Cash-strapped Americans are panic-searching "pawn shop near me." The search trend spiked to a record high at the start of July and is an ominous sign the consumer might be pawning items or selling things that were possibly bought during the Covid boom to raise quick money amid the worst inflation storm in a generation.

Let's begin by analyzing Google search data for "pawn shop near me." The search trend started surging in January and exploded higher in the last few months to record highs just days ago.

Hat Tip: ZeroHedge

alot of big ticket outdoor items bought during covid - boats, RVs, ATVs

wondering if there is a glut of them on the market right now

Most people can’t cover 1000 dollar emergency. But they have enough money for green hair, tattoos, and nose rings.
https://fortune.com/recommends/banking/57-percent-of-americans-cant-afford-a-1000-emergency-expense/

According to Bankrate’s Annual Emergency Fund Report, 68% of people are worried they wouldn’t be able to cover their living expenses for just one month if they lost their primary source of income. And when push comes to shove, the majority (57%) of U.S. adults are currently unable to afford a $1,000 emergency expense.

When broken down by generation, Gen Zers (85%) and millennials (79%) are more likely to be worried about covering an emergency expense.

LGS is also a pawn shop, at one point the pawn shelves were empty now full. Owner says the pawn side is booming.

It has nothing to do with tatoos and green hair. The same problem goes back generations. The same poll or study taken in the 50's, 60's, 70's, through today would vary little. The majority of working people, struggle at times. Not growing up with a silver spoon, there were years my family struggled. When raising my family, and young, money was always tight, but we were aquiring assets. As we aged things got better, by retirement we had reached a comfortable lifestyle! I believe this is the same with the majority, after all the average working family is the majority!

There’s a difference between honestly struggling paycheck to paycheck and paying $1k/month for a truck that is used to get groceries and drive to work. The average American lives on debt and when times get hard, they are screwed. Of course it helps to have money, but most people spend theirs long before they get it. Very few people are born with a silver spoon and just breeze through life. People who are smart with money can accomplish much more than the person who can’t control their spending, regardless of the amount of money you make or were blessed with.

Wow!

I've been looking for a 24' enclosed car hauler, prices got stupid. Hopefully prices will drop a bit on things like trailers and ATV's.

Try borrowing even a small sum of money if you haven't had any debt in several years. The bankers won't give you the time of day, let alone loan you any money, unless you're already up to your eyeballs in credit card payments!

Apples and Oranges. The period you describe is the growth of the American middle class.

I did not grow up with a "silver spoon" and I never lived my earliest married years with out at least 3 months emergency funds. It was simple I did not buy stuff until I had the money and I never touched the emergency savings. I never in my entire life acquired credit card debt beyond a single months worth.

Today personal debt is a crisis, but no one cares.

Things like this are the little things that people who are mistakenly saying everything will be fine, are actually missing. There are alot of things that indicate things are really bad and getting worse daily. Like credit debt hitting a trillion dollars, new record. Record amount of people drawing from their retirement. Many indicators of the coming storm

This is not true. You can maintain a high credit score with zero debt. It will not be the highest, but high enough to obtain a loan.

The last sentence in this reply really says it all succinctly.

Spending money you don't have to impress people you don't know.

Mine is 830, and I haven’t owed anyone a dime in over a decade now. I don’t really give a chit if anyone will loan me money, but I expect they would.

No debt and if the bank refused, we will move all of our accounts elsewhere. On about an annual basis, our banks come up with some new fee or angle to garner another dime. Cookie pays them a visit, threatens to clean out those accounts, and the charges immediately go away. Been retired since 2008 and still adding to savings and investment accounts.

Last loan was back in 1990 on our home. Had it paid up in 8 months. Never a credit card balance.

My last year in the work force before starting farming
I was the old guy on the crew also the highest paid
I drove a truck wit 300k miles on it that had been paid for for years all the young guys had Duramax and super duty truck at then 60k each and I was the only one could make a full week
Don’t feel
Sorry one bit for them
They have never tought money management in school
And parents usually don’t know either
Something some of us learn some don’t

You have to take into account that many "financial people" are suggesting that everybody buy everything on credit cards for the rewards in miles, points or cash. Funniest thing I saw was someone making their car payment with a CC. Points, baby! When you cycle half of peoples pay checks through credit cards, the outstanding balance, even if "always paid off at the end of the month" will be significant.

Do my eyes deceive me or does the graph indicate that the peak in 2019 was higher than the current one?

I’ve noticed how many $50,000++ vehicles are in the parking lots of the apartment complexes in this state. Newer Mercedes and lifted late model diesel pickup trucks abound in the poorer neighborhoods. It used to be that it was the well-to-do that drove fancy vehicles and the poor drove beaters but the opposite is now true in our clown world….the poor drive fancy vehicles while the better off drive older vehicles. 😀

Years ago before we moved up here my wife was doing something in the elementary school office when an Asian lady dressed to the nines with her Louis Vuitton handbag and Rolex walks in to sign her kids up for free lunch. My wife waited in her car to see what that “lady” was driving. It was no surprise that after signing her littleshits up for free lunch at our school she got into her brand new Lexus and left..,probably headed to the casino. 🤬

I'm still sitting here impatiently waiting for all of these cheap trucks, atvs and boats to hit the market.

