Would you ever buy a firearm from a pawn shop?

Would you ever buy a firearm from a pawn shop?
Here is something you need to know about how a pawn shop deals:
They get in a lot of JUNK they will never be able to sell so, they
stuff they must sell or try/do sell at NEW RETAIL PRICE.
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Any pawn shop getting in a lot of junk won't remain in business, so your premise misses the mark.

Varies with the area and the local economy, maybe, but I figure that a pawn shop has about 50% of the asking price actually invested.

I'm quite happy to start dickering at 40%. When it comes to money and buying, I have no shame
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The amount a given shop has in an item can vary considerable. For some shops, your estimate may be about right in regard to direct costs. Of course, the direct cost only reflects what was paid for the item and not all of the overhead associated with it, but you have the right attitude for making the deal happen.

In our family stores, our firearm direct costs were close to 70-75% on average. We tended to loan high on guns because the interest from the loans was really where the profit was for us when dealing with guns. What few that came out for sale tended to have a much higher direct cost than most other items in the shop.

Why are marked prices so high in many pawn shops?
Simple. The customer finds an item he wants. In this case, a firearm. Generally speaking, the opening offer to negotiate by the customer isn't an offer to start negotiations. It is a query. That query is usually along the lines of, "What's the least you will take for it?" The broker provides a price and then the customer will then give an offer that is some fraction of the least price the broker said he would take. So this opening query by the customer is a means to start negotiations not from the asking price, but from the least price the broker said he would take. It is a stupid game and generally speaking, people who start off negotiations by asking what the least the broker will take for an item generally never get the best deal possible.

Do your homework. The best prepared negotiator almost always wins. I was a negotiator for 30 years, so trust me on that.
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Doing your homework is a very good idea indeed. Also, bring cash. Lots of customers negotiate a deal and leave, ostensibly, to get their money and don't come back. When you reach a point where you don't think the negotiations will go any further, making your last offer with cash can sometimes get you a a better deal. Money really does talk. You are also more likely to get a better deal a the end of a day, end of a week, or end of a month as these are the last chances to make quotas.

Unfortunately, the best negotiator doesn't always win. You can be the best negotiator in the world, but if your highest offer isn't high enough to reach what the broker needs from that item, he won't sell it to you. You won't win. Of course, neither does the broker. Making a sale is a win for the broker. Winning a deal isn't so much black and white as it is gray. Any decent negotiator can get something off the price in many cases. So the question isn't if you can get something off the price, but how much off.
 
I have bought one gun from a pawnshop. It was back when I was new to guns and I THOUGHT I was getting a good deal on a rifle that I bought as a gift for my brother. Looking back at it now I totally regret it and realize I got taken.

Now, all the guns I see in pawnshops are beat up ones that they are asking MSRP for. If I wanted to pay MSRP I would buy new.

I guess the biggest thing is to do your homework before buying.
 
I've seen a lot of high prices in the pawn shops around here for sometime now,as others have said you see a lot of new gun prices on used guns and some really beat up...Years ago a person could go into a pawn shop and find a good deal on a nice firearm(rifle) when hunting season was over or in the spring when demand for a hunting rifle was low to non existent.
I picked up my favorite hunting rifle in the early 90's when I purchased it from a pawn shop didn't have a scratch or dent in the wood and the bluing didn't have a scratch,it also had a Leupold VXII 4-12x40 and I don't think it had a box of shells shot through it? I bought that rifle for not much more than the cost of the scope,so yes you can get some good deals,but timing along with some good horse trading skills are required :)
 
Best deal I ever got was at a hole-in-the-wall pawn shop. Got a lightly used Seecamp LWS32 for $225 OTD....should've keep that one.
 
All the time.

You can get a bargain if you know what you're doing.

More likely, you can just discover something there that can be hard to find when you're looking for it.

For example, I recently bought a Winchester 62a from a local pawnbroker and I'd been looking out for one for a long time.

W
 
Sure would, as had already been stated, just as long as you get a chance for a good inspection.........and, price can be an issue. Coogs.
 
DNS, I'm only talking about used guns. :) I sometimes go in and browse around, trying to maybe eavesdrop on somebody putting a firearm into pawn. That gives me an idea of the investment cost, and I already have a feel for "regular" store or online pricing for new firearms.

If I see a guy walk into a pawnshop with a firearm, I'll go in and look at tools or electonics items--and listen. :)
 
And that, Art, puts you ahead of a lot of folks.

Each store is unique, even when they are part of a chain, because each deals with its own unique segment of the population. We found we could get better prices for our hunting firearms at our McKinney, Texas store as opposed to our Dallas or Lewisville stores. We also had a lot more demand in McKinney than the other stores for hunting firearms. We also loaned higher on the exact same guns in McKinney than we would in our other stores. The value of the firearm may not change, but the ability to sell it and the price commanded does in fact change by location.
 
I would (and I have). As long as you know what you're looking at and whether or not it's a good price. It's no different than buying used from anyone else.
 
One thing I learned from some thirty years of having a gunshow table is that a good-used gun is commonly as good a shooter as NIB. I took many a trade-in and messed with it. Never had a problem.

Helps to know what you're looking for in the way of flaws, of course...
 
It helps if you trust the owner,,,

Yes, I have bought many used handguns (revolvers mostly) from the Evil Pawn Shop.

A lot of that has to do with the trust I have in the owner.

I have confidence in my ability to check out a used revolver before I buy it,,,
I don't really have that same confidence about semi-auto pistols.

So, when a lovely Beretta 85BB Cheetah hit his shelves,,,
I was leery as all get out to purchase it.

I expressed my misgivings to the Evil Pawn Shop Guy,,,
He said he couldn't let me take the gun to the range to test it's function,,,
But if I bought it and it turned out to be a lemon he would buy it back at the full price.

I haunt several pawn shops for used treasures,,,
I've always asked their return policy before I spent money there.

Some said they had a "No Return" policy,,,
Those shops I would be very careful buying from if at all.

Aarond

.
 
I have purchased many over the years from pawn shops with no issues and would do so again.

Sometimes you find rather unique custom guns a pawn shops. My 22-250 is an example. Someone had decided to mate a 22-250 barrel with a extremely robust Mauser action. I have had so much fun reloading a lot of "red" ammo for it and did so safely that I would have never attempted with a typical off the shelf rifle.

Pawn shops are always worth a look. :D
 
never knowingly...I did buy a springfield 1903 at a gunshow last month and only after getting the reciept did I find out that the vendor was a pawn shop. I'm not complaining too much though, it's a low serial number, nice stock, great bore and can handle those nice heavy black tip loads I have stock piled. I'm starting to come around to the idea of buying from pawnshops but only as long as you do a thorough inspection. if the guy wont even let you rack the slide and dry fire there might be a problem.
 
tahunua001 said:
never knowingly...I did buy a springfield 1903 at a gunshow last month and only after getting the reciept did I find out that the vendor was a pawn shop. I'm not complaining too much though, it's a low serial number, nice stock, great bore and can handle those nice heavy black tip loads I have stock piled. I'm starting to come around to the idea of buying from pawnshops but only as long as you do a thorough inspection. if the guy wont even let you rack the slide and dry fire there might be a problem.
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That's what i did with my p95. he let me look at it and when i pulled the slide back it looked like a black hole. he went from $275 to $250 to $225 otd on his own because the gun was so dirty.
 
my 1903 is one of the danger receivers but it has obviously seen use and it has withstood the heaviest loads I would ever put in it so I am more than happy using it to have fun with and at the most, load up some light loads for deer. I'm not worried about the heat treatment on mine.
 
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