With three major TV shows examining the inner workings of the pawn business, The Ticker wanted to know the impact the dramas have had on Traverse City’s own pawn shop, Ace Buyers. 

“The biggest thing the shows have done is just show how our business works,” says Lane Griffith, manager at Ace Buyers and son of owner Dan Griffith. “Being on TV legitimizes our business and shows it’s not seedy. We help people by offering them a way to get by when things are tough.”

So what’s the pawn process?

When a customer comes in, they’ll be greeted by one of Ace’s six full-time staffers. “We’ll ask what they have and what they need,” says Griffith. “And we try to make that happen. We’re here to help people, not take advantage of them.”

The customer receives a short term loan. On a $100 loan, the customer would pay $125 to get their item back. A typical loan would be for 30 days, with an option of 30 additional days for a service fee. “Our average loan is about $80, with the customer paying $100 [total] to get their item back,” says Griffith.

Customers must be 18 years old and have a photo ID. All loans are in cash, though credit cards and checks are accepted if a customer wants to make a purchase.

What items does Ace Buyers accept?  

“You never know what’s gonna come in the door,” says Griffith. “A guy came in with a wooly mammoth tusk – we had to research [the value] that one. Autos, works of art, electronics, firearms, tools. We’ve made loans on all types of things, from a $5 clock radio to a yacht."

If a loan item isn’t redeemed by the customer, it goes into the shop’s sale inventory.

Ace Buyers also makes outright purchases of items and offers them at greatly reduced prices – roughly half of their value. The shop’s walls, shelves and display cases are loaded with gently-used guitars, tools, jewelry and more. “We have a ton of movies that we sell for $3 each out the door,” says Griffith. “And we have about 600 firearms in stock."

The guns are popular sale items as deer hunting season approaches, says Griffith, who grew up near Duck Lake and attended Kingsley schools. He went away to Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids and studied to be a youth pastor. He says working summers at Ace Buyers has taught him a valuable lesson: “I learned that the church isn’t the only way to help people."