More People Selling Gold Items Just to Survive

By: Barry Hiett Email: bhiett@waaytv.com Last Update: 4/22 3:21 pm

Gold Rush in Decatur?

Decatur, AL -  Cash for gold. More and more people lately are selling family heirlooms simply to survive.
David Clemons says he first started noticing customers coming into his store, Pawns of Decatur, about a year ago to sell large quantities of gold."Everybody is worried about jobs, losing their jobs. All the plants are laying off and gas is on the rise of course and that's always a scare so everybody is wanting extra money," says Clemons.
And customers bring in a variety of items."They'll bring extra necklaces, earrings, stuff they found in an old closet or old jewelry box. They're cashing them in right now," Clemons says.
Clemons says when some customers come in, they're in desperate need for money."We have some that have just enough gas to get here and then they want money to get gas to their next point. So you hear a little bit of everything."
It's so bad for some people, Clemons tells us, this is their final destination before completely running out of money."Everybody says it's slowly improving but we're not seeing it. Everybody is coming in and bringing more and more stuff saying their rent is due and they need money right now and they have to pay the rent today or they'll be evicted. It's a sad situation," says Clemons.
A situation we all hope gets better soon, but if things don't improve, this pawn shop will probably continue to see a gold rush.