawn shops without moving from one locale to the next, and save items for later viewing.

Cons

Can’t Physically Assess Items

For the consumer, an online pawn shop might not always be the best option. If you’re attempting to buy jewelry or clothes, you don’t have the luxury of trying something on.

Can’t Double Check Quality

For other items, like paintings or antique furniture, you’ll have to rely on the assessment of the online pawn shop. They will say what the value of the item is; you can’t get up close to inspect the hinges, check for any chips in the paint, or assess the general construction.

May Exaggerate

While they may be incentivized by the fear of bad online reviews to be as upfront as possible, this may also encourage them to exaggerate items’ quality. After all, they have to rank well on Google – not just please their customers. If they don’t have a return policy, you may feel cheated out of your money.

Everything comes with a pros and cons list, and jewelry specialty pawn shops are no exception.

These shops can be a great choice when you’re searching for secondhand rings, necklaces, watches, or other luxury items. However, you may also find they don’t always outperform general pawn shops or professional jewelry stores.

Should you pay one a visit? Let’s take a look.

Pros

Wide Selection

Since they only deal in jewelry, these specialty shops will have a much wider selection of options and styles. You won’t have to go from pawn store to pawn store in the hopes of finding something you like that also fits your budget.

Cheaper than Jewelry Stores

The nature of secondhand lends itself to cheaper prices. Pawn shops, even though they might raise the price enough to make a small profit, don’t mark up their items as much as retailers do – just for the luxury of owning something first.

Doesn’t Support the Jewelry Industry

There are plenty of reasons you may not want to support the jewelry industry, from their unreasonable markup on diamonds to their labor practices. But that leaves a common problem: Where do you find jewelry if you dislike the industry as a whole?

The good thing about secondhand jewelry is that none of the profits go to the original company, so your money won’t be used to support the practice of making new jewelry.

Ecologically Friendly

Reusing is always better than recycling. Whenever something doesn’t have to go through the process of being picked apart, melted down, and remade, the world benefits. Why wait for something to be recycled just to have something new, when you can get something cheaper with history and a unique flair?

Cons

Lack of Expertise

Though pawn shop owners may take several precautions in identifying jewelry, so as to sell them correctly, the fact remains: they are not a trained jeweler and can make mistakes. You can ask for verification of their claims, but they’re not obligated to provide a certified jeweler just to sate your curiosity or calm your nerves; that can be very expensive.

Slightly Pricier than Normal Pawn Shops

Because they handle objects of higher value, they have a few more expenses to pay than a typical pawn shop. This ranges from specialized equipment to higher security and specialized casing. They may also have higher insurance premiums and deductibles, due to the nature of what they sell. These factors can raise the prices at least a little when compared to general pawn shops.

Sellers Don’t Benefit More

For people looking to pawn their jewelry, a jewelry-only pawn shop doesn’t always mean a better deal. If you sell to a proper jewelry store, you’re likely to find a better profit on your items. Most of the benefits go to the pawn shop and the new buyers, instead of to the people taking out a loan or selling their goods. A jewelry-only pawn shop might be more likely to take more expensive items, but that’s about the extent of the benefits.

Craigslist has become very popular as a digital place to sell and buy used goods for the last 24 years, but there are plenty of reasons to stick with a traditional brick and mortar pawn shop.

Looking to sell? Then here’s why you should choose a pawn shop.

Better Negotiating

Whether it’s Craigslist or a pawn shop, you’re expected to haggle and negotiate. However, you’re far more likely to come out on top at a pawn shop. To the buyer on Craigslist, you’re trying to get rid of your stuff, and to the pawn shop owner, you’re relinquishing your sellable goods. When you negotiate with a Craigslist buyer, the situation also comes with the cost-sunk fallacy.

Avoiding the Cost-Sunk Fallacy

Typically, negotiations for a Craigslist listing happen while you’re meeting (likely in a public place, such as a store’s parking lot) and, at that point, you’ve already driven out to meet them half-way. They expect you to sell even if it’s a little less than what you want. In this situation, they’re probably the only person that corresponded or the only one that followed through. You’ll feel that getting selling your stuff now is better than having to go through the process all over again.

