A common scenario:
- The laid off Boeing engineer,
- an on-strike nurse or teacher,
- a soldier,
- a Microsoft employee.
And not to be ignored are the
- highly successful, highly paid professionals currently employed,
- the laid off ex-employees of dozens of large and small defunct or downsized companies.
Blue or white collar...Our borrowing client list includes addresses from over 100 zip codes. This zip code list does not exclude any area on the Eastside of Lake Washington. This means Medina, Issaquah, Bellevue, Kirkland, etc... 80% of our customers come from these neighborhoods.
For those of you reading this throughout the country who are unfamiliar with our region, this means that our
borrowers come from areas where the average income exceeds $50,000 per year and extends up into the higher
six figure incomes. We also lend to many retail and commercial businesses in our very well to do, often
compared to the Sausalito waterfront community.
We lend money to the poor and we lend money to the affluent.
Anyone can eventually experience a cash flow shortage. Whether you need money for diapers, cigarettes, a Harley, a Rolex or for stocks--we can lend it to you.
We Loan
Our customer needs money and therefore wants to borrow or sell us their collateral. If the customer borrows they
have a 90 day loan with the right/option to repay the loan principal and fees and retrieve their collateral,
and/or the opportunity to rewrite the loan for a new 90 days by paying the previous 90 days interest.
It's simple. The borrower also has the right to forfeit the property by defaulting on the loan, losing
their property, with no negative repercussions beyond the loss of the collateral. Why borrow?
The stigma of borrowing is long gone, as is the idea that a pawnshop is a dirty dingy place to conduct business.
It is difficult to estimate but were I to guess, I would estimate that 200+/- Washington State pawnshops make
excess of 1.5 million in loan transactions per year*, lending out an estimated $100,000,000 per year. How much can I get?
I don't know how many loans Washington State banks make each year, but I do know unequivocally that we are
easier to use, faster, more responsive, and accommodating, and we require zero financial info from you.
Additionally we are nice to kids, have a sense of humor, and we have a sweet puppy onsite!
*This information is part interpolation and part guesstimate. Shops do not normally discuss their market share.
We Buy
I would guess that, most if not all shops turn down a high percentage of items offered for sale or for a loan, we do.
Statistically for any number of reasons we turn down (or refer to other shops), nearly as many transactions as we
actually make. What we take?
We Sell
Consequently, we are usually pretty much assured that the product we have for sale is in good working order.
While we stress the making of loans and de-emphasize purchasing; about fifteen percent of the transactions
we make eventually make it to the sales floor.
Best efforts are made to make these items available to the public at attractive prices.
While we prefer to make loans, sales are welcome.
We Consign
Consignment is a viable alternative for people who wish to down size, sell, or otherwise dispose of
more expensive items. Consignment might often, if not always, take longer than an outright sale.
After the consignment fee is paid the seller might have been wiser (time wise), to have sold the
property outright to the pawnshop.
However, consignment can bring a larger return to the patient seller who is not in need of instant cash.
