# Pawn Shop Electronics



## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Do we have any pawn shop owners or employees here? 

Curious, as I am about to open up a pawn shop and wondering how often you might score a good piece of vintage gear. I see a lot of junk in our local pawn shops and I always scratch my head at why the pawn shop owner would have purchased it, but I guess if you can make a buck or two on it, why not.

Anyone ever scored a really great deal on audio equipment at a pawn shop?


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## tcarcio (Jun 27, 2007)

I have actually never bought at a PS so I can't help you there but I just wanted to say congrats on the new business. I hope you do very well so good luck. What are you going to call it, Maybe, Cedar Creek ******* Pawn..... :bigsmile:


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Hillbilly Pawn... of course!!! 
Thanks TC...

The name will be *Upscale Pawn / Family Firearms*

We probably won't do all that much in electronics. Some, but not a lot. Mostly what we will do is buy gold, jewelry and guns. We will probably buy a few laptops, iPads, flat screen HDTVs... things like that, but this will not be your average junky pawn shop. Everything will be in cases or behind the counter or cases.


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## tcarcio (Jun 27, 2007)

Sounds fantastic, I wish I was closer so I could pay you a visit. :T


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## robbo266317 (Sep 22, 2008)

I know the pawn shops here in Oz buy for 10% of the real value and sell at full price... :rant:
I have never sold anything at a pawn shop and have only ever purchased one item.

Yours seems to be much more ethical. :T


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

The rule of thumb is try to make 25% profit on your purchased items, at least it is around here in lower Alabama. Pawn rates are typically 25%. We plan to charge considerably less, but we might mark the defaulted pawned items up by 20-25%. New guns we only mark up 8-10% over cost. There is pretty good money in jewelry, but most of the gold we buy will be scrapped.


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## orion (Sep 18, 2009)

Sounds like a fun business. I could watch pawn stars all day. Different stuff brought in all the time would be my cup of tea. Kinda like garage sale shopping without the walking.


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## rab-byte (Feb 1, 2011)

Will you pawn, buy, and consign? My wife used to buy and sell her handbags through a local consignment shop. They would buy outright or let you sell through them for a % of the sale.


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## engtaz (Jul 9, 2010)

I shop a lot at pawn shops. You have to know cost of the items your looking for. I have picked up some really good bargains.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

orion said:


> Sounds like a fun business. I could watch pawn stars all day. Different stuff brought in all the time would be my cup of tea. Kinda like garage sale shopping without the walking.


I love that show, but I suspect we won't get anywhere near the offerings they do, nor the unique items they get. Of course I will be somewhat limited on how much I can spend on an item anyway. I can use up all my money on a $100K item. :yikes:



rab-byte said:


> Will you pawn, buy, and consign? My wife used to buy and sell her handbags through a local consignment shop. They would buy outright or let you sell through them for a % of the sale.


We have decided not to do consignment for right now, but may consider it later on after we get on our feet and going. Shoot me a PM and I'll give you my email (unless you already have it) and we can discuss it further. 



engtaz said:


> I shop a lot at pawn shops. You have to know cost of the items your looking for. I have picked up some really good bargains.


I think we plan on doing a facebook page and posting items their. And we will definitely ship.


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Thats quite the new adventure there Sonnie! 

Ive only ever bought one thing from a pawn shop and that was some used but in great shape Mission speakers. Payed $150 for them, worth way more.


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## engtaz (Jul 9, 2010)

The pawnshops I visit also post some of their stuff on eBay.


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

Sonnie said:


> Curious, as I am about to open up a pawn shop and wondering how often you might score a good piece of vintage gear.


Where you’re located I’d expect virtually never! Even here in Houston it can be difficult to find vintage gear, although I know one shop that seems to specialize in the stuff. They have 2-3 rows of vintage pro audio gear and even quite a bit of older high-end hi-fi gear. Another shop I used to frequent back in the 90s had old silver-faced receivers and other gear from the ‘70s as far as the eye could see.

As far as other decent-quality gear that guys like us might be interested in, you can find worthwhile late-model gear in Houston if you’re patient and know what part of town to pawnshop in, but I imagine that kind of stuff would be few and far between in any small town.

Before ebay virtually my whole system came from pawn shops, and I knew what shops in town I had the best chance of finding decent gear. I’m too cheap to buy new unless I can’t find what I want any other way. Back in ’96 I scored two pristine Adcom GFA-555 II amps and two ACE-515 line conditioners for $800, the list price of _one_ of the amps. Not long after that I scored a recent-model (for the day at least), top-of-the-line Yamaha tuner for something like $95 – the list price was over $400. And $150 or so for nice Pioneer 3-head cassette deck that listed for $4-600 (forget the exact amount but it wasn’t a cheap deck). And so on.

Regards, 
Wayne


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Yeah... I don't expect anyone to be walking in my front door with a McIntosh MC30 or MC250... or even any of the older Sansui pieces I see around the net that bring 2-3 times their original price, if in pristine condition that is.

We will probably use eBay for items we get at really good deals and don't want to risk trying to sell locally. It's one of those things where you hate to pass up a good deal if you feel comfortable you can make a few bucks and sell it quick on eBay... even if you know it won't bring much or would take forever to sell locally.


