Thought from the other side of the pawn counter

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Recently I decided that I wanted a pump action .22lr rifle. In that catagory, I liked the 572 Fieldmaster the best. I stopped by a pawn shop that had one and it was priced above the LGS that I frequented in West Valley (Impact Guns).

I talked to the owner and the lowest he was willing to come down to was only $20 less than it was new at the LGS, and for that price he wanted cash. Needless to say, I purchased it new from the LGS.

Other than that, it has been decades since I have looked for a gun at a pawn shop. I kept telling myself that I would take a day and just hit the pawn shops and look at what they had. I just never got around to it.

View attachment 847115
The new Remington 572 Fieldmaster
My 572 was bought used (at a LGS) in 1970. It was my second gun purchase ever. I still have it and love shooting it.
Gotta love those slide actions!!!
 
The local pawn shop experience is financially worse than the local gun store experience for the person looking to sell something.

Where a LGS might offer 80% of what they’ll sell it for, the local pawn shops buy guns at about 30-50% of the lowest price you’ve ever seen anywhere, but they sell everything at the highest price you can find anywhere.

If pawn shops are good for anything, they're good for me getting a deal from people who won’t take $250 from a pawn shop for a LNIB Glock with accessories and put it on Armslist for $400...
 
I've been fortunate over the last 30 years or so to have a good relationship with a local pawn shop. The owner knows guns, their value and the value of a good customer. I enjoy dealing with him as well as my local gun shop. Prices are negotiable but if he doesn't make a reasonable profit, he cannot continue to operate. I will buy if something seems like a good value, but I can take no for answer and so can he. Mutual respect goes a long way for both of us.

I agree that each pawn shop is unique, and that most price tags are sucker bids, like the first offer of a skilled auctioneer. Scouting for bargains is a bit like hunting wild game. Not every hunt is successful, but it's a game of skill.
 
Last time I was ever in a pawn shop was about 6 or so years ago. They were selling a HK USP .40 with Stainless slide and one magazine. Gun looked like it had been used in one of those durability tests where they slowly run it over with a large truck. Price tag was $1000. I walked away laughing and haven't been in a pawn store since.
 
I think as a whole, the Pawn Shop Industry gets a bad rap. Of course there are shady Pawn Shop Owners as well as Shady Gun Shop Owners. I buy probably as many used guns from Pawn Shops as I do from Gun Shops, probably more. These days most Pawn Shops are a lot more knowledgeable about firearms than in the past probably due to the internet. From my experience, I see Pawn Shops Offering close to the same price for used guns as the Gun Shops. One of my best buddies owns 2 pawn shops and a gun shop. At times he does get some steals at the pawn locations but its not from offering low ball prices as much as someone may walk in and want to pawn a $500 gun for $100 and for whatever reason does not come back and get it. Of course as with any business the object is to make as much profit as possible. I do find it funny that if a Gun Shop Owner buys a 10K Collection from a widow who has no clue to what her late husbands guns were worth, then most of the public considers that a "Good deal" for the Gun Shop Owner, but if the same deal happens at a Pawn Shop, then the owner is a crook taking advantage of a poor widow who had no clue. Because I work for my buddy here and there, I have access to what new guns cost and honestly I don't see how anyone stays in the gun business just selling new guns these days. There is not the markup that most people think there is with new firearms. The big internet dealers and also the big box sporting stores have made it really tough on the small business man. Of course this is true in any business just not the gun business.
 
Went to a pawn shop for the first time just two weeks ago (wandering about a strip mall while my car was in the shop). I was pretty underwhelmed. Stripped Anderson and PSA AR-15 receivers for $99 (same ones I get emails about for $49 or less). Saw a well used Bulgarian Makarov, maybe 50% finish remaining - tagged as "Russian / Soviet" for $750 (the billboard on the slide stating "Makarov made in Bulgaria" should have been a hint). Used Magpul Gen 2 mags for $20. And the grand finale before I exited the place ... a well used Springfield GI model tagged as a "WW2 Springfield 1911" for $1,500. The place was just bad news.
 
