Saturday, January 18, 2014

Keep the Party Going!

The winter holiday parties are past us and that sometimes leaves us wanting more. What do we have to look forward to? Queen of PAWNS has an answer and that would be VALENTINE’S DAY! Keep the party going with a fun Valentine’s Day bash. There’s just enough time before the holiday for you to plan something spectacular. We’ve got a few ideas for a successful event...

Create a themed party, for example: Awkward Prom Night - invite your guests to wear their worst bridesmaid dresses or tackiest formal wear they can find at a thrift store. Or, have everyone dress as a character from a favorite movie such as the Wizard of Oz, Indiana Jones or James Bond. Then, have a related movie playing in the background with the sound turned off. Browse through our movie collections at the Queen of Pawns nearest you for ideas and inspiration.
Set the ambiance with white, red and pink string lights. Fill martini glasses with red, white and pink jelly beans. Sprinkle rose petals. Grab a friend who is talented with the camera and set up a photo booth, but call it the “kissing booth.” Need a tripod for your photo booth? Give us a call, we probably have a few in our inventory.
One word: Karaoke! Pick up a karaoke machine at Queen of Pawns and clear a “stage” area in the corner of your living room. Be prepared to break the ice and step up as the first performer in case everyone else starts off shy.
For parts of the evening when karaoke isn’t king, be sure to have your playlist loaded and ready. Boost your sound system with stereos, speakers and iPods from Queen of Pawns.
Have a sundae ice cream building station, complete with bananas, candy sprinkles, nuts, cherries and home made whip cream.
Have a bowl of plastic “bling” waiting right by a mirror. This sort of thing can be picked up at any party superstore, and sometimes even at dollar stores. If you can’t find adult sized plastic bling, gather costume jewelry from friends and thrift stores beforehand. But for the real thing, come to Queen of Pawns and we’ll help you pick out something unforgettable for the one you love.

If you are waiting for the right time to give a special gift to your special someone, this might be the perfect opportunity. Show them and everyone at the party how much you care with something luxurious from Queen of Pawns. Now is a good time to start your shopping and just a reminder, if you need a layaway option, we got you covered. Let us know how we can help make this Valentine’s Day the best one ever.

Recently, some of our customers showed how much they care by donating new, unwrapped toys to the “Toys For All,” toy drive that we participated in with Azteca Americana 43. With our customers’ help, the toy drive collected over 1300 toys! On Saturday, January 11^th, those toys were distributed at a community celebration in Clewiston. The smiles shined like beacons as children opened their gifts. It was a fantastic event, complete with food, activities and live music performances. Everyone loves a good party, Queen of PAWNS extends a very heart felt thank to those who helped make the “Toys For All,” toy drive and the community party such a success.

What a fun day!
Here, party goers lined up at the QoP tent for free hot dogs.

Queen of Pawns - South Florida

3380 south military trail

Lake Worth, Florida 33463

561-434-4858

1180 South Military Trail

West Palm Beach, Florida 33415

561-343-4149

6080 Okeechobee Blvd.

West Palm Beach, Florida 33417

561-656-4149

Queen of Pawns - Central Florida

5831 South Orange Blossom Trail

Orlando, Fl 32839

407-722-8811

1700 West Vine Street

Kissimmee, FL 34741

407-201-3930

All Our Stores are Open:

Monday - Saturday 9am - 7 pm

Sunday 10:30 AM to 3:30 PM

Sunday, January 12, 2014

New Year, Clean Credit

A new year is a great impetus for doing something good for yourself. We’re not talking about the cliche gym membership or unrealistic diet plan, Queen of PAWNS suggests taking a little time to give your finances a look over and make-over. Sometimes, lack-luster credit can affect things as simple as renting a home or getting a new job. Here’s some tips to tackle this project, one step at a time.

FIRST - Get your free credit report.

There are a couple things to be aware of when getting your free report.

The FTC website is the only reliable online source. To get a free credit report online, the only recommended site is annualcreditreport.com, which is maintained by the FTC. Other websites with similar names are not to be trusted. If you prefer, you can also get a free credit report by calling 1-877-322-8228.
Never give a credit card number for a free credit report. If an organization is requesting a credit card number for whatever reason, they are not to be trusted. A FICO score is different from a credit report and you will need to pay for that.
All credit reporting bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) offer one free credit report per year. We suggest you spread these requests out over 12 months. Go to annualcreditreport.com and request one report from, for example Equifax. Four months later, get another report on the same site from Experian and four months after that, request a third report from TransUnion.

Before going any further, scour your reports and dispute any information that is inaccurate, giving special attention to late payments and collections.

Acquiring your credit reports is also an important step in protecting yourself from identity theft. This is a topic we discussed in a previous post, Let’s Talk About Identity Theft.

Now, time to CLEAN UP.

Keep Credit Card and Loan Balances Low.

