One of my shooters is a crazily successful salesman. He says you make all your profit when you BUY not when you sell. Also, the best sales gimmick in the world is to tell them they can't have it.You know, they don't make this anymore. His number 1 piece of advice to all buyers..Sometimes the best deal is NO deal.

I buy regularly from a couple of pawn shops...i make sure that, every once in a while if the guy has a fair price on a gun, I pay the asking price. I don't need to beat a regular seller out of $25 bucks on a $400 gun if $400 is a good price...last time I did that was on a nice model 39 a guy had in the case for $350. I said I'd take it without asking about the price.....he only charged $325 out the door....relationships have value....

__________________
Robert
SWCA #2906, SWHF #760

Just depends what they have on them...

(Search always gets me in trouble)

__________________
I'm too windy for 30 chrctrs!

It is a good informative thread though...yes?

I personally love pawn shops! A large portion of my 'gun collection' has been pawn shop purchases. Many have been haggled down and many have been too cheap to pass up.

I walked in one of my favorites a few months ago and a well used nickel Regulation Police was sitting right there. As I was haggling the price I looked on the next shelf up and there sat two cherry Springfield xds45's priced at $350 each. I walked out of there at $800 for all three. You never know unless you go.

A few others that had to be haggled:

65-3, 3", no PD stamp in perfect condition. Marked $550 for $425 OTD .

Springfield MC Operator 1911 barely fired in box, $800.

First year Colt 3-5-7 in near mint condition, $800 OTD

Glock 35 gen4 , $450

Did I say I love pawn shops?

The local pawn shop here that gun would have a price tag of around 5-7 hundred bucks and even in poor condition. I don't even try and deal on rip offs like that.

I got asked to leave a pawnshop after pointing out the bulged barrel on a S&W revolver. The bulge in question was visible from both the inside and outside of the barrel. The young lady got somewhat miffed and told her boss who then came over and asked me to leave. Was a 32-20 S&W. Never stepped foot in that place again. Frank

Of course! My comment was meant only as a joke. I was in a mirthful mood at the time.

__________________
Jack
SWCA #2475, SWHF #318

Is mirth even allowed here ?

How about glee, hilarity, merriment, jollity, joviality or gaiety ?

He's looking to get shut down.

__________________
I like Ike.

I love old threads almost as much as I love old guns

I get maudlin sometimes, is that like mirthful? Don't want to drift here though.

__________________
Robert
SWCA #2906, SWHF #760

I know the feeling! A couple of weeks ago I stopped in a new "gun store" (It's actually an adjunct to another business) and made a $250 offer on a gun tagged at $350.
The owners comment of "Really??" (with eyebrows raised and look of surprise) and immediate acceptance made me think I should have started lower.

For sure, I am going to have to go back and take another look at fairly nice Winchester M94 Rifle in 32-40 (pre-1899 manufacture) he has tagged at $1500. That's a little rich for my blood, but who knows, maybe he will come down to a $1000 (or less)......

__________________
Dean
SWCA #680 SWHF #446

Well, I went back and took a second look. My,my, how things changed.
The “antique” M1894 has now turned into a C&R M1894 (made 1899).
The buttstock finish and quality doesn’t match the forestock finish and quality and is a shotgun butt with a Fajen butt plate. (a rifle butt was the standard.) Also, the bore is questionable. Couldn’t get a good look at it through the crud. It does come with a set of dies and a bunch of brass and bullets.

The best part is that the owner has decided that with just a little bit of work it can be changed into a $8000.00 (his words, not mine) gun and he asking only $2500.00 for it.

I think I will pass……

(Although I would like to have a copy of the guide that he is getting his pricing from for whenever I want to sell something....)

__________________
Dean
SWCA #680 SWHF #446

I guess I look at pawn shops all wrong. I have always felt they took advantage of folks that were down on their luck, and it is because I have seen it. I watched a man come in to buy back an item he had pawned, and the owner said "Just pay me the interest. You are obviously making the money you need to pay your other bills. This isn't going anywhere. You are good for it. Just pay me the interest." This goes on for about three months and all of a sudden the pawn shop has about 20% of what they actually paid for the item still invested in it, and then the guy screws up and loses his job. Guess what? The item is lost and the pawn shop makes a killing on it when they sell it.

I offer ridiculous low-ball offers, because typically it isn't something I can't live without. And having said that, I have made a few absolute steals in dealing with pawn shops. Not a bunch, but some...

Pawn shops operate under fairly strict regulation as far as I understand. They act as small banks for a lot of people who don't have my assets beyond their belongings. I know this to be especially true out west near the Indian Reservations...I talked with pawn dealers out there and they say that 90 of their pawn is reclaimed. The items are collateral for the loans. A friend has a small pawn shop in the Jacksonville area says he loans out over half a million per year from his small shop. If a dealer only gets interest on a pawn, he'd have to collect that for some time before he'd have only 20% of the pawn value in it. Where's pawngal when we need her input.

__________________
Robert
SWCA #2906, SWHF #760

That's my philosophy on good deals too.