Choices made by individuals. I don't feel it's my place to concern myself, with others freedom of choice. As long as it's legal, and doesn't injure anyone.

I have picked up a couple nice rifles from pawn shops already this year.

Never understood why some people make such a big deal out of how long or how much so one else spends on a vehicle. Doesn't make a rats azz to me if people want to drive a truck for 3 years or 20. Many people get a lot of pleasure out of owning a newer vehicle. Its no feather in anyones cap if someone wants to drive the wheels off a beater.
None of us needs what we own. We own stuff because we enjoy it. No ones business other than the people paying for it.

Agreed 100%, except for those on the dole.

Poor get poorer, and the rich get richer. A lot of people look middle class, earn middle class, but spend like they are rich. That doesn't work out well long term. Middle class folks can't afford a 60k truck and an 80k boat.

Extravagant debt is a societal issue that affects our National community as a whole. This will become more and more evident as people default on their loans, or worse.
Student loans are a good example. How much less would people be paying for a college education if the education industry wasn’t artificially inflated and propped up by the federal government?

Agree with ya

One man's pain is another man's gain.
I love pawnshopping.
I have found some smoking deals over the years on firearms and posted em on here at various times

Having a good customer and owner relationship is always a plus too.



And yes their are more guns filling up the shelves at the 5 pawn and or LGS combo shops around here.
I highly recommend this shop if you are ever in Clarksvegas.
Largest selection of New and used guns in town, and no sticker shock pricing for this day and age.


Anyways a bunch of tards nation wide who didn't have a pot to piss in to begin with.
Except to squeeze every penny for their fuuuked up vices priorities
Are now selling off their Biden bucks schit in droves waaay more than they were doing 12 to 18 months ago.
Schit they was never able to get ever before.
Same type of people bemoaning why ain't their any more stimmy checks.

Some blew their stimmy checks
Just think welfarites and lowlifes gone wild with other people's tax dollars back then and even more so to this day in so many dominoe affect ways...


Some spent it constructively
Some saved it
Some even applied every fuuking bit of all those stimmy checks into paying their fed income taxes.....
Which resulted in staying even or slightly above sea level net gain.



I feel 0 remorse for the vast majority of these people pawning items.
They shoulda planned their path better long ago in the land of opportunity.

Especially if they are Liberal Socialist Democrat constituents and living off my nickel as a way of life to begin with.

I see their types and demographics in pawnshops all the time
White trash " life success story" types to NAPA,s.

And yes the economy totally suuks.
Honk for Joey...
C19 scam and election fraud.

And here is where we are at now...






Anyways here is what I scored in a pawnshop earlier today
👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻


https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt...-ar-s-lnib-and-a-simple-fix#Post18561539

The stress from being up against it all the time creates all sorts of problems in life, from health issues to relationship issues. It's the reason many employers look at credit rating (or proxies where illegal) when evaluating new employees. The inability to manage money creates all sorts of issues at work as well.

LOL, mystery solved, it was just r-five-oh looking for deals.....

Be careful that your outgo does not exceed your income
because then
your upkeep can be your downfall!

ya!

GWB

And even if you can keep up with the Joneses, then there's the Smiths.

I make that search every time I visit a new city. I keep hoping to beat the $300 deal I got on a ridiculously accurate Sako Deluxe L579 with Weaver 6x scope.

Sounds like CF will be Pawn Shop Crawling this week-end (instead of Bar Crawling).

Be sure to bring the wife or GF, they may spot a deal on some jewelry.

Several years ago I scored a Sig model 556 in 5.56. This is a piston powered piece and kind of odd to lots of folks. I’d wanted one for a while and these cats really didn’t know what they had. Pity…LOL! It was so full of grease and break in powder and crap. No wonder they couldn’t make it cycle right. Broke it completely down and detail cleaned, assembled and has never ftf/fte w anything you can run thru it. I love pawn shops!

A smart pawn broker wins when he buys and wins again when he sells. A good friend if mine owned a pawn shop, and I have found that he is an outstanding resource in gauging the economy.

What is your friend saying about today's economy?

I’ll see him next week when I get back from the beach. I’ll try to remember to update the thread. He also owned a lot of rental property. Another reason for him to monitor the economy.

At least sime of this is summertime related. At least around here. Criminals don’t like to be out stealing stuff in the dead of winter. Thieving picks up during the warmer seasons. Pawn shops are a great dumping ground for lots of that type of stuff.

Gotta give a DL and thumb print to pawn anything around here. Same goes for scrap yards over a certain dollar amount. Makes em a bit nervous to know a stolen pawned item can be traced to them.

