Operating Segment Information - Segment Information (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Revenues:
Merchandise sales	$ 109,639	$ 105,587
Jewelry scrapping sales	18,534	27,703
Pawn service charges	64,927	64,133
Consumer loan fees and interest	52,232	60,117
Consumer loan sales and other revenues	7,312	5,499
Total revenues	252,644	263,039
Merchandise cost of goods sold	72,388	63,588
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	14,675	20,020
Consumer loan bad debt	15,251	15,574
Net revenues	150,330	163,857
Operations	103,656	104,955
Administrative	10,174	15,745
Depreciation	7,573	7,340
Amortization	1,457	1,365
Loss (gain) on sale or disposal of assets	259	(6,290)
Interest expense	8,958	4,530
Interest income	(525)	(196)
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliates	(2,194)	(1,271)
Other expense (income)	537	(168)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	20,435	37,847
Segments [Member]
Revenues:
Merchandise sales	109,639	105,587
Jewelry scrapping sales	18,534	27,703
Pawn service charges	64,927	64,133
Consumer loan fees and interest	52,232	60,117
Consumer loan sales and other revenues	7,312	5,499
Total revenues	252,644	263,039
Merchandise cost of goods sold	72,388	63,588
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	14,675	20,020
Consumer loan bad debt	15,251	15,574
Net revenues	150,330	163,857
Operations	103,656	104,955
Administrative	0	0
Depreciation	5,791	5,703
Amortization	490	720
Loss (gain) on sale or disposal of assets	259	(6,312)
Interest expense	5,214	3,325
Interest income	(491)	(172)
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliates	(2,194)	(1,271)
Other expense (income)	393	(59)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	37,212	56,968
Segments [Member] | U.S. & Canada Operations [Member]
Revenues:
Merchandise sales	90,059	88,890
Jewelry scrapping sales	17,127	25,925
Pawn service charges	57,035	57,069
Consumer loan fees and interest	42,162	45,824
Consumer loan sales and other revenues	420	377
Total revenues	206,803	218,085
Merchandise cost of goods sold	59,031	53,047
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	13,414	18,570
Consumer loan bad debt	14,310	14,183
Net revenues	120,048	132,285
Operations	84,746	86,573
Administrative	0	0
Depreciation	4,400	4,244
Amortization	71	103
Loss (gain) on sale or disposal of assets	3	(6,318)
Interest expense	8	5
Interest income	(17)	0
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliates	0	0
Other expense (income)	3	0
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	30,834	47,678
Segments [Member] | Latin America [Member]
Revenues:
Merchandise sales	19,580	16,697
Jewelry scrapping sales	1,407	1,778
Pawn service charges	7,892	7,064
Consumer loan fees and interest	10,070	14,293
Consumer loan sales and other revenues	6,892	5,122
Total revenues	45,841	44,954
Merchandise cost of goods sold	13,357	10,541
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	1,261	1,450
Consumer loan bad debt	941	1,391
Net revenues	30,282	31,572
Operations	18,910	18,382
Administrative	0	0
Depreciation	1,391	1,459
Amortization	419	617
Loss (gain) on sale or disposal of assets	256	6
Interest expense	5,206	3,320
Interest income	(474)	(172)
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliates	0	0
Other expense (income)	390	(30)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	4,184	7,990
Segments [Member] | Other International [Member]
Revenues:
Merchandise sales	0	0
Jewelry scrapping sales	0	0
Pawn service charges	0	0
Consumer loan fees and interest	0	0
Consumer loan sales and other revenues	0	0
Total revenues	0	0
Merchandise cost of goods sold	0	0
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	0	0
Consumer loan bad debt	0	0
Net revenues	0	0
Operations	0	0
Administrative	0	0
Depreciation	0	0
Amortization	0	0
Loss (gain) on sale or disposal of assets	0	0
Interest expense	0	0
Interest income	0	0
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliates	(2,194)	(1,271)
Other expense (income)	0	(29)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	2,194	1,300
Corporate Items [Member]
Revenues:
Merchandise sales	0	0
Jewelry scrapping sales	0	0
Pawn service charges	0	0
Consumer loan fees and interest	0	0
Consumer loan sales and other revenues	0	0
Total revenues	0	0
Merchandise cost of goods sold	0	0
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	0	0
Consumer loan bad debt	0	0
Net revenues	0	0
Operations	0	0
Administrative	10,174	15,745
Depreciation	1,782	1,637
Amortization	967	645
Loss (gain) on sale or disposal of assets	0	22
Interest expense	3,744	1,205
Interest income	(34)	(24)
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliates	0	0
Other expense (income)	144	(109)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	$ (16,777)	$ (19,121)