I've never been inside a pawn shop. I may be missing out a great adventure? 
Pawn shops Are Great Places To Shop
- Thread starter Skeet 028
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Same. Here in WNY they are rare. When I'm in Naples FL I stop and look around. Mostly overpriced junk. When my son lived in Colorado Springs we went to a few that were pretty nice. Good selection of guns at reasonable prices.
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Depends upon where you are and the individual shop. When I traveled a lot, I visited pawn shops, got one outstanding deal on once fired .45 brass. Other than that, at least locally, a waste of time as they don't haggle and are right proud of their wares.
I am also in Florida, rural area up against the Georgia line. Our pawn shops rarely produce a "deal" on a firearm. That seemed to have changed since the Greatest Generation owners have gone and the Boomers have taken over. My brother and I do a monthly "gun trek" and we visit a lot of shope including pawn/gun shops. Of all the places that we visit, we find the best deals, and make the most purchases, at the two largest gun shops. Go figure....
The feeling that I get from our pawn brokers is that they are lazy and greedy. Lazy in that they do not research the guns that they take in on pawn and price them according to the highest listing on the Bun Groper, regardless of condition, and greedy because the will not take anything that doesn't return obscene profits. They are making their money fleecing the poor. Another issue with our pawn shop owners is that they seem to want to treat potential buyers like the folks that come in to pawn a coffee maker for drug money. I don't like that. On our trips, we do notice that their inventories do not change trip to trip.
Thanks, Rusty! As many of you know, I own as small pawn shop in rural Iowa, 34 years and counting. How many of you have been to a pawn shop owned by a woman or a woman behind the firearms counter? There are a few of us.
Tips: Bring cash, cash talks, BS walks., don't make stupid low-ball offers, and if your CC Permit exempts you from the NICS check, get the permit!
When I travel I always visit a pawn shop or two. The best buy was a 7ct diamond tennis bracelet for $1000, appraised at $12,000, that was in Mesa, AZ. Another time I bought several small guitar amps in Branson, MO. When I first visited Fred I bought 3 home stereo amps. The amps were for resale in my shop.
Only one gun purchase, S&W 360j airweight from a shop in Prescott Valley, AZ, that was for myself. That was a "it's a small world" moment, they had my FFL on file! They had sold a gun online and had shipped it to me for transfer to the buyer.
Looking forward to your return visit..
oldcop71
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My latest pawn shop find was a S&W CS-45. It's the first one I've ever seen in person and was in good shape. It had been priced over $600 and marked down to $499. When I told them to write it up they knocked it down to $400! Shoots like a dream and very accurate.
I was in my favorite pawn shop/FFL about a week ago receiving a gun and I spotted an old K frame 38 Special in really nice condition so I bought it. When I got it home I put my glasses on to have a better look. Hand ejector 4th change. It has lots of holster wear but not much else. As I was examining it, I saw some really clear small printing running down the back strap as follows; Conservation Commission - State of New York. Above that in larger horizontal lettering, is what must be the armorer's mark; No. 206. I measured the cylinder gap at 6 thousandths. The Conservation Commission was dissolved in 1926. Pawn shops can be lovely.
It's nice to be back here with you guys.
It's nice to be back here with you guys.
LVSteve
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Maybe I need to go deeper into the DFW metroplex. The pawnshops on the edge of that area have not been running sales the last two Decembers I've been in Texas. In the Cash America place I thought I'd been beamed back to Vegas the prices were so high.
It's been a while since I lived there. Moved to Atlanta in 96. I guess things have changed over the years.
My best pawn shop buy was a 600 remington in 243. Had a vintage scout mount 4x leupold on it. 200$. Was in the mid 90's working my summer college job at 5.50 hr!
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I used to regularly visit the pawn shops in Memphis and often found some really good deals. When we moved to Ohio the only ones close to me never seemed to have anything good and usually wanted more for anything good than I was willing to pay. They didn't want to deal either. Gave up on them. Most have gone out of business since then, one has changed owners a couple times. Checked them out after each change of name, not much improvement.
Back in my NAS Dallas days I bought a Winchester 94 Antique model (case hardened receiver) for $188 OTD at a Cash America. Too many other good deals to list.
Don't know about now but back then Cash America put a code on the price label. MARYLOUISE. M=1, A=2, R=3, etc. That was the amount they had in it. Also on the price tag was a 3-4 digit code for the month and year they acquired the item. It made negotiation a lot easier when you knew when and how much they were into it. First Cash had a similar code but I can't remember it.
LVSteve
Member
110 volt tools are priced low ,every one uses batteries these days.
I use a local pawn shop for FFL transfers.
...they seem to want to treat potential buyers like the folks that come in to pawn a coffee maker for drug money.
One employee was treating me like a pawn shop customer and I corrected him very loudly in front of the owner's daughter. He wasn't there very long.
They are making their money fleecing the poor.
I don't buy/shop in them because a very large portion of their business and inventory is based on the hardships of others. Stolen tools are common. Items sold because of divorce, separation, need for fast money, etc. Good deal or not, I choose not to profit off of other peoples' misfortune or support those that do.
On our trips, we do notice that their inventories do not change trip to trip.
Here locally, the inventories seem to get wiped out during tax season due to all the refunds, child tax credits, etc. It gets bought up and then returned in a few months to begin the cycle again.
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"Good deal or not, I choose not to profit off of other peoples' misfortune or support those that do."
I believe this is the reason why I have never been in a pawn shop.
I grew up in a poor family. We lived in an old Army tent for awhile. I remember being hungry and cold.
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You don't have to go inside a pawn shop to shop for pawn shop guns.I've never been inside a pawn shop. I may be missing out a great adventure?
Used Guns - marketplace
Shop largest selection of used guns from licensed dealers in all 50 states and browse thousands of one-of-a-kind handguns, shotguns, rifles, accessories and more. Purchase direct from seller and ship to your favorite store for easy pick up. Negotiate with sellers and get 100% moneyback guarantee...
www.usedguns.com
This site has inventory from many pawn shops. Many will ship.
You can also use that site to get an idea of used gun prices in the real world.
gjgalligan
Member
Last couple of pawn shops that I went into only had a few guns on display. When I made the comment "not much here" the response was "we have more in the back, what are you looking for?"
My response was was "nothing in particular but I'll know it when I see it". They didn't seem to care that I was leaving.
My response was was "nothing in particular but I'll know it when I see it". They didn't seem to care that I was leaving.
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