pawn shop negotiation techniques

[DOEBOY1]

The latest mod 63 I got was from a pawn shop. I must of had the look in my eye that I wasn't leaving without it. After the deal was done I asked him how the pawn business worked. So he told me he had $125 in the gun and held it for 3 months thinking that the guy would come back for it. He did the math and made $100 dollars off me buying it. I certainly don't begrudge someone that has a business to make a profit. Story 2 went to local gun shop found a nice mod 12 w/ box and cleaning kit. Salesman says $450 because he paid $400 for it. Number 1 mistake is telling a lie to me so I walked out. I have bought many guns from them, all smiths, at far prices the mistake they make is thinking I would pay more because I love the product. So now it's time to low ball and play the game. They should have made thier money off selling in volume to me. This would have been my sixth gun from them. Doeboy

 

[KEN L]

The one thing I've learned over the years is, you always wonder if you could've gotten it for less. Just try to remember the moment you sealed the deal. You thought it was a great deal, so it most likely was. I always try to contain myself though. I generally try to decide what I'm willing to pay, then offer a little less, not a ridiculous amount and see what happens. You can usually haggle to your price point. I recently worked a deal on two handguns, priced at $295 & $495. I decided I would like to get them for $700 OTD. I offered $650 and he came back with $700 and I knew I had made the best deal I could AND it was what I wanted to pay. It doesn't alway work out that way though. Sometimes you'll find something priced way lower than it should be and you can still get if for less with the cash in hand. It really is a Crap Shoot!

 

[Miami_JBT]

I've been on both side of the counter. When it comes to wheeling and dealing remember this little bit of advice.

Charm. Yes, you need to charm the sales person. Don't go in there with a horrible attitude. Be friendly, polite, and nice. Don't spend thirty minutes talking about guns and how you were a Delta Navy Marine Space Shuttle Door Gunner. Talk about the product that they have and that you want. Show interest in the item in question but do not show interest that "IT IS" the item you want. If they believe that they have some competition for you business then they will treat you better.

Know the market of the product. Know what the general market price is and also know what the general wholesale price is. Knowing that will pay a long way off.

Try to deal with management if you can. The local sale monkey behind the counter usually doesn't have the authority to modify prices. And 9 out of 10 times, since they can't they'll loose the sale instead of having to bring in the boss. Because in the employee's mind.... having the boss come is worse then not making a sale.

Know the local competition. Business owners know each other and know what they all do. If Bob's Guns & Ammo has GLOCKs for $450 because his distributor sells them to him at $375; then George's Gun Supplies will try to make a similar sale. How will that happen? He might not be able to sell the pistol for the same price but he might sweeten the pot with a free box of ammo or a discount on holsters. If you know what all the local places are doing.... then you can use it to your advantage.

Stick to your guns (yes, I made a funny) and if the place will not agree with you. Walk out.... You'll be surprised how often a place will suddenly change their mind when they see a potential sale walk out their door. When doing so... even a fib will work. Nothing is wrong with saying that "So and So" has it for a cheaper price but you don't want to drive the two hours north to get it. That, a lot of the time also works towards your advantage.

I walked into a local pawn shop simply to window shop. A very nice S&W Mod 15-4 was under the glass. They wanted $450.00... I wouldn't pay a cent over $375 for it. I talked them into dropping the price down to $350 by getting a couple of Walther P22 Mags. I was looking for some magazines for my suppressed P22 and they had it. The mags were priced at $25 a pop. I told them that I'd buy four mags at $20 a pop and the 15-4 for $350. They went ahead with the sale and I went home a happy customer. I never intended to do business with them, never knew they existed, etc.... But in the end they made a sale and I went home happy.

What made the sale for them was the magazines. I know that they pay $10 a mag. They went to $350 for the 15-4 without much of a fuss. They more then likely paid $250-$300 for it. They made 50% profit on the mags. In a sale.... that is major.

