Arizona caps what a pawnbroker may charge at 13 percent a month for the first two months and 11 percent after that, prorated daily. It also sets a floor most customers never hear about: a minimum pawn term of ninety days, so nobody can put you on a thirty-day clock. Selling an item outright is a different transaction under different rules, and the shop must hold it in original form for twenty days.
Arizona law sets a ceiling on what a pawnbroker may charge in interest: not more than 13 percent a month for the first two months, and not more than 11 percent a month after that, prorated daily. Alongside the interest a short list of fees is permitted and each is capped. An initial setup fee up to $5. A lost claim ticket up to $7.50. Firearm handling up to $5 per firearm. Storage of a non-vehicle item larger than one cubic foot up to $5 a month, and vehicle storage up to $5 a day. Actual government fees and taxes may be passed through. Nothing else.
The state also sets a minimum pawn transaction length of ninety days. A longer term can be negotiated, but a shorter one cannot, so nobody can put you on a thirty-day clock and call the item forfeit at the end of it.
There is a provision worth knowing if you are serving: on presentation of deployment orders, the pawnbroker must waive unpaid interest and hold the pledged goods until sixty days after the member returns.
A pawn is a loan against an item you intend to get back. An outright sale is a sale. Arizona treats them differently: when a shop buys an item rather than taking it in pawn, it must keep that item in its original form for twenty days after the transaction before altering or selling it. Transaction records are kept for two years and must be produced to a local law enforcement agent on request or under warrant.
That twenty-day hold is the practical protection for anyone who sells something in haste, and it is the reason a shop that both buys and lends will ask you at the counter which one you are doing. The answer changes your rights.
In Arizona a pawnbroker is licensed by the sheriff of the county where the business operates, and a separate license is required for each location. Applicants are fingerprinted and background-checked. A felony within the past five years for trafficking in stolen property, fraudulent schemes, forgery, theft, extortion or conspiracy to defraud disqualifies an applicant.
Fees are set at county level and differ between counties. Coconino County, as one published example, charges $1,000 for an initial license and $500 to renew annually, plus $22 per fingerprint card, and allows up to six weeks for processing. Every proprietor, partner, officer, director and ten percent shareholder applies individually. Other counties set their own figures, so the Coconino numbers should not be read across.
There is no published range for what a pawn shop or gold buyer pays as a percentage of spot price or of retail replacement value. That is not an oversight in this page. An outright purchase is a sale rather than a regulated credit transaction, so no rate cap, disclosure schedule or filing obligation makes anyone publish it. Offers are made per item on metal weight and fineness, stone quality and certification, brand, and current melt value against resale demand. Unlike the lending side there is no statutory ceiling to anchor an expectation to.
For scale on the lending side, FirstCash, the largest US pawn operator, reported an average outstanding US pawn loan of $286 as of 30 June 2025, against $260 a year earlier.
Decide before you walk in whether you are borrowing or selling, and say so, because the twenty-day hold and the ninety-day minimum apply to different transactions.
On the retail side, the federal rule that governs the counter is the FTC Jewelry Guides at 16 CFR Part 23, and it is specific. Karat fineness must immediately precede the word Gold and be equally conspicuous, so the correct form is 14 Karat Gold. A laboratory-created diamond may be called cultured only with a clear and conspicuous qualifier such as laboratory-created or laboratory-grown; cultured on its own is not sufficient. Gemstone treatments must be disclosed where they are non-permanent, require special care, or significantly affect value, at the point of sale or in the product description for a remote purchase. Gold-filled requires at least one twentieth of the article's weight in gold alloy of at least 10 karat fineness.
Those rules give you a straightforward test. Ask for the disclosure the Guides require and see whether it is offered readily and in writing. A counter that describes a treated stone as untreated, or leaves the karat mark vague, is telling you something about the rest of its inventory.
Get more than one offer on anything of consequence, because there is no benchmark to check a single offer against.
Not more than 13 percent a month for the first two months, and not more than 11 percent a month after that, prorated daily. A short list of fees is permitted on top and each is capped, including a setup fee up to $5 and storage of a larger item up to $5 a month.
Arizona sets a minimum pawn transaction length of ninety days. A longer term can be agreed, but a shorter one cannot, so a thirty-day forfeit is not lawful in that state.
No, and the difference matters. A pawn is a loan against goods you intend to redeem. A sale is final, except that Arizona requires the shop to keep a purchased item in its original form for twenty days before altering or selling it.
In Arizona, the sheriff of the county where the business operates, with a separate license for each location. That is unusual: most consumer lending is licensed by a state financial regulator. Applicants are fingerprinted and background-checked, and recent felonies for theft, forgery, fraud or trafficking in stolen property disqualify them.
There is no published answer. An outright purchase is a sale rather than a regulated credit transaction, so nothing obliges anyone to publish what they pay against spot price or retail value. Get more than one offer, because there is no benchmark to check a single one against.
The FTC Jewelry Guides at 16 CFR Part 23 apply to a pawn counter exactly as they apply to a jeweler. Karat fineness must immediately precede the word Gold, laboratory-created stones must be clearly qualified, and treatments that are non-permanent, need special care, or significantly affect value must be disclosed.
On presentation of deployment orders an Arizona pawnbroker must waive unpaid interest and hold the pledged goods until sixty days after you return.