I have a chip on my shoulder because when I was younger I had money troubles and I had to put my guitar on collateral for a loan.  That was really tough.  As you can imagine, I couldn’t pay back the loan and they took my guitar to sell it.  The loan was for $84, the guitar was probably worth $500.  I was ripped off.

I had to do it again later in life.  This time I had a Taylor 912 guitar to put up.  It is worth around $5000 new and goes for around $2500 used and in good condition.  It was in good condition.

I was able to get a $500 loan out of it plus fees.  I was able to pay it back and get my guitar back, but if I hadn’t, they would have made a 500% return.  Those are huge interest fees.

That is how pawn shops make their money.  They charge fees on the loans to begin with.  But on top of that, they get to keep and sell any items where people default on the loans and make 5-10 times their money.  They are on the winning side no matter what.

If you’ve ever wondered how pawn shops stay in business by selling mostly crap, now you know.  They take advantage of those who are in financial trouble.  Their target market are those people who don’t know how to manage their finances to begin with.

If they were a bank or lending institution, they would not be able to get away with how much interest they make.  The same goes for cash advance places as well as pawn shops.  There aren’t enough regulations to protect those who are most vulnerable to these types of loan sharks.

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Fast cash loans are expensive, but it not normally their high price that screws people up.  Instead it’s the timing of repaying the loan.  Can you imagine what life will be like if half or more of your next paycheck is already spent before you have a chance to cash it?  That’s exactly what’s going to happen when you use these loans!  You’re probably going to need another loan to cover the lost money, and all of the sudden you’re relying on loans to pay all of your bills.  This leads to insane amounts of debt that you’re going to struggle to pay back.  Payday loan consolidation is an option, but you really don’t want to get that far down the debt hole!

Should you decide that a loan is the right choice for you, use the tips below to make more money from the day that you accept the loan and the day it’s to be repaid to take some of the heat off.

Payday Loan Alternatives

The pawn shop is probably the most common place that people go to make money without a loan.  If you need money now and don’t have any time to spare, this is a good place to do so.  If you have more time to spare we’ll cover some better options in the next paragraph.  The key with pawn shops is that you spend the time to make whatever it is that you’re selling look as close to new as possible.  When your stuff looks like it’s in good shape, the pawn shop is going to give you more money, plain and simple.  Also keep in mind that there are some things that pawn shops most commonly buy.  These things are tools, guns, bikes, guitars, and high end electronics.  Selling that kind of stuff will also help you get more money.

Should you have more time on your hands, craigslist is the best place to sell your stuff.  Rather than selling your things for pennies on the dollar at the pawn, you get to set the price and get more for it.  The lower your price is, the faster it will sell, but it will probably still be more than what you’d get at the pawn.  Be sure to take good pictures of what you’re selling, people shop with their eyes and if your pictures are good they’re more likely to make you an offer.

There are also a lot of ways to work for cash.  I generally start with the people around me when I’m looking to make money like this.  I’ll explain my situation to family members, and tell them that I don’t intend on borrowing money, instead I want to earn it.  Usually they’ll have something that I can do for them, generally babysitting, but your friends and family might have other jobs.  This is the first place I start when I need money now.

Odd jobs are also available that will pay cash.  You can find these jobs in your local classified section of your newspaper or on the Etc. section of craigslist.

There are a ton of different ways to make money quickly, but these are the ones that I use when I’m in a pinch.  It will at least greatly reduce the amount of money that I need to borrow, if not take care of whatever emergency expense that I have in front of me.

Thanks for reading!

-Lydia

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The first step is to figure out who actually offers same day loans, and how to spot the companies that are just out to sell your information.  This is pretty obvious locally, but online it gets a bit tricky.  You can get a loan from big companies like Think Cash or CashNet, both of who actually lend money, or you can shop around on your own.  The thing to look for when browsing websites is a place for returning customers to log in.  If there isn’t one of those, odds are they don’t actually lend money.  The reasoning behind this is that the sites that sell your info don’t have any actual customers, so this is not needed.

After you have a good idea of who you can borrow money from, start reading through their fine print to look for the rates.  In the UK this is extremely easy since the lender has to post it on the front page, but in the US it’s a bit trickier.  If reading the fine print isn’t your thing, just find the phone number in their customer service section and give them a call.

On the topic of calling, this is how you find the best rates locally.  Grab your phone book and start calling up all of the lenders that are close to your house or job and simply ask what their current rate is.  You can make it through a dozen or so in just a few minutes, and it is definitely time well spent!

Comparing rates when shopping around is just one way to save money.  Some lenders offer 30 day payday loans, which are great for those that only get paid once a month, but with long lending terms the interest gets incredibly high.  In this case you want to find a lender that will allow you to pay the loan back early without penalty, and then do everything you can to earn the extra money early.  This same principle goes for two week payday loans, but it’s much tougher to raise that much money in just two weeks.

Also, the more money that you borrow, the more you pay in fees.  Reducing the amount you need is another great way to save a lot of cash.  You can do this by selling some of your stuff at the pawn shop or working odd jobs for cash.  Another trick is to borrow exactly the amount of money that you need, and not a dime more.

