Segment Information - Operating Segment Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2017	Mar. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Sep. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2016	Mar. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016	Sep. 30, 2015
Revenues:
Merchandise sales									$ 414,838	$ 409,107	$ 402,118
Jewelry scrapping sales									51,189	50,113	57,973
Pawn service charges									273,080	261,800	247,204
Other revenues									8,847	9,485	12,705
Total revenues	$ 182,069	$ 183,633	$ 189,628	$ 192,624	$ 184,585	$ 170,150	$ 188,213	$ 187,557	747,954	730,505	720,000
Merchandise cost of goods sold									266,525	258,271	267,789
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold									43,931	42,039	46,066
Other cost of revenues									1,988	1,965	3,125
Net revenues	$ 108,093	$ 105,555	$ 109,897	$ 111,965	$ 106,861	$ 100,394	$ 108,365	$ 112,610	435,510	428,230	403,020
Operating expenses:
Operations									304,636	301,387	294,939
Administrative									53,254	68,101	72,986
Depreciation and amortization									23,661	26,542	30,959
Loss on sale or disposal of assets									359	1,106	2,659
Restructuring									0	1,921	17,080
Interest expense									27,803	16,477	16,385
Interest income									(12,103)	(81)	(278)
Equity in net (income) loss of unconsolidated affiliate									(4,916)	255	5,473
Impairment of investments									0	10,957	26,837
Other expense (income)									(423)	1,202	2,187
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes									43,239	363	(66,207)
Operating Segments
Revenues:
Merchandise sales									414,838	409,107	402,118
Jewelry scrapping sales									51,189	50,113	57,973
Pawn service charges									273,080	261,800	247,204
Other revenues									8,847	9,485	12,705
Total revenues									747,954	730,505	720,000
Merchandise cost of goods sold									266,525	258,271	267,789
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold									43,931	42,039	46,066
Other cost of revenues									1,988	1,965	3,125
Net revenues									435,510	428,230	403,020
Operating expenses:
Operations									304,636	301,387	294,939
Administrative									0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization									13,037	15,425	20,283
Loss on sale or disposal of assets									332	837	1,252
Restructuring										1,738	7,378
Interest expense									9	234	75
Interest income									(1,930)	(32)	(120)
Equity in net (income) loss of unconsolidated affiliate									(4,916)	255	5,473
Impairment of investments										10,957	26,837
Other expense (income)									(184)	1,275	1,995
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes									124,526	96,154	44,908
Operating Segments | U.S. Pawn
Revenues:
Merchandise sales									351,878	348,771	334,635
Jewelry scrapping sales									48,203	47,810	54,343
Pawn service charges									238,437	229,893	216,211
Other revenues									219	331	945
Total revenues									638,737	626,805	606,134
Merchandise cost of goods sold									223,475	217,268	218,953
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold									41,434	40,138	42,845
Other cost of revenues									0	0
Net revenues									373,828	369,399	344,336
Operating expenses:
Operations									259,977	255,321	244,232
Administrative									0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization									10,171	12,242	15,227
Loss on sale or disposal of assets									198	664	995
Restructuring										993	4,016
Interest expense									0	125	60
Interest income									0	(2)	(42)
Equity in net (income) loss of unconsolidated affiliate									0	0	0
Impairment of investments										0	0
Other expense (income)									(19)	0
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes									103,501	100,056	79,848
Operating Segments | Mexico Pawn
Revenues:
Merchandise sales									62,957	60,331	65,408
Jewelry scrapping sales									2,986	2,282	3,267
Pawn service charges									34,643	31,907	30,993
Other revenues									645	385	1,021
Total revenues									101,231	94,905	100,689
Merchandise cost of goods sold									43,050	41,002	47,371
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold									2,497	1,885	2,954
Other cost of revenues									0	0	0
Net revenues									55,684	52,018	50,364
Operating expenses:
Operations									36,211	38,481	43,927
Administrative									0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization									2,675	2,965	4,440
Loss on sale or disposal of assets									134	169	258
Restructuring										543	799
Interest expense									9	109	15
Interest income									(1,930)	(30)	(78)
Equity in net (income) loss of unconsolidated affiliate									0	0	0
Impairment of investments										0	0
Other expense (income)									(69)	1,273	1,988
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes									18,654	8,508	(985)
Operating Segments | Other International
Revenues:
Merchandise sales									3	5	2,075
Jewelry scrapping sales									0	21	363
Pawn service charges									0	0	0
Other revenues									7,983	8,769	10,739
Total revenues									7,986	8,795	13,177
Merchandise cost of goods sold									0	1	1,465
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold									0	16	267
Other cost of revenues									1,988	1,965	3,125
Net revenues									5,998	6,813	8,320
Operating expenses:
Operations									8,448	7,585	6,780
Administrative									0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization									191	218	616
Loss on sale or disposal of assets									0	4	(1)
Restructuring										202	2,563
Interest expense									0	0	0
Interest income									0	0	0
Equity in net (income) loss of unconsolidated affiliate									(4,916)	255	5,473
Impairment of investments										10,957	26,837
Other expense (income)									(96)	2	7
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes									2,371	(12,410)	(33,955)
Corporate
Revenues:
Merchandise sales									0	0	0
Jewelry scrapping sales									0	0	0
Pawn service charges									0	0	0
Other revenues									0	0	0
Total revenues									0	0	0
Merchandise cost of goods sold									0	0	0
Jewelry scrapping cost of goods sold									0	0	0
Other cost of revenues									0	0	0
Net revenues									0	0	0
Operating expenses:
Operations									0	0	0
Administrative									53,254	68,101	72,986
Depreciation and amortization									10,624	11,117	10,676
Loss on sale or disposal of assets									27	269	1,407
Restructuring										183	9,702
Interest expense									27,794	16,243	16,310
Interest income									(10,173)	(49)	(158)
Equity in net (income) loss of unconsolidated affiliate									0	0	0
Impairment of investments										0	0
Other expense (income)									(239)	(73)	192
Income (loss) from continuing operations before income taxes									$ (81,287)	$ (95,791)	$ (111,115)