IamA manager at a Pawn Shop in Columbus, Ohio. We do more business than American Jewelry and Loan ( Hardcore Pawn ) AMA!

Do you call in an expert?

It always cracks me up watching Pawn Stars - they call an expert for nearly everything.

We have called in a expert ONCE. This was about a year back for a $13,000 cello. We ended up pawning it for $5,000.

Why for so cheap?

We want people to come back for their item, if they are in a hard spot and we loaned him let's say $8,000 he would be less motivated to pay us back and we'd be force to sell a cello for $13,000 - which isn't the easiest task to accomplish.

I assume you sell it back at a higher price than what he pawned it for? What would the typical rate be for a $5000 loan?

$254 a month on a $5,000 loan.

Now if we make a $5,000 PURCHASE that item will pull at least 8-10K

How do I haggle? I am so awkward and awful at it.

Practice practice practice. Understand that businesses want , well , business. Almost everything can be negotiated.

I've heard that you can tell exactly how much money a pawn shop has in an item by decoding the tag on an item, is that true?

Absolutely! Decoding each pawn shops code will help you find out which items they have the least in and help you work them a better deal.

For example let's say the code is NASCARFANK 1234567890 AK on a tag would = $80 and that's referring to the amount of money the pawn shop has in an item. So if you see something you want priced $249 but you notice they only have $80 in it you can typically negotiate it down to double ticket / $160

Hey, thanks! That's really neat. I'm not really sure how you got $80 from that tag, though, instead of $20 or $50?

That's a bad code I just made up to reference.

Typically pawn shops use POLICEMANK

So AK would be $80 LC $35 ETC.

Sorry about the confusion :)

Do you ever shoot cannons? And when you can't make a deal do you say "Sorry we couldn't make a deal." While you reach out to shake hands, but look down and away and start moving away while you reach for handshake?

BOOM BABY!

Nope - never shot a cannon. We do have hundreds of really awesome guns though.

I'm never a dick if I can't make a deal - you will have a hard time finding someone more reasonable and willing to work with you than me.

Some employees though - not so reasonable. This is where the drama and fights between customers and pawn brokers occur.

Do you have any stories of receiving an item out of pity? Like if they are so down on their luck, they present you with something to buy or pawn, but it is really not much of value, but their hard-luck story touches you.

Yes - but I only do this with customers I've dealt with for years and have grown to like because I know they are good people, just down on there luck. If a random person walks in I always hear them out - but a majority of people do use the money for alcohol and drug addiction.

My neighbor's daughter stole jewelry from apartment. I found out later that she had a drug problem. If you know that someone is on drugs or alcohol, would you still buy what they were trying to sell?

My father gave me a gold necklace for my birthday one year. It was the only piece of jewelry he ever gave me. She stole this from me after he passed away. I'll never see it again.

That's unfortunate - I'm sorry to hear.

People with drug & alcohol problems are professional bullshitters. Sometimes it can be VERY hard to tell if someone has a problem or is stealing from people to provide for that habit.

If something is clearly stolen - I'll pass. I hated dealing with SCUM and I had no problem turning them away.

How do you get an inkling that something is stolen?

Absolutely - It's good for the original owner if we purchase the merchandise opposed to it being sold on the streets. Not only can we return the owner their property, we can also bust the scumbag who took it via the customer information required to sell us anything.

Non of that is possible if I simply pass on an item, just because I suspect it to be stolen.

Be honest though.... If a crackhead came in with an untraceable item wanting a fast $50 and you knew it was worth $1000, you would be all over that.

true - that only happened to be once though , it was a sterling silver silverware set the crackhead stole from his mom. His mom was able to recover all the silverware though and her son got charged hard.

How does this work assuming you didn't know it was stolen? The mom some how finds out her son stole it and pawned it at your shop. The police comes and recovers it and does some paper work. You're out of pocket $50. - but no other trouble due to pawnshop "loophole" The mom gets her silverware back. Son gets charged.

Does it happen like that?

