PAWN SHOPS: Ever bought anything there?

I buy a lot of sound and light equipment from pawn shops, usually I get quite a discount on mostly unused stuff. A friend of mine bought a mixer a few months back for $400 and it was "new car smell" new. He turned it around on ebay and got $600 for it.

 

Used, clean, never-scratched DVDs at the one on Westheimer near Kirkwood are $5, 5/$20. The owner gives me a discount because I have bought so many there. That's about the only thing I buy... but later I will look for a set of golf clubs for cheap there, maybe I will begin to like golf.

Nice thread, Río. Oomp, no need to quote the first post when you're the 2nd.

 

I bought a Texas Tech class ring at one a couple of months back. Good times.

 

I used to when I was in H.S. but since Ebay came around I've never really had any reason to go to one

 

I've always wondered if you could get camera gear there at a decent price.

 

Did you get a discount because of the glitter?

 

I used to work at a pawn shop, word of advice, dont but anything from there, unless you can get a 48 hour warranty or something. most of the **** we had was worthless, none of it worked but people didnt know. unless ur buying tools or dvds/games, dont bother.

 

Back in the day, you could find really cool music gear in pawn shops. I remember one near my parents home (in Kingwood) had 2-3 old Sunn tube amps for around $150.00 each (they'd go for 3-4X that on eBay today). I found an original Big Muff pedal for $30.00 which I eventually traded for another pedal priced at $150.00. I also got a Marshall cab for $300.00.

eBay has really killed pawn shops for music gear - I almost never see anything worthwhile in them anymore, and even if I do, it's now overpriced.

 

I hate the idea of pawn shops because they encourage robbery. Half of the goods there are probably stolen.

 

Word of advice: don't buy electronics from a pawn shop.

Back in the college days, whenever a TV was on the fritz or a Sega Genesis stopped working (probably due to it being chunked across the room), we'd just sell it to the pawn shop for beer money.

I'm sure we weren't the only ones who would pawn worthless junk.

 

lol, wow. you can get a brand new pc/monitor/printer/logitech cam for less than 400 these days.

 

The guitar player I work with walked in to rehearsal last night with an overdrive pedal that normally costs $225 he found at a pawn shop on Washington for $20. It was missing the feet on the bottom, but it sounded amazing.

The first "real" amp I ever bought, I got from a pawn shop. I've bought basses and guitars there. I used to, on a regular basis, take a day and hit 10 or 15 pawn shops looking for music gear. I have a friend who has bought a ton of stuff from them.

Geddy Lee from Rush found his vintage Fender J-Bass in a pawn shop somewhere in the midwest (Cleveland?) for $200.

So, yeah, it can be worth it.

 

Definately -

Golf Clubs- I have gotten steals on clubs- $200.00 Calloway wood for $15.00
Nice set of clubs with bag for $35.00- Graphite shafts, tour grips-good clubs
The Pawn shop I go to is clueless about some things for some reason, I even feel guilty buying there at times.

Also I just bought a really nice surfboard for $250.00 that sells for $500.00 new and it is in perfect condition.

I don't take risks at the pawn shop.
You have to know what you are doing to score a good deal.

 

Hey, GRENDAL, did you ever BID at a pawn shop? Better yet, do you win EVERYTHING you bid on at eBay?

I agree with this. When I 'found' the Back to the Future trilogy for 6 bucks (no scratches, I tell you), I asked the dude: "How do you dudes get such great DVDs? This is NICE!" "Times are hard sometimes, man...", he answered. Yeah, right. They never want to admit it.

 

I used to work across the street from one and from what I could tell it was mostly junk.

I picked up a VCR because I only have like 2 movies on VHS and didn't want to buy a new one. I think it worked for a month. Oh and I did pick through a bucket of assorted sockets and found all the large Craftsman stuff. (1/2 inch and deep) That turned out to be a pretty good deal for $.50 each.
You'd have a hard time convincing me to buy something expensive and electronic from a pawn shop. It's either going to be broken, overpriced, or stolen.
Still, if you like to haggle, this is your place.

 

I bought one of my guitars from a pawn shop, but sweet deals on guitars in pawn shops are very few and very far between. You almost have to stumble upon it.

 

I bought an older Tag Heuer watch that needed some serious cleaning for $60 from a pawn shop. I've had it for about 5 years.

 

A few years ago when I was buying lots of musical equipment I bought some nice stuff at pawn shops - a vintage 100 watt Ampeg head, a funky Ovation Bass from the 70's, and a vintage Tube Screamer come to mind. In order to find stuff, however, you have to put in alot of time going from shop to shop, and most of the good stuff comes from the out of the way ratholes in very bad neighborhoods.

You can sometimes get good deals, but to do so regularly requires alot of time and effort.