Roy's Blog

Week 1

It’s great to be able to launch my very own blog through the Internet and talk about all the things close to my heart. I have a Pawn Show radio programme on Monday’s on Radio Today (1485fm) between 17h30 and 18h30 in which my team from my business get to chat to listeners and on which we have a lot of fun and play some music. We are crazy and talk about everything around us, politics, movies, and state of the economy, anything that is topical. Sure we criticise and we can be criticised – but good criticism is good. We learn from it.

Eyton and Liel and Irene and Alex and Peter Feldman (our movie man) were all in the studio and we had a special guest, as we often do, Warren our specialist security guy who handed out sobering statistics on crime and how criminals work when they want to break into your car by using jamming devices. Some devices were brought into the studio – but of course the listeners could not see them.

There’s a good chance of me expanding the radio show further and that means I will also be broadcasting on another station – but more of that for another blog.
The pawn shop business is booming – thanks to you.
One day a guy came into the shop and wanted to sell a homemade rocket. I felt like crawling under the table until he reminded me that it was not loaded. What a relief!

Strange objects being brought in the shop is not new. We welcome it. After all we ARE in the business of selling items. We’ve had our share of bizarre things wanting to be sold but nothing really fazes us

Items brought in have included exotic motor cars, an ancient Khoi-San hunting kit, a Boer War coin, military uniforms, a cricket bat signed by the South African and Indian cricket teams which played each other in 1992 and even an aeroplane. You can bringing anything to us – even your grandmother’s false teeth but I doubt there will be much of a market for that.

The pawn business is booming. With the economy going through a rough patch at the moment, many households are turning to us, the pawn people, to help out if you are in a financial spot.

Thanks to my show “Pawn Stars SA” people know me and my face has become familiar to thousands of viewers on History(DStv channel 186). And now, believe it or not, thanks to a worldwide audience we are preparing for a new show, to be taped in the next few months, to be screened early next year. We are all very excited about it and there will some innovative changes. So keep the items coming and who knows you may find yourself in one of our shows.

I am a chemical engineer by trade and I started in the business of pawn broking 20 years ago and it has been taken to another level. People have a misconception about his industry and it’s not as seedy and devious as people make out, though there are traders whohave given the business a bad name. I’ve got clients who have been with me for 20 years and they keep coming back. My job is to make them leave in a happy state.

The core of our business is gold, diamonds, expensive watches and motor cars. But I also love antiques. We are well schooled in this business. We have degrees and diplomas in their various fields of expertise, but “experience” and a “gut feel” are crucial in our line of work. You develop another sense when you’re in the business. You must know whether the diamond you have just bought will sell.
When away from my business, I’m a member of the Riviera Aquatic Club and regularly visit the Vaal River with my family for water sports. I am also an active environmentalist.

That’s about it for now but keep your eye on this blog when many other aspects of the pawn business will be revealed. And come and see us in Jan Smuts Avenue Hyde Park and can’t miss CASH INN because it’s a huge sign.

Take care,

Yours in pawn

Roy Peretz