I have been looking to trade my HK USP .40 for a sig p229r with no luck on any of the forums. Thinking about hitting up the pawn shops but the few I have been too always try to rip me off. Usually the gun is in POS condition and they try to get the price as if it was in good condition or try to push some ****ty pistol on you.
Can you get a good pistol at a good deal at a Pawn shop?
- Thread starter Tiako
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You can do fine it just depends on the pawn shop. Also you need to have all your information lined up as far as value and so on. Expect to lose some on the trade and pay for your new gun. Those guys are there to make money. I have got some really good deals at pawn shops and I'v seen a lot of rip offs too. No matter what if you play your cards right you can never get ripped off entirely.
Erik M
Member
you might do better at a gun show, if thats an option.
cyclopsshooter
Member
guys who get good deals at pawn shops need to know what they are looking at, often you have to play the pawnbrokers game on the first transaction or two, once you get to know them and they you, working out deals becomes much more possible and fun... it also helps to present yourself honest hardworking man and not as an emotional whiny kid (granted i know nothing about you- just saying for the sake of reading my own words)
IMHO
IMHO
Kinda depends on your area too. My Brother-in-law is out in Utah, he seems to find lots of good guns for good prices in pawn shops, with lots of inventory as well.
However in Iowa, the only guns I seem to find in pawn shops are crappy looking shotguns and no-name crappy pistols with crappy pricing. I'm still trying to figure out if this difference in location means that people in Iowa just don't get rid of good guns or if they just don't go to pawn shops to get rid of them.
Good luck on your transaction.
However in Iowa, the only guns I seem to find in pawn shops are crappy looking shotguns and no-name crappy pistols with crappy pricing. I'm still trying to figure out if this difference in location means that people in Iowa just don't get rid of good guns or if they just don't go to pawn shops to get rid of them.
Good luck on your transaction.
Sav .250
Member
Buyer beware!
Buyer beware but on the other end of the spectrum, you can find some smoking deals at pawn shops. As posted earlier, do your homework. Go over the gun and make sure it is mechanically sound before starting a conversation on price, take a bore light if you can. Get an ideal of the going rate in your area for the particular gun you want.
I have on occasion paid what was on the price tag, simply because it was more than a fair price, actually a great price in some instances, but I always ask if they will at a minimum eat the sales tax. That being said it doesn't hurt to ask for a price reduction. I always phrase it as what is your Out The Door price, this will encompass taxes 99% of the time. As listed above, don't be a smart a**, have cash and don't be afraid to counter offer and if you make the offer and they accept it, pay up. If they won't budge and the price is too high, walk. Wait a few months, if it sets there 6 months, 8 months, go back in and make the same offer, they may very well take it this time around. I waited one pawn shop out a year on a mossy slug gun. It was $60 over priced and they wouldn't budge, one year later the price came down $50 and I walked out with it.
Understand they are there to make as much money as they can.
Good hunting!
I have on occasion paid what was on the price tag, simply because it was more than a fair price, actually a great price in some instances, but I always ask if they will at a minimum eat the sales tax. That being said it doesn't hurt to ask for a price reduction. I always phrase it as what is your Out The Door price, this will encompass taxes 99% of the time. As listed above, don't be a smart a**, have cash and don't be afraid to counter offer and if you make the offer and they accept it, pay up. If they won't budge and the price is too high, walk. Wait a few months, if it sets there 6 months, 8 months, go back in and make the same offer, they may very well take it this time around. I waited one pawn shop out a year on a mossy slug gun. It was $60 over priced and they wouldn't budge, one year later the price came down $50 and I walked out with it.
Understand they are there to make as much money as they can.
Good hunting!
Madcap_Magician
Member
I have found that a lot of our local pawn stores (We don't have any independent ones, just some small chain ones and the big PawnAmericas) all have pretty up-to-date blue books and tend to just price their guns at the max price for the gun in the book. Your only chance for a deal lies in the hope that they didn't find it in the book and had to guess. Otherwise it's generally a ripoff, as the guns are almost always in poor condition and often have been bubba-fied or ghetto-fied.
jcwit
member
Well I suppose so at times. I picked up a couple of years ago a Kimber Custom Stainless Steel .45ACP LNIB with all papers and box for $400.00. So yes I guess you can. Didn't even have a scratch on the frame from the slide lock.
browningguy
Member
Trying to trade is extrmely difficult with individuals. You have to find soemone who has the exact pistol you want, and wants the exact pistol you want to get rid of. The odds of that are low unless you are willing to throw in cash to make it worth their while. Same with a pawn shop, they have to make a profit to stay in business so the deal gets even worse.
