This has been one of my favorite sayings for a long time. Having been in the Pawn Shop business for decades, I have seen many items that people bought in a “Jewelry Store” for ten times or more than what the materials were actually worth. Often people come in our store with a ring that, say they paid $3000.00 for at one of the big box jewelry stores. Then they want us to give them close to that amount. Sadly, once we value the materials of the item they brought, it often comes to about $300.00.
The reason is that when you go buy that nice ring from the jewelry store, you are paying for the fancy retail space, the nicely dressed sales person, the jeweler that made the piece and all the labor that went into it, the expensive TV adds that they run and lots of other built in costs that we do not include. When you buy a piece of jewelry from The Pawn Box, you are paying for the materials. This much gold, silver or platinum and this much in diamonds or other precious stones, many of which we do not charge for. And besides, where do you think all of those expensive engagement rings go after the divorce? Many of them are in our show cases.
Besides buying gold and diamond jewelry from the public, we deal with diamond wholesalers, gold refiners and other people that do not sell to the retail jewelry market. We are not in the mall or those other excessively high rent districts. Our store may not be as fancy as those Galleria style retailers but it is very clean and well organized. Plus, we are in your neighborhood, just around the corner. We are much more casual and friendly and do not try to clean out your bank just to buy that pretty engagement ring. And if we do not have exactly what you are looking for, we can have custom pieces made to your specific design criteria from some of the best craftsman in Houston for a fraction of the cost of a “designer” piece in that “He went to Jxxxd” jewelry store. And we buy and sell diamonds more like a wholesaler, not like those high priced, high profile retail jewelry stores.
if you are just looking to upgrade your diamond and keep the same mounting, we can help. You will be surprised how much you can save. And our loose diamonds are usually certified from the Gemological Institute of America (GIA). The GIA has the most stringent criteria of any diamond grading organization in the world. We can usually get any shape, size color clarity diamond you want and do it within a budget that will surprise you.
So, “Friends don’t let friends pay retail for jewelry” is not just a funny saying I often use, it is the truth. Come see your friends at The Pawn Box and let us prove it.
Until next time,
The Pawn Box