Disadvantage at the Pawn Shop

I’m flat broke. Until several months ago, I had numerous credit cards and as long as a healthy line of credit existed I was never really busted because I’d just charge up more. But the madness had to end, so I did away with the plastic. Things are very different now. When I’m tapped out it can be a pretty desperate feeling. Verizon calls about my past due bills. PG&E sent me a notice saying if I don’t pay my balance within two weeks they’ll shut my power off. I still have an outstanding invoice with my dentist. Oh – and this is my favorite – when I’m a dollar over drafted on my checking account they charge me thirty five bucks. The poor only get poorer, I realize. Of course, I’m owed money by a number of individuals myself. But you can’t squeeze blood from a stone.

On Tuesday I cashed in all my change. It was a pretty impressive haul: three hundred and twenty-two dollars. That covered my rent and bought some groceries. On Wednesday I redeemed my collection of bottles and cans and received seventeen bucks. Still, I woke up this morning with about two dollars cash in my pockets. And since I have plans this evening as well as the aforementioned bills to pay, I had no choice but dig into my personal possessions, my meager treasures, for financial assistance.

I have a gold Waltham pocket watch I purchased thirteen years ago. It’s from the 1930’s and keeps good time. Its only value is in the gold weight, as nobody wears pocket watches any more. I also have a couple pairs of gold cuff links. So after a walk around the block and a visit to the library to peruse their collection of free DVD’s for my personal viewing, I grabbed the watch and my sea shell links and went off to the pawn shop for a much needed infusion.

Pawn shops are a necessary functionary in our society. I would call them a “necessary evil,” but I don’t really believe they are evil at all. When you really need a loan, when it is a matter of putting gas in the car or food on the table, a pawn shop can come in very handy. I am no stranger to these places and at one time visited them with some regularity. It has been several years, however, since I last needed pawn services.

With the high price of gold today, I figured I could count on coming away with three hundred bucks. I presented my items to the gentleman at the pawn shop and he eyed them warily.

“You want a loan or to sell?”
“A loan,” I replied.
“What were you hoping to get for them?”
“Three hundred.”
He whistled. “That’s a lot.”
“Not really,” I replied. “I figure all up its worth six, spot value on the gold alone.”
“I’m not giving you three hundred.”
“What will you give me?”
“A hundred fifty.”
I sighed. I was really hoping to get at least two sixty. “You can give me two hundred.”
“How do you know I can give you two hundred?”
“Because you make money either way. Actually, you especially make money if I don’t redeem. It’s a sound business decision. This isn’t my first rodeo.”
“All right, then. Two hundred it is.”

He wrote up the ticket. We had a really nice conversation too. I don’t take his low balling of my possessions personally. The man is in the business of giving out as little as he can for the most value. And since I know with certainty that, barring death, I will redeem the items, the lower amount of money just means I pay less in juice on the back end – which will probably be in a week or so. Imagine that: I pay thirty five bucks in interest (The same amount as my overdraft fee, ironically.) on a loan of two hundred and the man will probably have his money in less than ten days. Not a bad bargain for him, to say the least.

And the lesson I take from this experience is elemental and a non-revelation: money is power. The more dough you got, the more terms you dictate. I just wish I was better at making money a priority in life. Try as I might, it simply doesn’t move me the way it should. Maybe, in the end, Gordon Gecko was right; that “greed, for lack of a better word, is good.” Do I need to get greedier? More ambitious? Maybe so.