With a bad economy and high unemployment, my shop — North End Thrift of the Villas — has been changing along with the changing economy and the changing seasons.

In the summer we were really busy doing house clean outs and buying most of our items from large estates. Now and then a few customers would bring in items to sell.

I'm not sure if it is our advertising campaign, "We buy and sell almost anything," or the fact that we now buy gold and silver, but we now have a steady line of customers trying to sell us everything under the sun.

It makes for a fun atmosphere when customers can negotiate buying, selling, or trading an item. Our shop makes people feel like they are on Pawn Stars, American Pickers or one of the new cable shows.

We have a large following of regular customers who love finding antiques, collectibles, and household items at our shops.

With everything our shops have to offer, we have a huge responsibility to ensure we keep criminals from selling us stolen goods. We have had only a few issues since we opened last year, but any issue is a big issue for us.

We work with all local police departments and have put in a triple check system. We have always required proper ID for the gold, silver and jewelry we buy.

We now require proper ID for any item we buy from you — even an item like an old dresser. We ask questions about all items. All transactions are recorded on our video surveillance system.

We send copies of sales to the local police, and we hold items at least a week before we sell them. I talk with local detectives, and they are working hard to stop thefts and recover stolen property.

The police are having a big problem with unregulated illegal mobile gold buyers, who buy gold and silver without questions and proper records. Our shops are bonded and insured, our scales are certified, and we are taking a stand against stolen goods.

So if you have items for sale, make sure you bring ID. If the item is not yours to sell, do not bring it to either of our shops.

—Pete Wilson owner, North End Thrift and North End Garage