Anybody bought from a pawn shop?

[N4860]

I bought a MM Bongo at a pawn shop for about $750 CDN. It was in great shape and was an awesome playing bass. At the time I wasn't really playing 4 strings so I sold it for around double what I paid which was still a pretty great deal for whoever bought it. I regret selling it now.

 

[Sid the Kid]

Pawn shops were great before the internet.

 

[pie_man_25]

Sometimes a great deal can be had from pawn shops. My first bass, and still my main, was from a pawn shop. My '94 mim Squier series Jazz.

Most often I see things blatantly overpriced, but the product still seems to move.

 

[InhumanResource]

90% of my guitar collection has come from pawnshops over the last 15 years.

I've gotten some AMAZING deals on guitars on basses.

Most of the guitars/basses were bought at wholesale or below.

I NEVER EVER look online anywhere when looking for guitars or basses.

There's no stores in the world that could come remotely close to the deals I've gotten.

Here are prices I paid of just the basses I still own.

$59.95 - '74 Fender Jazz Bass
$115 - '90 MIJ Fender PB-57 P-Bass
$190 - '92 USA Hamer Chaparral
$204 - '94 Fender Jazz V Plus 5-String
$400 - '78 Fender P-Bass

These are just my Bass scores.

I have A LOT of amazing scores on guitars.

What the heck, 15 years is relatively recent in terms of access to information. Do these guys not Google what they have before pricing it?

 

[dave64o]

I've only bought one bass at a pawn shop. A friend of mine has bought a bunch of gear at that particular shop and called me one day from there because he found a bass he thought would work for me. He had a better idea of what it was really worth and also knew the shop keeper, so he helped get me a pretty good price.

As much as I liked it, it was a four string and I play fives, so I hardly ever played it. So after owning it for about 10 years, I just traded it in on a new acoustic guitar a couple of months ago and I got close to what I paid for it in trade. So, I think I got a pretty good deal.

But, other than that, I've bought neary all of my basses here on TB, including three of my current five. One of the other two is a parts bass and I bought most of the parts on it here on TB as well.

 

[secondbestcody]

I bought a Fender Aerodyne jazz at a pawn shop after it had been there for a few years. It was the export model, but it was only $400.

 

[Clark W]

Been eyeing a 5 string bass thats been sitting in this pawnshop near me for about 3 months. Anybody ever bought from a pawn shop before? Post experiences below please.

If it's been there for 3 months, you have the advantage. Look up what the bass sold for new retail and offer them half. Then haggle away. If it's anything less than mint, stick to your guns and don't go above half, they will cave. If they don't, tell them you'll be back in 3 months and head for the door. They won't let you leave without trying to sweeten the deal, stick to your guns. Whoever sold it to them, at most, got 20 cents on the dollar anyway. They aren't going to lose selling half of retail new and they know it. And they've had it for 3 months, it's been there too long already. If they come close to your offer but not all the way and you can't get them down, then it's a judgement call, how bad do you want it? At that point you either take their offer or leave and go back in a week or two and try again.

I've only bought 3 things out of a pawnshop.

A generator, brand new still in the box, the morning after a devastating tornado and paid 100 more for it than retail. But it was the only generator to be had as all the hardware places were sold out. Supply and demand and some price gouging going on for sure. That was 10 years ago, but I've gotten my money's worth out of it. Still runs and looks like new today. But I have never been back to that pawnshop.

Different pawnshop - bought a 2012 Ibanez SRX2EX2 in 2019. In mint condition except for a loose knob on the bass pot. The salesperson got me a set of allen wrenches and I tightened it. I then offered them 150 for the bass. When the salesperson said "but it's 200" I replied "but I just fixed it for you." She left for a minute, came back with 175, then 165, 160, and finally 155. But I held my ground and told her "I don't need another bass, but for 150 I would walk out the door with another bass." I walked out the door with another bass, still have it today.

A couple of weeks after the Ibby purchase, same pawnshop, same salesperson, I bought an Ampeg BA115. It was priced for 200 as well. I offered 150, she didn't even bother haggling with me this time around. I got it for 150.

I traded the Ampeg and a 2000 Cort Curbow 4 string at GC on New Years day this year for 250 cash plus 15 percent off a guitar, case, strap, and string purchase. Total bill was a little over 700, out of pocket though was only 315 and I got rid of some gear that had been collecting dust for two years.

So as you can see from my experiences,

• You can pay too much.
• You can get a good deal on something you'll keep.
• You can get a good deal on something and still come out good if you get rid of it later.

 

[Bobbadfinger]

pawn shop tradition holds that making a sale to the first customer through the door that morning ensures a profitable and lucky day for the salesman.

Prostitutes used to say the same about the first client of the day. So I've been told...

 

[bolophonic]

I remember going into pawn shops in the 80’s and seeing tons of great basses hanging on the wall. There was an Ibanez Roadstar that has haunted me for 35 years. Nowadays, they all seem to be filled with the same brand new K-Mart starter garbage and broken mid-level used gear covered in gunk and priced outrageously.

