Articles

Running the numbers on a pawn shop

Plain, practical reading on the money side of the counter: what to pay, what to ask, what to do with what has sat, and which loans come back. Sources are linked where a figure comes from someone else.

Pawn shop profit margins: what the public chains actually reportMerchandise gross margin at the two public U.S. pawn chains was 42% and 37% in 2025, from their SEC filings. What that means for an independent shop, and how to measure yours by category.Aged pawn inventory: when to mark down and when to sell offHow the public pawn chains keep aged stock near 2%, how to work out when an item has sat too long, and a weekly routine for marking down and selling off dead inventory.Pawn loan forfeiture rate: what’s normal, and how to measure yoursWhere the "85% of pawn loans are repaid" figure comes from, what the public chains’ cash flows show (about 40% of settled principal forfeited), and how to measure your own redemption rate.How to price used guns: Blue Book, GunBroker completed items, and your own salesA practical way to price used firearms and trade-ins: what the Blue Book is good for, how to search GunBroker completed items, and why your own sales history should decide the offer.How to price pawn shop inventory from your own sales historyPrice pawn and resale inventory from what the same items sold for in your own shop, then check eBay sold data and other comparables. Asking prices, markdowns and counter offers, step by step.

Comparisons

PawnCounter and Bravo EstimatorBravo Estimator is a valuation feature inside Bravo’s pawn POS. PawnCounter prices from your own sales history and works with the POS you already run. A dated, sourced comparison.PawnCounter and the Blue Book of Gun ValuesThe Blue Book of Gun Values is a reference price guide; PawnCounter’s used-gun desk quotes trade-ins from what the same model sold for in your shop. Most gun counters want both.PawnCounter and eBay TerapeakeBay’s Product Research (Terapeak) shows up to three years of eBay sold prices. PawnCounter shows what sold, and what sat, in your own shop. How a pawn or resale shop can use both.

Looking for how to get your data out of your POS? See the export guides.