We live in an era of quick cash and side hustles. Pawn shops are the original selling spaces to plug used items you no longer need or use.. With the development of the internet, marketplaces like Facebook groups, Craiglist, the Poshmark App, and Letgo allows for people to sell their items online. It’s truly become a hot topic. Let’s compare the pros and cons of both options below.

Websites, social media, and smartphone apps make it seem easy to list an item for sale at the press of a finger.  While apps like these are great for getting your item out for sale super fast and from the comfort of your house, they can end up being more time-consuming than originally expected. The set up is also usually user-friendly. Typically, you add pictures, a description, and the price you’d like to receive… Then, boom! Your listing is up. This is definitely a perk. The con here comes from the fact that there is no guarantee that your item will be bought at any specific point in time. This translates to not knowing when you will receive the money from selling your item. A positive to stopping into a pawnshop, like Pawn America, is the fact that if we do assess your item and decide to purchase it, we buy the same day and hand you your cash on the spot.

Another option that a pawnshop can offer is the ability to keep your item in the end, while still getting the cash you need up front. If you aren’t sure if you want to sell your item forever but are strapped for cash, we can give you a collateral loan. If you pay the loan you receive back in the allotted time, you also get your item back. You even have the option to decide to leave your item at the store and take that cash, without repaying the original loan amount. We’ll simply keep your item as payment received.

We recently added a new feature on our website called, “Get a Quote.” This feature allows you to create an account and fill out an online form that gives detail to the item you’re interested in selling. Then, one of our pawn broker representatives will look at the information you provided and they’ll give you a quote based on what the potential amount we could offer you would be. When you get that quoted amount, you are able to take it or leave it. There’s no trip to our store unless you decide that you want to take the quoted amount price we gave. Everything is at your discretion. Pawn Quotes are subject to change.

When selling items through the various online channels available, you might find some added annoyances. Included in this is finding the time to meet up with an interested patron, deciding on the location where you feel safe to meet up, as well as the uncertainty of not knowing if a purchase will ultimately be made. This could mean extra time and money wasted for you. Throughout this process, you essentially become the physical store, the store owner, and an employee.

At pawn shops, there’s never a guarantee that your item will be accepted, but you do have peace of mind. You know that a store is a safe place where business is already taking place and when using tools like “ Get a Quote,” you can move the process along at a pace that’s right for you. You’re never left with an unanswered question and there is a feeling of freedom in knowing that the end result is up to you without any added pressure to make hasty decisions.  

The online platforms that are available to sell lightly used items are good for putting the original seller at the head of the entire situation, but not always guaranteeing a quick sell. Pawn shops are awesome options to consider for getting money on the spot. Both are great short-term solutions to various financial happenings and allow people from all economic backgrounds to sell or get money when they need it. Feel free to try out one of the up and coming modes of quick cash or stop by one of our 17 store locations to see how we can best assist you.