 

[RumbleBot]

I've gotten three of my basses from pawn shops. Great prices on all of them, but they all needed a little bit of work. The best score was from a few years ago. I managed to find this sweet wenge too Tune five string for $300!. Had a shorting battery clip and some janky knob caps, but all easy fixes.

 

[DWBass]

Very rare I see anything worth buying but I did score a mint condition Spector Legend with Straploks installed for $240.

 

[Trailertrash74]

Got this MIM P Bass a few months back at a local Pawn shop. $225 with hard case. A lot of the pawn shop stuff is junk but once in a while you will find a gem!

 

[beaglesandbass]

$59.95 - '74 Fender Jazz Bass
$115 - '90 MIJ Fender PB-57 P-Bass
$190 - '92 USA Hamer Chaparral
$204 - '94 Fender Jazz V Plus 5-String
$400 - '78 Fender P-Bass

At those prices I’m curious as to how many of them were stolen

 

[Williethump]

Flea markets, yard sales, CL, Goodwill auctions-all good. Got this fretless Yamaha ($175) and a 5-string OLP for ($160) at Loyalty Pawn, Roseville, CA. Thanks to the dratted Web super deals don't happen as much as in the past but don't forget to haggle over flaws, dings and scratches. It's a tough business squeezing blood from poor turnips but it's needed sometimes.

 

[fhm555]

Even though most pawn shop owners/employees are pretty savvy about fair used street value on almost everything under the sun, price accordingly, and try to get that, pawn shop tradition holds that making a sale to the first customer through the door that morning ensures a profitable and lucky day for the salesman. Here's your chance to get them to forego the "fair street" standard.

Go in some afternoon and audition the bass very thoroughly the way you would any musical instrument you're considering buying. Make sure it's up to your standards and free of any unanticipated flaws you'd rather not pay for.

Then, when you're sure you want it, show up well before opening time one morning, be the first in line and through the door, and let the negotiating begin. Every time you balk and head for the door, you'll get a lower counter-offer. You'll end up getting the item for only a few bucks more than they have in it, which is assuredly well below street value.

It worked for me, a couple of times.

Yeppers, i’m a frequent visitor to local pawnshops, but I’m usually looking at precision tools and fishing reels but I always check the music rack and power tools. A couple places i hit have big bins full of random single sockets and hand tools which i will occasionally graze.
Before the internet leveled the pricing playing field i made nice scores just about every time i made the rounds. These days the killer deals are not as numerous but if you are willing to engage in a little back and forth and establish a rep as one who actually buys if you like the price, pawn shops will usually deal with you. Just keep in mind the cardinal rule both sides must be aware of in dealing with pawnshops, “asking price is rarely getting price”, you can’t get a deal if you are not willing to engage a seller.

 

[Rib 13]

bought from pawn shops many times....I cant think of any unfavorable experience Ive had.........Having prior knowledge about the piece you are interested in will go a long way for satisfaction

 

[bobalu]

Pawn shop business model around here is MSRP + 30%, so no.

I know this experience will vary with your location/region but this has been my experience as well (locally). They know absolutely nothing about guitars. They don't even wipe them down - they hang them up with a couple of broken strings and a half inch of dust and grime, and slap a ridiculously high price on it if it says Fender on the head stock (doesn't matter if it's Squire or MIM). If no one will take your trade-in because your guitar is junk, take it to a pawn shop. At least around here.

 

[M.R. Ogle]

Here's MY pawnshop story.
The local pawnshop, owned by the mayor of our fine little city, has a guitar department. They always have 25 or 30 guitars on the wall, and of course, guitars coming "out of pawn" for the sales floor every week.

Being a pretty busy place, the one guy in the business who knows guitars get a bit overwhelmed sometimes, so he calls me in to go over each new guitar, check to see if it's working, spray out the electronics, check the action, make sure the truss rods are functional, clean off random stickers and re-string if necessary.

In other words, not a 100% set-up, but just minimize potential buyer objection points. I charge a very modest fee to do this for each instrument (parts and MAJOR repairs extra) and their customers get working instruments that play reasonably well and have been recently tuned up.

I get a few bucks in my pocket and "dibs" on any good bass deals that might come through. It's a great relationship.

 

[Pdaddy1978]

For around 10 years my lead guitarist owned a guitar store/pawn shop.
In 1980 I traded him a fugly wine colored Gibson Grabber for a 60s Mustang guitar
Cream colored with tort p/g.
No regrets.
A few years later, I did some some fence work for him ( my day job at the time) and my payment was a 84 MIJ candy apple red Pbass.
No regrets.
He also was great about letting me try out lots of different gear that came into his shop. Having a guy who owns a pawn shop in your band is something I can highly recommend.

 

[Texsunburst59]

At those prices I’m curious as to how many of them were stolen

I'm hoping not a single one.

All have to be in the shop 30 days.

After that, the pawnshop sends a list to the Police, who then check the list with reported stolen guitars/basses in the last few months.

All the pawnshops I bought my guitars and basses are all national chain pawnshops.

I don't think they'd want to put themselves in a situation like that.

But I guess I could be wrong.