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, per their SEC filings. Margin versus markup, and how to measure your own.Aged pawn inventory: when to mark down and when to sell offHow the public pawn chains keep aged stock near 2%, how to tell when an item has sat too long, and a weekly routine for marking down and selling off dead stock.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% forfeited), and how to measure your own rate.How to price used guns: Blue Book, GunBroker completed items, and your own salesHow to price used firearms and trade-ins: what the Blue Book is for, how to search GunBroker completed items, and why your own sales should set 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. Asking prices, markdowns and counter offers.What pawn shop software costs: the prices the vendors publishWhat Bravo, PawnSmarts, Hi-Tech Pawn, Pawn Wizard and PawnMate publish for pawn POS pricing, monthly and one-time, and the costs that are not on the price page.PawnMaster after the Bravo acquisition: what your options areBravo bought PawnMaster in January 2024. What Bravo’s transition offer says, what the other systems charge to convert you, and what to export before you decide.Bravo alternatives for a pawn shop, and the option of not switchingThe other pawn POS systems a shop can run, each with the price its vendor publishes, what to check before converting, and the case for keeping the POS you have.Pawn shop reporting requirements, state by stateWhat pawn shops must report to police, in the words of the law: California, Florida, Utah, Washington and New York City, and who runs each reporting system.Where pawn shops look up prices, and what they should check firstThe websites and price guides a pawn shop uses to value an item: its own sales history, eBay sold prices, GunBroker completed items and the Blue Book.Scrap gold calculator for pawn shopsWork out the melt value of 10k, 14k, 18k, 22k or 24k gold from its weight and today’s spot price, then your offer as a share of melt. Free, no sign-up.Pawn loan reminder texts: what to send and whenHow pawn shops remind customers before a loan matures: when to send, what to say, consent on the ticket, and measuring the effect on redemptions.
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.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.PawnCounter and eBay TerapeakeBay’s Product Research (Terapeak) shows three years of eBay sold prices. PawnCounter shows what sold, and what sat, in your own shop. How to use both.
Looking for how to get your data out of your POS? See the export guides.