Segment Information - Operating Segment Information (Details)	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2019 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2019 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Jun. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Mar. 31, 2018 USD ($)	Dec. 31, 2017 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($) segment	Sep. 30, 2018 USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2017 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of operating segments | segment									3
Revenues:
Total revenues	$ 214,339,000	$ 202,465,000	$ 214,730,000	$ 215,695,000	$ 205,976,000	$ 199,612,000	$ 202,398,000	$ 204,170,000	$ 847,229,000	$ 812,156,000	$ 747,951,000
Net revenues	$ 120,856,000	$ 115,853,000	$ 127,690,000	130,049,000	$ 124,463,000	$ 114,742,000	$ 120,257,000	122,089,000	494,448,000	481,551,000	435,507,000
Operating expenses:
Operations				88,763,000				83,592,000	350,578,000	334,841,000	304,956,000
Administrative				15,255,000				13,081,000	63,665,000	53,639,000	53,492,000
Depreciation and amortization									28,797,000	25,484,000	23,661,000
Loss on sale or disposal of assets and other									4,399,000	463,000	359,000
Interest expense									32,637,000	27,834,000	27,803,000
Interest income									(11,086,000)	(17,041,000)	(12,103,000)
Equity in net loss (income) of unconsolidated affiliates									135,000	(5,529,000)	(4,916,000)
Impairment of investment in unconsolidated affiliates									19,725,000	11,712,000	0
Other income									1,424,000	(5,391,000)	(423,000)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes				$ (4,718,000)				$ 19,709,000	4,174,000	55,539,000	42,678,000
Operating Segments
Revenues:
Total revenues									847,229,000	812,156,000	747,951,000
Net revenues									494,448,000	481,551,000	435,507,000
Operating expenses:
Operations									350,578,000	334,841,000	304,956,000
Administrative									0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization									18,365,000	17,121,000	13,037,000
Loss on sale or disposal of assets and other									4,375,000	230,000	332,000
Interest expense									2,100,000	96,000	9,000
Interest income									(1,601,000)	(2,619,000)	(1,930,000)
Equity in net loss (income) of unconsolidated affiliates									135,000	(5,529,000)	(4,916,000)
Impairment of investment in unconsolidated affiliates									19,725,000	11,712,000
Other income									1,802,000	(177,000)	(184,000)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes									98,969,000	125,876,000	124,203,000
Operating Segments | U.S. Pawn
Revenues:
Total revenues									650,413,000	635,780,000	638,945,000
Net revenues									385,959,000	378,955,000	374,036,000
Operating expenses:
Operations									269,003,000	263,094,000	260,089,000
Administrative									0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization									11,879,000	12,869,000	10,171,000
Loss on sale or disposal of assets and other									3,402,000	203,000	198,000
Interest expense									0	71,000	0
Interest income									0	0	0
Equity in net loss (income) of unconsolidated affiliates									0	0	0
Impairment of investment in unconsolidated affiliates									0	0
Other income									0	(3,000)	(19,000)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes									101,675,000	102,721,000	103,597,000
Operating Segments | Latin America Pawn
Revenues:
Total revenues									191,185,000	168,256,000	101,020,000
Net revenues									105,196,000	96,173,000	55,473,000
Operating expenses:
Operations									74,199,000	61,553,000	36,419,000
Administrative									0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization									6,267,000	4,068,000	2,675,000
Loss on sale or disposal of assets and other									691,000	27,000	134,000
Interest expense									1,609,000	25,000	9,000
Interest income									(1,601,000)	(2,619,000)	(1,930,000)
Equity in net loss (income) of unconsolidated affiliates									0	0	0
Impairment of investment in unconsolidated affiliates									0	0
Other income									(93,000)	(42,000)	(69,000)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes									24,124,000	33,161,000	18,235,000
Operating Segments | Other International
Revenues:
Total revenues									5,631,000	8,120,000	7,986,000
Net revenues									3,293,000	6,423,000	5,998,000
Operating expenses:
Operations									7,376,000	10,194,000	8,448,000
Administrative									0	0	0
Depreciation and amortization									219,000	184,000	191,000
Loss on sale or disposal of assets and other									282,000	0	0
