Reading another thread of this board made me think about buying merchandise from a pawn shop. This is something I’d probably never do. I would feel like I was preying on the misfortunes of others.
The thought of the down-on-their-luck person coming back in to claim their watch (TV, gun, etc.) only to find it sold would make me feel guilty. I do understand that the person who hocks their possessions does so (usually) of their own free will, and (usually) has several months to claim it before it’s sold. But the fact that someone is usually in a desparate situation if they have to hock a possession puts some sort of stigma on it, especially for personal items like jewelry,etc.
Actually, when you pawn something it’s not automatically put up for sale. The owner has a certain amount of time to repay the pawnbroker and redeem the item before it can be sold. It’s all on a contrat that they both sign.
But, even so, I would NEVER buy from 95% of all pawnshops. You pay a lot of money sometimes for things that really don’t retain much of their value (Guns are the exception. They cost the same wherever you go.). Why pay $75 for a used stereo when you could buy the same thing brand new for $100?
This scenario applies to most things bought and sold at pawnshops. The markup is huge. I’ve sold things I didn’t need anymore for $30-$40 and later saw it marked up to $150. Sheesh.
Ooh, yeah! I got some great scampi once, and the shrimp cocktail was delightful. The popcorn shrimp was delicious, but I stayed away from the peel-and-eat. I just love prawn sho…what?
The first thought that occurs to me is that if no one wanted to purchase anything from pawnshops, pawnbrokers would cease to operate and that would be one source of ready cash that would become unavailable to those in need.
In younger years I did sell things to pawnshops occasionally, and I was glad they were there to do business. Much easier than a garage sale.
I did a presentence recomondation for a guy once. In his case, he entered a pawn shop in one city and pawned items clearly marked as belonging to a University in another city 100 miles away. They ‘bought’ it from him, giving him some small amount of money for it. The guy was caught pretty quickly, he told the police he’d sold the stuff to XYZ pawn shop, the cops called were told ‘yes the stuff is here’, but somehow or 'nother the items were sold :eek: before the police had a chance to pick them up.
Like the items were overpriced and broke quickly, the pawn brokers had poor customer relation skills, or the items were “cursed” and brought misfortune upon all those who touched it…
I buy each of my neices a small birthstone or diamond chip ring on their 13th birthday. Each time the purchase has been made from a pawnshop. I take the little ring to a jeweler and have it cleaned and a ring box and for less than I’d spend on a pair of brand name sneaker, I’ve given them a keepsake they adore.
I’d have to say that the majority of musicians have some experience with pawn shops. I got my first guitar and amp at one, for instance.
But I can top it all…
Lady Chance and I got our wedding rings at a pawn shop.
Try that on for size. Nothing makes you more sober about the committment you’re making than realizing that every pawn shop you visit has literally thousands of wedding bands for sale.
Well, my reptilian friend, I worked in a pawn shop for five years and would like to address your points:
True, when an item is pawned, it is kept as colateral for 30+ days (depending on the state regulations - here in GA it’s only 30 days, but the shop I worked in guaranteed 90 days in writing) unless the pawnee paid the service charge
** (this where the pawnbroker makes the majority of his money).**
You don’t have to pay for anything you don’t want.
Commonly pawned items - TV’s, VCR’s, stereos, etc, garner little money because of now-cheaper retail prices. eg - a new 4-head stereo VCR goes for $59-99 now, but when I worked in a pawn shop, they ran as high as $299.
Prices in a pawn shop are almost always negotiable. Haggling has been a part of pawn shopping for as long as they’ve been in business. If a pawnbroker doesn’t want to budge on a price, leave.
Sometimes, the higher end shops WILL sell new stuff like guns and jewelry.
Every piece of jewelry I’ve bought for my wife has come from pawn shops. She knows it and it doesn’t matter. Just on her engagement ring alone, I saved about $1500. Also, pawn shops with tend to have a wider range of styles than you’ll find in a jewelry store (which tends to have only the latest styles). Jewelry stores have been known to mark up merchandise as much as 800% where pawn shops (at least mine) only 100-200%.
You are taking a risk buying electronics, but when you pay from 25-50% of retail on a USED item, you takes your chances. Most pawn shops will let you try out the item on the premises. I’ve been through a half dozen used VCR’s that cost me $25-50 each. If they last 6 months, I’ve gotten my money’s worth (compared to, say, renting a new one).
Items to look for:
CD’s (an odd trend: every shop seems to have the same unsold titles and EVERY shop I’ve ever been in has "The Doors Greatest Hits cd)
DVD’s (which didn’t exist when I worked there)
videos (a tough call, since it’s unlikely they’ll let you watch the whole thing)
Albums (harder to find, and harder still to find in good condition)
video games (especially cheap for defunct systems - how about $5 for NES/SNES titles?)
tools (many times they can be cheaper than renting and some shops will buy the item back; also, why pay full price for, say, a drill that you’ll use 2-3 times?)
musical instruments (ever rent or buy an instrument for your kid only to have them give up on it after a month or two? you’ll probably need to get pads and/or reeds, still cheaper in the long run; again, some shops will buy them back for 25-50% of what you paid)
Granted, there some shops run by slimeballs, but they don’t last long because of the police paperwork required. Believe me, selling guns was a big pain in the ass.
Although I haven’t patronized any pawn shops lately (I haven’t really needed anything, I guess), I have had no qualms about doing so in the past. I got a really great pair of cowboy boots at a pawn shop in Burlington, Vermont, in 1991, and I still have them (never wear them anymore–they were generally my going-out-to-bars-boots when I was a youngun, but I can’t bear to throw them out). Another time, I found a perfectly nice leather jacket while hiking, sold it at the same pawn shop, and made enough for a nice dinner out with friends. So it’s not just for those “down on their luck” to pawn their items. What use did I have for a wrongly-sized leather jacket whose real owner I could never possibly find? I love pawn shops, second-hand shops, and consignment shops. Much of my furniture is from consignment shops, in fact.
I may buy jewelry at a pawnshop but the pawnshops around here are nearly worthless. Tools are often defective or third-rate and technology of electronic merchandise
is outdated.
I would not buy stuff from a pawn shop – but there’s a long story behind that.
Mr. Winkie managed a pawn shop for about a year and a half. In Indiana (or at least in the pawn shop he managed) items are pawned for a period of 4 months. If you do not come and pay back the loan plus interest (24% per month), or pay the interest to extend the loan, after 4 months whatever you pawned becomes the property of the pawn shop. The policy of his shop was to pay no more than 1/3 what they expected to sell an item for – for instance, $10 for a pair of earrings that they would sell for $30. If that wasn’t bad enough, his bonuses were based on the profit of the store. That means the harder he screwed people, the more money he made.
A copy of each transaction was sent to the local police. If you wanted to pawn something, you had to provide identification and a finger print.
His time at the pawn shop added nicely to my jewelry collection, and we bought a lot of CDs and videos really cheap. His power tool collection also greatly benefitted. Unfortunately, my husband also started to become the same sort of slimy rat bastard* as the people who owned the business – willing to screw whoever he could in whatever way he could make the most money. Thank goodness he got tired enough of the business to get out.
*I must, in all fairness, point out that not all pawn shops are own by slimy rat bastards. You can find some great deals at a pawn shop, as long as you do some research and know the value of what you are looking for. It’s just that our particular experience has soured me forever.
