Pawn shops play a vital role in helping people get quick cash when they are in a bind. Unlike other loan options that can permanently impact your credit score and future financial options, pawning simply provides money based on the resale value of an item or item. Obviously, jewelry, luxury items, and other expensive items are often the bread and butter of pawn shops. But you can ask any pawn shop in the world, and they will tell you that people can attempt to pawn some seriously strange items. Now of course, there is a distinction between the strangest items that have been successfully pawned and the strangest items that have been attempted. To that point, this article can serve as an important reminder to check with pawn shops and give them calls or email them to inquire about certain items beforehand.
People Have Pawned Alcohol
The idea of pawning a consumable sounds strange at first, especially since most consumables decrease in value quickly as they go bad. Additionally, most consumables do not have high value. But there are stories of situations where individuals have had their hands on rarer vintage bottles of wine that were worth hundreds of dollars and pawned those items. Of course, this required finding a pawn shop that was willing to take wine, had the ability to store it correctly, and believed that in the event that the item wouldn’t be reclaimed they would be able to resell it at a high value.
People Have Pawned Taxidermied Animals
When we think about pawning collectibles, we often think about comic books, trading cards, or vintage items that have a lot of value to collectors. Well in some regions there is a serious interest in collecting rare taxidermied animals as decor. There are cases in certain areas of the country where you can find taxidermied deer and similar decorations. Like any item, as long as it is in good condition, it could be resold effectively, and the pawn shop is interested in reselling it, you might be able to find a shop willing to provide a loan for it.
Historically, People Used To Pawn Medical Research
Pawning has changed quite a bit over the years. One of the interest subsets of collectors that existed was people who had an interest in collecting items that were used in medical research, even including human skulls that were donated for scientific study. In fact, in a similar camp as taxidermy, there used to be collectors who were interested in showcasing items that had some scientific merit because it was part of a groundbreaking study. To be clear, people did not sell or buy random remains but specifically items that (at the time) could be verified as part of a historic scientific study.
What Weird Things Can You Pawn Today?
Ask any pawn shop owner and they will tell you the weirdest items that they have either accepted or turned away. The key to pawning is communicating with shops and understanding that shops only take what they comfortably feel they can store effectively and sell if needed. It often surprises people to learn that people pawn instruments, trading cards, power tools, computers, and other items that they might not initially associate with a pawn shop. If you ever have a question about what items we take here at our shops in the Bronx, feel free to browse our website or give us a call.
