Insane clerk at pawn shop

[ATBackPackin]

When you go to repay the loan, put in a sealed envelope and tell him that it is all there so no need to count it. See how fast he rips that envelope open to "check" and make sure, yet cannot do that with a gun to possibly safe someones life or his own. It amazes me how often I get swept at gun shops.

Shawn

 

[Corporal K]

I have cruised about in many a pawn shop looking for firearm deals and have come across some real wingnuts that have brought their firearms inside the place to pawn.

It happened all the time at the one I worked in. We would even stop people at the door and ask them if it was unloaded. Then one of us would rack a slide and eject a live round.

Pawn shops are like any other type of business. Some are very good, some are ok, and some are awful. But they're in business to make money from 2nd-hand goods, not to pay or sell retail.

 

[heron]

Sounds like the clerk got all his firearms knowledge from TV and movies, but there's a lot of people like that.

Maybe you could do them a favor -- print up a large poster of the four gun safety rules and hand it over to them when you go to pay off the loan.

And as for a source of occasional quick cash, maybe you could find a bank that could set you up with a credit card for your business. You don't seem to need too much cash too often, so that might work for you. Better than the pawn shops if you can manage that.

 

[Ala Dan]

Sounds kind'a like a "Harry Potter" type salesperson~? BTW, I have
seen customers that stereotype this kind'a conduct as well~!

 

[minutemen1776]

Sorry, but I don't see a problem. Yeah clerk was lowballing you, but anyone can do that. They run a business, and if they can get an idiot to take the lower number of dollars than they win out.

Your point is valid, but you omit the other side of the coin. Trying to get the best price on the deal is a key to running a successful business, but so is retaining good customers. If you make idiot offers, you'll profit from the real idiots, but you'll also treat others like idiots in the process. I have very recently dealt with pawn shops that offered only pennies on the dollar for an item I was trying to trade. I knew what my gun was worth, and I expected to take considerably less than that if I dealt with a gun shop. However, what was offered was insultingly low, and their staunch refusal to negotiate from their extreme lowball bottom line only made it worse. Of course, they weren't obliged to deal with me, but the same holds true for me, too. In the end, I walked from both places, and I don't intend to return. I wonder how much future profit they lost from me (and others like me) because of their lowballing. Is the net result it worth treating all their customers like idiots? I don't know. Maybe they prefer an idiot client base.

 

[NavyLCDR]

Sounds like Chumly got transferred from Vegas....

You mean this Chumly?

Actually, I know who you are really talking about and Chumly and I have at least one thing in common. I will shoot just about anything, many times with the hope it isn't going to blow up, and the older the firearm the more I like it!

I still remember the first 8mm Lebel round I hand loaded, using experimental data that I extrapolated from the little bit of data out there, and hoped I got it right! Last time I checked I still have 8 fingers and 2 thumbs...

 

[lions]

He pointed a gun at the customer, it could have been loaded............

Which would have only been due to OP bringing in a loaded gun for inspection.

Which was neither the case nor the point, the point is that the clerk had no idea as to whether or not the gun was loaded. If the OP had brought in a loaded gun and the clerk picked it up and shot someone who would you hold responsible?

The circumstances that led up to the clerk handling that gun should have no bearing on how it is handled.

 

[dougw47]

Working in a pawn shop...

In 2002...I moved from Dallas/FTW out in the beautiful, clean and open spaces of East Texas. I moved into the poorest county, statistically, in the entire state. There are only three incorporated cities in the county, with a total of 2,500 residents combined.

For a couple of years...the only jobs I could find were part-time and low paid. I started out driving a school bus...$100 per week, then fought and won a clerk job at the local drive-in grocery...$5.00 an hr. Things are tough here, as you can see...I was one of the lucky ones. Some people drive a 100 miles a day to get better paying jobs, but transportation breakdowns cripple many of those.

Having set the stage with that, I was a regular visitor at the local pawn shop, buying occasionally...pawning frequently...and fixing and cleaning guns for them. The offered me a job, finally, for the princely salary of $7.50 hr. A NY chain came in to East Texas and bought out 11 individual pawn shops, firing some old employees and bringing nubies...some of which had never touched a gun. The store used me as a trainer, and we were the biggest source of guns in a twenty mile radius.

I think in that time, I have seen all the horror stories I have seen posted, and more. LOL A Yankee District Manager came, did not like me, and I had to go. I miss it, but I found a better job.

Now that I am crippled...and semi-retired, I visit several times a week to talk with the gang. They have a habit of saving "Treasures" for me to look and...and I still help them with there problems/cleaning/repairing. Last year the store mgr and asst mgr needed to go to an ATF meeting, their dist. mgr (new guy) paid me to babysit the store while they were gone. It was fun.

Thanks to me, they got resource books for the store, Gun Traders, Cartridges of the World, Bluebook...etc. Which helps, and when the went on line...I directed them to Gun Brokers and others. Now when they get in a Marlin or Winchester lever-action...they look up and put the year of mfg on the price tag. It helps the salespeople/clerks know a little more...and that is a good thing. One lady has been there three years now, always meets me a has questions...an it is rewarding to see how she has grown.

