Stolen Items

Washington Pawn Shop Caught Buying Shoplifted Items

A few weeks ago, police in Monroe Washington raided NW Gold Buyers, a pawn shop that has been allegedly buying and selling stolen goods for years with the owner's knowledge.  Police found boxes and boxes of clearly shoplifted merchandise including over-the-counter drugs that they were then selling online. NW Gold is believed to have taken in $428,000 in profit for the sale of these goods. For the full story click here.

How did this happen?

Stolen goods. One of the biggest obstacles in the Pawn business, as well as one of the biggest controversies surrounding it. Sometimes people are extremely desperate for money. So desperate, that they consider stealing things in order to sell them. This can range from shoplifting to breaking into someone else's house and robbing them. They then go to a Pawn shop and try to sell those items. 

Now, an ethical and fully legitimate Pawnshop will never, ever buy something they think is stolen. There are ways we figure out if the thing you're trying to sell isn't yours (more on that later). If we believe that you're trying to sell us a stolen item (or even worse-you ask to sell it under the table) we will most likely tell you to leave our store and never come back. 

Why Not?

Buying stolen goods does a number harmful of things both to the shop and to the community as a whole.  A Pawn shop that knowingly buys a stolen item faces several risks:

• Ruined Reputation
• Loss of  Pawn License
• Legal consequences including incredibly high fines and even jail time

If that isn't enough of a deterrent, Pawn Brokers are required to send a full list of every item (and the people that brought them in) that they bought or gave a loan for, to the police at the end of every work day. If an item on that list turns out to be stolen, the police take it and return it to its rightful owner. The identity of the person who sold the stolen good is also handed over to the police, and that person will face legal consequences. The Pawnbroker is not compensated, and whatever they paid for it is now considered a total loss. This is a big incentive for Pawn Brokers to avoid stolen goods like the plague and for that reason less than .1% of merchandise in Pawnshops is claimed as stolen by the police. 

Buying stolen goods is extremely harmful to the community as it leads to more theft overall, as thieves see that they have a place that will buy their loot. It creates resentment towards the Pawn Business as it makes people associate the business with criminal behavior, which it shouldn't be. Pawn shops provide a needed service to the community, and the few that try to sell stolen goods ruin it for the majority of honest citizens that just need some extra cash. 

How Can You Tell if Something is Stolen or Not?

The problem with buying used goods is there is often little hard evidence that the person selling it is the rightful owner. However, while you can never know for sure wether or not someone is lying to you, there are things you can do. There are steps that we must take as Pawnbrokers to ensure that we do not buy stolen goods.  Being able to identify red flags is part of the responsibility of a Pawnbroker.

For example if someone comes in with a brand new item, still in its box and everything, but doesn't have a receipt? Huge red flag. We will not buy it unless they have a receipt.  Without a receipt, it is impossible to know if it was shoplifted or not. 

If someone comes in with a laptop or a smartphone, and they don't know the password or if its full of pictures that indicate it belongs to someone else: Red Flag.

If you come in with an extremely expensive guitar and don't know how to play at all: Red Flag

There are several more specific red flags but the main point is, if someone is trying to sell something, and they don't know anything about it, it most likely isn't theirs.  And if there's a chance its not theirs? DO NOT BUY IT. 

The Point

 The bottom line is, never try to sell stolen goods. It's not worth it. It's never worth it. We will know and we will inform the police. We take this very seriously. And for the fellow Pawnbrokers out there, the Pawn business is already so lucrative on its own, the only reason someone would knowingly buy stolen goods is pure greed.