Operating Segment Information - Segment Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	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	58,847	55,204
Other revenues	871	1,129
Total revenues	252,818	253,756
Merchandise cost of goods sold	72,478	64,141
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	14,675	20,020
Consumer loan bad debt	22,050	18,188
Net revenues	143,615	151,407
Operations	103,694	105,361
Administrative	8,352	15,724
Depreciation	7,573	7,340
Amortization	1,457	1,365
Loss (gain) on sale or disposal of assets	259	(6,290)
Interest expense	12,034	5,051
Interest income	(532)	(197)
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliates	(2,194)	(1,271)
Other expense (income)	759	(168)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	12,213	24,492
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	58,847	55,204
Other revenues	871	1,129
Total revenues	252,818	253,756
Merchandise cost of goods sold	72,478	64,141
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	14,675	20,020
Consumer loan bad debt	22,050	18,188
Net revenues	143,615	151,407
Operations	103,694	105,361
Administrative	0	0
Depreciation	5,791	5,703
Amortization	490	720
Loss (gain) on sale or disposal of assets	259	(6,312)
Interest expense	8,290	3,846
Interest income	(498)	(173)
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliates	(2,194)	(1,271)
Other expense (income)	615	(59)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	27,168	43,592
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	42,532	45,750
Other revenues	575	531
Total revenues	207,328	218,165
Merchandise cost of goods sold	58,994	53,600
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	13,414	18,570
Consumer loan bad debt	14,310	14,183
Net revenues	120,610	131,812
Operations	84,763	86,567
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	31,379	47,211
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	16,315	9,454
Other revenues	296	598
Total revenues	45,490	35,591
Merchandise cost of goods sold	13,484	10,541
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold	1,261	1,450
Consumer loan bad debt	7,740	4,005
Net revenues	23,005	19,595
Operations	18,931	18,794
Administrative	0	0
Depreciation	1,391	1,459
Amortization	419	617
Loss (gain) on sale or disposal of assets	256	6
Interest expense	8,282	3,841
Interest income	(481)	(173)
Equity in net income of unconsolidated affiliates	0	0
Other expense (income)	612	(30)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	(6,405)	(4,919)
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
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
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	8,352	15,724
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	$ (14,955)	$ (19,100)