Never mind, it's answered below in a different question. Mom has to pay the $50

no - mom files police report with description , detective connects the dots and locates the silverware. Mom comes and gives us our $50 back and we return her silverware, the cops already have all the pawn ticket information in the police system and know who sold it. They ask the mom if she wants to press charges, in this case she did because her son was a heroin addict.

What makes someone a repeated consistent customer over the years? Are these people that just need quick loans on a regular basis, or people that just love pawning junk, or what? I figured the pawn business wasn't the place to see consistent faces, unless they're addicts...

Several things - some people get monthly welfare checks , even with this money they are constantly $50-100 short at times and will pawn the same item 20 different times.

Other people do bring in a variety of different items and sell them. Some just enjoy coming in and seeing what we pulled for sale that's new as our inventory is always changing.

Other people on a more sad note just enjoy the interaction with us - they are convinced we are all buddies just because we gave them a good deal on a TV .

What is something that you flat out refused to buy?

Edit: buy not take

Tube TVS. At least once a day someone would start walking in with a 150LB old school TV, all the employees would yell " NO WE DON"T TAKE THOSE " before he could finish opening the door.

Also sewing machines - we have too many!

I've got one upstairs. I don't know how I'm going to get out down stairs because it's so big and heavy

Step 1 : open window

Step 2 : throw tv out window

How often would people not come back for the things they originally chose to pawn?

It averaged out to about 70/30 split.

70% would come back, 30% bailed.

Where does he majority of he store's profits come from? Selling those items from the 30%?

Interest , we currently have about $4,500,000 active pawn inventory that we are collecting monthly interest in. Interest is essentially all profit - so it adds up quick. And that's just 1 location

What is the craziest thing you have had someone try to sell you?

What is the craziest thing you have had someone come in looking for?

Someone came in one day with a human skeleton and foot. We bought it for $100!

One guy pulled me aside and asked pretty privately if we had any " Good sex robots " he then proceeded to tell me about this article he read regarding the matter and sparking his interest. He ended up just buying some porn... poor guy

Why would a human skeleton and foot be worth $100 to you? How would you resell it? Was it someone famous?

Nope! We actually sold it for around $400 on eBay, it was a surprisingly good buy.

We suspect it to be stolen from a medical classroom.

You're allowed to buy stolen items?

A stolen item is only stolen once registered through the police system.

You make a police report and give them a serial number , it gets entered into a database.

We run everything through leads online - a huge police database for stolen numbers. We hold everything we buy for a minimum of 15 days to assure to clears police check - if it turns up stolen the original owner gets contacted with the location of his/her merchandise.

To sum up your question - stolen merchandise is never fun to mess with , a lot of it does slip through the cracks of this system though by people not having enough information to report.

So if it comes up stolen, say a week after you bought it, then you have to return the item and are out the money? How often does that happen?

A pawn shop is win win WIN. We don't lose , unless the FNG ( fucking new guy ) buys fake gold.

We are protected under the law for our initial investment amount when a item turns up stolen. Meaning if I bought a Galaxy S5 that turned up stolen for $150, the owner of that device would have to reimburse me $150 to receive his phone back.

I hate Ohio's law's on this. I have to pay to get my own property back. 9/10 of the time its not worth paying to get it back. Should be the property is returned and the pawn shop should have to sue the person who sold it.

I hate Ohio's stance on this too. It sucks. Especially because we always have way more capital than the victim.

Suing would be pointless, I promise you that crook is already in a ton of debt.

Huh, interesting. So Pawn Stars lied to us then (surprising, I know). I remember in an episode Rick said if they buy an item that turns out to be stolen, they are out the money they spent on it. Interesting to hear that this is not the case.

The laws from Nevada may differ from Ohio - keep that in mind.

I'm pretty sure selling dead people parts is a violation of eBay's terms of service.

Pretty sure or 100% sure? Because I'm 100% sure we sold them.

What do you hate the most about Pawn Stars?

I have talked with a few people who went on the show - it's all pre-planned and acted out by all parties.

I understand though - just not how a pawn shop functions on a day to day level.

