There are many reasons for people visit a Baltimore pawn shop; they may need instant cash for a medical emergency, car repair, or simply to make ends meet at the last part of their paycheck.

If a customer needs quick cash, they receive a loan and leave their item behind as collateral, when they’re ‘flush’ again they return to the pawn shop, repay the loan plus interest and pick up their valuable property.  Some pawn shop owners will hold valuables indefinitely if an owner pays a monthly fee.  This prevents their treasured belongings from being sold, although it does come at a price.  For example, say a person brings their large screen TV into a San Francisco pawn shop and receives a sum of cash in return.  After 30 days the person returns and pays anywhere from $15-$30 as a sort of ‘storage fee’ so that the pawn shop will not place the TV on their sales floor.  As long as the customer continues to pay the monthly fee, the pawn shop agrees not to sell the item.  Once the customer is able to scrape enough money to pay back the loan and interest, then the item is returned.

It may not make much sense, but if an item is important enough to a person, then the small monthly fee to keep from repaying the loan and keep their valuable off the sales floor, may be the best option a consumer has.

Many more people are looking to simply cash out and receive money for their valuables rather than go for the loan.  Things such as car trouble, medical bills or other emergencies can devastate an already strapped-for-cash-family whose credit may not be adequate enough to obtain a loan through conventional routes.  Pawn shops do not require credit checks, they require a valid photo ID, and proof of address as a preventive measure against receiving stolen property.  Some pawn shops go as far as sending a list of the daily transactions of all items collected from that day’s business to the local police department for comparisons to any reported stolen goods.

A Boston pawn shop is growing in the community as reputable businesses that help people in financial crisis and more and more individuals are using pawn shops to help their families when other routes are closed to them.