When you need money now a payday cash advance is a good tool.  Their price makes them a risky venture, but by shopping smart you can save a lot of money which brings their price back down to earth.

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If you’re considering going out and pawning your stuff, be sure to read this article all the way through.  I’ll share some tips that have gotten me more money for each item that I’ve sold.  I don’t have any facts to back up how much more I’ve made, but after you’ve sold enough stuff it’s easy to tell when you’re getting a much better deal.

Don’t forget that pawn shops are great for buying cheap stuff too.  If you’re strapped for cash, but need some new tools or a bicycle, it makes much more sense to head to a pawn shop.  You may even be able to trade for it and not have to spend a dime!

There are three tricks to help you get the most for your stuff at a pawn shop.  You have to know what they usually buy, how to improve its condition, and a bit of bartering skills to get yourself paid as much as possible.  Before you head out the door, check pawn shops online to find the ones in your area.  Figuring out which ones are close to you, and which ones are competitors is important (more on that later).

What Do Pawn Shops Buy?

Most pawn shops will buy anything.  Which also means that they sell everything.  I actually went into one pawn shop in Mesa, Arizona and the dude behind the counter offered to sell me the entire pawn shop!  There are some things that are going to get you paid much more than others.  This applies to just about every pawn shop on the planet as well.  These things are-

• Jewelery
• Tools
• Bicycles
• Musical Instruments
• Weapons
• Electronics

The reason these are the things that are the highest paying is that they are always in demand.  Guitars will never go out of style, and neither will bicycles or jewelry.  Pawn shops make their money selling these things, and you’ll make money selling them as well.

Keep in mind that there are some high-end versions of these things that some pawn shops won’t take.  If you have a million dollar diamond ring, or a ’57 Les Paul, they’re probably going to tell you to find somewhere else to hawk them since they’re so expensive and they don’t have that kind of cash on hand.  Another thing that many of them do, which may throw a wrench in your gears, is offer consignment on large ticket items like this.  Obviously, this isn’t going to help you much if your rent is due tomorrow and you’re two hundred bucks short.  If you live in a big city, odds are that there are hundreds of places that you can sell your stuff and you should be able to find one that’ll offer cash for it.  You can look into jewelry stores, jewelery pawn shops, Guitar Center, other pawn shops, or even throw it on craigslist to get the cash you need!

“Reconditioning” Your Stuff

This is a trick that I’m pissed took me so long to figure out.  Many times, you can spend a couple bucks to get something cleaned up and in better shape to get yourself more money from the pawn shop.  The best example is guitars, I’ve pawned three guitars over the years and all were about the same quality and price when new, but one of them got me paid $150 dollars more than the others.  Why?  Because I cleaned it up really well, restrung it, and tuned it.  It cost me about $4 for the guitar polish and $7 for the strings.  I paid $11 and got $150 extra!  That’s a smart investment.

Anything you pawn should be treated this way.  Do you think your local pawn shop is going to clean up those screwdrivers you’re heading down there to pawn?  I don’t think so!  Will they pay you more if they come in nice and shiny?  Probably!  Clean equals quality in the minds of many shoppers and pawnshop owners.

Sometimes something as simple as a cord can dramatically hurt the price that you’re paid.  Take video game systems, for example.  If you go to sell your Xbox and it’s missing the power cable, you certainly aren’t going to get all of the money that you could if you went to the store and spent a few bucks on a new one.

Do Some Negotiation

Keep in mind that the price they offer you for your stuff isn’t a set-in-stone number.  You can barter with them, and you should.  It can be the difference in getting a fair price and getting nearly nothing for the things you’re pawning.  Most pawn shop dudes are going to make an educated guess on what they should pay you, and you have to keep in mind the “relative” cost.  This means that even if you paid $500 for something that you aren’t owed anything close to $500 for it.  You have to consider what the pawn shop will be able to sell it for, and that they have to make money on it as well.

If the pawnshop employee is being difficult and not willing to barter with you, tell them that you’re heading to “fill in competitor’s name here.”  If you have things that are of value and they’ll be able to sell quickly, they’re going to change their tune and be much more willing to work with you on a price.  This has always been the most effective negotiation tool for me.

To sum it up; research your local pawn shops, gather up the stuff that they pay the most for, clean it up, and put your negotiating hat on.  Get out there and get paid!

Thanks for reading,

Lydia

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I just ran across a few cool articles in my never ending search to find you the best ways to get fast cash that I though I would share with you.  The first article is called Make Money Fast and it goes through various ways to make money on the street.  Have you ever thought about being a street performer to put some cash in your pocket today?  I hadn’t, but it really made me think that all those years I spent learning the guitar could be put to some good use!  The article also goes into making money with recycling and starting an online business.  Both of these are more great ways to get some fast cash.

The second article I want to share with you is called Quick Ways To Make Money.  This article is similar to the pawn shop article here, but goes into much more detail about how to learn to part with your stuff and set up a garage sale.  The key to a good garage sale is promotion, and the method outlined in the article is a way I never thought of (of course I’m not giving it away, read the article to find out!).

All in all, I think these methods are two more great ways to get fast cash when you need it.  As this site grows there will be many more of these to come, so stay tuned!

Thanks for reading,

Lydia

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