Shotguns and pawn shops! Oooh yeeeeaahhh

S

Super-Dave

New member
So the other day I got paid and was cruising town with a fistfull of dollars looking for a good time. I stop by pawn shop looking to see if they had any good deals. In the past I have found some good deals at pawn shops, and since the economy is shot and people are getting desperate I figure there must be some good deals out there.

So I walk into the shop and I notice immediately there are atleast 12 shotguns on the rack. I got excited just thinking about wheeling and dealing.
I ask the clerk, which was just sitting there doing nothing, If he could come show me what he's got. I get closer to the rack and notice about 8 out of the 12 shotguns are so old and rusted that I am not even going to waste my time looking at them.

I see 4 shotguns that have some potential. I ask the guy to hand me the mossberg maverick 28". He hands it to me. It is near mint condition. No scratches, not rust, nice shiny bluing. So I say to him. I'll give you $130.00 cash. He looks at the ticket on the gun and says. " I cant sell it for any less than $229.00" I say "ok, Let me see that remington wingmaster." This wingmaster was about 20 years old and had some major rust spots all over it. I figured I could sand blast it and have it reblued and it would be okay. He hands me the gun and says, "I can cut you a deal on this one and sell it for $400.00." I say no thanks and refuse to even accept it as he was handing it to me. I then see a remington express magnum. It looks to be maybe 5 years old with just a little rust on the reciever and barrel. I point to the remington and ask him "how much is that one?" He grabs the ticket and says, " This one I sell to you for $300.00." I look at him and say "man I can buy a brand new remington express at walmart for $277.00" He just looked at me funny.

So now I am a little frustrated and about to give up. I see one last shotgun. A mossberg 835 in reasonable condition. I ask him how much is that one? He looks at the tag and says "This one is on sale too, I can sell it for $350.00. I looked at him like he was insane and say "You do not sell a lot of guns here do you?" He looks at me and says "we sell guns all the time"

Now can someone explain to me who the hell pays $229.00 for a used mossberg maverick at a pawn shop when you can buy them brand new for $189.00?

Are pawn shop owners and employees that dumb? What the hell are they thinking?
 
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I'm sure they get their fair share of newbies that have done no research and want a gun "cheap", but don't have the information to know what "cheap" is.

Your experience mirrors mine, and I rarely waste time in the houses of ill repute, but I did pick up a steal of a deal once. So I still play the pawn shop lotto every now and then. I normally walk away shaking my head. The smaller dedicated gun shops are usually a better place; but either can work (especially around the time rent is due.)
 
Some pawn shops are like that. You just have to shop around..

I used to hit them all over the Tampa Bay area when I lived down there(13-16 years ago). Some were down right rip-offs, others you couldn't scrounge up enough money to buy up all the good deals. There was a place on 50th St, just south of Martin Luther Blvd(Buffalo Ave) that I bought so many damn guns that I cant even remember them all. $20 pocket pistols on up to $300 hunting rifles. Many many many gun that the snobs and anti's call "junk guns".
 
Yes, unfortunately some clerks are. When pawn shopping, my favorite pasttime, find what you would buy and ask for the owner or the manager. The tag price is usually 300% of what they have in it. A gun that has a $300 price tag, they have $100 or less in it.

Let the manager know that you do a lot of pawn trolling and will buy if the price is reasonable. I have gotten some good deals by dealing only with the manager. I usually offer 1/2 of the tag price and take it home with me. Never ask a clerk for the bottom dollar. The manager won't overrule a clerk so take it straight to the manager.

The problem with pawn shops is that they are now loaded with inventory. Many hunters have pawned their guns to make the bills and their waiting period has expired to redeem them. There are always seasonal shooters that buy and pawn every year. The economy has loaded the pawnbrokers with stock.

If you know what you are doing and ask for the manager before asking a clerk for his bottom dollar, you'll get some real deals. I have been in shops where the gun inventory was older than the kid behind the counter. They had rather see the guns rust away than sell them for a lesser profit. These are few and far as most pawnbroker realize that inventory can't be put in the bank to pay bills.

I use the example of the Browning A5 that a shop had priced at $799. That is a ridiculous price for that gun. I offered $300, settled at $375 and bought it due to it being in mint condition. Most shops have a higher price than they know a knowledgeable buyer won't pay. They know that haggling will take place.

Pawn shops serve a useful function for short term loans but they offer only 1/3 of the price they will sell it for if not redeemed. If the poor guy that wants to pawn a gun sounds or looks desperate, much less because they know he ain't coming back for the gun.

My favorite hobby: Pawn shop trolling. Being retired, I have a lot of fun visiting the shops and seeing the ridiculous prices on the tags; then taking the gun home for a real deal.