So... Where's your show?

Give us 10 years :]

Aren't those shows fake anyway? Everybody walks in as if they don't notice the cameras, yet, if someone's reporting the news, everyone is behind them waving their arms.

150% fake

WHAT THE FUCK!?! A GTR for 29k? That bastard!

He pawned it - and came back within 60 days!

If he sold it for 29K I personally would have slapped him.

I was gonna say, if I could get a GTR from a dumbass for $30k I would in a heartbeat.

Unfortunately for me and you - not many idiots own GTRS

Do you ever feel like your taking advantage of people? I have heard Les say on their show that they are performing a service for the community, and while I agree some people need cash right away for an emergency others use the money to purchase alcohol or drugs.

The pawn system is designed to prey on stupidity. A pawnshop can be a great service to the community, if they community has any intelligence at all. Typically the areas pawn shops are in are poor , low intelligence communities who get stuck in a never-ending loop of paying us interest.

Our annually interest rates are ridiculous. ( over 188% depending on the loan amount )

Did you ever have someone do a "storage pawn", was there a policy on those, and how did you feel about it? By a storage pawn, I mean someone pawning something, possibly for an unusually low amount, not because they actually needed the loan but so they could simply have short term secured and insured storage. I've heard about people doing this, especially for guns and jewelry (maybe they're a kid at college, or are going on vacation and don't have a safe), but have never actually met or known someone who has.

Great question - yes.

95% of the time it's for motorcycle storage during the hellish winter in Ohio.

Do they gypsys ever come in your store ? Are they hard to deal with ?

Not as hard as the amish... Those cheap bastards

[deleted]

Sounds about right...

I like their furniture and ham though.

Let's suppose I'm slightly intoxicated and really want something in your store. Of course I don't have a ticket. But I do think something like a PS4 back there is mine.

How do I convince you to "give me my fucking shit?!"

feel free to reply in PM

Prove it to me , if I think there is ANY credibility to your story it's not hard.

Let's say you think I have your PS4, give me a list of the games you own/play and I will go in the back , turn it on and find a list of saved game data to confirm your information.

So, if there was a picture of my junk on the memory card of a Canon T3i, I could take it home with me?

I actually personally purchased a T3i from the shop - the 4GB sd card was filled with nudes, and not the good kind.

Comment made me laugh, thanks

Hrm, give me 20 mins to study most common games played in the last year then I'll be at your store to "claim" "my" things

Good luck with that - in order for me to buy it you better be PRECISE AS HELL. I will interrogate you till you want to leave and if I find any flaw in your information you loose.

Plus trick questions :0

Ever been robbed or in a screaming match with a customer? If so how'd it go?

I'm a very peaceful and calm guy - I've never been in a screaming match with a customer or robbed near or at the shop.

Other employees though - my god. They often result in violet fistfights with cops showing up and pepper spraying the involved parties.

Jeeze. Also how many historical artifacts do you come across? Is pawn stars telling the truth or has reality tv lied to me?

Pawn Stars can be very education - I enjoy the history.

We don't come across to many historical artifacts. If you examined my customer base you would understand.

If you were offered a show on the History Channel would you take it?

No - what would the show be about?

How Americas bottom class mismanages their money?

Well that would make a good documentary.

Might even make Netflix :]

Have you ever bought an item and sold it for less than you bought it for?

Personally - once. We are humans and make mistakes.

This happens a lot though - if I sit on a TV for 4 years , I don't care if I paid $100 for it if it's only worth $80. I'll sell it for what it's worth.

If I have a laptop filled with porn and I pawn it, will employees go through my shit?

No - now I have caught employees looking at nudes taken on a phone after it's been pulled for pawn and put for sale.

What's the most valuable item someone has pawned with you?

2010 Nissan GTR! Easily worth $65,000 cash

I knew someone who had his new $7,000 road bike stolen. He sent out some emails to keep an eye out for it and one friend called out of the blue to sat that he saw it at XYZ Pawn. So the owner of the bike goes down there and explains the situation and the owner goes off about how he doesn't have any bikes there and tries to kick him out of the store. The bikes owner tells them to kindly fuck off and forces himself into the back room to see his bike. Any idea what the pawn shop owner was thinking or doing?

