Anybody deal with the Cash America pawn shops?

[Jimbilly]

They just bought the chain that is local to me (Pawn Exchange) and the changover is coming soon. Anybody have experience with them?, good or bad?

[Mindseyes]

we have one here in town and lets see ive scored a 4 digit for $78 from them a bunch a years ago and just recently a David Eden WT400 in a rack for under a bill.

They really seem no different than any other big pawn shop ive dealt with

[landon w]

we have about 50 around here.............never bought/pawned anything, but the prices ive seen for what ive been looking for arent too bad.

I agree that they really dont seem any different, just bigger.........i wonder if they network with one another, say, to search for something that your local location doesn't have.

[BTMN]

I bought a nice Crate 120 watt Head and 4x12 Crate cabinet. Has a Korg DTR tuner built into the head. Stupid cheap.

Other stuff I've passed on and most of the time the shelf looks picked clean of the good stuff.

[Jimbilly]

How are they with discounts? With the outgoing management you can get the tagged price 'out the door' (tax taken off) 99% of the time, and 20-40% a good percentage of the time.

[landon w]

How are they with discounts? With the outgoing management you can get the tagged price 'out the door' (tax taken off) 99% of the time, and 20-40% a good percentage of the time.

man thats good to know, got to start doin a little diggin around here. with that kind of discount on pawned stuff, a guy could make a buck or two

[Willie G. Moseley]

Sometime big chains don't last in certain areas; such was the case with one---and I think it was indeed Cash America---in Montgomery, AL; several stores, no longer there. They appear to be thriving elsewhere, however.

When I've bought from Cash America I've found their sales personnel that are over instruments to be either courteous and clueless or self-appointed know-it-alls. Using actual cash instead of a credit card seems to help. Gotten some better-than-usual deals on lesser-known brands like Robin and Godin.

[Jeff R]

Learn how to read the "MARY LOUISE" code on the price tag and you're all set to cut some deals.

[gtone]

Note to self - check out pawnshops next time I'm in US! I keep hearing about bargains from pawnshops, but have never actually seen one in a Cdn shop. Pawnbrokers here basically look up the highest mkt price paid for an item anywhere, add 15% or more and stay pretty firm on the price until some poor unknowing sap buys it.

Case in point - was cruising pawnshops in Regina (dozen or so there) looking for a drumkit for my youngest son about 4 yrs ago with a budget of $400. Was told flat out by two pawnbrokers that I'd never find anything playable for <$500 and even POS kits they had started at that pricepoint. Meanwhile classified ads like Kijiji, etc were literally loaded with kits well under that range. Pawnshops here suck!

[landon w]

Learn how to read the "MARY LOUISE" code on the price tag and you're all set to cut some deals.

well educate us oh sultan of the code, we are your humble padwans

[Jeff R]

On the price tag near the asking price, you will see a series of letters like "MEEEE" or "ALEEE" or "ULEE."

That code deciphered is what the pawnbroker paid for that particular good. It's there so shop staff don't have to go look up a good in the computer before haggling and/or accepting counter-offers.

The code is the letters "MARYLOUISE" and transcribed it's M=1, A=2, R=3, Y=4, etc., all the way to E=0.

So if the tag has "MEEEE" on it, the pawnbroker has $100.00 in it. "ALEEE" would be $250.00. "ULEE" would be $75.00.

I've used this to score items that I didn't necessarily want or need, but the deal was too good to pass up. Found an old MXR Phase 90 at a CA tagged "MEEE." I used what I knew to haggle it down to a nice price for me while still leaving some fair profit margin for the pawnbroker. He's running a business and while I want a deal, I don't want to insult him. In the end, I walked with a Phase 90 for $20 and the pawnbroker doubled his money. Win-win for many parties, 'cause I probably ended up selling it to one of you clowns at a more-than-fair price while doubled my money too HAHA!!

FYI, I've seen the same code used at other pawn shops too.

Another FYI, I've heard Walgreen's does the same thing with some of their store stock, using the code word BRUSHCLEAN and the same "1" to "0" letter-to-number sequence. I've never attempted to haggle their asking price for OTC cold tablets, but I guess it could come in handy if there's something on a discount/clearance table and I'm bored and wanna play tire kicker.

[stobro]

Back when I worked at K-mart in the mid '70s they used "CHARLESTON" as their code, I believe. This was so long ago they actually had price tags on all of the items for sale. We used to get paid every Friday with an envelope filled with cash. Well, not exactly "filled"...

[thecajunboy]

Cash America is my favorite of all the pawn shops I run through. As a chain I'd say that it depends on the local management for pricing. At every one I've been through over the years I've scored some shit stoopid low priced stuff and seen idiot high prices on crap.