robertbartsch

I'm in San Antonio Texas (a red state) working at a client for a few weeks....

Since they don't have any pawn shops where I live in the NE, (e.g., the blue states) I decided to check out a few pawn houses this weekend for bargins on used tools.

Overall, they were selling lots of used junk tools at moderately high prices. The guys behind the counters all wore cowboy hats and six shooters. I really did not see too much that I would want to buy, however. Is the posted selling price of the tools and other stuff in these shops negoitiable? If yes, do "you-all" find it difficult "negoitating" with armed clerks? I love guns as much as the next guy but this felt a tad strange to me for some reason.

The folks doing business with the shops looked pretty despirate for dough but I guess selling your own stuff for a few bucks or cashing your paycheck at a huge discount beats going to the big house for theft, robery, embesseling, fruad or other crimes against humanity....

How do they know if the merchandise is fensed (stolen)?

Is this typical or did I visit a couple of ratty pawn shops?

Zymosis

iTrader: (7)

Why does it matter if its a red or blue state?

Anyway, most places claim that everything they have isn't stolen. But I guess if your nice cd player was stolen, check them out and you can probably find it there.

But in answer to your question, no, they don't know if the stuff is stolen, they just claim that none of it is.

kickassT/A

iTrader: (3)

you found a shitty one. i've never been to a pawn shop where the clerk was wearing a gun. yes, the prices are negotiable. when i worked at the dealer, i used to go in there and buy old snap on, mac, and cornwell stuff, use it till it broke or wore out, then go get new stuff off the truck. same can be done with craftsman tools. you can save yourself a fair amount of money at pawn shops. you just have to take into account what that stuff cost new. yes, $75 seems like alot for 10 snap on wrenches, but on a truck they might be $175

Zippinzee

Never pay the marked price they will haggle, sounds like you went to some low rent pawn shops. Put several items together and ask if they will work a deal on them. To get the best deals you have to go in to the same places fairly often then they will loosen up a bit. I could tell you how to read the codes so you could tell what they put in it but then I would have to kill you LOL. Really there is a code that nearly every shop uses but it will generally **** them off if you let them know you know what it is. Let them price it if it is too much make an offer then be prepared to walk away, workes for me and I am a tool junky.

WOOS1

iTrader: (1)

I think the proper pronunciation is ya'll. I have bought several thousand pieces of tools at pawn shops. Like mentioned above, if you get to know them, they will cut you a good deal. Always ask. I buy mostly boxes of tools. I take the leftovers to work and the guys there usually fight over them. I will almost always make my money back and be able to keep the pieces I want. I keep the Craftsman for me and the Snap-On for my son. He is three years old and he has a better box than many of my buddies. The make a better sound when I hit them with my Kubota. I talked one of the pawn brokers I frequent into selling me a like new Dewalt chop saw for $60. Wish he could get some more good stuff.

indyjps

of course its stolen thats why its there, some may not be but how many times have you seen a mechanic or contractor sell his life blood (tools), some of it may be stuff that the guys never got the money together to pick back up.

WOOS1

iTrader: (1)

There is always a chance for stolen merchandise whenever you buy from a PS, garage sale, flea market, etc. All of the pawn shops in my area provide a list each to the local PD.

robertbartsch

What happens to the tools formerly owned by dead folk; I suppose they can end up in pawn shops - right? Kinda spookie I think...

The guys I am working with here in Texas tell me that people that pawn their stuff (or the stolen goods from others) can ask the shop not to sell it for a specified time period.

How does that work - if I walk in to a pawn shop, I'm I looking at tools on the selves that are not for sale because the former owners want them back?

This pawn shop stuff is baffling - I thought if you pawn something in exchange for dough that the shop had the right to sell it to someone else if they wanted it before you got around to earning the money to buy it back!

Why would someone cash their paycheck at a pawn shop at a big discount; if you don't have a bank account (???) why not go the bank where your check was written to receive 100% of the face amount?

I think I should start a chain of pawn shops in the blue states....after all, I like the idea of taking advantage of people down on their luck and the fact that I could wear a pair of six shooters in public.... Since they dont have any pawns in my area, I could do business without any competition.

Birdman7389

iTrader: (3)

Okay here is how a pawn shop works.
You can do two things there

1) Pawn- Get a loan on whatever you have of value. Say you have a $1000 diamond ring, they might loan you $200, and hold on to the ring. It wont be on display or for sale. You probably pay $150 to get it back, with a $20 fee to renew the loan each month if you dont buy it back. If you don't go back to get your ring after X# of days, they claim ownership and can sell it.

2) Sell- You take your ring/tools/whatever in, they will offer you $$ to but it and resell it.

minivette

Actually, it's y'all.

hondo

iTrader: (2)

we have pawn shops here in MA......great place to buy tools and stuff, esp after christmas alot of people sell stuff to the shops to pay bills and whatnot or whatever.they even advertise on TV. i bought a like new dewalt angle grinder for like forty bucks

WOOS1

iTrader: (1)

[QUOTE=Birdman7389]Okay here is how a pawn shop works.
You can do two things there

1) Pawn- Get a loan on whatever you have of value. Say you have a $1000 diamond ring, they might loan you $200, and hold on to the ring. It wont be on display or for sale. You probably pay $150 to get it back, with a $20 fee to renew the loan each month if you dont buy it back. If you don't go back to get your ring after X# of days, they claim ownership and can sell it.

That would mean that they stored my stuff and I made $50. I'm gonna see if they will store my Kubota for the winter. I could use a few hundred extra bucks.

J-Rod

Its a secured loan. They loan you money @ X %. X usually being about 300% (really) if you calculate it up. I have a friend who runs a pawn shop. He'd prefer that folks just come back and get their stuff. That way he just makes the money, and he doesn't havre to sell your stuff.


Anyhow, ALL prices are negotiable. Let me give you an example. You take a $1000 set of rims to the pawn shop. The guy sees how much they are worth, and loans you $200 on them. You don't pay the loan back, and he puts them up for sale @ $800. There is plenty of room for negotiation. If you can find out wha thte pawn value was (they don't tell you this). Plus the premium, they'll usually go down to that, but no lower.

You'll find that certain shop specialize in certain things often. There are a few shops in Houston that we visit specifically for tools. But, you just have to visit them often (we used to go every Saturday), and pick over the new stuff that has just come out of the back, and is avaliable.

The deals you can score are pretty awsome.

As for wearing a weapon exposed. You have to understand that often times you aren't dealing with the top tier of the soci-economic order when you work in a pawn shop. So, a visible deterent goes a long way in calm down any potential stupidity.

Sure, stolen stuff gets pawned. If its reported, and the police find it, it gets returned.

I know a lot of folks who would just get tight, and need a few dollars and go pawn tool, or whatever, and just loose it. It happens, and I take advantage of it...

Birdman7389

iTrader: (3)

Dangit, I meant that you would have to pay $250