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Consignment & Pawn Shop Software
Consignment and pawn shops have an issue that is not a factor in other retail operations: the providers may want their merchandise back. Inventory tracking and auditing are the primary concerns for those looking for pawnbroker software. Pawn shops in particular have strict regulations concerning documentation. In most states, even voided receipts must be retained and filed. A number of states require that pawn shop software be approved by the state. Pawn shops are also subject to PATRIOT Act Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations and IRS Form 8300 requirements.
Consignment shops are not typically subjected to the same scrutiny, but the record keeping tasks are similar. Consignment stores do not generally buy inventory, they hold inventory for others and pay the sellers. Consequently, the inventory consists of all unique items which must be linked to the owners until sold, then the correct amount calculated and remitted - making consignment inventory software very specific to the industry.
For both consignment shops and pawn shops, general ledger and payroll are identical with general retailers. Both have special requirements for customer information, accounts payable, and especially inventory. Pawn shops have unique requirements for accounts receivable to track payments from clients with items in pawn. An inventory ordering system is not needed for either.
Key Requirements for Consignment Shops and Pawn Shops
Pawn shop owners and consignment shop owners need core accounting, but should evaluate the following point of sale functions to meet their unique requirements:
| ID Scanning | The system should scan and retain ID information for sellers and consigners. The POS should scan IDs and verify that the format of the ID is correct. It is impractical to validate the IDs against government databases. |
| Commitment to pay scheduling | The system should calculate interest and the commitment to pay schedule for pawn clients, generating coupon books or bills as required. |
| Unique inventory items | Both pawn shops and consignment stores have inventories built from unique items that must be tracked individually from initial acquisition to final sale and payment. The system must track and value these inventories. |
| Customer payment calculation | When consignment stores sell articles, the system must track the date and the amount, and then calculate the total remittance to the customer, as well as the store’s percentage. |
| Customer history tracking | In order to prevent and settle disputes, the system needs to keep complete time and date stamped records of all transactions, correspondence, visits, and phone calls for any particular customer. |
| Inventory disposition | For both pawn shops and consignment shops, the ownership of a particular item may change. For example, a consigned item may not be picked up in the agreed time or an item may come out of pawn. The system needs to make all required notifications to the client and change inventory status as necessary. |
| Employee audit control and inventory | One of the big issues for consignment and especially pawn shops is inventory shrinkage. An accurate and up-to-date employee audit, done frequently, is the best defense. |
| Inventory authentication | The system should help identify lost, stolen, and counterfeit goods by interfacing with online data sources. |
| Security system integration | Pawn stores in particular benefit from integration between the POS system and security systems, linking security recordings with transaction records. |
| Messaging integration | The system should transmit customer alerts for payments due, items sold, or changes in inventory status. Ideally, the customer should be able to opt in for email, text messages, or robotic calls. |
| PATRIOT Act Anti Money Laundering reporting | The system should provide PATRIOT Act AML-required reports when purchases of “covered goods” of $50,000 or more are made in a single year. |
| Support for IRS Form 8300 | If a person pays for merchandise with $10,000 or more in cash, the systems should flag the transaction and generate information for IRS Form 8300. |
| Law enforcement reporting | Any required law enforcement reports for a jurisdiction should be available from the system as required. These reports should be predefined but customizable. |
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ConsignPro
Designed specifically for consignment and pawn shops, ConsignPro delivers a comprehensive solution to support retail operations including POS, customer and inventory management, retail accounting, and e-commerce.
Liberty4 Consignment
We recommend Liberty4 Consignment for consignment owners seeking a comprehensive system. Designed and customized for resellers, this point of sale solution is backed by twenty years of industry experience.
SimpleConsign
Traxia’s SimpleConsign is a web-based software application for consignment retailers. This solution includes CRM and inventory management features in addition to sales processing functionality. Ideal for retailers of all sizes.
PawnMaster by Data Age
As an industry leader in software designed specifically for specialty retailers, PawnMaster by Data Age provides pawn shops with a comprehensive, powerful solution with many pawn-specific features.
Fishbowl Inventory
Many pawn and consignment shop owners must maintain a large, varied inventory. We recommend this retail management system from Fishbowl Inventory because of its integrated accounting, inventory, and POS applications.
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Visual Retail Plus
Consignment and pawn shop owners can use Visual Retail Plus for an efficient point of sale and to help automate inventory management. This on-premise solution includes a template-based inventory entry system for multiple entries.
Retail Anywhere
We think consignment and pawn shop retailers will enjoy the flexibility and ease of Retail Anywhere. Right out of the box, it has everything to manage POS and inventory functions. Mobile application also available.
Microsoft Dynamics GP
Dynamics GP from Microsoft includes business intelligence and reporting in addition to inventory, POS, and accounting modules for retailers. This solution is offered in multiple deployment packages, including a hosted option.
POS Easy
POS Easy offers a web-based point of sale system that can be used by a wide variety and sizes of stores, including consignment, resale and pawn shops. The system offers POS, inventory management and customer management tools.
Retail Pro
PCI compliance, price lookup, commission tracking, accounting integration, and touchscreen customization are some of the point of sale features available in Retail Pro. The system can be deployed on-premise with Windows servers.
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