I stopped watching after a while. The stuff that was brought in just wasn’t as interesting anymore. Imho, to hold my interest, the value would have to keep rising infinitely. After the $30k cannon, it all went downhill.
I think it doesn’t matter if Chumlee is smart or stupid. Viewers connect with him, that’s all that matters.
Now THAT!!! is what is hard to believe.
I never thought that retail clerking in a pawn shop paid that well (even if your dad or granddad owns the shop) . Does everyone who works in a pawn shop in the United States make over $100.000.00? If so…then why take out student loans to go to college? why go to high school?
Did they ever say whether the balloon Corey purchased made any money?
From what I gather, Gold and Silver has always been more of a higher-grade kind of pawn shop. They deal with a lot of antiques and rarer items.
Corey is technically the manager. Rick and the Old Man are co-owners. I doubt regular clerks make anything close to what those three make.
[QUOTE=Susanann]
I never thought that retail clerking in a pawn shop paid that well (even if your dad or granddad owns the shop) . Does everyone who works in a pawn shop in the United States make over $100.000.00? If so…then why take out student loans to go to college? why go to high school?
[/QUOTE]
Malcolm Forbes was once asked the secret of his success and said something to the effect of “I found what I was good at, I worked as hard as I could, I took risks, and then one day my dad died and left me millions of dollars”. Corey’s dad and granddad are still alive but I think his success is otherwise similar- nepotism. I seriously doubt that if they’d hired somebody they’d have given him that big a piece of the action.
That doesn’t seem to compute with the age of the shop. Rick is 45, so if he had graduated, it would have been around 1983. The shop opened in 1988. That said, he certainly could have dropped out to work at some other pawn shop.
Well then maybe I’m just confusing him with Corey.
As to how scripted the show is, I don’t think it’s nearly as bad as one might think. I think it is heavily edited and editing can play real tricks with reality. I also think they occasionally reshoot things that obviously could not have been filmed well on the first go. I’ve never seen anything that I thought was blatantly fictionalized.
I think that the show itself may attract more unusual items. Also, being in Vefas, they probably had a good chunk of people desperate for really big money to begin with. If it were my show, I’d set prices on things in the show really high, then put them up for auction online after it airs. In fact, I’ll bet, when some segments air, the price for similar items goes way up on eBay.
Based on your extensive experience in rock star encounters?
About the time of what I call “The Troubles” (the ones y’all helped me with a couple of years ago?), I had occasion to go to a pawn shop to get a loan on a couple of my guitars and my silver Montagnard (o/w known as a “John Wayne”) bracelet.
Thinking back on the experience (I got everything back , btw), I was embarrassed that this had become necessary, but the guys behind the counter put me at ease and were very interested in what I had to say regarding the history of the bracelet (not THE one presented to Wayne by the "Green Berets’ A-team, but a replica made by a real Montagnard chieftain). So much so that one of them offered to buy it for 50% more than what it was worth ($100.00, bought during better times).
But when I explained its significance, he understood, and told me he appreciated me taking the time to talk about it.
What’s my point? Despite those 3 balls hanging outside their stores, some of those guys do have a heart and even though they may not have finished school, they’re damn knowledgable about what “comes through that door.”
IS it scripted? Probably, but minimally, IMO.
Thanks
Q
Blatantly fictionalized is the Detroit one on [del]Fals[/del]TruTV. Rule of thumb: if it’s on TruTV during Prime Time, it likely isn’t.
Why would you say that? The Tru Tv pawn show seems much more realisitic, much more in the mold of a large everyday pawn shop.
Originally Posted by Guinastasia View Post
Rick also dropped out of high school in order to work full-time at the shop.
…or, he could have flunked a few grades
There were 2 guys in my high school in their 20’s
I like the way some customers ask, ‘Cash money?’
No, I’m going to give you bushels of corn!
I dunno, our state lottery claims on it’s website to pay one some things in “cash”, but they give you a check. Sometimes worth clarifying what they mean.
Rule of thumb: if it’s on TruTV during Prime Time, it likely isn’t. True, that is. 
C.f. “Operation Repo” and “Conspiracy Theory”. It should be called “The Lowest Common Denominator Network” but that won’t make for a neat logo.
I remember that post.
It was an obvious joke. Happy belated WOOOOSH.
I don’t think the show is fiction. I think it’s heavily edited. I think it’s also possible that the producers actually search out people who have rare items they want to sell and solicit them for the show. It could be as simple as souring craigslist or eBay, and contacting the sellers and saying, “Hey, why don’t you bring that on the show? You’ll get an appearance fee, and maybe the boys will buy it from you at a good price.”
Clearly the experts that are brought on the show wouldn’t always be there if there were no cameras. Rick isn’t going to pay for a professional appraiser to drive to his pawn shop to give him an opinion on whether an old gun is worth $50 or $200. The appraisal would eat all his profit. Clearly much of that is done for entertainment value - it’s supposed to be a show about history, so you need historical experts. Either they are paid an appearance fee (it’s a speaking part on TV, so I imagine they’re getting paid scale for that type of appearance), or they’re doing it for free promotion of their own businesses.
Also, notice they don’t discuss the pawn side of things a whole lot. Occasionally it comes up, as when the guy didn’t show up for his Rolex. But I think they stay away from the pawn side of the business because it’s by far the seedier side of the operation, and the people involved are more desperate and it costs them more money. It’s one thing to show a guy getting $500 for an old heirloom, it’s another to see someone charged 120% - 300% APR interest, or to pawn his $5000 wedding ring for $500 and never come back for it.