Happy shopping!
 
SuperDave,Xavier has a great article on pawnshops and guns at his blog.It is at Xavierthoughts.blogspot.com.That blog is a treasure trove of info.
 
229$ isnt that bad for a mossberg 88, the cheapest ive seen one is 229 at a gun show, most people price them the same as a 500, ive even seen one for 379$ at a local gun store. and the mossberg 835 you can get for i think 319$ at walmart
 
I'm lucky... we have one pawn shop in my area / that really is a gun shop ....he has 500 + handguns in stock all the time ( new and used ) and easily 100 shotguns in stock ( new and used ) / probably 100 rifles at least .

I was there on Sat - and he has about 5 Browning O/U's new - for about 20% under list / a couple of used Perazzi's, 1 used Krieghoff , etc .... all at fair prices if its a gun you want.

He carries some of the tactical stuff that's popular - and he knows what Big 5, WalMart etc have and their prices ....so he takes different stuff in trade / he lets WalMart and others carry the low end junk / he tries to stock different things.

On a slow day - he's selling 100 guns a day still / and taking in on trade, buying, whatever at least 50 more / and ordering new guns all the time to keep his inventory up. If you don't go by there at least once a week - you know you're missing a deal of some type. When I was there on Sat for an hour - he bought half a dozen shotguns, rifles and handguns - and sold at least 6 guns all just while I was standing there.

He has also ordered new Browning shotguns for me / new handguns from Wilson Combat, Sig etc - and I've purchased at least a dozen guns in the last year from him ( and sold 2 ) ...that I didn't like. He has a great family run business there - his brother, wife and dad all work there. Its a great shop / and a pawn shop too. While I was there he loaned a guy and his wife a few hundred bucks on a handgun worth about $ 600...
 
Super-Dave, you're pawnshops sound like the ones in my area. I've been seeing the same thing here. Walmart has Mavericks for $177 and 500 field models for $207 while the pawn shop has used Mavericks for $209 and 500's for $229. Of course these are the same shops that have $20 boxes of ammo for $42/box :rolleyes:
 
Explain to me if someone pawned a shotgun and the shop only gave him $80.00 for it and 3 months latter a customer walks in and offers the shop $160.00 for the exact same gun, why won't they sell it at that price?

Thats 100% profit. Why would anyone turn that down?

I know pawn shops need to make a profit but if I am offering a shop 100% profit on a gun. Why are they not interested?

Based on my life experiences, when people pawn things the most they usually get is 25%-30% of the cost of the items brand new retail price.

So for example you can buy a remington 870 express at gander mountain for $299.00 This is the normal price not sale price. Billy Bob goes to pawn his 6 month old remington express in good condition, the most the shop will offer hims is $75.00 to $100.00. He pawns it and does not reclaim it.

2 months later I walk in and offer the shop $180.00 - $200.00 for this gun. And they turn me down. They will accept no less than $230.00. I even explain to them I could buy a brand new at walmart for the everyday price of $277.00. They still don't care. I walk out and go to walmart and buy a new one for $277.00

What is wrong with my logic here? Why do they refuse to sell?
 
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It's a hit-or-miss proposition...

Same way, 'round here. Our only "Gun shop" is one of the pawnbrokers around town. As a result, his used guns are ludicrously priced. I've bought one pistol from him, a Mk. III 22/45, because I needed it NOW and nobody else had ANYTHING comparable. I got raped on the price, but I had little choice. Oh, well...

However, I've recently gotten in fairly well with another pawnshop, right up the street from me. Back around the turn of the year, I sold off a number of pistols and got an AR. I still a little change left over after and was wanting another shotgun for around the house, so I swung in. I did all of my FFL transfers there ($20 a pop! WH00T!!!) so they were real familiar with my face. I was looking for a pump, but they had a Winchester 1400 that someone had "bubba'd". The barrel had been cut down to 20" with a pipe cutter (surprisingly clean and straight, though! :rolleyes:). I thought, "Heh...never had a semi. What the heck, askin's cheap..." and called the guy over. It was marked at $249, but the fella told me, "I'd probably let it go a little cheaper as a parts gun, since a guy was in yesterday looking at it and told me it was broken. The bolt won't hold up or cycle or something." I tried it, and sure enough, the bolt wouldn't cycle all the way. Still, I like to tinker, so I offered $100, out the door. The guy thought about it for a minute, and five minutes later I was on the way home with my new toy!