The asst mgr likes to try and test me, he brought out fifteen cartridges the other day and challenged me to identify them without touching. I missed one, called a 10mm a .40, but they gave me that one. LOL

Not every gun store employee, pawn shop employee...knows everything about gun or ammo. Some I correct gently when they are with buyers, some I wait until after the customer leaves...but in 4 stores around here, 80% know their stuff. But, like the guy last week that told a cust. that he could fire a 7mm08 in a 7 mag rifle...I feel obliged to step in.

We have to be smarter and not take as carved in stone what they say.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[Officers'Wife]

Recycling is your friend. My uncle used to save all his discarded wire and electronic components and melt down the copper in a home foundry furnace. You would be amazed how much copper is accumulated and how much jewelers and hobbyists will pay for bar copper.

Components- especially IC's (chips) contain gold as well. But unless you enjoy creative metallurgy it's not worth the trouble to extract.

 

[DinosaurJones]

It's impossible to actually buy any guns from some of the pawn shops around here... They just let them sit in the case until some moron wants to pay 50% more than you could buy the same gun new. I tried to pick up a used S&W Sigma from them once... they wouldn't budge off of $600 (this is the time where you could get them brand new for $300) I used to frequent these shops & have picked up some deals on occasion, but the older I get the less I have the patience to fool with them.

 

[Yo Mama]

Which was neither the case nor the point, the point is that the clerk had no idea as to whether or not the gun was loaded. If the OP had brought in a loaded gun and the clerk picked it up and shot someone who would you hold responsible?

This should not be any surprise. It's not just clerks in pawnshops, I've had gunsmiths cover me before! Much more uncomfortable when it was someone else's gun also, as mine I knew was unloaded but was not the one he pointed at me.

Both would be responsible in my book, the owner if it was loaded, and the clerk if not checked. Both equally negligent if this happened.

Education on firearms has dramatically decreased in our society missing links between family and friends. It used to be society that taught gun safety, but now that's missing. So that's why I said it does not surprise me that this happened at all.

 

[shiftyer1]

I work in a pawnshop and I totally agree with Yo Mama and his statement regarding gun safety in our society. I will say that if you came into my store and I was working I WILL take control of your weapon as soon as you get to the counter, then I will clear the weapon and then inspect it. At no time will I point it at you, me or anyone else during or after this process. In ten years of working this job i've seen several empty guns with loaded chambers. I do try to educate other employees in gun safety but it doesn't always sink in.

 

[rmfnla]

I've never pawned anything but I do remember when you could find decent deals at pawn shops.

I agree with everyone who has posted about how insane their prices are these days.

The last four or five times I've looked at guns I've walked out laughing.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Your point is valid, but you omit the other side of the coin. Trying to get the best price on the deal is a key to running a successful business, but so is retaining good customers.

No indication the OP was a good customer.

If you make idiot offers, you'll profit from the real idiots, but you'll also treat others like idiots in the process.

$250 wasn't an idiot offer and what you consider to be an idiot offer is often all the shop is willing to pay for a variety of reasons. FMV or FM Pawn Value doesn't carry much weight if the pawn shop doesn't necessarily do a lot of business in a given area (such as guns) or if they are (or are likely about to be from pulls) covered up with a type, brand, or model.

I have very recently dealt with pawn shops that offered only pennies on the dollar for an item I was trying to trade. I knew what my gun was worth, and I expected to take considerably less than that if I dealt with a gun shop. However, what was offered was insultingly low, and their staunch refusal to negotiate from their extreme lowball bottom line only made it worse.

If you are going to be insulted, then you are dealing on an emotional level and not a business level and pawn shops aren't for the faint of heart.

I agree with everyone who has posted about how insane their prices are these days.

The last four or five times I've looked at guns I've walked out laughing.

And yet pawn shops continue to sell a lot of guns. Interesting.

 

[Crazy Carl]

Clerk would've been nursing a broken arm for that stunt. That behavior is simply inexcusable.

 

[killchain]

No different from 99% of the dealers at our big gunshows here in Phoenix. Everything that isn't there's, is junk (in their eyes). It's comical to see them making offers on identical items that they have displayed. Example, I saw one guy offering some kid $50 for a like new stainless 10-22. Said "you can't get hardly get $100 for'em", meanwhile, he's selling POS blued beaters 10-22 for $175???

These guys prey on desperation.

Yeah. One of those guys took a shotgun from me for $300 cheaper than it was worth because I desperately needed truck tires.

I knew he was stiffing me. But I really needed the tires.

 

[makarovnik]

Grabbing my gun from me is a good way to get shot. Especially since I usually carry two.

I remember one time a friend came up behind me while I was distracted and put his hand on my hip, right where my gun was. I spun around quickly and yanked that puppy out. I was just starting to pull the gun when I realized he was just sneaking up behind me to tickle me.

