Pawn Shop's are stupid here

[usmc50bmgsniper92]

oh hell ya, when i was stationed at camp lejuene there were damn pawn shops every other store, also tattoo shops and tit bars!lol. damn i miss the good ole days! guitars, tattoo's beer and tit's

[Cygnus X1]

That explains all those pawn shops we have here.
Fort Jackson, Columbia, SC.

Not many boob joints, though...we sent those
"ladies" (and a few "men" who like to dance) to Lejuene...

[usmc50bmgsniper92]

lol

[LexLuthier]

I used to drive to Omaha every once in a while and hit all the pawn shops, not too much there anymore. There used to be a pawn shop there, and the owner used to own D Rocks music too. Anything good from the pawn shop went to the music store. I bought a few old Charvels there. He closed the pawn shop and sold the music store, and now D Rocks is a joke compared to what it used to be.

[PowerTube]

When I was in Austin throughout most of the Eighties, you could totally get some steals on guitars. If it was a Kramer, Charvel, or Jackson, as opposed to a Fender, Gibson, or Peavey, they didn't know what they had.

How times change. I could just about write a book about pawn shop horror stories I've seen since then.

A local shop had new Danelectro mini pedals priced $10.00 more than the local Guitar Center price.

Just Saturday, I went around to some pawn shops. One had an old Crate G1500 head for $239.00, almost as much as I paid for mine NEW in 1988.

A couple of years ago, one had a plain black SL2H behind the counter, listed at $1699.00.

Years ago, a pawnbroker in Dallas let me in on the deal: as a rule, they give roughly 10% of the price they actually think they can sell it for. Seriously.

Example:

A guitar lists for $399.00.
They'll actually sell it for $280.00.
They paid $28.00 for it.

That's another beef I have with them these days. If the above example happened today, they would take no less than $380.00 plus taxes and be telling you what a great deal you're getting.

[PowerTube]

As long as we're on this rant.... there's a local music shop in town here that's almost as bad as the pawn shops. It's called Pick-And-Grin Music. It's a nice little shop with nice employees, but their used prices are insane. Recently, they had a red Charvel Model 1 priced at somewhere around $400.00 and the tag said "American made" (Fort Worth nameplate). I explained the deal to them both in person and later on the phone. They never changed it.

They also have (had?) a USA Kramer Beretta listed at $699.00. Not horrible, but it seems a bit pricey to me.

[fett]

All I can suggest is get them to know you. My local PS got me once on an EPI. It's a nice guitar but I paid their price. Now they know me and I can negotiate a bit. I have said this before because they told me. "We try to get 3X the loan value." That Strat I just bought there started at $899. On Sale:ROTF: for $699. I got it for $595. It's a jungle out there.:ROTF:

[krimson]

Here is a fine example of a decent pawn shop find, although the Pawn still made out just fine.

I just bought this rack for $300 plus $24 tax. I turned around and sold the ADA MP-1 and MosValve Amp for $310 and $137 on eBay, so I made about $123. Aside of the extra cash I also kept the 6 space SKB Rack, Alesis Compressor, and Rocktron processor.

When I bought it I knew exactly how much the pawn shop paid. The price code was LLEE, which translates to $55. This was at Cash America. They use a price code based on Mary Louise, where M=1, A=2, R=3, Y=4, L=5 and so forth. They originally wanted $350 plus tax, but I haggled with them a little. Still I knew that I could get my money back from just the Preamp and Amplifier.

There was also that one time when I had a brain fart and passed up a Mashall JCM800 100 wat head for $218. I still kick myself in the ass for that one.

[Dan]

I used to drive to Omaha every once in a while and hit all the pawn shops, not too much there anymore. There used to be a pawn shop there, and the owner used to own D Rocks music too. Anything good from the pawn shop went to the music store. I bought a few old Charvels there. He closed the pawn shop and sold the music store, and now D Rocks is a joke compared to what it used to be.

Soo true,they have really gone downhil. D rocks was a hit and miss ordeal,Sometimes he would have deals,and sometimes he had nothing.From what I understood,half of D rocks went to Sol's Jewlery and loan and the other went to the new "D Rocks". Sol's is Horrible on pricing(Thats Where that Charvel with the broken headstock is located). They go By what Ebay sells for. They also have a "code" which I understood and argued this "moron" that worked there because I was trying to buy a guitar,and told him He paid "X" amount for it. He was furious that he couldnt swindle someone. I have seen Wal Mart have more Guitars than The New D Rocks.

[Rsmacker]

As long as we're on this rant.... there's a local music shop in town here that's almost as bad as the pawn shops. It's called Pick-And-Grin Music. It's a nice little shop with nice employees, but their used prices are insane. Recently, they had a red Charvel Model 1 priced at somewhere around $400.00 and the tag said "American made" (Fort Worth nameplate). I explained the deal to them both in person and later on the phone. They never changed it.

You should have called Trading Standards (or whatever they are called over there) and told them they were doing some false advertising. (Remembering, of course, to tell the shop afterwards that you were the one that caused them all the bother for being fuckwits)

[pinto79]

Years ago, a pawnbroker in Dallas let me in on the deal: as a rule, they give roughly 10% of the price they actually think they can sell it for. Seriously.

Example:

A guitar lists for $399.00.
They'll actually sell it for $280.00.
They paid $28.00 for it.

I figured this out a few years ago when I needed to buy a car and figured I could get a loan against a 1986 USA Rhoads and an ESP Jake E. Lee. I distinctly remember the bluebook value on the Jake was $1395 at the time as it was only 3 or 4 years old. The guy offered to loan me $80 against it. I think they offered me $40 or $50 for the Rhoads... I took them home and hit mom up for a loan instead...