There are quite a few pawn shops around me that sell guns, but I've only been frequenting one as of late. It's quite possibly the nicest I've ever been in, more like a showroom than a seedy countertop hock shop. About a quarter of it is guns, both new and used. I don't even entertain the idea of purchasing new there, since most of that inventory is black rifles and Glocks, but the used inventory coughs up some decent finds fairly often. The prices are fair enough that I've bought maybe a dozen or so guns from them in the last couple of years, never paying the "sticker" price (who does?)
 
The local pawn shop experience is financially worse than the local gun store experience for the person looking to sell something.
Where a LGS might offer 80% of what they’ll sell it for, the local pawn shops buy guns at about 30-50% of the lowest price you’ve ever seen anywhere, but they sell everything at the highest price you can find anywhere.
If pawn shops are good for anything, they're good for me getting a deal from people who won’t take $250 from a pawn shop for a LNIB Glock with accessories and put it on Armslist for $400...

I have a NIB Glock in my case, my cost to get it in store was $330. I have it out for $450 with a bit of wiggle room. Why would I pay more than $250 for the pre-owned one? I can't sell the pre-owned one for more than $350. Out of that gross profit needs to come rent of the storefront, electric, phone, etc., hopefully leaving something of a net profit when the sale in completed.
Also, I have to hold any buys for 30 days to give the police time to run the serial numbers against reported stolen items. They usually lag a couple of weeks from the time the item is reported pawned/sold til they run it to give people who are out of town time to discover a theft and report it. The LGS doesn't have to do that, can put the gun in the case for sale before the seller is out of the parking lot.
TBH, guns have the least profit margin of anything in my store. I'll pay more of a percentage of my anticipated selling price for a gun than I would a television or stereo. I can't answer for all pawn shops, but I want repeat customers so I try to do fair deals.
Not all pawn shops, LGSs, car dealers, sandwich shops or any business,for that matter are alike.
 
My take on pawn shops is this:

Shops only sell what they get. If they don’t get it then they can’t sell it.

Likewise, condition is what it is when it comes through the door. I don’t beat the pawnbroker up over a rough gun because I’m not in that particular market, but I will consider what it would cost to bring it back and I may still be interested.

Pawn shops are one of the last great bartering points in American business. Your skill of bartering is going to be immensely dwarfed by any experienced pawnbroker. Knowledge of guns is your biggest friend. Knowledge of cost to repair is a close second. The ability to walk away is a third asset that you must have that at any time can trump the other 2.
 
I have a NIB Glock in my case, my cost to get it in store was $330. I have it out for $450 with a bit of wiggle room. Why would I pay more than $250 for the pre-owned one? I can't sell the pre-owned one for more than $350. Out of that gross profit needs to come rent of the storefront, electric, phone, etc., hopefully leaving something of a net profit when the sale in completed.
Also, I have to hold any buys for 30 days to give the police time to run the serial numbers against reported stolen items. They usually lag a couple of weeks from the time the item is reported pawned/sold til they run it to give people who are out of town time to discover a theft and report it. The LGS doesn't have to do that, can put the gun in the case for sale before the seller is out of the parking lot.
TBH, guns have the least profit margin of anything in my store. I'll pay more of a percentage of my anticipated selling price for a gun than I would a television or stereo. I can't answer for all pawn shops, but I want repeat customers so I try to do fair deals.
Not all pawn shops, LGSs, car dealers, sandwich shops or any business,for that matter are alike.

Everything you described is exactly why I don’t buy highly common guns at either a pawn shop or local gun shop when I can pay much less directly to a person who needs to sell.

If a NIB Glock is $330 cost and you can get $450 selling it, that’s a fantastic margin. Glocks around here are $525 to $599 at most places and if they’re getting them for $330, that’s a really good markup for the business.
 
Roughly a 37% mark up. That's about what a retail establishment needs to make as an average across the board of their inventory. There will always be the losers and loss leaders and there will always be those high margin items, too. But, on average, retailers need about 33% margin to cover costs and make a small profit.

