PawnShop Low Ball

Porsche914 · Feb 13, 2012

I popped into a pawnshop yesterday looking for camera lenses. I decided to see what kind of quote they would give me on my 14k bracelet that weighs 10.2 grams. After testing, weighing and running calculations she said "I'll give you $120.00"
I can be a real smartass sometimes but I played nice with her and just said "I guess you would"

The funny part was she seemed suprised when I asked for it back. :shock:

There must be a lot of people out there with no clue as to the value of gold. :?:

Worth $326 melt and offered $120.

NHKeith · Feb 13, 2012

typical.

Detector boy · Feb 13, 2012

That's why I dont go to pawnshops, they don't even give you half of what it is worth.

bruinvikes · Feb 13, 2012

Welcome to America! Greed is one of the problems with the world today! Just my opinion. If you would have sold that to her for that price, she would have had a $300 price tag on it before your hand touched the doorknob to walk out of her store.

Lightningjack · Feb 13, 2012

Detector boy said:
That's why I dont go to pawnshops, they don't even give you half of what it is worth.

Ya but they'll price it for 3x what its worth... :lol:

Gauntlet · Feb 13, 2012

Seriously, I'll give you $20 bucks for it :laughing:

sectshun8 · Feb 13, 2012

Detector boy said:
That's why I dont go to pawnshops, they don't even give you half of what it is worth.

Nor would they. They are there to make money, not trade dollar for dollar :roll:

Iron Patch · Feb 13, 2012

Never understand these posts, but see them over and over. She offered, you said no, so that's that. What if she had offered twice what it was worth? I know exactly what would have happened, you would have sold it and posted here how the crazy pawn chic paid you way too much, and everyone would have laughed, and you would have been fine with it.

I get low offers for stuff all the time and it doesn't bother me in the least. If it's a stupid offer I just outright reject it, but if it seems like the person is being serious I'll give them a small explanation of why I can't accept that amount.

People who offer too little or try to sell way too high are never the ones who make the most money because repeat customers count for a lot!

alumaman · Feb 13, 2012

Pawn shops make their money off un educated people who need money now.It pays to educate yourself before buying or selling.That much of a low ball price is an insult to any educated person.

bigstemz · Feb 13, 2012

Silver

Ive only ever bought one thing from a pawn shop and that was 1000 dollars of .999 silver bullion. The one shop around here gave me a great rate of only .25 cents over spot per 1 Troy once round. :shock:

so I bought alot ! :lol:

Silversmith45 · Feb 13, 2012

I had a silver ounce in my display case this week-end a a woman offered me $20.00 for it. I said it's worth more than that. She said I have to make something on it. I said, what do you think it's in the case for?

Coin_Master · Feb 13, 2012

There are lots of people who take gold and silver into a pawn shop with no idea what it is worth and get ripped off. However making people educate themselves is not right, the actual blame lies on the hawkers who rip the uneducated off.

You should not have to be required to educate yourself, buy a scale, testing kit, etc. The people who run the pawn shop should give you an honest amount for your precious metals. However there are not a lot of honest people in this world.

Then I see people argue "they have to pay low to get by". That's BS. My friend buys gold for a living, pays 87% of melt, and lives quite well. Besides that pawn shops run on much larger volume then he does. If someone is lowballing to makes ends meet, they are not managing their business very well.

SeabeeRon · Feb 13, 2012

I think you are wrong here CM! We are responsible for ourselves and should educate ourselves! Ever hear the phrase..."Buyer Beware!"

Coin_Master · Feb 13, 2012

SeabeeRon said:
I think you are wrong here CM! We are responsible for ourselves and should educate ourselves! Ever hear the phrase..."Buyer Beware!"

I know that we should all educate ourselves but it would not be a requirement if people were more honest. It's because of people being dishonest is why we have to educate ourselves.

AceGVSU11 · Feb 13, 2012

There is nothing dishonest about it. They are making you an offer to buy something you bring to them. People can say yes or no to the offer. Clearly if the people say yes, then that is what they were looking to get out of it. Everyone can say no and just walk away if they don't like the offer. They aren't handcuffed to sell it once they walk through those doors... It only becomes dishonest if the buyer tells the seller that that is all the item is worth and won't pay a penny more...

