Fun/weirdness with pawnshops

[Old TexMex]

Pawnshops can be fun, or not. The pawnbrokers are rhinoceroses. Thick skinned, I mean. I used to be intimidated, and put off by the prices, but learned that the marked prices were far from firm...
What happened, good or bad in your pawnshop experience?

 

[elwood]

As a general rule..not always but most of the time, pawn shops in this area are not good sources for guns. Typically, they think every gun, regardless of condition or what it is, is worth a lot of money. Every once in a while you can find something reasonable but it's so rare that I've about stopped even checking with them. Always plenty of single shot .22 rifles and single shot shotguns....racks full of those.

 

[badguybuster]

^what he said

 

[Xfuzz]

Ol'boys here in my part of the world are
kinda laid-back.
Found MANY great deals at the local and not so local shops.
I make about a 150 mile round trip every other month.
Wife calls it my trapline.

 

[markeb]

I have found some of my best buys at the local pawn shops. I am always looking for S&W revolvers. Very few have been found as of late. Lately, when one shows up, they want top $ for them. I'll keep looking and might get lucky again.

 

[Straightshooter2]

I rarely frequent the pawn shops in my area unless I'm looking for old Pentax camera gear. There is one right around the corner from us that has a S&W lemon squeezer that was chrome plated and only has about 50% of the chrome left. He wants about $400 for it and it's been there for at least 3 years. I'm not sure but it may be the same one stolen from us in the early 70's. (My father had that one chromed while I was on a Med cruise.) Dad didn't have the serial number and it wasn't missed for a few weeks so no police report was filed. He even knew who stole it but no way to prove it. Most of the pawn shops within a couple of miles of me don't handle firearms except that one around the corner and another one that's actually a gun shop with a pawn sideline.

CW

 

[O2Guy]

I've found some very good deals at pawn shops. One in particular, the manager knows that if I ask the bottom price on an item, and it's good, I'll buy it. We don't go back and forth. I have gotten some very good items from him. 2 laptops, a HD TV, iPods, etc. It's become very hard for me to buy anything new. LOL

 

[Sebago Son]

Back before the internet made everyone an expert and prices were established by local market conditions, I used to do pretty well in the mill-town pawn shops.

But sadly, around here, that's not the case anymore.

 

[speedyquad]

there are no pawn shops near me.

 

[Bronco48]

There are many pawn shops around here, only a couple have permits to sell and buy firearms. Quit looking, they think they are "pawn stars".

 

[jaykellogg]

About 3 weeks ago I looked at a Colt SAA in a pawnshop I usually don't frequent. I looked at the gun twice and called in between. Meanwhile i was studying Colt SAA 1st gen on line. The asking price was $3695 and I offered $1700. They accepted my offer. The only other gun I bought in that particular pawnshop was a 2nd gen Colt Police Positive Target made in 1929. Asking was $800 and I paid $480. Two days ago i traded my AR-15A2 rifle for two handguns. I got a S&W Model 29-3 6 inch and a High Standard Victor Military. The S&W was very good + and the Victor was outstanding. I have two pawnshops I frequent, and another I visit once in a while. There is a fourth I have never been able to sell or buy from. I don't understand how they get the inventory they do, but everything you have to sell is worthless and what they have to sell is rare and valuable. I offered $350 for a Winchester Model 12 and they turned me down. There is one more that sells guns, but parking is scarce there.

 

[mwtdvm]

In this part of MS

Pawn shops are the gun shop of choice. Gary's is the largest seller of Ruger firearms for it's geographic niche. They have enough "clout" that Ruger made a limited run of takedown 10/22's in Mossy Oak.

I have bought a lot of guns there over the last two decades and definitely find the sticker price is highly negotiable.

One of my "deals" was a barely used S&W 610 10mm with the 3 7/8 inch barrel, unfluted cylinder and NO LOCK!

My most recent was a Win M70 "Stealth" in 300 win Mag for $375 IIRC Replaced the plastic stock with a brown laminate(~$110.) and now have a decent looking M70.

 

[Sebago Son]

Just a word to the wise... I'll buy from a pawn shop with a receipt and form 4473, but unless I know the proprietor to be an honest guy, I'd NEVER sell or trade a serialized gun in a pawn shop.

There was a pawn shop in central Maine that I used to keep an eye on, but never bought from. They were really twitchy and the shop was filled with cheesy repop swords, leather wear, water pipes and fantasy blades. The owner kinda gave me the creeps, but there were other shops around so driving by I would invest 2 minutes to look in his cases. One day about five years ago, the ATF popped him. The story goes that he was buying guns from the public and only some of them were actually going on his books. Seems he had some connections in New Jersey and the "good stuff", mostly black guns, were whisked away and sold undocumented on the black market there.

I pity anyone who sold a legally owned, serialized gun to them and did not keep a receipt. If that gun is picked up at a crime scene and forward traced, that seller is going to have alot of explaining to do...

Be careful.

 

[sigp220.45]

Pawn shops are the only game in town for me. The closest gunshop is three hours away in ABQ.