Being a piece of shit.

He probably bought the bike for $100 and an orgasm thinking about the profits he going to reap when he sells it on eBay

All to be ruined by the actually owner of the bike coming to claim his merchandise .

Some people are shitty :/

1. Do you have proof that the viper is from "Vegas Vacation"? Just b/c the customer told you it was from a movie, even if he proves he bought it from a cast/ crew member, doesn't mean it's the one you saw on the big screen.

2. If you are dealing w / autographed items, is there anything you can do in house to make sure that the signature(s) is/ are real? Having your cousin say a ball got signed by the only two time Heisman winner, doesn't mean Archie actually signed it

If you were to inspect the car in person and then compare it to the car in the movie you'd believe it was the same. The car is very unique and has had a lot of custom work done to it!

Autographed items are a pain - nearly impossible to authenticate and even if they come with proof of authenticity all we can really do is look it up and eBay and get a couple opinions from various employees. We either pass or hardly pay anything for that stuff.

We also are in a very rough part of Columbus, not very many super high end collectables come through our doors.

We also are in a very rough part of Columbus, not very many super high end collectables come through our doors.

One of the many on Broad street then?

Close - but no cigar ;)

how much for the little girl?

Funny - you'd be surprised how may parents make jokes about pawning their kids to us.

We simply can't legally take them!

You can't legally take them. I think we understand each other.

;]

Got any cool rocks or fossils for sale?

Actually yes - we purchased what we think is a part of a meteor for $10 - been trying to sell it for $100 for some years now.

Unfortunately we believe someone also used it as an ash tray.

not sure how pawn shops work in real life in usa, so don't be mad for stupid question?

if person a pawns a golden ring, do you put it on display that moment he pawns it, or after he doesn't make any payments?
how long do you wait for pawner (person who pawned) to pay interest before you put it on sale?
do you usually sell stuff from shop or trough ebay?

No problem - most people don't.

No! We hold items for 90 days minimum without any payment, and we typically give you an additional 2-4 weeks out of courtesy.

We hold jewelry in huge safe, with a pawn ticket # stapled to the envelope and numerically sorted so we can find it when you pick it up or it comes for sale.

We do a ton of sales on eBay - online sales are where the money is at these days. Especially if you're located in a not so wealthy part of town or city.

Do feel guilty charging these interest rates to people that have little sense of economics?

Yes - even though pawn shop is a very lucrative business, it's not worth it IMO.

That's why I got out.

Do you take the time to research the value of items before placing them for sale, or just do it based on what you paid for it with a certain % markup? I've found some unbelievable deals at pawnshops as much as crazy inflated pricing.

We do - some shops don't.

general rule of thumb for pawn shops is eBay sold listings. This generally gives you an accurate dollar figure for market value of almost anything.

What are the most popular or(and) the most unusual items people bring to pawn?

We deal with a ton of laptops. We have over 500 in our stockroom. We also deal with a ton of flatscreen TVS & jewelry.

As far as unusual - medical equipment is always weird to deal with.

We also get a lot of weird contractor tools , for weird obsolete jobs. As Rick says, you never know what's going to walk through those doors!

What does a Pawn Shop not want a customer to know?

That month to month interest rates add up to an insanely high interested rate annually .

If I loan you $25 your interest rate is $5.25 a month. If you keep your loan for a year that's $63 a year in interest , 252% interest annually.

Sad to see Columbus lose you, as your original AMA was quite entertaining. Hope life is well.

You mentioned sewing machines as something you have too much of. Does that mean you sell them below your "normal" markup. For example, if you know good x is worth 100 dollars, but it is in high demand, you can charge 150. But you know something is worth 100, but it is low demand, so you charge 130. (Assuming you gave the pawner, let's say 60 for both.)

