I've talked to a few people in the business becaus...

2008-07-07T16:27:00.000-04:00

I've talked to a few people in the business because I saw the way things are heading in the country. I was looking more at the cash advance side of the business - if you drive through any middle class town now and really look for the signs they are EVERYWHERE. I don't know anything about the pawn side of the business but I assume it is also good when I read stories of peopel bringing in family jewelry so they can pay for gas.

On the cash advance side it is outrageous fees but the % of people who simply default is also high. But its in many ways a lot better business than catering to 650 FICO scores at 14-23% interest... when you can charge 400% interest all you need is the guy to pay for a few time frames (most people never "catch up") - so they try to pay for a few pay periods and then eventually crack. Now as more people who have been more "credit worthy" start turning to this sort of business I assume the payouts will be even better because a greater % of them might actually pay the whole thing off!

Again, unless you are actually looking for it you don't realize how many there are - one day when I was driving I made it a practice to specifically look for these businesses - they are not in the upper 10-15%ish type of towns but when you move to 'blue collar' areas they are literally like 7-11s.

I have a friend who is in the pawn shop business l...

2008-07-07T15:51:00.000-04:00

I have a friend who is in the pawn shop business locally; he specializes in collectables and coins; he is absolutely crushing it. He comes from a family of professionals (doctors and lawyers) and he was once a lawyer himself until he went into the pawn shop business 20 years ago. Now he is a top of the pile.

Comments on Fund My Mutual Fund: Missed Opportunity in Cash America (CSH)

I've talked to a few people in the business becaus...

I have a friend who is in the pawn shop business l...