Double Naught Spy
Sus Venator
Having grown up in the pawn business, working in 4 shops in 3 counties of North Texas from the 1970s to the 1990s, I find some of the gross opinions to be a bit amusing in that they either show some interesting prejudice (potentially stereotypical historical) or they reflect some downright ignorance (lack of knowledge) about the profession.
Pawn shops don't just deal in items procured as a result of the criteria you suggest. People dump unwanted items there, make trades for items, etc. Some items are brand new.
Then so are banks and many lending institutions. Laws vary from state to state, but in all the states in which I am familiar, pawn shops are heavily regulated. If you have found stolen merchandise that belonged to you in a pawn shop, then either you didn't give the police enough information to recover said item when they checked pawn tickets or they didn't do their job. Pawn shops operating within the law will have an extremely low amount of merchandise that ever comes through that is stolen. Why? Because of the information required to make loans or purchases. Just about any place else is better for selling stolen goods than a pawn shop and likely more profitable.
BINGO!
And very nicely said weisse52.
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And being better informed is your first step to not making a bad purchase, ANYWHERE, but the tactic is especially applicable to buying used items, be they from your buddies, gun shops, pawn shops, gun shows, or anywhere.
I have spent a lot of time in pawn shops and not just the ones I worked in over the years. As noted they are made up of all kinds of people with all kinds of ideas on how they should run their businesses. Some pawnbrokers are really pretty poor business people...sort of like a lot of gun shop proprietors we have discussed on this board. That wasn't how I was taught to conduct business, but many pawn shops and gun stops manage to stay in business in spite of very poor customer relations.
So I guess you have never purchased anything from anyone or any business that sold an item at a lower price because they were in need of money. You have never taken more money for an item or a job than you were due. You would never buy items from an estate or closeout auction.I don't feel right taking advantage of someone else's misery/stupidity/misfortune....
Pawn shops don't just deal in items procured as a result of the criteria you suggest. People dump unwanted items there, make trades for items, etc. Some items are brand new.
The only time I would step foot in a pawn shop is when I'm looking for a tool that was recently stolen.(I have recovered stolen tools more then once.) I think they are nothing more then legal fences.
Then so are banks and many lending institutions. Laws vary from state to state, but in all the states in which I am familiar, pawn shops are heavily regulated. If you have found stolen merchandise that belonged to you in a pawn shop, then either you didn't give the police enough information to recover said item when they checked pawn tickets or they didn't do their job. Pawn shops operating within the law will have an extremely low amount of merchandise that ever comes through that is stolen. Why? Because of the information required to make loans or purchases. Just about any place else is better for selling stolen goods than a pawn shop and likely more profitable.
Great example. Last I recall, a government issue picture ID is required for pawning or selling items in pawn shops in Colorado. This makes pawn shops a very bad place to fence goods as it makes it very easy to track down the person who pawned the items.It seems that here in the Denver area, pawn shops are nothing more than fencing operations for the thieving junkies to sell their stolen goods at. That's my main gripe about them.
Pawn Shops are like people. They're either good, bad or somewhere in between.
BINGO!
And very nicely said weisse52.
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I buy quite a few at pawn shops. You have to be better informed than the guy at the shop or you'll get stuck, but I've gotten some nice guns.
And being better informed is your first step to not making a bad purchase, ANYWHERE, but the tactic is especially applicable to buying used items, be they from your buddies, gun shops, pawn shops, gun shows, or anywhere.
I have spent a lot of time in pawn shops and not just the ones I worked in over the years. As noted they are made up of all kinds of people with all kinds of ideas on how they should run their businesses. Some pawnbrokers are really pretty poor business people...sort of like a lot of gun shop proprietors we have discussed on this board. That wasn't how I was taught to conduct business, but many pawn shops and gun stops manage to stay in business in spite of very poor customer relations.