SYRACUSE -- You can get fast cash by exchanging jewelry and other valuables. And in these tough economic times, local pawn shops are seeing a spike in business. "Now we're getting a lot more merchandise in," John Bellavia said. "People are definitely a lot more desperate right now," he said.
John Bellavia and his brother Michael, of NY Valuables Exchange, just opened a new location on Wolf Street in Syracuse. They've seen a steady stream of customers since the economy tanked last fall. But they and other pawn shop owners are noticing something different too. "We're getting a lot more high-end stuff in. Before it was all broken gold and stuff people didn't actually need, and now we're getting a lot more stuff that they probably normally wouldn't want to live without," Bellavia said.
And they're seeing a new type of customer. They're desperate for cash, but come in donning designer clothes and wearing Rolex watches. And instead of cashing in cheap gold, they're pulling out diamond rings and other precious stones. "Now it's like people pull up in a Mercedes and scrap something at our shop which is considered a little odd from the past. Definitely people you normally wouldn't expect to scrap anything," Bellavia said.
But with investment bankers now joining the unemployment lines and more white collar workers out of a job, pawn shops across the country are seeing this new type of clientele.
It's important to remember that once you bring in an item, it becomes the property of the shop. You may be able to buy it back, but you'll have to pay more for it than what you got for it in the first place.
