Josh Sebastian
From Encinitas (Student)
I had a gold nugget I had to pawn once. It originally came from Alaska. My grandfather was doing some work up there and got it. I was hard up for money, although thinking about it now, I don’t even remember how much the pawn shop gave me for it. I’m sure I got ripped off because my intention was to go buy it back at some point. And I think he was selling it for so much more than I got.
Chris Sinkovich
From Encinitas (Sales)
I went to pawn my wedding ring. The one from my first marriage. This was in L.A. I went with my current wife, and the guy offered me $20. I said, “No way,” and we headed out. She asked me what else we would do with it and insisted I go back in and get the $20. I think it had cost a few hundred. We figured we’d get dinner with it and went out for lasagna. And the 20 didn’t even cover the cost of that meal.
Timmy Fredrickson
From Leucadia (Former Student)
I pawned some school books. I dropped out of high school and had all these leftover books that I forgot about. I think I got $50 for all of them. And usually, when people sell things to pawn shops, they get ripped off. But the fact that I got these books for free originally, I made money on the deal. It’s the school that lost out. I probably shouldn’t say what school I went to.
Rachel Stevenson
From Oceanside (Student)
I sold my sister’s stuff. But that’s only because she smashed my Game Boy with a hammer. I don’t know why. Maybe she was bored. So, I took her Game Boy and all the games and sold them and kept the money. That was a few years ago. She was mad but realized she couldn’t do anything about it.
Veronica Segovia
From Hillcrest (Marketing)
I pawned the ring from my first husband. I don’t recall how much I got for it, and I didn’t really care. It was a simple ring. I don’t wear lots of diamonds and things. I know this is going to sound bad, but…he passed away. I wasn’t pawning it because the marriage ended horribly or anything. Selling the ring was just something I needed to do. Some people would argue that you’d want to keep it after something like that. But it was better for me to get rid of it.
Oliver Banks
From Santee (Retired)
I pawned a few things when I was a younger man. It’s not like now, where kids all have their own car, cell phone, blueberry or Blackberry, whatever those things are. If you wanted to buy something, whether that was a shiny new bicycle or a rusty old car, you had to save for it. And that often meant pawning things. I pawned a clarinet, a guitar, and a few tools that my grandfather had left in our garage. I never did buy a car with that money. It wasn’t until I was 25 and had a steady paycheck that I got my first set of wheels.