Your debt to credit limit ratio - which is the amount you owe as a percentage of your outstanding limit - accounts for 30% of your credit score. To put it simply, don’t run up a big balance. If you have nearly met your credit limit, call your card company and ask for your limit to be raised. If you qualify for a larger limit, it will decrease your credit limit ratio, thus improving credit score. Be careful not to use that extra credit though. Ideally, use no more than 25% of a credit card’s limit.

Pay On Time.

35 percent of your credit score is based upon your timeliness for paying ALL your bills. Not just credit cards. So pay on time, even if it is only the minimum.

Older Is Better.

If you must charge, use an old card. 15 percent of your score is determined by how long you have had an account. The older your history the better, as it builds a lender’s confidence about your financial habits. Don’t cancel unused cards - this wipes their history from your record. Just put them in a safe place and keep track of all your accounts.

Keep a Healthy Mix.

Yes, older credit cards are important to keep open. At the same time, keep open credit lines or loans to a minimum. Managing a wide range or mix of credit account types wisely - from credit cards to installment loans (such as auto loans, personal loans and mortgages) shows responsibility. It can also shift a FICO score up a bump. Your mix of credit cards, retail cards and installment loans account for 10 percent of your score.

If You Must Apply, Do So Strategically.

10 percent of your credit score is determined by your pattern of applying for new accounts. It doesn’t bode well in the eyes of potential lenders when you apply for a lot of credit - to them, it looks like you could drown yourself in debt. Be strategic in your reason for acquiring new credit. When applying for car, home or business loans, keep all applications within a two week period. This strategy will bundle all those applications together and count as only one request on your record.

Stay In Touch.

Communicate with your credit card companies, lenders and other debtors. If a bill cannot be paid on time or you have run into unusual circumstances such as illness or natural disaster or you simply want to see if there is an option for lowering your payments, call your companies, you may be pleasantly surprised. Also, if you have been a good customer, don’t be afraid to ask about protocol to request a goodwill adjustment. This could result in the mark of a late payment being removed or something of the like.

At Queen of PAWNS, we care about our customers. As a pawn shop, we are here to be of financial assistance when we can. In addition to offering solutions for fast money or shopping for affordable luxury items, it is our hope that discussion topics such as how to keep your credit tidy will be useful in helping you keep your financial life a little more optimistic.

Queen of Pawns - South Florida

3380 south military trail

Lake Worth, Florida 33463

561-434-4858

1180 South Military Trail

West Palm Beach, Florida 33415

561-343-4149

6080 Okeechobee Blvd.

West Palm Beach, Florida 33417

561-656-4149

Queen of Pawns - Central Florida

5831 South Orange Blossom Trail

Orlando, Fl 32839

407-722-8811

1700 West Vine Street

Kissimmee, FL 34741

407-201-3930

All Our Stores are Open:

Monday - Saturday 9am - 7 pm

Sunday 10:30 AM to 3:30 PM

Saturday, January 4, 2014

In a World of Change, Some Things Are Consistent

“Change is constant,” this we all have heard before. We thought it would be fun to take a peek at some American cultural changes since our first Queen of PAWNS store opened in 1995.

President Bill Clinton was living in the White House. A U.S. postage stamp cost 32 cents and a gallon of gas was just over a buck. The technology of DVD’s are first announced and how can anyone forget, the George Forman “Lean Mean Grilling Machine,” was released. Claudia Schiffer and Elle Macpherson were the world’s fashion icons, and one of the funniest lines of the time was Seinfeld’s Soup Nazi’s, “No soup for you!”

Since 1995, we opened four more stores, and just these past couple weeks another great change took place...our Kissimmee location is now open Sundays! Colossal, don’t you think? We thought it was worth a mention that all of our stores are now maintaining the same hours of operation. Monday through Saturday, doors are open from 9am until 7pm and Sundays 10:30am to 3:30pm.

On the counter point of change, there are several things that remain the same, day after day, year after year. One thing is our 10% pawn, another is our consistent, superior customer service and one more we should point out is that Valentine’s Day always lands on February 14^th. You weren’t expecting that little reminder, were you? If you are considering something extravagant for someone you love, like a pair of diamond earrings or a luxury watch, come in and see us. At Queen of PAWNS we understand all too well that even with our amazing and affordable prices on top-of-the-line merchandise, it happens that even the best of us need a little more time to budget for slightly higher ticket item purchases. That’s why we have our free layaway plan. Now is the time to start your Valentine’s Day shopping and if you find the perfect gift that says, “I love you,” but also want to be responsible with your monthly spending, then layaway is an ideal solution. With only a 10% deposit of the ticket price, we can hold on to your gift for 60 days or until the balance is paid.

Let us know how we can help, because even though the rest of the world is spinning in change, Queen of Pawns is reliably accommodating and Valentine’s Day is assuredly on it’s way.