Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2018	Sep. 30, 2017	Sep. 30, 2016
Revenues:
Total revenues	$ 813,515	$ 747,954	$ 730,505
Net revenues	482,910	435,510	428,230
Operating expenses:
Operations	334,649	304,636	301,387
Administrative	53,653	53,254	68,101
Depreciation and amortization	25,484	23,661	26,542
Loss on sale or disposal of assets	463	359	1,106
Restructuring	0	0	1,921
Total operating expenses	414,249	381,910	399,057
Operating income	68,661	53,600	29,173
Interest expense	27,834	27,803	16,477
Interest income	(17,041)	(12,103)	(81)
Equity in net (income) loss of unconsolidated affiliate	(5,529)	(4,916)	255
Impairment of investments	11,712	0	10,957
Other (income) expense	(5,391)	(423)	1,202
Income from continuing operations before income taxes	57,076	43,239	363
Income tax expense	18,149	11,206	9,361
Income (loss) from continuing operations, net of tax	38,927	32,033	(8,998)
Loss from discontinued operations, net of tax	(856)	(1,825)	(79,432)
Net income (loss)	38,071	30,208	(88,430)
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interest	(988)	(1,650)	(7,686)
Net income (loss) attributable to EZCORP, Inc.	$ 39,059	$ 31,858	$ (80,744)
Earnings Per Share [Abstract]
Basic earnings (loss) per share attributable to EZCORP, Inc. — continuing operations (usd per share)	$ 0.73	$ 0.62	$ (0.15)
Diluted earnings (loss) per share attributable to EZCORP, Inc. — continuing operations (usd per share)	$ 0.69	$ 0.62	$ (0.15)
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Weighted-average basic shares outstanding (shares)	54,456	54,260	54,427
Weighted-average diluted shares outstanding (in shares)	57,896	54,368	54,427
Merchandise sales
Revenues:
Total revenues	$ 438,372	$ 414,838	$ 409,107
Cost of goods sold	276,618	266,525	258,271
Jewelry scrapping sales
Revenues:
Total revenues	60,752	51,189	50,113
Cost of goods sold	52,290	43,931	42,039
Pawn service charges
Revenues:
Total revenues	305,936	273,080	261,800
Other revenues
Revenues:
Total revenues	8,455	8,847	9,485
Cost of goods sold	$ 1,697	$ 1,988	$ 1,965