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## Tonto (Jun 30, 2007)

I never thought about getting gear at a pawn shop. So I just called the local shop here in T-town & they got nada! Kinda surprises me! So what happens to all the old gear?


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Kijiji or Craigslist are common places that you will find old gear. Many people garage sale them as well and many of those have no idea the value of some items.


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## Wayne A. Pflughaupt (Apr 13, 2006)

Tonto said:


> So what happens to all the old gear?


Good question. I’m sure the later-model stuff moves with no problem, but let’s be honest, your average pawn shop patron isn’t into vintage stereo gear so I imagine that stuff moves pretty slow. That place I mentioned that had all that ’70s and ’80s gear back in the 90s, year after year I’d go in there and it didn’t seem like they were moving any of it. Indeed, it seemed the stock was getting larger all the time, and eventually they had stuff stacked in the aisles floors as well as the shelves. I went in the place last year after not visiting it for maybe ten years, and it was all gone. If they did manage to sell it all, I imagine it was on ebay, because it sure wasn’t moving from local traffic.

Regards, 
Wayne


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## engtaz (Jul 9, 2010)

Lol Im one that does look for vintage gear.


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## Picture_Shooter (Dec 23, 2007)

I haven't stepped into a pawn shop in many years, but I was once in smaller town and saw this pawn shop that had at least 30 bicycles by the front door that got my attention so I had to stop (I am a fan of bicycles) and thought the same if they had cool audio gear. 
So walked in and most of their stuff was beat up badly and not really cared for and they wanted an arm and leg for. All I know about pawn shops is they are always close to a liquor store  .


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## petersmith (Mar 22, 2016)

I used to visit Pawnshops in and around my area all the time but have given up on them years ago. In my experience all Pawnshops tend to over value their items, which is why they build up such massive inventories in just a few years. In addition, because these guys mostly deal with folks who are desperate for cash and accept five cents on a dollar, they tend to treat everyone with less respect than what I'm used to. There are a few exceptions of course, but not enough.


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## Lumen (May 17, 2014)

tcarcio said:


> What are you going to call it, Maybe, Cedar Creek ******* Pawn..... :bigsmile:





Sonnie said:


> Hillbilly Pawn... of course!!!


So if you mow your lawn
And find a car!
Are you a *******? ;-)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## tcarcio (Jun 27, 2007)

Lumen said:


> So if you mow your lawn
> And find a car!
> Are you a *******? ;-)
> 
> ...


Nope, It has to be a pick up truck.......:rofl:


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## Tonto (Jun 30, 2007)

Actually we just tie the mower to the back of the truck & pull it around the yard!

So Sonnie, how's the shop going at the 1 year anniversary?


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## chashint (Jan 12, 2011)

I don't shop at pawn shops much but if I buy a firearm and need to have it shipped the pawn shop near me has always happily handled the paperwork.
I always look around when I am there. Its just a business buying and selling used stuff. The people selling don't have to do business there and neither do the people shopping there. The crew working this particular shop are very nice and respectful.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

I've never been a big fan of pawn shops. I've always felt they were overpriced and it seems most are just grungy. I'd venture to guess that Sonnie's would be just the opposite and as the name says more upscale than the typical pawn shop.


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## Sonnie (Apr 11, 2006)

Hey guys... we did finally get opened June of last year, so we've been open about 9 1/2 months now. It has been pretty good thus far. We don't do a lot on the pawn side... it's mostly gun and ammo sales, with a lot of gun accessories. We pretty much have near the lowest prices found anywhere on firearms... we are selling across the USA on a regular basis now. No website yet... still working on it, but we have a huge national Facebook following and do ads other places. Check out our FB page if you haven't see it... lots of pictures: https://www.facebook.com/upscalepawnandfamilyfirearms/

It's definitely NOT your average pawn shop... most folks are shocked when they walk in and see that it doesn't resemble any pawn shop they have ever visited previously. We don't buy a lot of junk... we sell at low and fair prices on everything we have.


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## JBrax (Oct 13, 2011)

Can we see some pics? I don't do that Book of Faces everyone's always talkin bout.


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## Picture_Shooter (Dec 23, 2007)

Sonnie said:


> Hey guys... we did finally get opened June of last year, so we've been open about 9 1/2 months now. It has been pretty good thus far. We don't do a lot on the pawn side... it's mostly gun and ammo sales, with a lot of gun accessories. We pretty much have near the lowest prices found anywhere on firearms... we are selling across the USA on a regular basis now. No website yet... still working on it, but we have a huge national Facebook following and do ads other places. Check out our FB page if you haven't see it... lots of pictures: https://www.facebook.com/upscalepawnandfamilyfirearms/
> 
> It's definitely NOT your average pawn shop... most folks are shocked when they walk in and see that it doesn't resemble any pawn shop they have ever visited previously. We don't buy a lot of junk... we sell at low and fair prices on everything we have.



Congrats on the gun shop. At least when or if SHTF I know where I am gonna by my 3rd AR15 from!! 

Do you sell accessories for the AR15s? Trigger kits perhaps?


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## Picture_Shooter (Dec 23, 2007)

Sonny - saw your FB page. You have some nice side arms and the prices are great. very tempting. Also PM the cost for your .22 round in box of 500 or more?

Thanks


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