I went to the pawn shop today for the first time in my life... I was hoping they would have good deals on used shotguns.

Have you guys seen those places?

They wanted $400 for a M44 Mosin-Nagant.... and it didn't even have the bayonet or accessories.

They are at gun shows "NIB" for less than $90. In that condition, you can get them for $60.

I was just in total shock.... That is crazy.

And they wanted $200 for an 870 that had such horrible pitting in the bore it was worthless... I wouldn't have considered it worth more than about $80 at the most, since the barrel would need to be replaced to even make it safe to use.

Have you guys seen this? Am I just ignorant of pawn shops?

Pawn Shops up here think there the only place to buy stuff!
CrAzY.

rule number one for pawnshops.

HAGGLE HAGGLE HAGGLE !!!!

never pay the asking price at a pawnshop.

also...its getting close to xmas, and they will be more willing to haggle.

PS...haggle with cash.

How do you haggle? How should the dialogue go?

I typically say something along the lines of "How low will you go?"... if they come up with something that isn't low enough, I don't continue.

Is this incorrect?

I am just not too good with haggling... no experience.

Set a firm price at which you will pay, example for the mosin , you say "$60" he says, "$150" you say "$60", he says "$100" you repeat $65, until he comes down to that price, or somewhat closer. Its like the car I just bought, it was marked $12,800 on the website, I haggled them down to $9,800.... then again dealerships are starving for money. But heres another thing I did you should take into account, say you are in the market to buy a gun TODAY, and if he doesnt offer a good enough price, you will go to another place, but the key is you have cash on hand, and that talks.

decent deals at my local shops...

Most pawn shops are not in the business of selling shit, just making high interest loans.  They could give a shit if they sell anything.  This is why you will see things like completely rusted box wrenches for $10 a piece and $400 MN's.

I've pretty much given up on pawn shops for buying anything.

- AG

It hardly makes sense to me.

I realize they make they money on their loans....

But, it seems they could make even more by selling the junk they get off of people for pennies on the dollar at a reasonable price. I guess they will make their 350 dollars on the M44 if they ever find an idiot to buy it.... but it seems they would do better making less money per sale, but selling a lot.

I guess it doesn't have to make sense to me... I don't hang out in pawn shops.

Clearly, some are better than others. I get good deals all the time at the pawn shops around here . . . Actually, I should say at MOST of the pawn shops around here. There are a couple of them that are just stupid when it comes to pricing stuff.

Today, I bought a B.S.A. Enfield Mode1 for $129. It was in nice shape. I thought I did pretty well.

Other recent "deals":
Western Auto Revelation 115 (Marlin 57) for $125 –– a fairly desirable .22 as it turns out
Charter Arms AR-7 for $60
Spanish Mauser 1916 in 7mm Mauser and an older (pre-warning) Ruger 10-22 in Walnut for $270
Isaphore 2a (7.62x51) for $125 (a super nice one with no import stamp)
Stevens 110 (just like a Savage) in .308 for $200
Marlin 39a for $260

It all depends how much they gave the guy for the gun to begin with, maybe they dont know the values and really got ripped off from the seller, and they are passing it to you.

I considered this as being the case....


I also considered seeing if they wanted by "antique" M24/47 Yugo Mauser... we all know they are valuable.

i got a complete set of craftsman metric box end wrenches from 4mm to 19mm for 10 bucks  at my local pawn place.  But i had to dig thru the bins and bins of them lol.

I only been in 1 and it was like a yard sale inside, crap.

I've got decent deals on some firearms but you have to shop around and look through the racks for that one good deal.

My local shop had a Century arms FAL for about 900 bucks.