He never did it again. Man I hate that. Someone could have been really hurt but it was a reaction and I couldn't stop my myself. Should I try to slow my reaction time down in the future?

 

[HunterBear71]

Pawn shops are in the desperation business. I once visited a local shop hoping to find some interesting used guns. After examining their merchandise and prices, I didn't know if I should laugh or be insulted. I'm guessing their customers are not the most knowledgable folks when it comes to gun prices.

 

[kmcintosh78]

I think I would have b slapped the guy, taken my unopened case back and walked out.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Yeah. One of those guys took a shotgun from me for $300 cheaper than it was worth because I desperately needed truck tires.

I knew he was stiffing me. But I really needed the tires.

He didn't still you. To be stiffed means not to be paid. You didn't get FMV for your gun, but then again, you were selling to a retailer. What do you expect. If he gives you full value, then how do you expect him to be able to sell the gun? You would have gotten better money selling to an individual, but who wasn't going to resell the gun, but you didn't have time to bother finding a buyer who would pay you more. From a strictly theoretical sense and applied here in reality, the value of an item is what the market will bear for it at any given time, place, situation. At that moment, the value of your gun was $300 less than the noted FMV elsewhere as you weren't elsewhere.

Pawn shops are in the desperation business.

Yeah, like plumbers, AC repair folks, mechanics, food stores, and funeral homes. Crazy thing, all those folks want to be paid for their goods and services especially when I need them RIGHT NOW!

After examining their merchandise and prices, I didn't know if I should laugh or be insulted.

Wow, another person being insulted. Sounds like some of y'all may need CPR on our forearms if you ever have a heart attack. If you don't like something, don't buy it. To be insulted by somebody else's price offer on a product goes beyond wearing your heart out on your sleeve. Are you insulted to see some of the prices on Gunbroker?

I would be willing to bet that there are a lot of folks here who walk into pawn shops, find something they want, and their idea of negotiation is to ask, "What is the bottom dollar you will take for this?" That tells the pawnbroker two things. First, it says that you likely aren't a serious purchaser. Second, it shows you are too lazy to actually come up with an offer yourself given that there is already a price on the product, you have seen it, and you automatically expect to be given the bottom dollar price just for the asking...when in reality, you are going to then counter with something even lower than what the shopkeeper said was his bottom dollar.

Pawn shops deal with this sort of behavior every day. So when you say,

I'm guessing their customers are not the most knowledgable folks when it comes to gun prices.

Many are not, but those who know how to negotiate on a serious level (money talks and bull ____ walks) come away with some very good deals.

 

[DinosaurJones]

I have the sneaking suspicion DNSpy is a pawn broker...

Quote:
Pawn shops are in the desperation business.
Yeah, like plumbers, AC repair folks, mechanics, food stores, and funeral homes. Crazy thing, all those folks want to be paid for their goods and services especially when I need them RIGHT NOW!

Pawn shops are businesses like any other... no one forces you in the door, nor are you forced to sell your stuff. They aren't "ripping you off" for not giving you what an item retails for, that's how it works.

BUT

(at least in my experience) pawn shops tend to have loose ethics when it comes to buying and selling merch... most of time it's buyer beware... its not walmart... they arent going to tell you if you are overpaying, or how far below value you're selling something... i've had pawn brokers tell me that a lot of merchandise comes from drug addicts... "not their problem"... and i agree... it's not their problem... but it is exploitative.

 

[JoeSlomo]

Well then you shouldn't have let him snatch it from your hands!

There are times when you need to assert yourself.

This was one of them.

Learn from the experience and move on imo...

 

[Rshooter]

I gotta agree with Dinosaur. Most pawn shops around here ask full retail for used guns.

 

[killchain]

He didn't still you. To be stiffed means not to be paid. You didn't get FMV for your gun, but then again, you were selling to a retailer. What do you expect. If he gives you full value, then how do you expect him to be able to sell the gun? You would have gotten better money selling to an individual, but who wasn't going to resell the gun, but you didn't have time to bother finding a buyer who would pay you more. From a strictly theoretical sense and applied here in reality, the value of an item is what the market will bear for it at any given time, place, situation. At that moment, the value of your gun was $300 less than the noted FMV elsewhere as you weren't elsewhere.

I'm sorry Sir, I didn't mean to use the wrong terminology and offend you.

Some jackal in a shirt boned me out of the price of my shotgun simply because I was desperate.

It was completely my fault for being desperate. I am sorry.

 

[lions]

Some jackal in a shirt boned me out of the price of my shotgun simply because I was desperate.

I can't say I completely disagree with you, I just disagree more than I agree in this case. The reason for that is because you agreed to the deal, if someone knowingly consents to a bad deal then they weren't taken advantage of.

My only problem with pawn shops is when they take advantage of someone who doesn't know the exact value of what they are selling. I would prefer that those people take the time to research their guns to know FMV and understand that pawn shops need to turn a profit just like any other business, but I don't believe that you need to be a firearms expert to get a fair shake when you make a deal.

That would be a case of "just because you can, doesn't mean you should." IMO and YMMV