Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1892-06-08
POINTS FROM A PAWNeRoKER
There Are Two Qualifications That Are
Absolutely Essential

There Are Two Qualifications That Are
Absolutely Essential.
10 be successful pawnbrokcr one must
have a thorough knowledge of the value
or Jeweiry, general knowledge Of the
business and, more important still, must
re perfect student of human nature"
SAID an up town pawnbroker to me last
evening. Without the thorough knowl-
edge of the value of jewelry he will never
he able to estimate in advance the profit
on loan he is asked to make, and without
the knowledge of human nature he is alb
solutely worthless in the business.
For instance, say man comes in here
with valuable watch to pawn. He wants
$50 on it. Now if | am a student of bu-
man nature can tell in a moment wheth
er that man intends to redeem the watch
Or whether he intends to let it remain here
until the ticket expires and | have the
legal right to sell it. If his face tells me
that he will not redeem the watch | let
him have only seventy-five dollars on it,
Tor then my profits on it's sale will be
larger, but on the other hand, if can tell
by his face that he intends to redeem the
watch, why l willingly let him have $50,
Tor my interest on the loan will amount to
more and my profits on the transaction will
be larger. All these points are considered
by good pawnbroker who understands
his business"
Questioning the pawnbroker further. I
learned many interesting things about
both the loan Office business and about the
| jewelry trade. IF you want to buy dia-
monds, said my informant, go to re-
| spectacle jewelcr and pay the full market
price, for there is no such thing as getting
them at very much below their value, I'M
. less there is some flaw in the stones or
/ some reason for selling them cheaplv. If
stone has been stolen then the thief has
a very good reason for selling, and does
| not want to come in contact with the deal
| er for fear of discovery.
| Cnder those circumstances YOU might
obtain.a stone cheap, but if you go to an
auction or sherifT's sale, or ANYTHING of
that kind, don't expect TO find bargains, for
| you will be disappointed and pay probably
more than the value of the diamond bought.
The dealers have n man at every sale to
buy the diamonds that sell cheap, and they
are not going to let you get in ahead of
them on bargains. They will bid to the
full value of the stone offered and all YOU
bid above that price is profit to the seller
| | have watched these bargain sales for a
good many years and | never saw an out.
| SlitT guy al tidllOUtl at less imam ltS value
Now about the pawnbroking business
| can tell you n few of the tricks of the
wicked, by which many unsuspecting citi
zens are taken in. The pawn ticket game
is the one most frequently practiced and
the profits are almost invariably great A
man goes to a pawnbroker and borrows
say 800 on a stone worth perhaps 1925 OIL
$50. The pawnbroker lends him the
money because he believes that the stone
will he redeemed. There is a general i'm
preston that q pawnbroker lends only ont
quarter of the value of Il stone, but as
have explained to you that is where they
make their mistake
''Now the man who has pawned his dia
mond visits a stranger and states his de
sires to sell the ticket for the diamond
fixing the value of the stone at say 500
saying that the pawnbroker only lend
one-qUartcr Of the value of the article
The purchaser believes him and also be
lieves in the popular theory, and pays 81,
$50 Tor the ticket, bringing the cost of tn
diamond to him at $3.50, which with inter
est amounts to more than double the valu
of the stone. The result is that the pun
chaser IS badly stuck, while the man VIII
has sold him the ticket can invest in an
other diamond and play tine same gam
with some other victim. New York HeI
| aid.