Hot growth investment strategy: Poor people

Yes, you read that right. The new investment strategy being touted as the next big thing is poor people. I've had to pawn off some items lately. Namely my guitar that my parents bought me for Christmas when I was a kid. I only got 45 bucks for something that I could have sold for almost 200 but needed the money then and there. It was a really hard thing to do and now I find out that I may have helped to enrich someone a tad bit more by doing so.

Hot growth investment strategy: Poor people

NEW YORK — As the jobless rate inches up and the economic recovery sputters, investors looking for a few good stocks may want to follow the money — or rather the TV, the beloved Fender guitar, the baubles from grandma, the wedding ring.

Profits at pawn shop operator Ezcorp Inc. have jumped by an average 46 percent annually for five years. The stock has doubled from a year ago, to about $38. And the Wall Street pros who analyze the company think it will go higher yet. All seven of them are telling investors to buy the Austin, Texas, company.

Is the economy still just in a soft patch? A hard patch? Will the market rise or drop? Even experts are just guessing. In investing, it's often better to focus on what you can safely predict, even if that safety is found in companies that thrive on hard times. One good bet: The jobless aren't likely to find work anytime soon. And companies profiting from their bad fortune will continue to do so.

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It's pretty sad that people are making money off us poor people, but it doesn't surprise me in the least. My brother has pawned a few things and we're selling our sports card collection on eBay just trying to bring in some extra money until I can find a job. We're even having a yard sale this coming weekend. Money's tight all over and I have a feeling it's gonna get worse before it gets better.

The amount of people I see at local pawnshops is rising too.

This is indeed worrying.

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There are so many better ways to sell your gear, pawn shops are the absolute worst way possible.

If you're going to be broke, generally you can see it coming weeks if not months in advance. That is an opportune time to infiltrate some online communities (in forums and the like) and get to know people who collect and appreciate the items you have. You can then sell these to enthusiasts who will compete with each other for a proper price.

You can eBay the darn thing, you can easily get over market value for your items just due to the bidding wars that occur. I've never seen anything nice go for way below it's value...in fact--I've seen used items go for 5% below NEW prices.

Even craigslist will provide you with a customer base that pays better than pawnshops.

Whoever thinks pawnshops are the way to go aren't thinking at all. I have little sympathy for people who demand to get ripped off.

Practically everything I own I can sell in a blink of an eye for a pretty penny if I'm ever in a pinch--and that's by design.

Hi, from the UK, over a year ago companys offering "cash for gold" started popping up everywhere - They had stalls in supermarkets, shopping centres, out on town streets, advertising that they would take buy gold items, Even if it was a broken bracelt, they'd buy it. The extend of how far they were willing to go to get your money is really proven by how these companys advertised on daytime TV, saying that they would even send you the packaging for you to send them your gold by free post.
Though it comes as no suprise that many of these companys got caught out by undervaluing items by a considerable amount. Though lets be fair, if someone is willing to buy a broken bracelet off of you on the spot, you have to wonder why, they obviously aint doing it for your sake.

Let me just leave you with an example:
www.youtube.com...

reply to post by Tharsis


You're not taking into consideration unforeseen circumstances like doctor visits, job loss, vehicle repair and such. These sort of things aren't seen months in advance and so a person may not have the luxury of waiting for an ebay or craigslist item to sell.

Well there sure are a lot of us poor people!

What's all that about "supply and demand" ?? Shouldn't have any "supply" problems with this business model....

The last I heard it was 1 in 7 of US on foodstamps.
How can the other 6 not go, man, this is shameful?

I know I feel that way. I think it is just shameful but I can't do anything about it.
Something is really really wrong and my big fear is that 1 in 7 is such a big percentage that what it really is...is a big snowball that is getting so big so fast it WILL NOT be stopped.