Pawnshop - Is it morally OK?

[mrpink]

naku .. baka maki-eksena pa ang da vinci code dito .. hehe ..

[Bogeyman]

Before this escalates into an argument between religions, hayaan na nating mag-hanapbuhay yung tao. Debating about it is hardly helping the guy decide.

It's not what your religion is. It's the imperative of the conscience that matters.

[mazdamazda]

nope... hindi naman...

though the interest rates / fees / etc. should be in an acceptable range...

[Sheep]

cumbersome even if you are broke you still need to eat right...
lets not take the mcdonalds and jollibee insight too literal
lets say a street food hawker, im pretty sure the fishhballs he sells at 1peso has .25 to .50 centavo markup, thats how he make his living and it im pretty sure it is not illegal againts any religion to make a honest living as long as the deal and transactions are transparent and people get informed well of what kind of deal they are getting into.

like myself our family is in the trade business for quite sometime like 30 yrs or more my dad acquires products puts markup on them and sell thems...well basically that was our bread and butter and that was the same stuff that made our brood finish our schooling from primary - tertiary education. right now im in the same business doing the same stuffs so should we be labeled as immoral if thats the case 2 generations doing the same thing? our family should be rotting in hell right now :P

i think thats just the way it is as long as you dont price too high and give the buyer what he/she paid for then its all good...
in this case as long as the interest is not too high and the items pawned are insured and not altered then its really good business

lets just view the pawn business like a trade business but insted of the store selling the goods it is the store buying then you get a better deal because in the end you get a chance to buy back your goods

business as usual....

peace

[cumbersome]

cumbersome even if you are broke you still need to eat right...
lets not take the mcdonalds and jollibee insight too literal...
peace

I guess you missed my point there a bit. I was discussing lending with interests vis-a-vis selling a specific commodity. More than a bit of difference there, my friend.

van_wilder:

Uhh, i was simply stating that lending with interest is condemned in Judeo-Christian ethics, nothing more. You can ask your priest, your pastor, or you can do your own reading and you'll see that even if you do read between the lines that the Scriptures are unequivocal about it. I did mention that you are not in any way obliged to subscribe to this, since people are free to choose what they consider as moral, even, as mentioned before, something independent of the concept of God and religion. I was merely discussing what is moral in Christian standards, since the threadstarter was asking for opinions along such lines. If one wishes to follow objectivist, existentialist, Zen or what-have-you standards in establishing a business of lending, then so be it.

[Sheep]

Dont you guys know nothing about history? pawnshops back then played a vital role for our national hero Jose Protacio Rizal.



reminisce:
Remember our Filipino Subjects back then telling us there was a time when rizal was so out of cash that to beat the cold he had to pick up half finished cigars on the streets thrown away by the spaniards and smoke them to keep himself warm.

well how did he managed to wrote two great books if he was so poor at one time in his life that he couldnt even buy a cigar? for sure he wouldnt have enough cash to buy himself a pen and papers which was considered luxuries back then.

wondering who helped him?
wondering what he did?


he pawned his watch and leather suitcase to tambunting :P























joke joke joke

[Sheep]

meron din po pawnshop overseas yun nga lang di ganun kadame


cgruro kasi di ganun kalaki ang need for pawnshop sa kanila

[chieffy]

para akin walang masama mag negosyo ng pawnshop.

[flakez]

walang masama basta tama ung rates. ang daming natutulungan ng pawnshop lalo na pag emergency. hindi ganon kadali manghiram ng pera, sa pawnshop pwede mo sanla ung gamit mo tapos tubusin mo na lang pag meron ka na. atleast nakaraos sa pangangailangan. don naman sa pawnshop owner, nakatulong siya sa nangangailangan.

i'm pretty sure hindi kayo magpapautang ng pera sa hindi niyo kilala.

[kiper]

walang masama basta tama ung rates. ang daming natutulungan ng pawnshop lalo na pag emergency. hindi ganon kadali manghiram ng pera, sa pawnshop pwede mo sanla ung gamit mo tapos tubusin mo na lang pag meron ka na. atleast nakaraos sa pangangailangan. don naman sa pawnshop owner, nakatulong siya sa nangangailangan.

i'm pretty sure hindi kayo magpapautang ng pera sa hindi niyo kilala.

Meron maximum rata na inimpliment ang BSP.

Pero dahil sa kumpetisyon, siguradong masmababa pa ang ibibigay mo.

Pawn shop is a Non-Banking Institution.

[kiper]

Mali ang hiningan mo ng advice.. wag sa pastor.. No offense meant.

Nasa tao naman kasi yun kung pag-iisipan niya ng masama.

Okay ang Pawn Shop. It's legal and profitable.

Nakabantay pa ang Bangko Sentral sayo.

[Sheep]

ot whos the girl in kipers signature :D?


nice

[stelvio]

I think a better indicator of whether operating a pawnshop business is morally ok is how big or how small is your Return On Investment. You're making money from someone who is in need, if you earned something like 10% or 20% from a particular pawning transaction like you would have from some other legitimate and morally ok business, then I don't think God would object to that. But the problem is pawnshops earn a lot more than 10% or 20%, extrapolating my conclusion from pawnshops ridiculously low appraisals (usually just 25% of the book value, correct me if im wrong). So far lahat ng kilala kong may ari ng pawnshops filthy rich.