When I work the gun shop, I don't make money off the gun. I make money off the accessories. A good gun shop will run their business much like a good movie theater. The tickets are not the money maker. The tickets are what bring in the customers. The sale of popcorn and soda is what makes the money. Little investment into the product but a big market percentage wise. Same deal in the good gun shop. When I sold GLOCK pistols. I would only make about $30 in profit per sale for that gun. But usually when someone buys a pistol; they'll buy a holster, ammo, spare magazines, cleaning kit, targets, ear/eye protection, light/laser, night sights, etc.... If a holster only cost me $20 but I sold it for $70. I made more off the sale of the holster then I did the gun.

 

[Pitdog02]

JBT very good insight, thanks for taking time to enlighten.

 

[nogoodnamesleft]

buys guns for half their retail. Then doubles it to sell.

Wait, so he sells them @ full retail?

 

[lonegunman762x51]

I have a good reputation with a couple of local places. When the price is right I buy always. So they know if they can reason with me they get to sell a gun and enjoy a little banter as well.

Asking for "no tax" here means nearly a 9% discount. I usually do better than that and they hold things for me if they know I'm interested.

That being said, I know the guys have to make money and I don't try and chisel every nickle on every sale. Being a good customer has benefits.

 

[pwhphd]

He tries to!

 

[Gary]

I always offer cash and a concealed carry permit up front so they know that the sale is a slam dunk once we come to a price and I discount by 35%. I assume they paid 50% and need to make something to keep the lights on and the doors open. I will go up to 30% but no higher, I'll walk..... I have a couple of shops where I have made multiple deals and they will quote me a different price than whats on the tag....

This is my approach as well. I frequently walk away empty handed but sometimes get a pretty good deal. I have also noticed that they are less likely to discount Glocks, 1911s, ARs and the like than revolvers, rifles and military surplus stuff. I guess that they sell easier.

 

[Göring's S&W]

Many shops here use codes on the tags of merchandise so they know what they paid for things when they are talking to customers. The most common are:

BLACK HORSE and MARY LOUISE

In each case the first letter of the code represents "1" and the last represents "0". So if you are looking at a revolver and somewhere on the tag it says BKEEE that means he paid $150 for it if he is using black horse.

Ok, so if I understand this right, BKEEE would actually be $15,000 and $150 would actually be BKE? Unless you mean $150.00 but I don't see a point to that. I got confused

Good posts in this one. Theres nothing wrong with negotiations as people sometimes think. We live in a capitalist country...

 

[TNDave]

Ok, so if I understand this right, BKEEE would actually be $15,000 and $150 would actually be BKE? Unless you mean $150.00 but I don't see a point to that. I got confused

Good posts in this one. Theres nothing wrong with negotiations as people sometimes think. We live in a capitalist country...

They usually put all the letters on there. So it is $BKE.EE. They just don't put the decimal.

 

[rburg]

Haggling is a lost art, or becoming one. Maybe they should find some old horse trader to teach it. So much going on, and that you should be aware of. Remember both of you have pride (and should be allowed to keep it.)

A big part includes the idea that you are a regular customer, or if you're a first time buyer with that seller. I've avoided the pawn shop venue because I'm not a customer. But the rules are the same as in a gun shop or with a gun show seller. If you are a repeat customer, the rules are just a little different. And you bring along all the baggage from prior negotiations, just as he does. Being courteous and polite isn't very expensive, so do it. And if you want or expect a continuing course of business, don't be overly concerned with making that last dollar. Once you get a reputation for being overly cheap, others won't respect you. Nor will they respect you if you pay way too much (you're a patsy.)

Some hard negotiators will bargain for every last cent. Maybe they're better at the game than me. I just don't care. If I get the price down to where I think its fair, I'll buy.

Don't bargain if you don't have the funds or aren't serious about buying. Nothing pisses someone off more than coming to a fair deal after 5 or 10 minutes of talk, then have the "buyer" walk away. There are times at gun shows where I've just asked a person who seems interested if he's really interested in buying, or just talking! One time I even got such a bad feeling after way too much talk I even made a pretty rude comment. I said you've had the chance to look at my gun, you've opened it, you've dry fired it, you've even looked down the bore with my borrowed bore light. Now lets look at the color and sizes of your money.

