We Keep Your Information Safe

Throughout the various business transactions that they make, pawn shops keep an extensive record of customer profiles that match up to each and every item kept under their roof. You’re not at fault if you start wondering what pawn shops do with your personal information in their databases.

Pawn shops store customer information, primarily for their business operations, but also in aiding law enforcement agencies. In this article, we’ll give you the rundown on how pawn shops use their customer database in aiding law enforcement agencies.

Pawn shops take in a wide selection of items, such as gold bars, jewelry, vintage memorabilia, television sets, old firearms, used electronics, and many more. These items are used as collateral to get a loan that matches the value of the deposited object based on its quality and market value. Sometimes pawn shops might outright buy it from their customers to resell it.

Due to the potential danger of accepting stolen goods and products, pawn shops have a close relationship with local law enforcement agencies in regulating a pawn shop’s record so that it adheres to federal and state laws. Sometimes a pawn shop’s bookkeeping can be the key to identifying a suspect in an ongoing investigation.

One common danger that customers feel in entering a pawn shop is accidentally buying or selling a stolen item. They would then think that they would become a prime suspect since a pawnshop keeps a careful record of their customers.

Pawn shops gather personal information from their buyers and sellers in compliance with state and other rules. That makes transactions safer and more secure by requiring government-issued IDs from customers during a sale.

The item sold or kept in the store is then logged on to their personal inventory and to a nationwide database, which allows law enforcement to cross-reference any items that might match with the store’s inventory. Besides the object in question, law enforcement can also download specific information about the description and identification of the individual pawning and selling the said item.

How long a pawnshop keeps its records is dependent on the establishment’s workflow or state laws. Depending on the state, different types of information is kept on record. From a person’s name to a detailed description of their likeness, the level of specificity that’s kept is up to their discretion.

On average, these personal databases are kept from a span of three to five years. After enough time has passed and no-hit on the law enforcement database matches with a pawn shop’s archives, the records are deleted from physical and electronic records to avoid any cause for compromising customer data.

Visiting a pawn shop can be a different experience every time. Since items are always passed around from sellers to buyers, it appears almost like a small market on its own. But besides being a place where you can find bargain deals, it’s also an essential establishment that helps in solving crimes in partnership with local law enforcement.

If you’re looking for a pawn shop in Kentucky to sell some of your exciting valuables for some quick cash, visit us at River City Pawn today!