Pawn Shop Buying Advice

Status
Not open for further replies.
Snyper hit the nail on the head.
Pawnshops are NOT in business to buy items, they are in business to make short term collateral loans.
We'd much rather make a loan than buy an item. Far easier money for us.
Sometimes though customers don't want a loan but would rather just sell the item and, just as any business would do, we try to buy it at the best price we can.
If we offer too little the pawnshop down the street will soon put us out of business, so we offer as much as we think it will take to close the deal.
We are in direct competition with other pawnshops and gunshops and which keeps the offers higher than many people seem to believe.
 
The predatory mindset mentioned earlier does fit to me after watching tv series like Pawn Stars. I understand trying to make money, but on many occasions they will argue with people to no end to make them accept something like $50 on an item instead of the $60 that the person is asking and then after getting it for $50 turn around and tell the camera they can sell it for $500. The only people worse than the ones on the different pawn shop series are the guys on American Pickers. I am sure there are plenty of decent people that run pawn shops, but unfortunately the people on these shows are the ones thrust into the spotlight.
 
The predatory mindset mentioned earlier does fit to me after watching tv series like Pawn Stars. I understand trying to make money, but on many occasions they will argue with people to no end to make them accept something like $50 on an item instead of the $60 that the person is asking and then after getting it for $50 turn around and tell the camera they can sell it for $500. The only people worse than the ones on the different pawn shop series are the guys on American Pickers. I am sure there are plenty of decent people that run pawn shops, but unfortunately the people on these shows are the ones thrust into the spotlight.
Click to expand...

If they are doing so well, why don't you open a business?

I have watched pawn stars many time where they bring in the expert and end up paying more for an item then they expected. And if they could be guaranteed to flip their inventory on a monthly basis or even 6 month basis, they could easily offer less money and still make good money. But most items don't move that quickly which means they have more money on the shelves than they have in the bank, thats why they mark up as much as they can.

American pickers?? I don't see how they make any money at all, especially after paying for fuel, tires, oil changes, hotels, meals, etc...
 
Pawn Stars isn't real and has very little in common with a functioning pawn shop.
Everything they do is for the camera and that's where they make their money, that and selling souvenirs.
Stop by their shop sometime and you'll see what I mean.
 
I'll bite - it is one of many things about pawn shops that bother me. Bothers me enough to where I won't go into pawn shops anymore. Either they are running a business selling things or they ware wasting time pretending to run a business selling things. Anyone can buy junk anywhere, and if they educate themselves just a little, they can buy junk a lot cheaper than I've ever seen it in any pawn shop.
Click to expand...

None of that rant explains WHY it bothers you so much that the owners have a right to decide what they do with the items they bought with their own money.

It sounds more like you just expect too much

Most people at gun shows want to sell their guns.
Click to expand...

I see more over priced junk at gun shows than in pawn shops
 
i would think pawn stores would want it to flip quickly, as you cant make money stuff sitting on shelf collecting dust.thinking alot of times they would just sooner have people get their stuff and be done with it. they are still paying for their building and the employees are not working for free, in their way they offer a solution those who dont like that option are free to go elsewhere just saying.... never worked a pawnshop but done retail for 17 years and you are not in business to lose or just break even. a business in this practice would fail....
 
None of that rant explains WHY it bothers you so much that the owners have a right to decide what they do with the items they bought with their own money.
Click to expand...

1. It's a complete waste of my time.
2. Once I knew the deal with pawn shops (the ones I once frequented), it was simply annoying to see the prices on the guns they were trying to sell. One guy used to like to bait you into making an offer, and if/when you made a reasonable offer, he'd reply with: "WHAT!!! Ha ha ha, I got almost twice that in this piece". I'm pretty smart about what guns are worth and I don't go around offering less than 75% of retail on good decent used gun. No pawn shop lends more than 60% of retail on a gun.
3. At least with a good retail gun store, I know they are in the business of buying and selling guns, not simply treating it as a hobby to add to the owner's personal collection.

True, pawn shop owners have the right to do what they want with their stuff and their money. They don't have the right to badger me with an endless barrage of Amway sales pitches. It's also my right to rant about WHY I haven't been in a pawn shop in over 15 years to look at or purchase guns.
 
My golden rule with pawn shops is that everything is negotiable and they need the sale more than I need the item. Also, cash is king. The little hole in the wall paces are my favorite. If the items are all cataloged with bar codes you generally will not get much of a deal.
 
The TV pawn shop shows amaze me. First, they always seem to be buying stuff; they never sell anything. That seems an odd way to do business. Then some guy brings in a POS and wants $10k. Now he has no idea what it is really worth, nor do they, but they will offer him 30-40% of what he asks. My experience with pawn shops is limited, but I have never seen one offer even 10%, let alone 40%. And where does the seller come up with his value and where does the shop come up with theirs? Who knows? (With guns, there are price books. but what is Babe Ruth's pocket lint - or something equally silly - worth? And who would buy it?)

