Local Pawn Shops.
Getting the Best Buy

Local pawn shops offer the good, the bad, and the ugly in terms of bargains. Let's take a closer look at this often overlooked bargain source.

About Pawn Shops

A pawn shop is a place of business where clients can put an item they own of value up for collateral in exchange for a loan. If the loan is paid back within the specified time along with interest and fees, the owner reclaims the item. If not, the pawnbroker claims the item and it is then sold at the pawn shop. Items in pawn shops may also have been bought outright from the client.

Some pawn shops may specialize in a field such as jewelry, musical equipment, or sporting goods. They may have new as well as used merchandise.

There are people who consider pawn shops to be seedy, shady, dirty little holes in the wall with a seedy, shady, dirty little pawnbroker smoking a cigar dealing in merchandise stolen by drug addicts. While some pawn shops may need a little house cleaning, almost all are clean, respectable establishments with some being squeaky clean.

Pawn shops have been around for hundreds to thousands of years depending on which country is being referred to. There are over 13,500 pawn shops in the United States with 98% of these being privately owned by small business owners.

Pawn shops have an important purpose in the community. They provide a quick and easy way for people to obtain a small loan. No credit report needed and no stigma of a bad credit report if they can not pay the loan back. They also provide tax revenue.

Pawn shops are regulated and licensed by the state in which they are located. Laws and regulations regarding pawn shops vary from state to state and from country to country. This may include setting interest rates, licensing, bonding, and insurance requirements, and consumer protection regulations

Most require the pawn broker to confirm the identity of the client pledging the item, and to list the description and serial numbers of the items taken in. This list of items is reported to the local authorities to see if any match that of reported stolen property.

Pawn Shop Bargains

Pawn shops also seem to vary in that some are more than happy to negotiate while others only seem to know the word no. Regardless of all that, there is usually a bargain to be had depending on what your looking for. If you don’t see what your looking for you could let them know what it is, and leave a way to contact you should the item show up.

Some ways that help to get a better bargain at the local pawn shops when negotiating is to let them know you have cash on the spot. They can use cash for loans right away whereas they cannot with checks and credit cards.

Most of the merchandise at your local pawn shops should be in good working order as the pawn broker should have tested it when he/she took it in. Most pawnbrokers don’t loan money on junk. They also have their reputation to think about. They want you to come back. However, always protect yourself.

Check it out thoroughly. If it has a plug have them plug it in. If they won’t there is something wrong. Make sure you are not viewing the item through rose colored glasses. Avoid impulse buying. Once upon a time I saw a name brand cymbal at a pawn shop that appeared to be way under priced. This can happen if the pawn broker does not fully appreciate or understand the item.

I examined it in a rather over emotional way. Only lack of funds kept me from buying it. I went back a few weeks later and it was still there. A closer examination revealed a crack I had failed to see the first time. This cymbal was not under priced, it was over priced.

Although most pawnbrokers and their salespeople are honest, some, through ignorance or bad intent, will say something works when, in fact, it does not. I once bought an amplifier on the salespersons word that all it needed was a fuse.

I brought it home and put in a fuse. No go. I had bought it “as is”. No recourse there. I brought it to the repair shop and, happily, got by with a small repair bill and a working amplifier worth over twice what I have into it. A close call, but I got my bargain. Not a risk I would want to take again.

The odds of getting a bargain at the local pawn shops can be improved if you get to know the pawnbroker.I went through a time in my life where my guitar spent more time in the pawn shop than it did at home. Every time I pawned it, and every time I picked it up, I would talk to the pawnbroker and if possible buy a CD, DVD, or VHS movie.

As time went by we got to know each other. When my situation improved I no longer needed to pawn my guitar. I would still stop in to buy items and he would always give me a bargain and then some. Although I have since moved far from his pawn shop, if I am ever passing through, I will stop in to talk a while. If I find something to buy he still gives me a great bargain.

Stay focused if you are after a particular item. It is very easy to get sidetracked in a pawnshop and buy something you may not need. Although an item may be value priced it’s not a bargain if you don’t need it or even want it unless you plan on reselling it for profit.

Online pawn shops sell items through their own website, online auctions, and/or online classified ads. There are online directories that list pawn shops worldwide, nationwide, and state wide, as well as searches for local pawn shops. Some of these provide links to the pawn shop sites and allow the user to leave comments and reviews about the pawn shops.

You can of course find local pawn shops in one of the many yellow pages phone books either online or offline. You can usually find them advertised in shoppers and newspapers. If you happen to be out and about and spot one, check it out. You never know what you might find.

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