Stupid question: Pawn Shop

[Montelovesco]

This might end up embarrassing (for me) and it surely is a stupid question, but that happens if you watch to much Tarantino movies, especially the "Bruce Willis comes to the pawn shop and get in a really weird situation" scene...

So: Just I case that I as a tourist want to buy something in a pawn shop is there anything I have to look for/have to consider? Like showing my passport, paying only in cash or passing over a kidney?

Might be pure prejudice...

Thanks (taking cover...)

[RobB]

No need for a passport if paying in cash. I'm not sure if personal checks are all that common in pawnshops, but they most always take VISA/ATM/debit cards.

You should make sure the item has a price tag and have an idea of what it is worth. If you have a local friend to go browsing with, that's always a plus. It's not as easy these days to find deals on pawned music gear, as the shop owners are more hip to what items are worth.

Most cities have areas where many of the pawnshops are clustered. Do research and plan your trip so you don't have to spend your day searching out shops.

Have fun! Pawnshop hunting is the male equivalent of thriftstore shopping for the ladies.

[Montelovesco]

So I will have to look for pawn shops close to shriftstores, so that the family has something to do, too... -)

[DaveL]

pawns shops are cool... some are kind of trashy, but some are nice family run places

like the one in pawn stars... I have a local one that has awesome dvd blue rays...

some of the good stuff like expensive camera lenses or cool guitars have buyers

before they make the floor (just repeating what my local guy told me). but... it

doesn't hurt to keep your head on a swivel,

[Steve Haynie]

So I will have to look for pawn shops close to shriftstores, so that the family has something to do, too... -)

That is "thriftstores."

Some pawn shops overprice their merchandise so they can get someone to go with a layaway plan to pay it off. The guitar never gets paid off and goes out again with the customer losing all that was paid.

If a pawn shop owner does not know what he has, you can sometimes get a good deal. A friend would go into pawn shops in the 80's and find nicer Japanese guitars underpriced as if they were beginner instruments. If you are lucky, you will find a four digit Standard for only $79 out the door.

[Nathan of Brainfertilizer Fame]

Look for stuff that is dusty, obviously broken/damaged, and/or buried.

I got a Line 6 AxSys 100watt 2x12 with the footboard and owner's manual for $70. The footboard was jammed in the back space, I don't think the pawn shop manager saw it. It was buried under 3 amps. But I couldn't get it adjust the sounds, and he couldn't help. I think that helped me talk him down.

Got it home and dug through the manual and found out how to adjust it. It is in perfect working condition, and the long board is, too. And under the board I found a guitar strap, a working metronome, a hand grip strengthened, and a guitar cord.

So I went back a few weeks later and dug through the amp pile again. Found a Line 6 Spider III 120 watt 2x10, price marked $249. Looked around and found a Yamaha RGX 420s-d ("dropped d tuning") baritone guitar with really low action, trem that stays in tune, but a 5way switch that did nothing and a bypass switch that had become a cut-off switch. The price tag on it was $399.

Offered him $300 for both and he took it.

My argument was the guitar had been there at least 9 months and was damaged. The amp was in perfect working condition, but was buried under a bunch of amps. I think he agreed and took a loss because if he didn't, the amps value would continue to depreciate and the guitar was never going to garner $400. So at least he got the cash and cut his losses.

I think all three items are worth more than I paid by at least a little.

The point being, instead of thinking what it is worth to you, think about how to make an argument that benefits the pawn shops bottom line. Do it right, and you end up with a great score.

[Montelovesco]

Thanks for the head-up, but whatever I might find I will have to get it back to Germany... And prior to that I will have to get it through the family council (aka = best wife of all)... :-)

[Ting Ho Dung]

I had a lot of pawn store experience in the past. Georgia was the best state I visited for pawn shopping. Any state with a lot of military bases are prime. Seems the GI's would buy expensive stereo and camera gear and then not be able to eat afterwards. I worked out a formula and IIRC if I offered them 53% of the tag they would sell it to me.

Things are different now with e-bay. All these guys think they are Pawn Stars. So, there are no deals to be done. But, I do know that they keep all the good stuff in the back and you should ask for it. They keep all the Squires out front because people beat it up and put it back on the hook. They don't want the good stuff to get hit like that. So ask what they are hiding in the back and then offer them 53% on the tag.

