There are often times when I wonder why the customer trusts those experts. (A random dude who has an ongoing relationship with me and is paid by my producers just said your item is worth $2,000. Do you trust the source? Would you care to get a second opinion? Didn’t think so).
But there was one time when I wondered why the Pawn Shop trusted the expert. It was when the guy brought in a gold coin, a double eagle, I believe. It was in awesome condition…but just how awesome?
The expert rated it, IIRC, at an MS-63 and worth around $60,000. So it was bought at around $33,000.
Here’s the thing. When you get up to a rating of MS-60 through MS-66 (or larger), each rating point upward can often make the coin worth one order more than the rating below it. Likewise, the same is true as you move down the scale. It’s why you often see what’s called “cracking” in the coin world. You buy a coin graded at one grade that you truly believe should be graded higher, open the coin up from its sealed case and submit it to be regraded. If it comes in higher…jackpot.
All that’s a long winded way of saying that the grading is key. Getting it OFFICIALLY graded is the only way to go because nobody with the money and the interest to spend 60K on a coin is going to accept “random expert X said it was an MS-63 so that’s what I’m pricing it at.”
And Rick, being in the business for almost three decades, has to know that. Besides which, if they submit the coin for grading and it comes back as MS-62 or lower, they’re just fucked.
One time a woman brought in what she thought was some good quality costume jewelry she inherited from her grandmother and wanted $2000 for it. Rick- supposedly- recognized it immediately as Faberge and offered her $15,000 (whereupon she promptly asked for $17,000).
This seemed staged for several reasons. In the first place I’m sure there’s a lot of Faberge knockoffs out there, some probably even with the name or trademark of Faberge (to a good forger it’s probably not that difficult to replicate). In the second, just because it’s Faberge doesn’t mean it’s automatically that valuable- has it ever been repaired for instance, and then what’s the history of this particular piece (if it was originally custom made for somebody rich or royal it’s probably more valuable than if it was made for resale in a shop), and I seriously doubt Rick is a walking Faberge Encyclopedia, Authentication and Price Guide. That had “aw’ight, wait a minute” written all over it, plus if it was real he’d probably have given her $2,000 and she’d have been happy/he’d have been happy and he could sell it at auction and she’d have no recourse since it was entered into voluntarily and at agreed upon terms.
I’m confident no such establishment exists in Las Vegas.
OTTOMAN & WALLACHIAN ANTIQUES, GYROS HUT AND WEDDING CHAPEL, though, are on every streetcorner. I think it’s a franchise thing.
IIRC, the piece was made of platinum and studded with precious gems. So whether or not it was Fabergé it had a good deal of intrinsic value.
And having seen a lot of episodes, it seems to me that Rick, the Old Man and Corey seem to be basically decent guys. Shrewd, yes. Hard bargainers, yes. But I haven’t seen anything that would make me think they’d try to cheat anyone.
Besides, a business like theirs demands a reputation. If you fleece one guy, yeah, you make a quick profit. But ruin your reputation by taking advantage of a rube, well, it will be a lot harder in the future.
Yep. And they also show people getting pissy, or refusing to believe that their obviously fake crap isn’t worth jack shit. I liked the guy who brought in his supposedly rare Erte “Pegasus” statue. When Rick pointed out that it had “Made in the U.S.A.” stamped on the bottom, the guy FREAKED and started screaming and swearing. Or the douchebag Pez collector: “This is an insult to the Pez community.” (That was my favorite)
People don’t seem to get that just because something’s old and/or rare, that doesn’t mean it’s worth anything. And as far as the Pawn Stars trying to “cheat” anyone, they’re not forced to accept their offers – the sellers are certainly free to try elsewhere.
I think part of the reason why Chumlee also comes off as stupid is because of his lisp. But another thing to notice about him is that when they’re testing weapons, like guns and bows, he’s usually the best shot. TEAM CHUMLEE!
(And I don’t care what Rolling Stone said, the Dylan stunt was so obviously fake)
I am shocked… SHOCKED that so many Dopers watch this abomination.
The dumbing down of America continues.
I see the History Channel going the way of MTV. Reality shows are much more profitable than a six-part series of Hitler (or ANY history topic). Let’s face it. Unless you love History, the channel is not going to attract the average viewer. Put some reality crap on there, like** Ice Road Truckers,** Pawn Stars, Ax Men, and coming this February, “Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy”, and you’ll start to suck in a different audience.
“Git 'er done!”
Low brow entertainment can be fun. I’ve been to the shop once, got me a Chumlee refrigerator magnet, even got to shake his hand. Apparently the merch that moves the most is the old man, followed closely by Chumlee.
