The north and south dynasties have been passed down to the present day. Speaking of pawn shops, many people probably think that this is a business that has disappeared, but in fact, this thousand-year-old industry still exists tenaciously today, and strives to adapt to changes in the environment and expand new branches. What is the history of pawn shops?What has changed in the pawnshop now compared to before?What does a pawnshop do now?Here's a detailed answer.
First, the history of the development of pawnshops.
The history of pawnshops can be traced back to the Western Han Dynasty, when there were already some pawn sprouts, but they were relatively rough. The real development and rise of the pawnbroking industry was in the Northern and Southern Dynasties, when people exchanged utensils and clothes for funds in temples and redeemed them when they expired.
In the Tang and Song dynasties, the pawnbroking industry developed further, in addition to the process is more perfect, it is no longer limited to temples, but has a government-run, private, and temple-run channels. After that, although the development of pawnshops experienced twists and turns, the overall development was rapid, and it entered its peak in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
The decline of pawnshops began with **, and the turbulent environment coupled with the infiltration of financial institutions such as Western banks made pawnshops rapidly decline, and it was only in recent decades that they slowly recovered.
Second, the pawnshop has changed now.
Compared with the previous pawnshop, the changes in modern pawnshops are mainly the changes in pawn items.
In the past, due to productivity reasons, pawnshops accepted pawns for clothes and daily utensils, and other valuables such as **, antiques, jade, etc. were also very popular.
But for the current pawn shop, clothing is obviously no longer within the scope of pawns, and jade, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, etc., the value still exists, but the liquidity is much worse than before, and this kind of pawn is basically not accepted at present.
In addition, although there were some legal constraints on pawnshops in the past, they were relatively relaxed, and the pawnshop operation was more standardized than the various management regulations that have been perfected today.
3. What are the pawnshop businesses?
Although the current pawnshop is basically no longer jade, calligraphy and painting, antiques, all kinds of gemstones, pearls, etc., but for the higher value and good circulation, the ** is still willing to do pawns, diamonds and watches and bags of major luxury brands, etc., have also replaced jade, calligraphy and painting, etc., and become a supplementary business of pawnshops.
There are also automobiles and real estate, although they have not been for a long time, they have developed rapidly, and have surpassed the traditional civilian pawn shop and become the key business of pawnshops today.