If you want to take the economy's temperature, forget the TV chatter and check with Kip Lowe.

"I can usually gauge how the economy's doing," said Lowe, an accountant at First National Pawn. "When the economy gets bad, and credit's tough, we seem to get busier."

By that indication, the market's in meltdown mode. Local pawnbrokers say they've seen a big influx of new customers, hitting the pawnshops both to buy low-cost goods and to pawn goods for some quick cash.

"We're got the regulars, but we've got a lot of new customers coming in with the economy as bad as it is," said Aaron Williams, a pawnbroker at Fair Deal Pawn & Gun. "It seemed to pick up, for sure."

He said staff at the pawn shop usually had more downtime to sort things and do back-room work, and the first and fifteenth monthly paydays brought the big crowds. Now everybody works the counter.

"It's pretty swamped," he said.

Other pawnbrokers in the area say they haven't seen as much of an upturn in business. The Box Elder Trading Post and Alpha Pawn in Spearfish reported normal to slow sales.

Dana Ross, a sales clerk at Alpha Pawn in Spearfish, said his pawnshop has not seen a big jump in customers.

"It's running about the same," said Ross. "The gas price came down. I think that made a difference; I think that was eating people's lunch."

But the pawnshops in Rapid City and across the nation report a different story. First Cash Financial, a Texas-based company with pawnshops and check-cashing stores, boosted its earnings expectations for 2008 after seeing a jump in profitability from its pawnshops.

Cash for Gold USA, an Internet site that pays customers who mail in jewelry and other pieces of gold, has seen business quadruple as gold prices climbed recently.

Both Williams and Lowe said gas has been the culprit for their customers' need for cash. Now their needs, and the amount of cash needed, are a bit more serious.

"It used to be gas, but now that it's going down, they're just short until payday," Williams said.

Lowe said his two First National Pawn stores, both located on East North Street, have loaned a lot more cash than usual and in higher amounts. The bigger payouts go to cover heating and rent, he said.

As collateral, customers are bringing in bigger items, such as motorcycles and ATVS.

"Stuff people don't need over the winter," he said.

Alongside sellers, buyers are crowding the shops, pawnbrokers say.

"People are finally starting to realize, 'I'm not making much money, so it's OK to get used'" goods, Williams said.

Jay Derby of Lead was at First National recently, looking for tools - drills, a Sawzall, space heaters - to use in his construction work.

"I notice there's a bit more tools in the pawn shops than there usually are," Derby said. "It's got to be because people need the money for gas."

But he didn't buy anything. Derby said he tried to barter with a salesman but couldn't get the price as low as he wanted.

That's another trend Lowe reports. While recent months brought more shoppers, purchasing has slowed recently.

"There's a lot more people looking to buy used for half the price, not so much this month, as in past couple months," he said. "This month, the economy's so bad, they're not spending anyway."

Contact Jeremy Fugleberg at 394-8421 or jeremy.fugleberg@rapidcityjournal.com