PAWN STARS!

Elzar

anyone watch this show? i just started watching it, pretty cool! I guess people are really hard up for cash, they all end up selling their stuff for way less than what its worth, and less than they can even get on ebay. Some doofus just sold his GENUINE '65 Shelby Cobra for $30,000 - granted it was just a shell, but its got to be worth 3 -4 times as much easily

Given to...

Just tuned it in over the weekend and am unfortunately hooked.

Chummly. Funny.

I guess they do fairly well in the business judging by thier waist line or no neckage.

DeLukin

I watched a few episodes. The level of scumballery displayed made me feel dirty afterwards...

youngster

Love this show. Started watching over the summer and it's very addicting. The old man is very funny. Just sits in the back and counts his money, chiming in on certain things.

81

it's ok.

the thing i've learned is never be the first to give a $ amouont on something you are selling. actually, that's always been the rule. same when buying. always make the other person give the number first.

Elzar

81 wrote:

it's ok.

the thing i've learned is never be the first to give a $ amouont on something you are selling. actually, that's always been the rule. same when buying. always make the other person give the number first.

lol so true - on the show, the shop guys always make them give an amount they want, then they offer them a fraction of what its worth/what they will sell it for - i suppose these people dont have to sell if they dont like the price, but most give in, i've only seen a few on the show that walked away. These guys are the masters of flipping!

BTW - i think vegas is the only place where the Pawn shops are nicer than anywhere else in the world! When i think "pawn shop", it makes me think of a smelly, dingy store full of stolen junk.

CJMST3K

I love it. Sometimes they are wrong when talking about framed items, but they are surprisingly knowledgeable.

drtyfrnk29

:thumbdown: :thumbdown: :thumbdown:

Nothing worse that taking advantage of people for profit. I understand people that barter with pawn shops walk in on their power and choose to do business with them, but, I can't get over how they get treated.

It's not the people that stroll in with an old vase, one which has been collecting dust in an attic, and want to sell it. It's the people that have desperate situations that only a few hundred dollars can resolve and go in expecting to be treated fairly. That is when I really despise the pawn industry. If not for desperation, the pawn game would be on it's heels. As evil as people say eBay is, I hope that people can take advantage of avoiding a pawn broker by using the web to sell their things.

81

i have no problem with pawn shops. at the end of the day, it takes two peopel to make a deal. if you think it's worth more, then walk out and look for a new buyer. put it on ebay.

of course the pawn shop can't give you full value. they have a family to feed and bills to pay as well.

CJMST3K

81 wrote:

i have no problem with pawn shops. at the end of the day, it takes two peopel to make a deal. if you think it's worth more, then walk out and look for a new buyer. put it on ebay.

of course the pawn shop can't give you full value. they have a family to feed and bills to pay as well.

+1

drtyfrnk29 wrote:

:thumbdown: :thumbdown: :thumbdown:

Nothing worse that taking advantage of people for profit. I understand people that barter with pawn shops walk in on their power and choose to do business with them, but, I can't get over how they get treated.

so... pawn shops should close up, and give these people less options then?

drtyfrnk29

CJMST3K wrote:

drtyfrnk29 wrote:

:thumbdown: :thumbdown: :thumbdown:

Nothing worse that taking advantage of people for profit. I understand people that barter with pawn shops walk in on their power and choose to do business with them, but, I can't get over how they get treated.

so... pawn shops should close up, and give these people less options then?

I didn't say I had a solution for people that need money. I just don't like that if you're already bent over a barrel some pawn broker is going to take advantage of your broken spirit but offering you 30% of what your item is worth. If walk in with a hundred dollar bill the pawn shop is going to offer me 20 bucks for it and resell it at 200. That's not a profit margin to honorably feed your family. That's shady business.

I really feel for the people that NEED the money in a hurry. I just wish they had a better option than pawn brokers. Don't get me started on pay day advance stores.

81

drtyfrnk29 wrote:

:Don't get me started on pay day advance stores.

i think we can all agree on this. sadly traditional banks are starting to get in on the action.

Elzar

drtyfrnk29 wrote:

CJMST3K wrote:

drtyfrnk29 wrote:

:thumbdown: :thumbdown: :thumbdown:

Nothing worse that taking advantage of people for profit. I understand people that barter with pawn shops walk in on their power and choose to do business with them, but, I can't get over how they get treated.

so... pawn shops should close up, and give these people less options then?

I didn't say I had a solution for people that need money. I just don't like that if you're already bent over a barrel some pawn broker is going to take advantage of your broken spirit but offering you 30% of what your item is worth. If walk in with a hundred dollar bill the pawn shop is going to offer me 20 bucks for it and resell it at 200. That's not a profit margin to honorably feed your family. That's shady business.

I really feel for the people that NEED the money in a hurry. I just wish they had a better option than pawn brokers. Don't get me started on pay day advance stores.

in the end, its ultimately up to the seller if they wish to accept the offer. People walk in with their goods, they know they are gonna get reamed, but most dont care for grandpas old crap that was sitting in the closet for decades - as shady as their business is, it is a needed service - for countless people who have no other way to score some quick ca$h.

besides, if these people never sold their stuff, people like me wouldnt get a chance to own something like an OG Andy Warhol sketch for $25 , the pawn dude didnt know what it was, and i wasnt about to tell him - on the other hand, i got severely reamed when i was 15 - i took my 1933 Goudey Babe Ruth to the Pawn shop (at the time worth $1500-$3000) and the guy gave me $100 for it, i didnt care much, i just wanted to go to the Sizzler's with my buddy - last i checked, that card fetches over $35,000

CJMST3K

drtyfrnk29 wrote:

CJMST3K wrote:

so... pawn shops should close up, and give these people less options then?

