I’ve never stepped foot in a pawn shop, but I am hopelessly addicted to watching both Pawn Stars and Hardcore Pawn. The two shows offer diametrically opposed views of the pawn industry. The former is all about antiques and interesting merchandise, while the latter is more focused on the people who pawn everyday items. In case you didn’t know, pawn is one of the simplest forms of credit. You give a pawn broker an item to hold as collateral, and he or she gives you a loan based on the value of the item. To get the item back you have to pay back the principal plus interest within a certain amount of time, otherwise the pawn broker can keep the item and sell it. Pawn makes credit available to anyone who owns something of value, and that’s generally a good thing. The pawn model has been around for thousands of years, so it’s about time for someone to take it online. That’s what Denver, CO and Chicago, IL based Pawngo is doing, and they’re taking it one step further. Pawngo is solely focused on the high end of pawn, so they only do loans from $250 to $100,000 (though you might be able to convince them to go higher if you have a really awesome item).
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