See Your Local Pawn Broker

I remember back in high school in the late 80's and early 90's when pawn shops were one of the best places to buy firearms. Now they seem to just about get retail prices so I very seldom even go to them anymore..

Well there are chain store pawn shops. You can invest in them. A few years back ther were growth stocks. These seldom if ever buy and sell firearms. Then there is the one man stores_maybe a couple. These are usually located outside of towns and cities, close to industrial areas with mobile homes near by.

What does he sell the ammo at?? Certainly not 25-50 cents..
Does anyone find anything to buy a pawn shops? Doesn't pay to even stop and look as I'm not paying over retail for questionable used junk instead of just buying new.

yeah, there is a lot at pawn shops around here - they give a tiny fraction of retail but charge a lot more than retail.

FYI most pawn shops make the vast majority of their money from people who pawn stuff and come back and buy it back later. Its more of a 'payday' loan deal than actually selling stuff anymore. That is why the prices you see are as much or sometimes even more than new. At least that is how they work around me.

I have not heard of a pawn broker selling anything of value at a discount in years.
I stop in some when on a long ride from time to time looking for deals on fire arms, have not found one yet. I have seen them trying to get new prices on well use stuff.

The last pawn shop I went to in Nashville was selling a rough, used Affinity Squier Stratocaster (Indonesian junk) for $500.00. Wasn't worth $50.00 by any standard. They were selling Bryco, Jennings and Raven handguns for $300.00. None of these guns cost more than $200.00 when they were new. I wasn't born yesterday and I'm not a sucker. Most other pawn shops are the same.

Man,,, I must be the odd guy or something. I do ok buying stuff in pawn shops. I don't even pay much attention at what they are asking.
I have seen a price tag of $350 on a item and walked out with it for $105. Before I go in I put my cash in my front pocket so I can pull it
out where they can see it when I make my offer. It does make a difference if you don't show the cash you didn't make an offer all you
did was inquirer. But then again I get a lot more no's than yes's.
I buy my silver at pawn shops well under spot.

Yeah that's what a lot of people don't know these days. At a pawn shop or a flea market you have the option of dickering. Sometimes it's expected. A pawn shop that won't haggle is a junk retail shop those are all too common. A retail store won't make you a deal but the idea of a Pawn shop is that you broker goods and make deals. There is supposed to be flexibility there. If they aren't flexible it's not a pawn shop. For that matter a flea market that everyone pays the sticker price is is not a flea market it's a junk market. Me at a flea market is like a tobacco auction. Like a previous poster said, if you flash a thick wad of cash, they should come down off their sticker price if reasonable. There is also the idea here that some folks are always shopping never looking, if you break that ice and talk real money a good pawn broker will always level with you. Those that don't deserve a walkout straight off.

I have to assume Craigslist and other online outlets hurt their business unless they are doing more loans then Pawns. For example 223 or 5.56mm of decent brands still has a $600 per 1000 asking online in my area. If a Pawn shop is offering $300 someone would be a fool not to use CL or a gun forum and get $425/475 in 24 hrs.

At one of our local Pawnshops they had an old S&W model 19. They wanted $750 for it. I showed them in their own pricing manual where it was worth about half that. Their reply was "We have too much into it sell for any less." My reply was "Just because you bought stupid doesn't mean I buy stupid." No sale.

Pawn shops are right up there with rent-to-own furniture stores and buy here pay here car lots. If you are looking for your stolen goods you might want to check 'em out.

Buying at a pawn shop.
1) know the retail price.
2) Pick your price.
3) Have cash exact change or close.
4) never pay sticker.
5) Make a cash offer with money out below your price.

Visit mom and pop shops

I'm with Leon and Budgetprep, initial asking price in a pawn shop is little more than a conversation starter. I have one local shop I shop at regularly enough that they know me. The hagglin' is expected.

Another advantage to being known is most of the time when I inquire about an item the answer usually comes as, "I could take ___ for that", even though there is a price tag on it. I also find that on non big ticket items that are fuctionally fine but maybe a bit ugly I get amazing deals.

A LOT of the Pawn Shops these days are selling on E-bay so you have the whole world to compete with.

I really don't understand the intent of the post.

Yes Pawn people charge too much, give too little, and take advantage of the most vulnerable.

Sorry but it seems so basic I have a hard time giving this much thought.

PrepConsultant said:

I remember back in high school in the late 80's and early 90's when pawn shops were one of the best places to buy firearms. Now they seem to just about get retail prices so I very seldom even go to them anymore..

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I have found the same to pretty much be the case so I too hardly every shop them anymore these days. They used to be one of my favorite places to score on a great deal and I scored on many. But since about 2000 I havent found anything worth an honorable mention much less a serious purchase consideration.

Pawn shops deal primarily in loans, one gives them something of value to hold as collateral and they float that person a loan, usually at a high interest rate. Anyway the stuff they have for sale is generally (not always) the collateral from a loan that some borrower has defaulted on.

I think a high price is simply a conversation starter. I can't think of a slicker way to get a customer talking about something that's near and dear to their heart (money) than to put a high sticker price on their wares. They are first and formost in the business of making loans, the sales part is secondary and it's simply a way to get rid of the collateral from a bad loans.

That's my .02

Pawn shops are the local retail outlet for thieves.

Seneca said:

Pawn shops deal primarily in loans, one gives them something of value to hold as collateral and they float that person a loan, usually at a high interest rate. Anyway the stuff they have for sale is generally (not always) the collateral from a loan that some borrower has defaulted on.

I think a high price is simply a conversation starter. I can't think of a slicker way to get a customer talking about something that's near and dear to their heart (money) than to put a high sticker price on their wares. They are first and formost in the business of making loans, the sales part is secondary and it's simply a way to get rid of the collateral from a bad loans.

That's my .02

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You are for the most part correct. Pawn shops will let you pawn your merchandise in which case they cannot sell it until you default on the loan. On pawned merchandise you must pay the interest every week. Most will hold the merchandise indefinitely as long as you are paying the interest every week. State laws differ. Pawn shops will also buy your merchandise. In such case they can put it up for sale immediately. Few states prevent this but a few make them check against stolen property list.