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High-Def Fills Pawn Shops
March 19, 2009

The bad economy is pushing many people to pawn shops for cash advances. This article at MSNBC.com says that new sorts of products are getting hawked, above and beyond the typical Grandma's pearls or Dad's hardly-used electric guitar.
Some of the hottest consumer electronics, such as high-def TVs and Wiis, are among the different products flooding into the shops. Generally, people can get these products back if they are able to repay the cash plus interest within about a month of receiving the loan.
The article doesn't say Blu-ray players are among the discards. But I wonder if some are flitering through to the pawnshops. If you don't have your high-def TV anymore, you sure as heck don't need your Blu-ray player, right?
Fortunately, Blu-ray manufacturers are just now launching their latest models, many with really cool features, which should infuse the category with helpful excitement. Panasonic is adding Amazon Video on Demand capabilities for the first time to its players, for example.
As for me, I'm as worried about cash flow as the next guy/gal. But I am not about to give up my own high-def TV, Wii and Blu-ray player! All together, I think they've saved me some money in going out to dinner, seeing movies, etc.

Posted by Susanne Ault on March 19, 2009 | Comments (0)