If that is the case, what are the "best buys" of pawn shops. (Pretending everyone needs a serger sewing machine or whatever.) Are there consistently "underpriced"--for your margin--items, or not really?

Thank you - I appreciate it. After 20 years in Columbus , living by the ocean is very nice.

We are very reasonable when it comes to selling items, if an item is worth $100 I may price it $129 just because we have to expect people to negotiate with us. We go by eBay , which is already rock-bottom market value for items. So if a sewing machine sells for $100 on eBay, paypal and eBay are already taking 11-13% plus I have to ship it and we generally sell with free shipping included.

I would have no problem taking $75 - 90 for that item because we don't have to pay eBay or PayPal fees and I don't have to pay someone to list it. The best buys are generally gold. We typically never pay more than 50/60% gold scrap value , and if it's a fine piece of jewelry we always sell it over spot.

What is your advice on pawning?

Don't do it unless you really just need a quick $100 and can pay us back within 30 days.

If you use Pawn shops correctly - they can be very beneficial for you. You will get some of the best deals in your life from a pawn shop if you know what to buy - you can also make money this way.

what should we buy?

Rare video games - pawn shops get games in bulk and don't take the time to sort through them unless they are extremely obvious.

I.E GTA V will be priced $30

I.E A ps2 game like Champions - Return to Arms could be priced $3 and worth $30 on eBay

Are you trying to get a TV show? If so, why is this the avenue you've chosen to pursue that end?

No - we really have no interest in a TV show. It's been discussed quite a bit and totally plausible, however we are a very busy shop, it's already enough drama and stress, no need to add more!

Have you ever been robbed? If not, how do you deter thieves?

We have had several incidents of times were we will be showing someone an expensive ring and they will take off running out the door, hop in a car and pull into oncoming traffic and somehow never get hit.

We chase them - not much else we can do as our shop is too busy to buzz everyone in and out. They typically try this routine again and again until they get caught.

Insurance always saves us though.

Some jewelry stores and car salesman usually ask to hold an ID before handing over the ring/keys. Is this just unrealistic for the volume of customers you have or would it be bad for business in the long run? I work in insurance and you guys must have a great broker. A lot of insurance companies would not renew a crime policy if claims became regular, or else would advise you get setup with a risk management firm.

They aren't as common as you'd think , maybe one or two claims a year. That's cool though - as I am just getting into insurance.

Do you ever count down the clock and hope that a certain pawned item won't be picked up?

All the time - you should see my sunglasses collection.

TV shows tend to have various experts come in to authenticate or value items. I understand a lot of this is just for the camera, but how often to you consult people outside the shop for a valuation on a particular item?

What is the general background of the people that a pawn shop would bring on board? And are there pawn shops that specialize in a specific type of item?

Very rarely do we consult anyone outside of the shop. Typically it's when we find something all the pawn brokers think is rare/valuable but we want to be sure before we list it on eBay.

Pawn shops looking for hustlers, as shady as that sounds 95% of our job is hustling.

There are some pawn shops that specialize in high end watches & purses. Some of those shops won't accept other merchandise.

did the GTR owner ever come back? Did he even give a reason he was pawning it in the first place?

Yes , within a couple months.

We pawned it to buy-out a local store, probably made 10-15K purchasing all the inventory from a going out business.

It takes money to make money - some people with a high net worth still have poor cash management skills and can't keep 50k in the bank.

Do your emotions sometimes get in the way?

Sometimes - yes. It's a very rare case when it happens.

Some people are just really down on their luck - born into a poor environment with no way out.

What item gives you the most profit?

Jewelry - easiest and most profitable.

Which is why there is a We Buy Gold store on every corner.

We have an edge though, offering pawns because most people don't want to sell their valuables they just need quick cash.

do you have to have ID to sell/pawn stuff? is it possible to sell/pawn anonymously?

Yes - valid I.D and you must be over the age of 18.

No way to sell/pawn anonymously unless you make someone sell it/pawn it for you. Then it's just under their name.

What sort of protection do you have from buying stolen merchandise?

