tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2335748440449035592.post3751762139081999968..comments2009-01-09T17:24:09.569-05:00TraderMarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241756200482130281noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2335748440449035592.post-54886907679266104392009-01-05T08:53:00.000-05:002009-01-05T08:53:00.000-05:00Interesting they are still driving the fancy cars - but I am sure they are underwater with their cars as well! for instance,my wife bought (financed) a new 2006 Range Rover..price of the car was around $83k...The range Rover is 2 1/2 yrs old. We went to the same dealer to see what it would fetch for a trade in(only 17,500 miles)..$32k! And we still owe over $44k on it! I like th epawn shop call, thogh I ma surprised CSH and EZPW are nto much higher right nowwofathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12646989916627905652noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2335748440449035592.post-18301687838447075562009-01-04T21:29:00.000-05:002009-01-04T21:29:00.000-05:00They key is, as with any business, price. They offer less than the worth of the good that they can sell it for, in return for "easy cash". Obviously each operator has to guess what the market price of said product would be that they could resell for and offer the person looking to loan the product less than that in case they walk away. Good old school merchandizing (sp)<BR/><BR/>Inventory risk, as you say, is the main problem. i.e. if we return to an era of Dust bowls they are going to be sitting on some amazing amount of useless inventory. But then Obama and Co will bail 'em out. Not to worry.TraderMarkhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06241756200482130281noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2335748440449035592.post-39496399042278706802009-01-04T21:05:00.000-05:002009-01-04T21:05:00.000-05:00I'll admit to being ignorant to the overall operations of a pawn shop... But wouldn't they be hurt by the drying up of potential buyers of hocked goods? It seems like they are taking a pretty big inventory risk even if their margins are pretty high. Even if they are awash in furs and such, who's going to buy the stuff if a loan defaults?Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15383715413254218177noreply@blogger.com