Got home, stripped it, cleaned it (OH. MY. GOD! :eek:) and took a look. There's a spring that fits into a socket at the back of the receiver that had been put back in wrong (wasn't in the socket) that was keeping the bolt from travelling as it should. I put that back in place, put it back together and VOILA!! Working shotty. I was worried that it might not cycle properly, since the barrel had gotten cut down so much (I think stock for a 1400 is about 28"), so I took it out to the range and put everything from dove loads through 2-3/4" slugs through with no FTF or FTE. BOO-YA!!! That's the first decent score I've made on a gun in, well...pretty much EVER. Maybe my luck is turning?

















Nah, probably not. :p
 
So for example you can buy a remington 870 express at gander mountain for $299.00 This is the normal price not sale price. Billy Bob goes to pawn his 6 month old remington express in good condition, the most the shop will offer hims is $75.00 to $100.00. He pawns it and does not reclaim it.

2 months later I walk in and offer the shop $180.00 - $200.00 for this gun. And they turn me down. They will accept no less than $230.00. I even explain to them I could buy a brand new at walmart for the everyday price of $277.00. They still don't care. I walk out and go to walmart and buy a new one for $277.00
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They know a sucker will come in and pay $230-$250 for it because they saw a new one for $277 at Walmart and think it's a deal. The gun is probably worth that and even though they could sell it for $180 and double their margin, they know they can sell it for even more and likely triple their margin.

And, I perfectly understand that they would want to sell it for what it's worth. What I don't get is when they have a used gun that can be bought new for $207 priced at $229+.
 
229$ isnt that bad for a mossberg 88, the cheapest ive seen one is 229 at a gun show, most people price them the same as a 500, ive even seen one for 379$ at a local gun store. and the mossberg 835 you can get for i think 319$ at walmart
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You need to change Walmarts. The ones here sell the Maverick for $189 and the Mossberg 500 for around $220.
 
I understand them wanting to tripple their profit, but look how long it will stay on the shelf.

At a normal gun store here in my city a gun or pistol might be on the shelf at the most for 2-3 weeks if that. Any longer and they sell it below cost.(this almost never happens anyway)

I gurantee you I could go back in October to this same pawn shop and see the same shotguns on the shelf.

If your turning over products and making a 100% profit on them every few weeks this is much better than sitting on a product for 6 months to a year and then finally getting a 200% profit.

I guess I just do not understand the mentality of a pawn shop.
 
A few years ago could get great deals from Pawn shops but not any more. I'm just about ready to give up on the Pawn shop road trips. Went to a pawn shop I always have bought from. Wanted a Beretta 92FS they had one in the case $629 and the bluing was about 70% if that. Left and went to a gun store BN $579 they are totally crazy with prices.In the long run they are just going to hurt themselves:(
 
Yeah i had a similar experience this weekend at a flea market, i saw a rust covered H&R 12 ga single shot, with a cracked stock, I was curiouse and asked how much. He replied by looking me up and down and said " ahh geez I'd let that go for $150.00" I said really? good luck today and walked away.

later i passed by his stand again and there were 3 heavy set farm boys laughing at him and saying "we could get a new one for $100 at the walmarts" to which he replied " yeah i guess I better go you "your" walmart"

some people :barf:
 
There are 2 pawnshops I frequent within a block of each other. The first I check because they occasionally they get some unique stuff, but they're way overpriced on everything.

Me: how much for that gun case:
Them: $120
Me: Uh, I can get a brand new one, shipped for $75, how about $60.
Them: Sorry, can't go below $90.
Me: (thinking) WTF?

They had a well-used Mossberg 500 in there today and they're asking $300.

The other shop doesn't turn their stock over much, but...I bought a genuine flaming bomb Ithaca M37 for the outrageous price of $159(and I got them to throw in a case). I was in there today and they have a real nice wingmaster 870 for $150. Probably be going back tomorrow to get it.
 
I wish I had read this thread a year ago. I had been looking for a 20 ga. Marlin Model 90 O/U with 26" barrels choked IC/Mod for quite some time. There were not many 20 ga. Model 90's made with 26" barrels. When one would occcasionally show up on Gunbroker or the other auction sites, sellers were asking $500-$800.

I found one at a pawn shop in FL. They wanted $395 which I thought was not a bad price. I asked them to send pictures and after talking to the shop owner I offered $350 including shipping and he accepted. It was the first and only time I have bought a gun from a pawn shop. While I was more than happy with my purchase at the time, based on what I've learned from everyone's posts, I probably could have gotten the gun for a whole lot less than what I paid.
 
If they were selling that high on gunbroker I am sure you got a good deal.

I look at the past sales in the last 90 days or so. If they are selling at that price then most of the time it is a fair price.

If it is just listed for $800 and there is no previous sales in that price range I would ignore this price.
 
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