As a college music student I had about $8,000 worth of musical instruments stolen from my locker in the music building. We eventually tracked them down to a pawn shop (I went to OSU, maybe it was your shop?) where the thief had sold them for around $400. I was forced to pay the pawn shop its $400 to retrieve my instruments (I was quite pissed about it at the time). Is this typically what happens?

Yes - that's standard proceeder. I don't agree with the law - but it's the law and we follow all of them in Ohio.

We are protected though - as in we can't get in trouble for purchasing the stolen merchandise as long as we file everything VIA leads online which is automatically done via our point of sale system.

Sorry that happened :/

Would you do a show if someone offered it to you?

I think a pawn show that's candid and real (so no fake customers) would be interesting.

A real pawn show with no fake customers would depress people.

I could see our shop taking on a show - considering we have over 100,000 customers in our system , it would be easy to know which ones would go the extra mile acting for $20

What advice can you give someone who would like to work in a pawn shop? I love to haggle and learning how to be a true merchant is very interesting to me. Or are most operations family/friends/tight knit group?

Working at a pawn shop will be one of the best experiences on your life. Not bad hourly pay - but all the information you will learn will be invaluable. You will learn how to deal with people, become an expert on negotiation , spot authentic from fake in a heartbeat ( gold , purses , watches , ETC - everything is faked these days)

You will also receive an incredible employee discount on whatever you want to purchase as most of the time prices for employees are made up on the spot - especially if you do good work.

Most of these shops are family/friends yes , but it IS possible to get a job with no inside connection - as I did.

I earned my way in by standing out - I would always hustle the pawn brokers and buy their stuff cheap to re-sell on eBay. As soon as they caught on I was immediately offered a job with no application required.

Great question - you need to stand out , be willing to go the extra mile and make solid decisions others won't.

What are your exact thoughts on Pawn Stars?

What are some things from Pawn Stars you want to put an end to?

I enjoy watching the show - seeing how they portray things is very interesting. Not accurate to a busy pawn shop trying to make a profit in the hood, but interesting from a different aspect.

Everyday people would come in with huge grins asking if our shop is like Pawn Stars or Hardcore Pawn, or if we've seen the shows. I would have loved to put a stop to all that.

Do you think some people go onto Pawn Stars just to get publicity for their item? I always wonder why some of the people don't sell the items on EBay

Using the show would be a great way for someone like me to get publicity for an item I would like to sell, especially a high dollar collectable.

However I doubt many people go on the show for that reason. People are lazy - I often ask people why are they selling us there item instead of Craigslist or eBay - they just don't understand how they sites work or how easy they are to use.

Plus it can be a hassle sorting our scammers.

Do you find most of the people that used your pawn shop were black, and on welfare/fitin taget baby dadys bail money etc etc?

Black? That's a little racist don't you think.

There are just as many messed up white people as black - skin color doesn't tell me anything about someone.

Do you actually get many aggressive customers?

Also I bet many people will often say what they need the money for. What is the weirdest thing someone has needed the money for?

Not as many as you'd think. It's not our job to provoke customers and loose business, it's our job to provide great customer service and make a profit for the shop.

People need money for a lot of weird shit - I will always remember this one guy who was completely honest with me about the fact he needed money to pay a hooker waiting in the car.

Here's this tube TV, how much does it get me to use on the hooker in my car?

Hmm - maybe the hooker needs a TV?

Their was a small pawn shop in the Dayton area that recently got busted for being involved with a ring of people that stole items from stores and sold to the pawnshop for practically nothing.

If you can tell something is shady do you turn it away? report them? play dumb?

There are people like that everywhere. It's actually a huge problem. They target things like life proof cases ( $80/90 in stores ) , blu rays and wireless controllers for Xbox Ones / PS4s.

The truth of that whole situation is those people are the easiest people to make money from. They know what they have is stolen and they know we know. They don't want much and the items they bring you are new or like new and very easy to resell online. I personally will not deal with them - as they are thieves. I do know a good amount of people who deal with those people everyday.

It's all easy money - until you get caught.