YES


money talks and BS walks.  Cash in Hand ready to buy

want them to do a deal on a specific gun. then address that one and no wandering asking How Much??
bring 1 or 2 prices of a NIB and see what they say.
I've seen $600 1st gen glocks and $300 Kimbers.
a few times (more then less) the counter person has no clue what they are really pricing even though they price 80% of 80% condition, using wholesale books and the gun blue book of values.

i find more low hundred 10/22's and revolvers in pawn shops then anything else. Or i use to, now anything that goes bang has a BANG price tag.

i have no idea how the pawnshop dialogue should go.

but for my experience its usually like this:

me : " hi, i would like to see that one particular gun "

* here is where i know how much this gun goes for brand new *

they hand me a gun and then usually say
"the price tag says 400, but for you ill let it go for 390"  

* this is where the pawnshop person throws out some chum and see if i bite*

sometimes they check chamber, sometimes they don't...but they all have those trigger guards

me: "hmm.... ok, "
* then i start promptly inspecting the weapon... feel free to ask the pawnshop if you can take it apart *

when expecting the weapon, be anal about every detail and be sure to mention it out loud. be sure to have a flashlight so you can expect the barrel.

me: " this stock is kinda faded out, this scratch looks like where they dropped it, the barrel either has dust or fouling in it, mind if i dry fire it ? "
after fingering the gun and what not, if it is one that i do want to buy, i will offer them a price that is 2/3 of the new price,  so they wanted 400 bucks for the gun, and then i offer them 250-260 for the weapon, sometimes they need to check with the owner, or they will counter offer with 350.

then i keep up the haggle to the best of my ability until a suitable price is met, and if not, then i tell them to have a good day and leave.

be polite, be proffesional, be nice...no reason to make an enemy while haggling

...sometimes i will return a 2 weeks later and the gun may still be on the shelf, then restart the haggle price again.  
most of the time they don't recognize me or i am dealing with a different person....but they will remember you if they considered you an ass, because of yalls last coversation over the gun....so be nice. people forget nice people, but they always remember the jerks.


realistically... your not going to see a 400 dollar gun being sold for half its price at a pawnshop, that's why i always do the 2/3 price, some people may be able to get a gun for 1/2 the asking price, then they are a better man than i when it comes to haggling and personally i think i suck at it.

do your homework before you start hitting the pawnshops, basically i have a general idea of how much glocks, major brand name shotguns, and ARs and AKs go for.
and more than likely you will hit 10 pawnshops or more before you find something worth checking out and haggling over.

oh yeah, bring cash, always talk in cash.

if some one else can offer better typical pawnshop dialogue with MS paint then please be my guest.









                         

i rarly see any 10/22s at pawnshops, its all pump shotguns and random bolt action rifles with random handguns with an occasional AR or AK , but they usually always have at least one overpriced glock.  

i wish i could see more double barrel shotguns and hi-point 9mm carbines at pawnshops...i kinda want these right now.  

Some Pawn shops are great.  Lee's Pawn Jewlery and Guns in South FL is a great place for fun stuff.  They are a Class III dealer and a very good one at that.  They are one of the recomended places to go to around here for transfers.

Pawn shops are definetly hit or miss. Most in Houston(and i assume everywhere) are terrible. But there is always an exception to the rule. Don't beat yourself up walking back in the same place over and over. Check out different stores until you find one that enjoys the gun business. Plenty of good advice already posted, just wanted to say not to write them off.

Edit: If you are in Houston, check out Tomball Pawn.

I only wish we had pawn shops here in Jersey.

Yeah, I'm in Houston.... Clear Lake area.

I'll check them out if I get the chance.

When I saw the 400 dollar M44.... I didn't know if I should laugh or cry.... so I just stood there and tried to get my pulse rate back to normal after the near heart attack.

Howdy from clear lake also... League city to be exact.

Calling Tomball Pawn a pawn shop is a bit of a mis-nomer.  It is a gun shop.  You can get decent deals on NEW guns there.

- AG

Cool.... I have been wondering where to find a good gun shop around here. I am definitely going to have to check them out... ever have good deals on Mossberg shotgun?
I tried Pro-Defense.... but didn't really like the atmosphere, or their attitude.

If your at the Pasadena show next weekend, I'm the 16 year old wearing a green "Castro" hat, brown shorts, and a button-up shirt... what I am always wearing. Say "Hi" if you get the chance.

I remember too. I have yet to find a pawn broker in this area that is not a unmitigated horses ass.