Operating Segment Information (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2012	Jun. 30, 2013 segment	Jun. 30, 2012
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of reportable segments			3
Revenues:
Merchandise sales	$ 86,576	$ 75,286	$ 281,262	$ 256,271
Jewelry scrapping sales	26,288	40,530	113,579	147,066
Pawn service charges	60,397	55,656	187,812	170,880
Consumer loan fees	59,234	51,753	183,119	143,594
Other revenues	2,671	1,348	10,169	3,351
Total revenues	235,166	224,573	775,941	721,162
Merchandise cost of goods sold	51,050	43,842	164,711	147,621
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	20,377	27,116	80,993	92,807
Consumer loan bad debt	12,518	10,689	34,496	27,269
Net revenues	151,221	142,926	495,741	453,465
Segment expenses:
Operations	104,230	85,200	309,346	248,014
Depreciation and amortization	6,877	5,644	18,799	14,899
Loss on sale or disposal of assets	178	313	220	108
Interest (income) expense, net	2,765	37	8,211	1,774
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliates	(4,328)	(4,197)	(13,491)	(12,935)
Other expense (income)	57	42	(312)	(157)
Segment contribution	41,442	55,887	172,968	201,762
Administrative	12,644	9,857	34,918	33,509
Depreciation and amortization			25,732	19,891
Interest, net	3,637	897	11,027	3,694
Other expense (income)	96	160	0	(157)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	25,796	43,677	129,092	162,267
Income tax expense	9,139	12,718	42,084	52,664
Income from continuing operations, net of tax	16,657	30,959	87,008	109,603
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax	(21,497)	(1,248)	(24,813)	(3,167)
Net (loss) income	(4,840)	29,711	62,195	106,436
Net income from continuing operations attributable to redeemable noncontrolling interest	1,041	1,188	3,378	1,300
Net (loss) income attributable to EZCORP	(5,881)	28,523	58,817	105,136
U.S./ Canada Operations [Member]
Revenues:
Merchandise sales	71,464	65,221	237,577	226,507
Jewelry scrapping sales	26,288	37,298	108,777	139,252
Pawn service charges	52,505	49,969	165,202	154,823
Consumer loan fees	40,279	37,492	126,873	121,744
Other revenues	1,058	643	5,469	2,430
Total revenues	191,594	190,623	643,898	644,756
Merchandise cost of goods sold	41,795	38,174	138,936	131,682
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	20,285	24,337	76,922	86,848
Consumer loan bad debt	9,994	8,806	27,363	24,663
Net revenues	119,520	119,306	400,677	401,563
Segment expenses:
Operations	84,194	70,666	251,593	216,653
Depreciation and amortization	4,905	3,608	13,395	9,862
Loss on sale or disposal of assets	174	93	202	(113)
Interest (income) expense, net	(25)	16	7	20
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliates	0	0	0	0
Other expense (income)	0	497	(5)	346
Segment contribution	30,272	44,426	135,485	174,795
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax	(14,035)	(1,033)	(16,878)	(2,774)
Latin America [Member]
Revenues:
Merchandise sales	15,112	10,065	43,685	29,764
Jewelry scrapping sales	0	3,232	4,802	7,814
Pawn service charges	7,892	5,687	22,610	16,057
Consumer loan fees	12,864	10,381	36,583	17,764
Other revenues	1,034	547	2,880	763
Total revenues	36,902	29,912	110,560	72,162
Merchandise cost of goods sold	9,255	5,668	25,775	15,939
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	92	2,779	4,071	5,959
Consumer loan bad debt	685	632	(1,024)	1,140
Net revenues	26,870	20,833	81,738	49,124
Segment expenses:
Operations	16,513	11,722	46,483	27,781
Depreciation and amortization	1,854	1,942	5,067	4,907
Loss on sale or disposal of assets	4	(3)	18	(2)
Interest (income) expense, net	2,790	22	8,205	1,755
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliates	0	0	0	0
Other expense (income)	57	(14)	(238)	2
Segment contribution	5,652	7,164	22,203	14,681
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax	(7,462)	(215)	(7,935)	(393)
Other International [Member]
Revenues:
Merchandise sales	0	0	0	0
Jewelry scrapping sales	0	0	0	0
Pawn service charges	0	0	0	0
Consumer loan fees	6,091	3,880	19,663	4,086
Other revenues	579	158	1,820	158
Total revenues	6,670	4,038	21,483	4,244
Merchandise cost of goods sold	0	0	0	0
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	0	0	0	0
Consumer loan bad debt	1,839	1,251	8,157	1,466
Net revenues	4,831	2,787	13,326	2,778
Segment expenses:
Operations	3,523	2,812	11,270	3,580
Depreciation and amortization	118	94	337	130
Loss on sale or disposal of assets	0	223	0	223
Interest (income) expense, net	0	(1)	(1)	(1)
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliates	(4,328)	(4,197)	(13,491)	(12,935)
Other expense (income)	0	(441)	(69)	(505)
Segment contribution	5,518	4,297	15,280	12,286
Corporate [Member]
Segment expenses:
Administrative	12,644	9,857	34,918	33,509
Depreciation and amortization	2,091	1,375	5,830	4,066
Interest, net	872	860	2,816	1,920
Other expense (income)	$ 39	$ 118	$ 312