I didn't say I had a solution for people that need money. I just don't like that if you're already bent over a barrel some pawn broker is going to take advantage of your broken spirit but offering you 30% of what your item is worth.

...of what your item is worth to WHO? The item is worth MUCH less to a Pawn shop than it is to a collector of the item.

No one has to bring anything to a Pawn shop, ever. They choose to, so no one is over a barrel by a Pawn shop.

My art gallery is in a somewhat similar position at times. There's a particular artist we sell limited edition prints of. Their value is around $100, and when they are sold out they can accrue in value, and the publisher publishes a list of values showing "Issue Price" (E.g. $100) and the "Current High" (E.g. $500) which shows the highest a collector has ever paid for a print.

We have people asking us to buy their sold-out prints. I really don't want to since the sold out prints are slow to sell, but at a certain price, we'll consider it. If someone has a print that has a "Current High" of $500, I might show interest at $120 for the print to buy it outright from them. There's nothing saying that I will be able to sell it, and if I do sell it, there's nothing saying I'll be able to sell it for the "Current High".

If people consider that to be taking advantage, then I suppose my offer should be $0 ? That would properly protect my money, and I would not be paying them a cent under value. Correct?

drtyfrnk29

CJMST3K wrote:

...of what your item is worth to WHO? The item is worth MUCH less to a Pawn shop than it is to a collector of the item.

No one has to bring anything to a Pawn shop, ever. They choose to, so no one is over a barrel by a Pawn shop.

My art gallery is in a somewhat similar position at times. There's a particular artist we sell limited edition prints of. Their value is around $100, and when they are sold out they can accrue in value, and the publisher publishes a list of values showing "Issue Price" (E.g. $100) and the "Current High" (E.g. $500) which shows the highest a collector has ever paid for a print.

We have people asking us to buy their sold-out prints. I really don't want to since the sold out prints are slow to sell, but at a certain price, we'll consider it. If someone has a print that has a "Current High" of $500, I might show interest at $120 for the print to buy it outright from them. There's nothing saying that I will be able to sell it, and if I do sell it, there's nothing saying I'll be able to sell it for the "Current High".

If people consider that to be taking advantage, then I suppose my offer should be $0 ? That would properly protect my money, and I would not be paying them a cent under value. Correct?

I don't know, man. I kinda nodded off while reading your response.

Agree to disagree

CJMST3K

drtyfrnk29 wrote:

CJMST3K wrote:

...of what your item is worth to WHO? The item is worth MUCH less to a Pawn shop than it is to a collector of the item.

No one has to bring anything to a Pawn shop, ever. They choose to, so no one is over a barrel by a Pawn shop.

My art gallery is in a somewhat similar position at times. There's a particular artist we sell limited edition prints of. Their value is around $100, and when they are sold out they can accrue in value, and the publisher publishes a list of values showing "Issue Price" (E.g. $100) and the "Current High" (E.g. $500) which shows the highest a collector has ever paid for a print.

We have people asking us to buy their sold-out prints. I really don't want to since the sold out prints are slow to sell, but at a certain price, we'll consider it. If someone has a print that has a "Current High" of $500, I might show interest at $120 for the print to buy it outright from them. There's nothing saying that I will be able to sell it, and if I do sell it, there's nothing saying I'll be able to sell it for the "Current High".

If people consider that to be taking advantage, then I suppose my offer should be $0 ? That would properly protect my money, and I would not be paying them a cent under value. Correct?

I don't know, man. I kinda nodded off while reading your response.

Agree to disagree

well thought out.

81

drtyfrnk29 wrote:

Agree to disagree

so lets say it's friday night. you car needs an alternator. you don't have that cash, but you know you have to work the following monday so that you can put food on teh table. you don't have credit. you don't or can't borrow the money. what do you do? payday adance. pawn. sell. steal. other.

drtyfrnk29

81 wrote:

so lets say it's friday night. you car needs an alternator. you don't have that cash, but you know you have to work the following monday so that you can put food on teh table. you don't have credit. you don't or can't borrow the money. what do you do? payday adance. pawn. sell. steal. other.

Hmm. I like this question. It plays right into the desperation angle.

I'm going to CMST3K's gallery and selling some stick figure paintings

Cliffy6745

Dude, Chum. Your teeth...wtf. He can't even talk right.

PJfanwillneverleave1

I can envision this episode where a person walks in and says "I have this" (hands over a sealed benny).

Guy behind counter asks "What are you looking to do with it"?

Person says "I'm looking to sell"?

Guy behind counter says "All right how much you want for it"?

Person says "I have no idea"

Guy behind counter says "I really don't know much about this item so let me get an expert to have a look at this and hopefully we can get to a number".

Person says "All right"

-commercial break-

Expert says to counter guy "What you have here is a real, sealed, intact what some people call a benny others call a record.
I would say that value of it is sentimental. The monetary value certainly has an opportunity. So I would put it in the unknown range."

Counter guy says to expert "Thanks man, have a good day"

Counter guy says to seller "What you have here sir is an unopened record that I no not weather it is playable or damaged. So I will give you a fair price. How bout 50 bucks?

Customer says "No I will find someone to pay me the $1000 value"

Customer and counter guy shake hands and part ways.

PJfanwillneverleave1

Sorry folks. I will post this on the porch. I didn't read the rule of non-pearl jam topics.

Sorry for the disruption of this thread. :(