Here’s an interesting and fairly in-depth article on the show and the people. Per that article:
-Rick initially pitched the show and made a pilot for HBO
-History Channel wanted the show dumbed down a lot more than it is- they wanted something darker and seedier
-Rick says his wife and 6 year old will never be on the show (his wife by choice and the kid because his parents think it best)
-Rick and Hoss are both high school dropouts (not hard to believe with Hoss, but if Rick said he had an MBA you wouldn’t be surprised)
-Rick, Hoss, and the Old Man each had 6 figure incomes before the series began
-The place received the first pawn shop license granted in decades in 1988
-Chumlee has been essentially a part of the family since he was 12
-They’re all smokers but don’t smoke on the show (the back yard is filled with cigarette butts)
Just a quick note that, back when I was in the pawn industry, our very non-celebrity shop would regularly pay closer to an object’s “Sell” value if it were something unusual and likely to attract attention. Our theory (and it worked) was that giving a little higher money out on unusual/interesting items would bring people in just for the “what weird stuff do you have today” factor, and said people would then stay and spend money on stuff that we had a lot less in to (CD’s, for example, were ridiculous - we sold them for $2 each, and had about 75 cents invested in them).
We applied the same theory to highly sought items - premium diamonds, rare guns in perfect shape, brand new technology…we gave a lot higher for these items, because we knew that we could both move them quickly and sell them for a greater margin than we could normal items.
That was a beautiful moment. It was also a perfect illustration of their business model. Hoss said that regardless of what you might be able to get individually for them, the point was that putting them up on eBay would put them in competition with a bunch of people who exclusively deal in Pez dispensers. In order for it to be worth it too him, he would have to get the stuff really cheap.
There was also something weird about the seller. He was acting as if he was trying to pull something over on the guys. There was something off about the way he said he was selling his “doubles.” And if he really thought he could sell them individually for a total of $5,000, why didn’t he just do that? He can’t imagine that he’s going to get anything near that from someone who doesn’t specialize in Pez dispensers.
And I loved the way Chumlee was teasing him. It was really mild teasing: “Isn’t this something for kids?” But the guy was really taking it personally.
I’ve mentioned before but will again that the guy who irked me the most was the one who sold an heirloom spoon that had been in his family for 200 years and was made by Paul Revere for $9,000 that he was going to use to pay for part of his daughter’s wedding. I was almost yelling at the screen “HAVE A CHEAPER WEDDING AND GIVE HER THE DAMNED SPOON!” You don’t let something like that pass out of the family unless it’s for a major medical bill or to bribe a border guard to let you out of the country or something. If I sold that and then my daughter wound up getting divorced in two years I think an honor killing would cross my mind (I wouldn’t do it, but it’d cross my mind) and even if I did decide to sell it I wouldn’t sell it to a pawn shop- you’ll get way more at an auction, or from an “accidental fire” if you insure it.
Things like this make me wonder if the subtext is "and by ‘I need it for my daughter’s wedding’ I mean ‘I need it to put a bet on Luck Be a Lady in the fourth’.
There have been at least two times when the seller said, in essence, they would try other means and would return if nobody could match Rick’s offer. The most recent was this week.
I love that they make Chumlee shoot all of the old/antique firearms first. Like the episode with the key gun. They all know that the weapons are as likely to blow up in their hands like an M80, as they are to fire.
I think he plays up to the camera as more of a numbskull than he is. But it takes a truly special brand of idiot to agree to shoot some of the weapons that he has.
And very rarely, they show this gianormous bouncer dude. Guy is so big, a football coach could use him to play nose tackle, and he could singlehandedly prevent runs between the tackles…because his ass takes up all available space. A runner would have to go outside just to get around this man. Think he was starting to move towards the fake statute guy, and Rick waived him off.
I, for one, very much wish never to create a disturbance at that pawn shop. Especially not when this guy is working security…
Actually, I remember an episode where someone was selling a championship ring (don’t recall what sport/game). He said Rick’s offer was too low and would sell it himself because “a lot of people will want this”. He was back at the end of the episode selling the ring to Rick.
I read that Chumlee was also supporting his father at the time, and having to work two jobs. He died of cancer right before the debuted. Rick also dropped out of high school in order to work full-time at the shop. Same with Corey. Considering the amount of money they’re making, it’s not exactly hurting them.
I liked when they lied to the Old Man and told him they sold one of his old cars, and secretly had it restored for his 50th wedding anniversary.
And yeah, the spoon episode pissed me off too.