The online version of the Encyclopedia Britannica (britannica.com) defines a "pawnbroking" as the business of advancing loans to customers who have pledged household goods or personal effects as security on the loans.

A pawnshop is a place where the transactions take place and the goods are stored.

A pawnbroker lends money, primarily to people without credit standing, by "buying" some article of value such as a watch or digital camera and agreeing to sell it back at a higher price within a specified time. The amount he pays is a small fraction of the article's value. If the article of value is not redeemed in time, the pawnbroker offers it for sale to the public. The difference between the pawnbroker's buying and selling is equal to a rate of interest.

The practice of pawnbroking has been traced back thousands of years to China. While the practice in Ancient Greece and Rome built the foundations of the regulatory system that is in place today.

Pawnbroking has changed throughout the ages. Still a viable alternative than to obtaining money from a bank. The middle ages saw an increase in the use and expansion of pawnbroking. So much that even the church got involved, the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans) in Italy in 1462 set up a pawnbroking-type service and were some of the few, at the time, that charged interest.

Though the importance of pawnbroking has declined in the 20th century. There is nothing in the forseeable future that will lead to downfall of the Pawnbroking system. Trade has been and will continue to be the leading way of doing business. Even with though Unemployment Insurance ensures that helped is there when the financial needs resulting from temporary interruptions in earnings occurs. Banks now offer on a more frequent basis personal loans.

A pawn shop is not only a place where you can get a loan or sell your stuff. It is a place where you can buy things for a lot less then retail, in most cases. You can buy gold as low as $7.00/gram, an electronics 30% - 40% under retail price

The accepted universal symbol for a pawnbroker or a pawnshop is "three golden balls" which were originally used as the symbol by medieval northern Italian moneylenders.