And I love the "experts" who can walk in the door, look at a CW revolver from 20 feet and immediately know that it belonged to Capt. Thaddeus Q. Hassenpfeffer of the 141st Ohio Mule Train, who was wounded in the big toe at the Battle of Crappy Creek. Sure.

Jim
 
Then some guy brings in a POS and wants $10k. Now he has no idea what it is really worth, nor do they, but they will offer him 30-40% of what he asks
Click to expand...

Don't fool yourself by thinking they don't know the values of the items they will accept

They know how to Google too

The main reason they offer low amounts is they are NOT buying the items
They are making loans

No one forces anyone to accept a pawn shop offer they think is too low
 
The TV pawn shop shows amaze me. First, they always seem to be buying stuff; they never sell anything. That seems an odd way to do business.
Click to expand...

It is a TV show and does not reflect how normal pawn operations work.
And I love the "experts" who can walk in the door, look at a CW revolver from 20 feet and immediately know that it belonged to Capt. Thaddeus Q. Hassenpfeffer of the 141st Ohio Mule Train, who was wounded in the big toe at the Battle of Crappy Creek. Sure.
Click to expand...

It's TV and not how normal pawn shops work. Pawn shops generally do not have experts on call, and especially not experts from a couple of dozen different industries, museums, and businesses. When you see the expert called in on TV, you can rest assured he isn't walking into the examination blind. S/he has already examined the item for consideration off camera, done the appropriate research to get the background, and then the scene is setup where the expert walks in and makes amazing proclamations without ever referencing anything else.

--------------------------------------------------------

Wow Skans, that is quite some assessment of pawn shops. I am not sure what has upset you so much that you question the validity of the business and denigrate those who work in the industry and those who utilize it as you have, but you certainly do have some glaring biases.

It's also my right to rant about WHY I haven't been in a pawn shop in over 15 years to look at or purchase guns.
Click to expand...

These statements just validated my personal rule not to go inside of another pawn shop searching for deals on guns over the past 25 years.
Click to expand...

It would appear you have become so unhinged by this that you have developed a 10 year discrepancy in your memory.

The pawn business was our family business for right at 25 years. I grew up working in our shops. I always find it amusing when folks claim to know the business and how it operates when they haven't actually been in the business themselves.
 
Gentlemen
I work at a gun store part time if you think gun stores are giving you great prices on your used guns and don't mark them up then you are sadly mistaken. The difference between a gun store and a pawn shop on guns are minimal at best. If you want to make money you cannot give full price when you buy it and sell it for less than you have in it. You will not be in business very long that way. Now saying that I don't feel we are robbing people if something really rare comes in the owner usually is called over and gives them a fair price at least where I work he does but if you buy a gun and three months later deicide you don't like it you are not going to get full retail on it. At that point you have a used gun and expect to get about 3/4 of what you paid for it back. It's a lot like buying a new car. What I can't stand is people who will just outright lie to people about what they have. I was at a gun show one time when a little old lady comes in with her deceased husband's WW1 Colt it just about the nicest shape I have ever seen one and the guy at the gun show booth offers her 300 dollars and basically tellers her it's a cheap piece of junk and she not knowing any better was going to take it. I took her aside and told her it was worth at least a 1000 dollars and if I had the money I would buy it from her for that. Of course the dealer gets really mad at me but I don't care as ripping off a veterans window is beyond low life to me and I told him so! I don't know what happened after that but I feel did the right thing.
 
I stand by my comments 100%.

I'm not saying there aren't decent people that own pawn shops, it's just that I have never met one.

These are people that otherwise would be selling you used cars. Does anyone also have objections to stereotyping used-car salesmen?

Of COURSE they are in business to make profits. Yes, I understand the "loan" aspect. That does not change the fact that these are incredibly seedy people, and are nothing more than con men in my opinion. Sure it's legal, and I'm not saying they should be put out of business.

If they want to take advantage of the ignorant people then so be it. But I will call those people out every time I see it. Others have mentioned on here that these people are selling guns ABOVE retail. Everyone on here that doesn't have a vested interest in a pawn shop knows what kind of feeling they get in their stomach when they enter one of these places. Let's stop pretending that these are decent people trying to scrape by. They are predators, preying on ignorant people in need of money. I equate them to payday loan establishments.
 
There's no need to call other members "unhinged," or to damn an entire class of business owners as "predators" because some of them are doing the same thing (taking advantage of people with limited resources) done by banks, drug companies, oil companies, and other bastions of capitalism. It's the nature of the system.

Since we're getting a little snippy here, I'm going to close this before someone says something he'll regret.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top