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"Our business has definitely picked up. We're seeing a lot of higher end items. A lot of gold, a lot of diamonds that are coming in," said Lori McPike with McPike's Pawnshop.

McPike says that's because those items are the most tangible items people have. McPike says the most expensive items for sale are a few 2 karat diamond rings. They vary in price, but mainly sell for more than $1,000.

"Those are definitely going to be your higher end items. The bigger the diamond, the better the quality, the better the clarity, the more expensive it's going to be," said McPike.

McPike's store has also noticed new faces.

"I'm definitely seeing an increase in our clientele for people selling items. There's a lot of people that have inherited things like pocket watches, silver coins. They're looking at it everyday wondering, 'What am I gonna do with it?' A lot of people are unloading it, because of the ever shrinking economy," she said.

You name it, McPike's pawnshop has seen it all, from motorized wheelchairs to TV screens, people get rid of the darndest things.

"The most unique item we've taken in is we bought a couple of months ago, we bought a Japanese war flag that was stained with blood and it was authentic," said McPike.

McPike expects business to pick up even more.

"I think the economy's only going to get worse. We're seeing the beginnings of what's going to happen to the economy. I think people are going to get back to saving money, and get back to becoming not so materialistic as we have been in the past 15 years."

McPike says she's not only noticed more customers selling items.  Her retail business has picked up as well.  She says when times get tough, people turn to thrift stores and re-sale shops for savings.  Many times you can save 25% to 75%.