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A pawnbroker is an individual who offers secured loans to people by taking items of personal property as collateral. A pawnbrokering entity is called a pawnshop or pawnbrokerage. While many items can be pawned, pawnshops typically accept jewelry, musical instruments, coins, gold, silver and firearms. Home-audio equipment, computers, video-game systems, televisions, cameras, and power tools became pawnable as the world entered the Information Age. The items pawned to the broker or shop are themselves called pledges, pawns, or simply the collateral.
If an item is pawned for a loan (colloquially "hocked" or "popped"[1] or "up the spout"[2]), within a certain contractual period of time the pawner may redeem it for the amount of the loan plus some agreed-upon amount for interest. In the United States the amount of time and the rate of interest, are governed by law and by state commerce-department policies. Pawnbrokers have the same license as a bank, which is highly regulated. If the loan is not paid (or extended, if applicable) within the time period, the pawnbroker will offer the pawned item for sale to other customers. Unlike other lenders, the pawnbroker does not report the defaulted loan on the customer's credit-report, since the pawnbroker has physical possession of the item and may recoup the loan value through outright sale of the item. Pawnbrokers may also sell items that have been sold outright to them by customers. Some pawnshops are willing to trade items in their shop for items brought to them by customers.
- ^ "pop". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
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Wilkinson, Peter Richard (2 September 2003) [1993]. "E.1.c Banks, pawnbrokers". Thesaurus of Traditional English Metaphors (2, revised ed.). London: Routledge. p. https://books.google.com/books?id=t4wZOj46HBoC&pg=PT282. doi:10.4324/9780203219850. ISBN 9781134474141. Retrieved 12 July 2025.
Pawnbrokers sent goods up a lift called 'the spout'.