Everyone is out to make money in our market... if you can't educate yourself about the market... you will probably lose! Bill Gates didn't make a fortune because everyone was honest and fair to him in life... Mark Zuckerberg didn't create a titan of social media with the idea of doing it for charity... Steve Jobs created plenty of jobs but in all "honesty" he did it to benefit his own. Moral of the story... Darwin... Survival of the fittest!

Porsche914 · Feb 13, 2012

Iron Patch....I, like you have seen a number of these posts but have never witnessed it for myself. I have never sold anything to a pawn shop but have bought a few things that were good deals like the Garmin GPS for $35. My post was just observational and a confirmation of what others have been posting.
The in the business "Crazy Pawn Chick" paying too much for my item will make it up on volume. :laughing:

Really, she is in the business and should have the knowledge and tools to not get burned.

I just found the offer so low that it brought up images of people getting taken because they are not aware of the value gold and silver.

CoinMaster...You have a point here. There are many industries that are regulated and require a license, education ect... to participate in. While it is not fullproof (look at Madoff or the subprime loan issue) in complicated transactions, Realestate, banking, investing, insurance a certain amount of trust is placed in these folks to deal in an honest fashion or face sanctions.

This obviously does not apply to pawn shops.
I know this post is rehash but my hope is that our forum members (newbies) get the message since many ask the question, "where do I sell my finds"?

DIGGER27 · Feb 13, 2012

Coin_Master said:
There are lots of people who take gold and silver into a pawn shop with no idea what it is worth and get ripped off. However making people educate themselves is not right, the actual blame lies on the hawkers who rip the uneducated off.

You should not have to be required to educate yourself, buy a scale, testing kit, etc. The people who run the pawn shop should give you an honest amount for your precious metals. However there are not a lot of honest people in this world.

Then I see people argue "they have to pay low to get by". That's BS. My friend buys gold for a living, pays 87% of melt, and lives quite well. Besides that pawn shops run on much larger volume then he does. If someone is lowballing to makes ends meet, they are not managing their business very well.

What color is the sky in your world, CM?
Really.

What "should be" in the real world and what "is" are frequently and really always have been two completely different things.

Let the buyer beware is a very well known saying for a very good reason...it is true and always has been.
The problem is, most people don't take the time to educate themselves as they should about manufactured products and life...so they get disappointed, ripped off or bad value for their money spent.

Tough.

Information on everything is out there, in the libraries, by questioning and asking the opinion of the right people, and especially since the internet came into our lives.

Life is not so nice as to let the uneducated just skate by or get ahead despite their laziness in learning to deal with it, and it never will be.

bowhunter543 · Feb 13, 2012

Gauntlet said:
Seriously, I'll give you $20 bucks for it

That's the main reason I don't watch this show anymore. Nothing but greed.

JBEXPRESS · Feb 13, 2012

But you cant hate the pawn shops for trying... I mean they are running a business, have bills to pay there, people to pay, rent... BUT They do offer way less.. I personally would NEVER deal with them as they are rip offs. ( Makes me want to open up a silver and gold buying booth snd pay 10% more than what pawn shops offer )...

ARAGOLD and MIDWESTREFINERY are the only ones I will ever deal with unless someone local pays cash no lower than 85%-90% ( cuts ou the shipping and insurance I have to pay )

gunwolf · Feb 13, 2012

I take my gold and silver to a friend who is a jeweler...he looks up the going rate on the computer right there in front of you then gives you 80% of that. he is honest , but needs to make money too...I don't have direct contact with anyone to melt it for me.

my other friend has a pawn shop, he makes money by lowballing. if a customer agrees to pennies on the dollar, more money for him...and both parties have agreed and should accept it. if not that's fine too, go your seperate ways.

PawnShop Low Ball

Porsche914

Elite Member

NHKeith

Detector boy

Full Member

bruinvikes

Elite Member

Lightningjack

Gauntlet

sectshun8

Iron Patch

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alumaman

bigstemz

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Silversmith45

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Coin_Master

Moved On

SeabeeRon

"Can Do" Moderator

Coin_Master

Moved On

AceGVSU11

Sponsor

Porsche914

Elite Member

DIGGER27

In Memory Of

bowhunter543

Junior Member

JBEXPRESS

Lunch Time Bandit

gunwolf

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