According to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, the median working-age couple has only saved $5,000 for retirement, and 70% of couples have less than $50,000 saved. Considering retirement can last 30 years or more, having a solid savings plan is crucial to everyone’s well-being and long-term happiness – both yours and your employees.
Over the years, we have done all that we can to ensure success for not just our PawnMaster users, but non-PawnMaster members of the industry as well. About seven years ago, we reformatted our focus and really brought collaboration and education to the forefront. Since making this change, we built out informational sites and resources like this blog and PawnLink.org, as well as providing industry-wide information through our social media channels. We’re known in the our industry as the first vendor to solve real problems with substance rather than promoting fluff. That’s why we recently entered into a partnership with Podium, a collaboration which will bring another level of education and service to the industry as a whole, while addressing some real issues that affect businesses of any size. Working with new people, companies and technology is one part of what we do but we also stay very close to our own community within our industry.
Growing up in the 80s and being around pawn shops my entire life, I was surrounded by the stigma that the pawn world was ruled by men, and women-owned shops were very rare. Also prevalent was the mentality that the shop will just run and grow by itself. Many of the stores I encountered in those days gave little to no effort in the way of growth strategizing, growth monitoring, or new idea implementation.
Data Age Business Systems, the developers of PawnMaster and Buy/Sell Plus, are proud to announce their partnership with Podium, the leading customer review management and interaction platform. Podium is used by over 30,000 businesses worldwide, and Data Age Business Systems is looking forward to taking full advantage of the customer touch technology Podium has to offer.
The process of diamond and gemstone recovery from karat gold jewelry scrap is far more complex and time consuming than a direct melt and assay recovery. Jewelry that contains recoverable diamond and gemstone melee will always yield a much higher value, as long as the refiner you choose is implementing sound wet chemistry processes that minimizes the potential for mechanical losses of metal and damage to the your valuable gemstones. You should expect the refiner to charge higher processing or treatment fees for this service as well as allowing a little more time for final results but in the end, the additional value you’ll receive back from the sale of your stones more than justifies any inconvenience.
Hiring new staff members for your store can be challenging; believe me, I know. But there’s more to just bringing the right candidates into your shop, you need to know how to retain them while helping them to gain confidence in our fast-paced (and at times stressful) work environment.
For over 30 years, Data Age Business Systems, the developers of PawnMaster pawn management software, has been known as the leader in providing the collateral loan and second-hand industries with cutting-edge point-of-sale solutions. As these industries and the technologies behind them constantly evolve, a new team was assembled to oversee the continued development of Data Age’s suite of product services. (more…)
What do you use to search for the “best steakhouse” in town? Your phone. In fact, mobile searches for “best” have grown over 80 percent in the past 2 years. Everyone you know, including your potential pawn customers, have a smart phone in their pocket or purse. This device has become the greatest customer acquisition tool in the history of small business. And this includes YOUR business. (more…)
Steven Sinatra is a second-generation pawnbroker who, along with his father, runs World Pawn Exchange in North Bend, Oregon, where he is GIA jewelry professional and managing partner. As someone who grew up during the technology boom of the mid-90s, Steven has a unique understanding of how to best reach his customers through the platforms that they use every day. He approached PawnMaster to write a guest blog on the topic, and we were happy to take him up on his offer. (more…)
Text messaging – We all do it, multiple times a day, every day. There’s a reason text messaging is the number one form of mobile communication in the world. It’s fast, it’s easy, everyone does it. In fact, over 26 billion texts are sent each day in America alone. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.