Pawn shops see increased demand for precious metals as gold, silver prices spike

Gold and silver prices have been soaring in recent weeks.

As the price of precious metals continues to climb, pawn shops and companies that buy and sell them are seeing increased customer interest.

According to Canada Gold, the spot price – known as the market price of gold – was sitting at $205.09/g while silver was at $3.46/g on Monday.

Gold is trading in Canada at about $7,140 CAD to $7,471 CAD for an ounce. Silver is trading at roughly $152 CAD to $159 CAD per ounce.

“You definitely see a lot of people coming in being like, ‘Do you have any gold bullion? Do you have any silver bullion, silver coins, gold coins?’ It’s just hard to keep the stuff in stock,” says Joseph Evans, a sales associate with Halifax Buy and Sell.

After almost 10 years of working in the industry, Evans has never seen higher demand for gold and silver. He says people come in every day to sell gold.

“Most of the gold that we buy is like gold jewelry and stuff that is not bullion so there are refinery costs to get it down to that pure 24 karat, which is what people are generally interested in picking up as investments pieces because there is always a markup on jewelry, and bullion is untaxed and it’s more desirable as an investment piece,” adds Evans.

One customer who comes in more frequently since the rise in price is Floki Kennedy, a sterling silver artist.

“With gold prices being so high, if I ever get it, I bring it here and I can sell it and buy new pieces to use in my work,” says Kennedy.

Kennedy purchases broken jewelry from pawn shops, fixes some and melts others down to create something new. As an artist, he says it’s now more expensive for him to buy his materials and harder for him to sell his creations.

“Something that would have been a $40 ring, I have to charge now $80, $100, maybe more, and it just keeps climbing every single day,” says Kennedy. “What used to be costume, and everyone would say is costume now, it’s going to get to $5 a gram, $6 and it just continues to climb.”

Canada Gold, which operates across Canada and the United States, says it has lineups outside its stores daily.

Chris Pollock, the founder of Canada Gold, says the increased demand started in November. He adds that the magnitude and length of demand he’s seeing at this time is the most he’s seen in 17 years in the business.

“In January, to date, silver prices have increased 22 per cent, gold is up 59 per cent, and if we go back further, 12 months, we are actually seeing gold prices almost doubling, up 86 per cent and silver is tripled, up 250 per cent compared to prices back in 2025,” says Pollock.

Pollock says there are a number of factors that can influence the price of these precious metals and, in return, their demand.

“It’s a great hedge against inflation and it’s also an investment that’s appealing amid geopolitical tension, and we are certainly seeing a lot of geopolitical uncertainty at the moment, and that’s made gold very appealing,” says Pollock.

He adds that interest rates can also play a part in these prices as well; it’s not just that more people are looking to cash in their jewelry and old silver or gold teapots, it’s also about people looking to invest in the metals themselves.

“We are seeing unprecedented demand in the precious metal for investment purposes. Customers looking to buy, for example, silver maple leaf coins or gold bars from the Mint. The Mint is ramping up their production, making as much as they can and still, in spite of that, they aren’t able to keep up with demand,” says Pollock.

For pawn shops like Halifax Buy and Sell, Evans says the higher the price of gold the better it is for their customers and, in turn, it brings more in. When it comes to silver or gold, coins to bullion, the demand is already quite high.

“I have nothing for sale, everything is bought out. I did recently sell most of the silver bars that I had when they were trading for $70 an ounce, you do kinda wish you held onto it now, but you can’t always hold onto something,” says Evans.

Experts advise that now is a good time to invest in precious metals, but not to invest it all.

“I would certainly say that it’s a good time to have a portion of your portfolio in precious metals. I would never recommend an investor to put a huge amount, like 50 per cent, in a single asset glass, especially precious metals,” adds Pollock. “I have read a lot of commentary from other experts in this space who recommend having like 10 per cent of your assets in precious metals, like gold or perhaps like a surrogate, having them in mining companies.”

Pollock thinks we will continue to see volatility and constant fluctuations in the precious metals market, so he’s urging people looking to invest or sell to keep an eye on it.