I had a buddy on the pawnshop detail with the PD. The shops had to submit info on guns for NCIC checks, and included was the price the shop paid for the gun. The prices were shockingly low - the usual markup was 100 percent. Now when I dicker I cut the sticker price in half, add forty bucks, and make that my starting offer. As always, cash is king in a pawnshop. Very few will turn down a reasonable offer once you show some greenbacks.

And its almost never a good idea to sell a gun to a pawnshop. Trade maybe. Consignment sometimes. I've just never found a pawnshop that would give a decent purchase price for any gun.

Once in college I needed to sell a 2 1/2 inch nickel Model 19. The pawnshop guy offered $165, which was even then a low price (1979) but I was hard up and agreed. They paid by writing a check, then cashing it for you. That sounded odd, but I went along. He slid the check to me facedown. I flipped it over and saw it was made out for $65. My gun was still in reach on the counter so I grabbed it back, just in time. I gave him back his check and bid him a hearty GFY (good for you?). That was my last try at selling a pawnbroker a gun.

 

[feralmerril]

Oh goodie! I get to tell this one again! About 1973 I went into a pawn shop in reseda california. I bought this colt new frontier 5 1/2" in .45 colt. Serial # 5355 NF. It is secound generation made in 1965. It looked new, the price was $250s. That probley was the fair price back then and I snapped it up. Later I bought george gartons book, "Post war colt single action armys". One identical was in the book and it had belonged to audie murphy. The auther said it was one of a matched pair that audie had bought and willed to his two sons. I thought I better check my serial number. It was next number to the gun shown! I called garton and he affirmed mine was the missing mate! He had bought his from one son and evidently the other son just took his to the nearest pawn shop, got money and didnt tell the shop owner that the gun had been his famous dads. Garton wanted to buy mine but I wouldnt sell. He had murphys son notorise the story to his. I then got a colt letter on mine and it said it was one of a matched pair sent to wolfram leather company in monrovia california in 1965 the same as gartons gun and where the son said his dad got the pair from. I quit shooting it and made it a safe queen. I later got married. My ex ran off with a married man that she had met on the gun show circut that we had tables at. She took the gun and another 7 valuable other early western guns I collected. Of course she denys it to this day.
Any guess`s what that gun and pedigree would bring today? We split up christmas of 1985. I have wrote this story here and on other gun sites a number of times. By now I am sure that whoever owns the gun is sitting on it and sweating. No reason to. The gun isnt hot! I took it off the hot list when I cooled off along with the others as she still is the mother to our daughter that was seven at the time. I wasnt going to have my ex jailed over it for the love of our daughter.

 

[Kanewpadle]

I have a very good friend that owns a pawn shop. I also worked there part time for a year or so.

You have to understand the pawn shop mentality and those that shop there. Many that shop there are people that pawn items regularly. They can't manage their money properly. And these are the type that usually will buy a gun without doing any research. So knowing this, wouldn't you mark your guns a little higher? Savvy pawn shop buyers know this and will haggle a bit. Especially if they know the gun has been there a while.

And if your a frequent buyer that has established a relationship with the pawn shop, it sometimes makes it easier to get a good deal on a gun. This is the primary reason why prices are higher. Some "wiggle" room if you will. At most gun shops there is no "wiggle" room. But there is almost always "wiggle" room on a used gun at a pawn shop. It's a completely different atmosphere.

I've bought many a gun there. I know what I'm looking for and know what prices are reasonable. But it amazes me how many people will just hand over the cash because they get excited.

 

[Rule 303]

I generally deal with a reputable Gun and Pawn Shop and it owner and I are good friends. No hanky, panky with guns and recoreds in his shop.

I still have the first duty guns I bought from Amarillo Sporting Goods in 1972. The owner, Dub Highso (sp) had a daughter who was quite handsome and he gave discounts on his guns to Officers. Spent many an hour in their looking at the merchandise.

I still have my 4 inch Model 19, my 2 1/2 inch Model 19 and my RB Model 36. All of them were Armoloyed because I spent lots of time on Boat and Water Patrol and they still look like new. Armoloy was a great finish for guns before Stainless Steel came out.

Rule 303

 

[Old TexMex]

I've been treated well at several local pawnshops, so I don't suppose I've offended anyone, but I've been shown real disrespect at a LGS... reminds me of Lonesome Dove, as in "Anyway, whacking a surly bartender ain't much of a crime"
Used to stop in what was called the thieves market in Tepito in Mexico City, and saw some old sixguns there, but never had the silver to initiate a conversation. A friend bought a Walker Colt there, years ago..

 

[M3Stuart]

I check them out around here - and there are several that sell guns. Two good deals; a minty 10-5 4" tapered barrel (with unscratched magnas) for $300 OTD and a (appears unfired) Ruger MkII standard for $199. Yes, cash talks.

So, yea, there's some good deals to be had.

I almost bought a Beretta 686 Onyx sporter for $800 - but it wasn't in very good condition, though it was functional.

 

[jaykellogg]

I have sold, bartered and bought in pawnshops. As I said, I know which ones will pay and what they like. When I traded off my 1929 Colt Police Positive Target, it stayed in the pawnshop case three years. I am pretty sure the AR will be gone quickly. When Buying, I know which ones I can dicker with and how much they will come down.