A friend of mine owns a hardware store. He loves to sell lawn mowers, weed wackers and snow blowers. But he would rather sell you screws, bolts and washers. Hi mark-up on the big items is about 25-30%. His mark-up on those tiny items can be as much as 1200% because he buys them by the pound and sells them by the piece.
 
Don't know about that. Every single pawn shop I've ever walked into wanted darn near full retail for everything in there.. Never bought a single thing from a pawn shop and likely never will.

Most of the time, that's true, sadly. The first gun I got that was a decent gun at a good price was in Vegas and it was for an S&W 66 4", really nice shape with a set of rubber grips on it, and a worn pair of wood grip in the box. I bought some other stuff that day, but the whole deal was like $350 out the door. Next one was in Henderson and it was on a Dan Wesson 4" 15-2VH with a, as the shop owner said, "A major issue", which was totally untrue. He didn't know what he had was a gun with the trigger spring broken so it jammed up the internals. It was in like new shape other than that, in the tan case, with a set of those pretty Zebrawood grips and a rubber grip too, along with a 6"VH barrel and shroud. I offered him $200 and he took it. It took me longer to get the sideplate off than it did to fix it. Only work had to be done other than change the spring was to polish out a little indentation the end of the broken spring had made on the "bearing" side of the hammer casting. A little sanding of it and a washdown and it was good to go. Next time I went into that pawnshop, I was wearing the gun and he asked, "Is that the gun you bought from me?" "Yep!". "Who fixed it for you?". "I fixed it myself, took like 5 minutes!". He made a face like something tasted bad. Another score was a almost new in the box Astra A-80 for about 60% of what a new one cost locally at the place that carried them. I don't think it was ever shot. In Toledo later on, the deals haven't come as often, but a couple of them have been very good, mostly on DW guns. I don't remember ever getting anything "mainstream" at a good price in Toledo.
 
Pawn shops around here range from good deals to full-on insanity. One of the insane ones had a Savage Edge in 308 for $525, which is about $100 more than a brand new Axis II in the same configuration. And that was without a scope.

There are a few of really good ones that I frequent. When I say "frequent", I mean it. There are two where they will have guns out for me to look at before I even get back to the gun counter. One in particular knows what kind of guns I like and is pretty good at picking them out. I don't buy a whole lot, but I buy enough that they're very accommodating. They'll even pull out guns that they know are out of my range but they thing I'd like to handle. The one I remember most was a Mannlicher-Schonauer in 30-06. The owner of the PS knew I couldn't afford it at the time but thought I would be impressed with it. And I was. It was the smoothest action I've ever touched. The bolt felt like it was floating on a cloud of unicorn tears. But I digress.

If I see something I like, I'll make what I think is a fair offer and they can take it or leave it. If they think my offer it too low, we move on to something else or end up talking about fishing. No hard feelings either way. I offer what it's worth to me, which may be more or less than what it is worth to someone else. I'd never offer more than they're asking, just out of principle :D

Matt
 
My take on pawn shops is this:

. Knowledge of guns is your biggest friend. Knowledge of cost to repair is a close second. The ability to walk away is a third asset that you must have that at any time can trump the other 2.

actually smart phones have changed everything. I sell a certain product, not guns but I will tell you very often I give a price and the customer gets on their smartphone and a few seconds later shoves it in my face and says " well so and so is selling it for this price".
 
One of the area pawn shops is listed as a dealer on GB so I stopped in to check what was available. They had some nice handguns in varying ranges of grades. For the EX+/LN they were tagged as if they were NIB. A pre-owned/shot Sig 229 was $1K. New Anderson lowers were $62. The Glock 19/17 with holster wear were $499. OTOH they had great deals on used power and hand tools. YMMV
 
One of the area pawn shops is listed as a dealer on GB so I stopped in to check what was available. They had some nice handguns in varying ranges of grades. For the EX+/LN they were tagged as if they were NIB. A pre-owned/shot Sig 229 was $1K. New Anderson lowers were $62. The Glock 19/17 with holster wear were $499. OTOH they had great deals on used power and hand tools. YMMV

They have to pay the same price for the Anderson lowers that you do. Of course they need to mark them up to make a profit.
 
