“I’ve expanded the business to two locations, and we also do a ton of art now, and we do flatware, we do wine — and handbags,” Mr. Tabach-Bank said in his California shop, a few blocks away from Rodeo Drive. He is finalizing plans for a third location, in Chicago.

Mr. Tabach-Bank finds that his New York clients are more likely to be businesspeople than those in Beverly Hills. “We get a lot of women in the financial community as well as men who bring in their wife’s or significant other’s handbags,” he said. In California, the pawnshop draws in the Hollywood set with actors, producers and screenwriters looking for fast cash.

“We get socialites and a lot more divorcées in Beverly Hills than New York for some reason,” he said.

Mr. Tabach-Bank said it’s not uncommon for people to take their Birkins, or other valuables, in and out of the pawnshop, using them like a credit card, whether it’s for an investment opportunity, for paying off business fees or simply because they are hard up for cash. “We pride ourselves on acting quickly,” he said.

“People often call and ask: ‘What percentage can you pay on the retail of an Hermès handbag?’”

Condition is everything, he said. Does it come with a box? Does it have the dust bag? Does it have the clochette and the key?