I have a friend that was the manager of a pawn shop for a number of years. He told me the first question that they are going to ask the person that wants to pawn an item is...what do you need for it? He is wanting the person to say a value that is lower than what he is wanting to pay. He told me that the absolute most that he would loan it 10% of the value. What this means is the if the value of a gun is $500, the most that he would loan is $50 and no more. There was no exceptions to this unless there was some item that he specifically wanted and he may go a little over that, but not by much. This would explain how a "wholesaler" could come in and buy the entire inventory of used guns for a great deal and the wholesaler and pawn dealer are both happy. The pawn dealer could "triple his money" for instance and get thirty or even forty percent of their worth and the "wholesaler" is getting a good deal on them and he could even double his money with ease at the gun show.