I buy most of my guns at a local pawn shop, but its a pawn shop that devotes over 75% of its floor space to guns, and over 75% of those guns are new. ;)
 
I buy most of my guns at a local pawn shop, but its a pawn shop that devotes over 75% of its floor space to guns, and over 75% of those guns are new. ;)
So it's an LGS that does loans.... :D
We have one showcase of new guns and two of used in handguns, about 50-50 on the long guns.
I, personally prefer buying pre-owned guns because I'm cheap that way. :thumbup:
The only firearm, and technically I guess it isn't actually a firearm because it's a BP muzzleloader, I own that I bought new is my TC Seneca and I bought that in '75. Everything bought since has "experience".
 
The only cool thing I found at a pawn shop was a cz-52 that came with a 9mm barrel in the mag pouch instead of a spare magazine!
 
Boy I wish any of my local pawn shops would list used Glocks for $350 instead of the $500+ they always have.

Usually about $10 less than I can buy new from the shop across the street.

You see, that is where the art of the haggle comes into play. I grew up working in the pawn business here in Texas. Generally speaking, you don't mark merchandise with the $ amount that you expect to get for a product, but with the $ amount you hope to get for a product. If FlSwampRat marked his used Glocks with a $350 price tag, then he would not be getting $350 for them, but something less. It is something of a game.

Part of the reason I am not in the pawn business is that I don't enjoy that game. Somebody comes in the store proclaiming they have money burning a hole in their pocket and they want to be a deer rifle we have to sell, right now, and they ask, "What's the bottom dollar we'll take for it?" As a pawnbroker, if you tell them any price that is lower than the list price, that automatically becomes the new starting point from which they want to argue down. So you have a used deer rifle for list for $500 and you tell the guy that your bottom dollar is $435 plus tax, out the door, the customer is going to counter offer you $400 or less, despite the fact you already listed the "bottom dollar" you would take. Like I said, it is a game.

The point is, the list price is often just the starting place for the game that is going to ensue...
 
The problem is that there is no universal language when it comes to haggling. Everybody wants special treatment, some think they can get a lower price by disparaging the merchandise, and some are offended when their version of how things should work doesn't pan out. It is a process, like an auction, that is intended to tease out the willing seller/willing buyer threshold. Many in our day and age don't have time for it, and that's understandable. The system has developed over many generations, however, and isn't likely to change quickly.
 
You see, that is where the art of the haggle comes into play. I grew up working in the pawn business here in Texas. Generally speaking, you don't mark merchandise with the $ amount that you expect to get for a product, but with the $ amount you hope to get for a product. If FlSwampRat marked his used Glocks with a $350 price tag, then he would not be getting $350 for them, but something less. It is something of a game.

Part of the reason I am not in the pawn business is that I don't enjoy that game. Somebody comes in the store proclaiming they have money burning a hole in their pocket and they want to be a deer rifle we have to sell, right now, and they ask, "What's the bottom dollar we'll take for it?" As a pawnbroker, if you tell them any price that is lower than the list price, that automatically becomes the new starting point from which they want to argue down. So you have a used deer rifle for list for $500 and you tell the guy that your bottom dollar is $435 plus tax, out the door, the customer is going to counter offer you $400 or less, despite the fact you already listed the "bottom dollar" you would take. Like I said, it is a game.

The point is, the list price is often just the starting place for the game that is going to ensue...

Sadly also not the case at the local shop. They are uninterested in haggling for guns anyway, must not be much of a money maker for them as they seem uninterested in making a sale with them.

Good prices on power tools though, might do their business there
 
Sadly also not the case at the local shop. They are uninterested in haggling for guns anyway, must not be much of a money maker for them as they seem uninterested in making a sale with them.

Good prices on power tools though, might do their business there

Oh, no doubt. That may be the case with any line of products in any given shop, or with a particular item within a given shop.
 
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