[Sheep]

I think a better indicator of whether operating a pawnshop business is morally ok is how big or how small is your Return On Investment. You're making money from someone who is in need, if you earned something like 10% or 20% from a particular pawning transaction like you would have from some other legitimate and morally ok business, then I don't think God would object to that. But the problem is pawnshops earn a lot more than 10% or 20%, extrapolating my conclusion from pawnshops ridiculously low appraisals (usually just 25% of the book value, correct me if im wrong). So far lahat ng kilala kong may ari ng pawnshops filthy rich.

people who go to the pawnshop aren't forced to do so..they go by their own free will...yes a situation may arise that u are in dire need of cash but for sure there are many other options;you can always go to charitable institutions, friends, relatives, philantropist and the pawnshop...yes the pawnshop its just one of the choices that we make after all its a free world

and Return Of Investment shouldn't at all be an issue as it would all boil down to the basal sense of what the business starter is inclined to do...sa yun ang kaya nyang gawin...dun sya sa business na yun nag excel hinde natin pwede sabihin na uyy malaki ang kita sa ganitong business dito tayo or pareho naman ang kita dito eto nalang dahil mas moral ito...


in another light kanya kanyang linya kasi yan e sabi nga kung hinde mo linya wag mong pilitin. look at the fast food business maraming may false notion na basta food patok at hindi malulugi dahil 50% or more daw ang markup then why are there many foodstalls that are never heard that come and go, open for a while then closes. study the trend carefully ang daming food business na nadito noon wala na ngayon ang natitira pa rin ay yung mga big names and institutions on their respective fields same with the junkshop business...yan kasi ang hirap sa pinoy e instead of thinking out of the box thinking of their own way to earn titignan nila neighbors nila "uuuy mukhang malaki ang kita(ROI) ng ganitong business" ah ganito na rin ang gagawin, until a point where saturation kicks in and it becomes a fad then to a dying industry (a sad cycle) which again only the pioneers in their respective fields or the newcomers with lots of revolving capita would survive.


so to all of us lets just let the moral issue, better this better that issue stop we arent helping the thread starter in anyway, we might have contributed more if the thread was focused regarding the ins and outs or how to start a pawnshop business after all the guy didnt asked us if it is moral or immoral to own a pawnshop


peace

[stelvio]

people who go to the pawnshop aren't forced to do so..they go by their own free will...yes a situation may arise that u are in dire need of cash but for sure there are many other options;you can always go to charitable institutions, friends, relatives, philantropist and the pawnshop...yes the pawnshop its just one of the choices that we make after all its a free world.
The same could be said about prohibited drugs. Drugs pushers aren't forcing anyone to buy their merchandise, it is by a person's own free will that they abuse these substances. But this doesn't make selling shabu or ecstasy morally ok. Just because a particular business is legal and regulated by the government does not mean they are morally ok. Prostitution is legal in many countries, does that mean God approves of prostitution? I'm not against pawning per se, like many things, it can be a boon to some, and a bane to others. Yes you may open a pawnshop, all I'm asking is, be fair and reasonable. You may have a permit to operate this kind of business, but this does not give you the right to gouge anyone, especially someone who is in need. When this old lady hands her diamond wedding ring to you and you hand a certain sum of money to her, do you walk to the safety vault with a nonchalant, just another day expression in your face, or is your heart beating a lot faster than the usual and you're walking with a little bit of spring in your feet on your way to the vault?


so to all of us lets just let the moral issue, better this better that issue stop we arent helping the thread starter in anyway, we might have contributed more if the thread was focused regarding the ins and outs or how to start a pawnshop business after all the guy didnt asked us if it is moral or immoral to own a pawnshop

Actually, thread starter is asking us if it is moral or immoral to own a pawnshop, that's the subject of this thread.

Peace!

[just4u]

OT: samahan mo ng palitan ng foreign currencies... kung puwede pa

[Karding]

Simply put, businesses doesnt have any MORAL OBLIGATIONS to the public nor to anyone.

[the_wildthing]

Nice thread.

Here is my take on the matter:

Is it morally wrong?

If you are not braking the law, it is not illegal.

If you are not stealing from your customers or conning them, it is not immoral. Stealing can be exorbitant interest, unreasonable pawning terms, not taking care of items left with you, etc.

You're not coveting some neighbor's wife when you run a pawnshop so I doubt it is immoral.

It is a business so it is fair that you make money out of it. It is also helping people in time of need. And one will say, but if you want to help, why charge interest? It's just to keep the business going and continue helping people.

As for that Exodus thing, people who pawn stuff nowadays aren't really dirt poor. They don't pawn their "last garment". They pawn TVs, jewelry, stuff they can do without and still live ok. They just need extra money. It shouldn't be taken literally especially in these modern times.

[finchy18]

the only thing I dont like to it is that gumaga-an ang timbang ng gold mo pagkatapos mo makuha.. ayun pala kinikis-kisan na. Some pawnshops are like that iwan ko lang sa iba. negosyo din kasi yan eh.. lam muna.
My thoughts

[wren]

i don't think it's morally wrong either, bastat fair and honest ka. kase you're offering service to people eh. pero, wala ka na bang ibang business alternatives? i would hate for such business to cause a rift between you and your dad.