It staggered the poor guy. The essence of what I was asking was it's time to talk turkey. Talk is fine, but if you don't want my gun (or you run it down needlessly), walk away or buy.

 

[Jack Flash]

I've read this thread with a lot of interest.

The comments re: offering $300 on a gun priced at $400, then when they come down by a full $90, suggesting a coin flip over the last $10! That must be a regional thing. In my area, YOU would be flipped, out on the sidewalk on your butt, accompanied by the crudest language you've ever heard, the cleaned up translation of which is "Don't ever come back!"

I agree with knowing what you consider a fair price and are willing to pay. Then make your initial offer a little on the low side. If he will not budge off a price you consider too high, simply pass on it, nice and polite.

I never start to negotiate if I don't have the money. That is a good way to wind up on your butt on the sidewalk (see paragraph two, above). I never even ask to them to get a gun out of the display case if I am not really interested or I know there is no way I can afford it. The world already has enough dreamers and tire kickers...

 

[rburg]

OK, I've finished supper so now back to the thread...

A big part of how the dealing will turn out is how motivated the parties are to it. I'm kind of a jerk at times and I often just don't care if I sell or not. Some of my guns just travel with me. I only have them up for sale because I feel I've got to have "wares" on my table to sell. If I sell them, I've got to select some other peach from my tiny collection to put up for sale. And it won't be pretty if I want to keep it!

My gun show table pard always over prices his stuff. He does it because he knows the buyers will try to skin him. He's finally convinced me to do the same on some items. But in the negotiations I see, no matter what price you list, the guy asking (many not serious about the gun) will toss you a lowball, just to see. Back when I was flush with guns and money (before retirement), once or twice my contrary streak got the best of me and I would just accept their offer. Mostly it wasn't an offer and they turn tail and run off. Occasionally they retreat to think about it (hey, they made the offer, and it was a lowball). But if they came back, we started at the original price and not at their first offer. Once I even told such a guy to "move along".

Sometimes such a buyer gets a really good price on an item. When they leave, the seller can get an attitude. At an antique show a few years ago (its this weekend, so I'm assuming it was 2 or 3 years ago) I walked up to a silver vendor (Vi Walker out of Indy). He'd just experienced one of those situations. He had some great water "glasses" made of sterling, by a silversmith in Japan (Hirata). It was a full service of 12 of them. They had negotiated for almost an hour, but the lady and her mother just couldn't pull the trigger. I took one look and realized they were works of art, in perfect condition. When I asked the price, he smiled and said "I'll give you the benefit of the last lady's haggling". So I bought them for that amount. He finished up by saying one of his favorite things is to have an indecisive buyer come back and find the item sold.

Which brings up the idea that such negotiations don't always happen in a vacuum. Others may even overhear the dealings and wish they could buy at the suggested price. Once a potential buyer puts an item down, it becomes a different show. You can walk up and try your hand at the deal.

And in the gun show circuit, there are just conventions we kind of adhere to. Trying to get another $5 or $10 off a $500 or $5000 item will probably tell the seller he's dealing with an idiot.

I've got a really nice M12 I've been shipping around for a long time now. Its too nice a gun to just give away. I've priced it at what I think is a fair value of $450. I've had a few offers of $400, but I always return with a counter offer of $425. Its basically the bottom price (unless some other factor, like someone is a repeat buyer from me. If they don't want to pay, I don't care. I'll just lug it around until someone pays the price. It fills a spot on our empty table.

I'm not under any pressure to sell. Buyers don't know that. I'll eat tomorrow regardless. I even kind of like the gun. Its a difference from a pawn shop, where you can pretty much assume there is a pressure to sell something.

Part of negotiating, be it a gun or a car, or a piece of jewelry, is understanding what motivates the seller. It also helps to get an idea of what the cost on the item is. It won't make the seller happy, or gain you a deal if you're trying to skin him (buy from him and make him lose money.) If you want to own the item, but absolutely won't allow him any kind of profit, I predict an unhappy future for you.

