The trade-off is honest: because the lender is not underwriting your income, the amount available is set by the item, not by what you need. Bring the strongest collateral you can spare — a documented watch, a signed piece of jewelry, a current laptop — and the offer reflects that.
The obligation still exists. A pawn contract is a real loan with a real maturity date, and abandoning it means losing the item. We would rather explain the terms twice at the counter than have someone discover them on day 31.