With a pawn shop, you can take your stuff away and go on to the next pawn shop in hopes for a better deal, and the owner knows this. If they really like what you’re selling, they’ll offer you a better price if you’re not yet satisfied with the number you’ve been given.

Safety

While there are many legitimate buyers and sellers on Craigslist, the anonymity of the digital interface lends itself well to scammers and theft. As a seller, you may not run into as many problems as a buyer might, but your potential buyers might insist on giving you a bad check, attempt to run off with your stuff, or meet at a sketchy location.

Don’t Wait for a Buyer

With a pawn shop, you don’t have to wait for the right person that wants what you’re selling. Though the pawn shop does take a bit of the cut, it pays for itself by removing the hassle of waiting, checking your email, and corresponding with someone that might just ghost you at the end of it anyway.

Selling Niche Goods

Depending on what you’re selling, the target audience you’re looking for might not be looking around your area’s Craigslist. On top of that, it’s a difficult platform to sort through and your ad could get buried under plenty of newer ones if you’re not proactive in re-listing every so often.

Buyers at pawn shops can call ahead and ask for particular items, making it a lot easier to find a specific item – especially if they have to expand their radius far out of their own city in order to find it. If you think your stuff might appeal to a smaller audience, don’t wait on Craigslist for those people to randomly find your ad.

Quality jewelry is expensive, and the issue is made even worse by jewelry stores. By now, it’s common knowledge to most people that diamonds aren’t as rare as they’re made out to be. Yet, their price tag hardly seems to reflect that fact.

Other than superstition or social pressure, there’s nothing wrong in buying a secondhand engagement ring. Think about it for a second. If every couple had a brand new engagement ring and no one ever bought secondhand, we’d have an abundance of engagement rings being melted down or scrapped as parts.

If you’re environmentally conscious, you’ll know that it’s better to reuse than to recycle. So, here’s how to buy an engagement ring responsibly.

Pawn Shops

Engagement rings that are no longer used or wanted (unless they’re sent off to be scrapped or passed on to family) tend to find their way to pawn shops.

Sometimes this isn’t for positive reasons, such as someone defaulting on a loan where they offered their ring as collateral. However, it could also be that family members have sold it after a loved one passed away.

Whatever the reason, a ring found at the pawn shop is almost always cheaper than one bought on consignment from a jeweler.

Find a Specialist

If possible, try to find a pawn shop that specializes in jewelry. Often times, these places make sure to carefully verify the nature of any and all items they have.

If the items are set up as collateral, this ensures the shop won’t be scammed and that the ring is properly cared for.

As a bonus to you, the rings you shop for here are guaranteed as quality, and the shop knows exactly what they’re worth – which is accurately reflected in the price. On one hand, you may not find a hidden treasure going for pennies, but you also won’t buy a cheap ring that’s overpriced.

Consignment Jewelry

While it’s typically more expensive to buy from a jeweler than a pawn shop, it can give peace of mind to those who are worried about getting bamboozled.

However, that peace of mind isn’t always cheap. While secondhand stores and jewelry consignment stores are cheaper than buying new jewelry, they often employ more highly trained staff. Additionally, they may have more security, as their whole shop is full of jewelry as opposed to the smaller jewelry collection of a pawn shop. These kinds of additional expenses can reflect in the price tag of the jewelry.

Overall, any of these options are much cheaper than buying from a jewelry store. It’s similar to how buying a used car is always significantly cheaper than buying a new car.

The “Poor Man’s Engagement Ring”

If you’re uncomfortable buying secondhand, there is (what some people refer to as) the “poor man’s engagement ring.” This is comprised of a sterling silver band with a synthetic (or “created”) sapphire. The price tag can hover somewhere around $200, depending on where you buy it.

Though the concept of a diamond engagement ring isn’t as expected in modern days, there’s no shame in hiding the fact that you bought or own a white sapphire instead of a diamond. Most people will never know the difference.