Pawn Shop Alternatives - Record Head (2024)

What Is a Pawn Shop?

When you work with a pawn shop, you’ll tell them how much money you need to borrow and present them with your item. If the shop accepts, they’ll loan you the money under specific terms and a set fee schedule. Rather than transferring ownership, your item serves as collateral — a physical reason to return and repay the loan. The money is yours for now, but the loan will accrue interest until you pay it in full.

When you’ve repaid the loan and interest, the shop will return your item. If you fail to repay in time, the shop will claim your property and place it for sale. Even if you’ve repaid a portion of the loan, the pawn shop will still attempt to sell your item and keep the profit.

Do Pawn Shops Sell Record Players, DVDs, Video Games or Other Electronics and Media?

Because pawn shops exchange loans for items, the only products you’ll find for sale are those claimed as a result of a defaulted loan. Many pawn shops are particular about what they accept, preferring notably valuable items like jewelry, rare antiques or firearms.

You may be able to find pawn shops that buy DVDs or video games, or even music pawn shops that will accept items such as records and record players, but you won’t get top dollar for your goods.

What Is a Buy-Sell-Trade Store?

Unlike pawn shops, buy-sell-trade stores are places for patrons to sell their items in exchange for cash or store credit. These stores operate on a more traditional model, profiting through the repurchase and sale of products for an agreed-upon price, as opposed to accepting items as collateral for a loan.

Because these stores primarily profit from sales instead of loan payments and interest, buy-sell-trade stores will accept a broader range of items, from expensive electronic equipment to small pieces of memorabilia. What’s more, buy-sell-trade stores offer the opportunity for customers to get a discounted rate on goods by trading in their own. The items you’ll find on the shelves of a buy-sell-trade store are those that someone willingly sold at a fair exchange rate.

What Are the Risks of Using a Pawn Shop?

Working witha pawn shop poses certain risksthat you won’t face at a buy-sell-trade store. To start, when you exchange a valuable item for a loan as collateral, you risk losing it. Failure to meet your loan agreement will result in the pawn shop claiming your item and placing it up for sale. At that point, it’s out of your hands — a customer of the shop may purchase that wedding ring, family heirloom, firearm or other valuable possession, and you’re powerless to stop them.

Another risk of working with a pawn shop is in the loan itself. Pawn loans tend to have high interest rates, often ranging up to 20% or higher. What’s more, the pawn shop is unlikely to give you the best value for your item. Pawn shops profit from loan payments, so they’ll set terms that are decidedly in their favor, encouraging you to return to pay. And since some tech devices are outmoded fairly quickly, pawn shops that sell electronics typically offer very little for these items.

What Sets Buy-Sell-Trade Stores Apart?

Buy-sell-trade stores offer certain benefits that distinguish them from pawn shops. You are most likely to get the best value for the item you want to exchange at a buy-sell-trade store — rather than accepting a high-rate loan that doesn’t match your item in value, you’ll receive a fair and honest amount of money or the equivalent value in store credit.

Additionally, buy-sell-trade stores maintain a wider variety of products to choose from for your exchange, meaning you can find great rates on items like record players, video games, memorabilia and more. Buy-sell-trade stores also make it possible for you to offload multiple items at a time, making them a perfect way to declutter your home and receive cash in return. This business model offers better options with fewer risks.