Interest expense									491,000	0	0
Interest income									0	0	0
Equity in net loss (income) of unconsolidated affiliates									135,000	(5,529,000)	(4,916,000)
Impairment of investment in unconsolidated affiliates									19,725,000	11,712,000
Other income									1,895,000	(132,000)	(96,000)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes									(26,830,000)	(10,006,000)	2,371,000
Corporate
Revenues:
Total revenues									0	0	0
Net revenues									0	0	0
Operating expenses:
Operations									0	0	0
Administrative									63,665,000	53,639,000	53,492,000
Depreciation and amortization									10,432,000	8,363,000	10,624,000
Loss on sale or disposal of assets and other									24,000	233,000	27,000
Interest expense									30,537,000	27,738,000	27,794,000
Interest income									(9,485,000)	(14,422,000)	(10,173,000)
Equity in net loss (income) of unconsolidated affiliates									0	0	0
Impairment of investment in unconsolidated affiliates									0	0
Other income									(378,000)	(5,214,000)	(239,000)
Income from continuing operations before income taxes									(94,795,000)	(70,337,000)	(81,525,000)
Merchandise sales
Revenues:
Total revenues									453,375,000	438,372,000	414,838,000
Cost of goods sold									297,508,000	276,618,000	266,525,000
Merchandise sales | Operating Segments
Revenues:
Total revenues									453,375,000	438,372,000	414,838,000
Cost of goods sold									297,508,000	276,618,000	266,525,000
Merchandise sales | Operating Segments | U.S. Pawn
Revenues:
Total revenues									355,996,000	350,699,000	351,878,000
Cost of goods sold									225,136,000	216,408,000	223,475,000
Merchandise sales | Operating Segments | Latin America Pawn
Revenues:
Total revenues									97,379,000	87,673,000	62,957,000
Cost of goods sold									72,372,000	60,210,000	43,050,000
Merchandise sales | Operating Segments | Other International
Revenues:
Total revenues									0	0	3,000
Cost of goods sold									0	0	0
Merchandise sales | Corporate
Revenues:
Total revenues									0	0	0
Cost of goods sold									0	0	0
Jewelry scrapping sales
Revenues:
Total revenues									60,445,000	60,752,000	51,189,000
Cost of goods sold									52,935,000	52,290,000	43,931,000
Jewelry scrapping sales | Operating Segments
Revenues:
Total revenues									60,445,000	60,752,000	51,189,000
Cost of goods sold									52,935,000	52,290,000	43,931,000
Jewelry scrapping sales | Operating Segments | U.S. Pawn
Revenues:
Total revenues									45,815,000	47,745,000	48,203,000
Cost of goods sold									39,318,000	40,417,000	41,434,000
Jewelry scrapping sales | Operating Segments | Latin America Pawn
Revenues:
Total revenues									14,630,000	13,007,000	2,986,000
Cost of goods sold									13,617,000	11,873,000	2,497,000
Jewelry scrapping sales | Operating Segments | Other International
Revenues:
Total revenues									0	0	0
Cost of goods sold									0	0	0
Jewelry scrapping sales | Corporate
Revenues:
Total revenues									0	0	0
Cost of goods sold									0	0	0
Pawn service charges
Revenues:
Total revenues									327,366,000	304,577,000	273,077,000
Pawn service charges | Operating Segments
Revenues:
Total revenues									327,366,000	304,577,000	273,077,000
Pawn service charges | Operating Segments | U.S. Pawn
Revenues:
Total revenues									248,369,000	237,086,000	238,645,000
Pawn service charges | Operating Segments | Latin America Pawn
Revenues:
Total revenues									78,997,000	67,491,000	34,432,000
Pawn service charges | Operating Segments | Other International
Revenues:
Total revenues									0	0	0
Pawn service charges | Corporate
Revenues:
Total revenues									0	0	0
Other revenues
Revenues:
Total revenues									6,043,000	8,455,000	8,847,000
Cost of goods sold									2,338,000	1,697,000	1,988,000
Other revenues | Operating Segments
Revenues:
Total revenues									6,043,000	8,455,000	8,847,000
Cost of goods sold									2,338,000	1,697,000	1,988,000
Other revenues | Operating Segments | U.S. Pawn
Revenues:
Total revenues									233,000	250,000	219,000
Cost of goods sold									0	0	0
Other revenues | Operating Segments | Latin America Pawn
Revenues:
Total revenues									179,000	85,000	645,000
Cost of goods sold									0	0	0
Other revenues | Operating Segments | Other International
Revenues:
Total revenues									5,631,000	8,120,000	7,983,000
Cost of goods sold									2,338,000	1,697,000	1,988,000
Other revenues | Corporate
Revenues:
Total revenues									0	0	0
Cost of goods sold									$ 0	$ 0	$ 0