[crunchee]

Things are different now with e-bay. All these guys think they are Pawn Stars. So, there are no deals to be done.

That show will probably be running in syndication forever, so there goes THAT outlet for neat-o stuff. What's next, "Craigslist Commandos"?

[Steve Haynie]

What's next, "Craigslist Commandos"? <_<

Write up a proposal and do a pilot episode.

[Jack C]

I miss the gool old per-eBay days when you could score cool guitar gear cheap in a pawn shop.

[MCChris]

What's next, "Craigslist Commandos"? <_<

Write up a proposal and do a pilot episode.

The title will take on a different connotation when the Casual Encounters section is featured.

[LordOfTheThighs]

[Steve Haynie]

What's next, "Craigslist Commandos"? <_<

Write up a proposal and do a pilot episode.

The title will take on a different connotation when the Casual Encounters section is featured.

Well, you have to have something planned for the week they do ratings.

[FrettyMcgee]

I used to love pawnshops between the years of '94 and whatever year eBay started up. Those years where 80s shred guitars where shameful, and pawnbrokers had no easy access to research...GOLDMINE. I still shudder at the Kramer NS that hung in one Vancouver hole-in-the-wall shop for $175. I cursed myself for being broke and lefty! And the ADA MP-1's that went for about $75 bucks....ug. Now pawnbrokers just hit the net and bam! A guide to pricing guitars out of the realm of "great deal".

Right now, there's a lefty Larrivee super strat (think Paul Dean's Kramer signature) in a Vancouver pawnshop. This guitar would instantly end my "Buy No Guitars Challenge". But it is literally priced $1300 more than its worth. Yep, they want $1700 for it!!! I had no idea the obscure Canadian 80s guitar market heated up so much. If I didn't have to take a ferry to Vancouver, I'd be in that shop tomorrow trying explain the current soft 80s guitar market.

Bah! People suck. I'm going to bed.

[ghamerinfrance]

In many aspects of life, I resume by " There are never stupid questions...there are questions with a possible answer and I don't get it or with no answer but I want a confirmation...." ?

In order to stop the autocensure we are all facing sometime. Don't you think so ?

[Armitage]

Now pawnbrokers just hit the net and bam! A guide to pricing guitars out of the realm of "great deal".

Yeah, the internet and eBay has pretty much destroyed the odds of finding the killer deals of yore. Not only do pawn shops check out what something is selling for, so are the people selling/pawning. It still happens, but not nearly as often.

[cloakerz]

buddy of mine found a dusty guitar in the corner of a pawn shop and bought it cheap. It was an old Fylde worth about 3k.

[Jimbilly]

It was still pretty good just a year or two ago, now the deals are much fewer, but there are still deals to be had.

Whatever you're looking at, test it out really thoroughly and check carefully for damage, lots of broken stuff gets pawned. If the damage is repairable sometimes you can get a good discount. I have a Hamer Cruise 4 bolt on in granite/red with boomers and emgs. The shop had it tagged at $399 (this was about 8 or 10 years ago), I asked to plug it in and was told it didn't work, so the price was $200 since it didn't work. It would not have been the first time I bought a guitar with a dead battery, which I was hoping for, but that was not it. After not too long looking at it after I got it home I found that some doofus had wired both battery leads to one end of the battery cap, wtf?....

I have gotten some great buys, but it is mostly about coverage: drop in often, ask if anything new is coming out or any old guitars/amps in the back. Expect to come out empty handed much more often than not. Oh, and ask about the return policy.

[mc2]

There are still some deals to be had, especially if you happen to find an old school pawn shop that does not do internet sales.

Also, the U.S. cities with large African American populations -- especially any known as music cities (Memphis, Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans) -- are usually good places to hit. Ot the gambling meccas like Las Vegas and Atlantic City, where guys pawn gear to ganble or cover their losses.

Also, you can usually get a better deal if you spot something that is a hard sell for the city it is in....like a shredder or exotic axe in a blues town or a lefty axe or some hideous finish no one wants.

I scored a lefty mid-80s Alembic Bass in a New Orleans pawn shop arond 2004 CHEAP. I called a friend in Los Angeles from the store before I even bought it and asked if he could flip it. By the time it got out to him, he'd already sold it to a famous lefty bassist for more than $2000 over what I'd paid for it.

[dragan]

didnt Charleys gtrs in dallas start as a pawn shop?