Realizing you have a family to feed might make you want to fight for every cent. But he has a family, too. Once you make it clear you're trying to beat him to death, he just might harden his stance and make you pay more than you would otherwise.

 

[tom turner]

Another couple of codes I've used/seen used before are:

CLEAN BRUSH and MAKE PROFIT.

All it takes for a person to make up their own unique code is to find ten letters in, a word or two, that do not repeat . . . and are only used once.

 

[ImprovedModel56Fan]

A couple of observations. First, it's only money. I know that's heresy, but it's still true. I recently bought what appears to be a very nice XP-100, in a state where, according to the law, there are very few coming in that weren't already here in 1998. But only a few months ago, I sold a .416 Rigby rifle and didn't get burnt, partly because prices are rising, but partly because the dealer who sold it set a reasonable price and the buyer didn't bicker. In the case of the XP-100, the seller had had it on the market for a while, and reduced the price slightly once or twice. When I went to see him, the only question in my mind was whether the custom stock fit my hand, and whether there was anything wrong with the pistol. If the guy who bought my .416 paid the asking price and left me undamaged in my Rigby experience, would it be so terrible if I did the same to my fellow Masshole?

The other point that fits into this discussion (not necessarily right here) is that what the seller bought the gun for is not only irrelevant, it's probably not even any of your or my business. If he bought well, that's his gain, not yours. If he bought poorly, that's his problem, not yours. My dealer knows that I have a fair knowledge of the value of some firearms. He also knows that I do not begrudge him a profit. I once bought or traded for (can't remember which) a 6" Official Police for $200. Within around a year, he came into posession of a 4" Official Police in even better condition. I happened to be loitering around the shop, and he offered it. I was fence-sitting, and he said either "$100" or "$100 today," don't recall which. I thought, "Better do it - worth it for parts alone," and bought it. Another time, I saw him take in a 2" Model 15 with slight cosmetic problems and an ammo box and ammo worth probably $20 for $100. It took a few hours to sink in completely, but I gave him $175 for that, OTD. I have no idea what y'all think of his margin, but I know that I got one heck of a good deal. What he bought it for is his business. It's still one of my favorite guns.

I could add one more comment about the value of used S&W's vis-a-vis new, but I've probably beaten that to death elsewhere.

There are some great buys out there still, if you recognize them. These ARE the good old days.

 

[SWBigBang]

Don't second guess. Be happy he accepted your price.

I always bring cash as you tend to get a better deal, but the first step is actually to be prepared and do your research on the item and price it commands. He probably felt your price was fair for both parties.

 

[welldoya]

There's a pawn shop about 3 miles from my house that I stop in once a month just to see what's in the used gun case. His prices are so high that I would be embarrassed to even start negotiations. I would have to start at 50% of his asking price and not go past 60% to get any kind of a deal. I figure it would be an insult so I don't even try to buy anything from him.

 

[Engineer1911]

Cash is King, but I have found out that an NRA Life Member card and a checkbook are just as good. I never get to the bank on Friday before Saturday's gun show. I have negotiated several deals, offered NRA card and check without any problems.

 

[Jack Flash]

... I have negotiated several deals, offered NRA card and check without any problems.

You need to be like Dick Burg and go around with a wad of $100 bills stapled together.

 

[Steve C]

Most people would be highly offended if they knew how little Pawn Shops pay for used firearms. While a gun shop may only mark up a gun $50 to $80 over their cost they usually make 3 t0 4X the cost of a used gun. Buying a used gun will have much more lattitude on price break than a new gun.

The trick with any negotiation is to be willing to walk away from the deal if you can't get a price you are willing to pay. If they detect that you are weak in your offer they'll certainly see how much more they can get you to pay. Items like a .32 will usually be harder for them to sell than a .38/.357 or .45 so they should be willing to go down more than the more popular guns and calibers.