Image credit: Getty Images, Todays like no yesterdays/Flickr
In her book Payback, Margaret Atwood writes that loans are “like air, it’s all around us, but we never think about it unless something goes wrong with the supply.”  The similarly intangible internet is expanding to bring a pawnshop to consumers struggling in the United States.
Enter Internet Pawn, a new website that offers a range of loans based on personal assets.  Simply FedEx your valuable and the company will determine their value and offer a loan ranging from $500 up to $250,000.  The loans can take as little as 24 hours to be [...]

Thought the Cash 4 Gold Superbowl ad was strange? Turns out a lot of you didn’t: suburbanites from Oregon to New Jersey are trading their stereotypical Tupperware parties for gold-selling parties. Guests bring their unwanted jewellery (from previous fashion fads or ex-husbands) to a MyGoldParty, enjoy the company and maybe a glass of wine, and leave with a check. USA Today investigated:
[MyGoldParty founder January Thomas] says many women don’t like going to pawn shops. “At a party, they’re less embarrassed about asking how much their jewellery is worth,” Thomas says. “Besides, it’s a form of recycling and [...]