THIS X 1000

Yes ... the easy access to student loans made the price of a college education go through the roof.

The people making a big deal about what others spend, don't really care! It just gives them something to bitch about on the net. Most of those bitching couldn't buy a fuggn used Pinto, yet they sure know how to bitch about others, spending habits. 🤔

And houses where I live that went for 250 - 300K about 3 years ago with a next to nothing 30yr mortgage interest rate, are now going for 700K + with 30yr rates at 7+%. When the shcit hits the fan, you wonder how people who can’t come up with the thousand dollar emergency expense check are going to be able to make their $3000 monthly mortgage payment and thousand dollar truck payment. I guess that’s when it all starts to crumble apart and maybe that’s good to bring things back to reality

While many good points have been made about "living beyond ones means", my take away is somewhat different.

People don't bring ATV's, turcks or houses into pawn shops. They bring stuff they can carry - jewelry, guns, watches, etc. In this case, all in an attempt to stop the bleeding of what is a structural increase (i.e. not temporary) of cost of living.

Unfortunately, one can only go so far in selling assets, then you run out of assets to sell.

No doubt, this pattern was expected when The Left implemented their "build back better" plan.

You can be sure, the CIA is taking notes of this pattern and others. Ready to drop the next hammer on the people and continue to work their way up the food chain.

One slice at at time, keeping anxiety levels high, culminating in a thorough crushing of America.

BTW, expecting this asset sell-off is perhaps the major reason Team Biden instituted $600+ 1099's for annual bank deposits. And hired 87,000 more IRS agents.

This is the goal of the federal reserve raising rates. They are trying to kill the economy and stop the demand for goods to lower interest. This is the planned outcome of the raise in interest rates. They need buying to stall and let inflation get to 2% or so and they will start lowering rates to jump start the economy again This entire series of events is the outcome of all the free money, no evictions, no rent payments, no school loan payments, inflated unemployment, stimulus and covid money that was pumped into the system... crazy inflation that raises all of our prices and then a federal reserve that kills the economy to slow inflation. The United States (supposedly) voted for this.

That cant be true.... without using credit your score would go to zero. You must have a mortgage or use a credit card that you pay off every month or something.

While many colleges carry endowments of hundreds of millions, sometimes more. Why should a college that has hundreds of millions of dollars in just their endowment alone not put some skin into the game instead of forcing kids to go into debt for their $75,000 a year education? Any loan forgiveness should come heavily from the colleges that created the mess. They profited bigly and now they should pay bigly…

That’s very true oakster. I quit using credit cards several years ago but then saw my score begin falling so I went out and got 3 cards and rotate a couple purchases a month between them. I have the online banking pay them in full each month unless I decide to do it sooner. Managing your credit cards with the online banking is simple and handy. I don’t carry a balance or need to worry about interest but I have to have cards otherwise my credit score is affected….if you pay cash and don’t need credit you are considered less reliable in their eyes. I view the man with the cash on hand to buy what he wants as the better risk versus the guy that needs to finance his dinner. 😂

College education is a fugg'n racket. Premium price for a chity product.

No way those colleges are going to voluntarily cough-up any of the loot.

There should be racketeering charges brought against 90% and squeeze the money out them

I've noticed some deals on shooting stuff lately. Greyboe was 35% off everything the other day $1500 swfa scopes were $700, everyone has ar parts on sale.

I think the price of wants will go down as the price of needs like food, fuel, and housing keep climbing.

Bb

Yep…any other corporations that put out as many defective products as the universities have would be liable for their malfeasance and subject to financial repercussions. Congress could enact a one time tax or assessment on college endowments and enact a freeze on their ability to raise tuition and fees. If the universities want to use race as a deciding factor in admissions and if they think that if they embrace social radicals on their campuses that they’re furthering progress then they should be responsible for the end product that they produce. If they want to back the “tear it all down and burn the rich” attitude of their students they shouldn’t be surprised if they’re torn in the process.

My wife and I graduated from undergrad school in 1970. We got our first credit card in 1970 when I was a young 2LT at Fort Benning GA. In 53 years we’ve never paid a penny of interest on a credit card. I used the GI Bill to pay for grad school and my wife got fellowships for two Masters degrees and a Doctorate. We both had well paying careers and are now retired in our mid 70’s and live well within our means.

Spot on.

Credit card-0 balance.
Is it debt if you pay it in full every month before the due date?

Calls to mind a time we did that, very strange. My brother and I wanted to borrow a small amount to buy a piece of property neighboring our farm. We didn’t want to take out a mortgage, just a small, short term loan. They said no. The funny part: We had over three times the sun we wanted to borrow on deposit in that bank and offered to secure the loan with cash! I had a good, high-profile locally, well-paid job, neither of us had a mortgage, and my brother was the bank’s attorney! We went to the credit union office (within sight of the bank) and the loaned us the money, no questions asked. We closed out our accounts at the bank. Never did find out what was going on.