Pawn Shops 2025

Pawn shops: The surprising back-to-school shopping destination​

Mon, August 18, 2025​

Americans are back-to-school shopping earlier than previous years due to fears of tariffs raising prices. Families with tighter budgets are finding deals in a less traditional place: pawn shops.

Families plan to spend about 2% less this back-to-school season compared to last year, according to a survey from the National Retail Federation. Pawn shop owners told CNN they are seeing more Americans coming in for back-to-school essentials.

“With the way the economy is right now, people realize that they can go to a pawn shop anywhere in the United States, and they can save tremendous amounts of money,” said Les Gold, owner of the pawn shop American Jewelry and Loan in New York City.

Cam said:

I don't believe I've ever purchased anything at a pawn shop. I've checked out a few just to look for deals, but it seems like everything I find always ends up being more than what I would pay on Amazon and/or eBay anyway.

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That TV 'reality' show that was on for a while (Pawn Stars LINK) was pretty interesting.
Waaaaaaaaaay back I bought a nice little pearl-handled .22 revolver at a pawn shop;
don't recall the price, but I'm pretty sure it was a "deal".