Have you noticed recently all those adverts on TV offering to buy your gold if you send it to them?…read moreApparently the value of gold has soared in the last year or so and everyone is cashing in their sovereigns and hoops. I came to May's to do that, and got a rather reasonable £60 for something I never would have worn again. If you're really desperate, you can pawn something you DO want back on the premise that they'll loan you the amount it's worth. They'll keep the item for up to 7 months, although I don't like the idea of not being able to keep up with the repayments (plus their interest) and losing that cherished heirloom forever... There's loads of great deals on second hand and new jewellery too, with diamond rings starting as little as £50 and continuing upwards of £2,000 but when I look at some pieces I can't help wondering whether the previous owners were unlucky or willing sellers.

I've shopped with Mays for over 20 years and have always received great service from the staff!…read more Their prices are really competitive and they offer great prices when pawning items too. Highly recommend to everyone I know!

Cash Generator is a big chain of used goods buying and selling retailers in the UK, this branch is…read morethe chain's only store in Manchester city centre (as I recall), located in the Northern Quarter, just a stone's throw away from Piccadilly Gardens and the Morrisons. I really don't like this store however which is a shame, I'd even class it down a level from CeX from the entire experience, the latter who have a branch nearby in Manchester Arndale and are the only similar store I'm aware of so throughout this review, I feel the need for comparison is in order. The prices Cash Generator give for items I'd say are nowhere near acceptable or even competitive, while CeX tends to buy items, Cash Generators seems to be more like a branded payday loan company, and they often offer a buyback of your goods. Most recently, I went into the store to trade in my old airpods and I was offered £50, this is compared to CeX who offer between 84-100 pounds, and around £100 can also be fair for resell value on online retailers such as eBay, so offering such a low price I found to be insulting by the less than friendly staff. The store its-self doesn't seem to be really inviting or well maintained and in its' own sense is quite poor, the only good thing about it is the location and in this case location alone doesn't save this poor store which does everything wrong: higher than average pricing, insulting (poor and low) offers for buying used goods in a store which feels old, dirty and just far from the place to be. 1*

I cannot explain the boyf's love of Cash Generator. I just can't. Every damn time we happen to be…read moreanywhere near the Northern Quarter, he drags me to "Cash Converters" (he love sit, but gets its name wrong every time), then spends a good twenty minutes looking at everything on offer (apart from the tellies, which I would have thought would be of most interest) before leaving without getting anything. I think he's looking for CDJs, to be honest, but given they retail at about £3k, I really doubt he'll find any here. What he did find, one day, though, was a VCR for his 'rents, for £6. Let me explain the boyf's 'rents to you. They are lovely people who dote on their only son, and spend a ridiculous amount of money on him. However, they never seem to want to spend anything on themselves. Hence they are still using a telly that is older than the boyf himself, and may indeed pre-date the discovery of television itself. Said relic only works when run through a VCR, or something. The boyf explained the particulars; I wondered if there was any nutritional gain in fur after finding a cat hair in my mouth. Anyway, to cut a long story short, their ancient telly broke, and the boyf 'fixed' it by buying them some other ancient relic from Cash Generator. Where was I? I've gotten confused. Hmmm. OK, we'll do a nice little summary here for all those who might have gotten bored when I started talking about old tellies. In short, CG sells pretty much everything you probably don't need, and does a decent line in tellies too. Don't expect to fiond professional-grade DJ equipment here, but don't be put off; there are always bits and bobs that might come in handy for the aspiring bedroom DJ. Oh, and once, I saw a Hannah Montana karaeoke machine here. It was only £12. Where else can you pick up a VCR, a broken turntable and a piece of pink, Disney branded, jailbait merch whilst also offloading your old DVD player and turning your GOLD into CASH, as they say?

another great place to buy sell second hand goods , with cheque cashing and logbook loans to be had…read morethis is a great place for when your short on money

If you spend an inordinate amount of time on your sofa then you need to know about Computer…read moreExchange. My housemate introduced me to it a few months ago after I asked him where he kept getting stacks of new X-Box games and DVDs seeing as he's flat broke. He took me into town and much to my relief showed me Computer Exchange ( I was concerned he was stuffing them up his jumper in HMV). The premise is simple: You bring in Cds, DVDs and games you don't want, they buy them for cash or credit and you pick some new ones you do want. You can also drop in and buy stuff straight up for cash, or equally just go in and sell things, so its more of a pawn shop than a swap shop. Computer Exchange is like a sweetshop full of crappy movies you never knew you wanted but can't resist for £3.They're all here: Rambo 4, Jurassic Park: The Lost World, Alien vs Predator. They also stock plenty of of good films, new releases, world cinema and classics. There is an extensive game collection for various consoles and a few other computery bits and bobs. Prices vary from item to item, as does stock so if you see something you want you'd better grab it because there is no guarantee it will be there again.

Entertainment Trader reminds me of the good old days of Cash Converters. When I was young, Cash…read moreConverters used to just seem to me to be a magical treasure trove of old Sega Mega Drive games, cheap and nasty guitars, old televisions and DJ decks. Honestly, I just used to go into these places and want to buy everything in the place. Entertainment Trader concentrates on selling reasonably priced electrical entertainment items along the lines of decks, guitars, speakers, computer games, dvds and lots of other similar items. The shop is clean and well set out, with actually a really good selection of everything they're selling. Entertainment Trader also buys your old electrical items off you or offer part exchange, if that's your deal. It's located just off Market Street on the High Street. Go for it.

Entertainment Trader has been on High Street, Manchester for many years, it is opposite the…read moreManchester Arndale and close to the old TEA42, as an independent alternative to second-hand and trade-in giants such as CeX and Cash Generator, of which both have stores nearby. Recently, the store has been marked as "closing", it does appear to be the case, but the store is falsely claiming it is their "last day" open, and this has been the case for multiple weeks. I find it wrong if the store wants to close they should give a day to customers in case of any returns and confusion, and lying about the day being the last for around a month is ridiculous, and it also breaks the law under the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive of the European Union. The selection of the store has never been too good which is why I can see they're closing down, most of the products seem to be older, for defunct consoles such as the Nintendo DS or just old CD's, they don't seem to be getting the latest releases anymore and this hasn't been the case for a while. The overall feel of the store is basic and kind of ALDI like, the staff didn't seem too friendly either. Considering this an illegal law breaking practices, misleading the consumer I feel the store deserves a one-star rating.