As mentioned, the best way to go about it to maximise you position is to sell the first gun, then go buy the second. You can get deals at Pawn shops, but generally it needs to be for cash. Just a couple of years ago I picked up a like new (appeared unfired) Browning BDA 380 in stainless for $300, that was a deal, but it was for cash.
As mentioned, the best way to go about it to maximise you position is to sell the first gun, then go buy the second. You can get deals at Pawn shops, but generally it needs to be for cash. Just a couple of years ago I picked up a like new (appeared unfired) Browning BDA 380 in stainless for $300, that was a deal, but it was for cash.
benEzra
Moderator Emeritus
Depends on the pawn shop. Some are good, fair, and knowledgeable, and some are ripoff artists.
Deanimator
Member
All of my pawn shop experience involves pawn shops in Radcliff, KY next to Fort Knox. Pawn shops near military posts exist primarily to exploit ignorant and desparate GIs. No, I've never seen a deal at one of those. I've mostly just seen counter people lie to potential customers about over priced junk.
#1 pawn shops make money on loans, not on selling collateral
#2 the guns priced low will be snached up by people who frequent pawnshops looking for just that, so it will be rare that you see them. Average priced pistols will be sold at a fair clip...either in person or trough on-line sales. This means the overpriced guns will be the most common...because the other ones sell.
#3 as far as the overpriced ones...they are probably overpriced for a reason. Maybe because the pawnbroker believes the pawner will come back and put some more money down on the loan, because the pawnbroker overpaid and would rather wait than take a loss, or because the pawnbroker thinks that he stands a good chance of selling the gun to a gun idiot at a tidy profit. (or maybe because you have in your head what guns were selling for in 2005...not what they are selling for today)
Think about it. Pawnbrokers are businessmen, which ones who take the time to get an FFL so they can deal in guns are going to skip buying a Blue Book of Gun Values? Why would they ever sell at below blue book?
#2 the guns priced low will be snached up by people who frequent pawnshops looking for just that, so it will be rare that you see them. Average priced pistols will be sold at a fair clip...either in person or trough on-line sales. This means the overpriced guns will be the most common...because the other ones sell.
#3 as far as the overpriced ones...they are probably overpriced for a reason. Maybe because the pawnbroker believes the pawner will come back and put some more money down on the loan, because the pawnbroker overpaid and would rather wait than take a loss, or because the pawnbroker thinks that he stands a good chance of selling the gun to a gun idiot at a tidy profit. (or maybe because you have in your head what guns were selling for in 2005...not what they are selling for today)
Think about it. Pawnbrokers are businessmen, which ones who take the time to get an FFL so they can deal in guns are going to skip buying a Blue Book of Gun Values? Why would they ever sell at below blue book?
kda
Member
I was with a friend in a Tucson pawn shop a couple of weeks ago and helped him deal on a new Glock 19 with case, unopened manual package, two clips, etc. Mint condition .. hard to tell if it had ever been fired. I got the price down to $425 for him and the shop owner even gave him a one year warranty ... to prove he believed the weapon to be trouble free.
We have been to the range twice now with his G19 and it is flawless. We felt that was a great deal. So it can happen. I wish the shop had a G26 on hand. I'd have been dealing on that for myself. I have all the G19s I need.
We have been to the range twice now with his G19 and it is flawless. We felt that was a great deal. So it can happen. I wish the shop had a G26 on hand. I'd have been dealing on that for myself. I have all the G19s I need.
I recently scored a really nice 1947 Enfield No. 5 MK.1 Jungle Carbine in a pawn shop for $150. Turned out to be a really nice shooter too. But I'd say that was the exception rather than the rule. I generally don't trust pawnshops any farther than I could throw them.
mustang_steve
Member
I'd never sell to a pawn shop...but I'd buy from one. Occaisionally I find a place where they can't gague value properly and I see a tremendous bargain....other times I'll see Kel-Tecs for higher than new prices.
NMGonzo
Member
I'd rather sell it here.
cmanhome
Member
I have purchased/traded over 40 Pistols/rifles from the same Pawn shop here where I live
over the past year and a half. Not once did I get shafted . In fact his prices beat all other
gun stores here. Get to know the owner and he will give you some very good deals most of the time.
cmanhome
over the past year and a half. Not once did I get shafted . In fact his prices beat all other
gun stores here. Get to know the owner and he will give you some very good deals most of the time.
cmanhome
Blue Brick
Member
YES!!!!
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