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I hate pawn shops

#81
two fingers said:
"Have a love for something" is simply a touchy feely way of saying there's a demand for it. There's a love for Corvettes. That's why they sell for 60 grand. There's a love for good wine. That's why it's a car payment per bottle. There's a love for diamonds....

Musical instruments are no different from any other commodity. They are inanimate objects. They are things that some people covet. I care exactly zero for inanimate objects. That's why I can flip them without writing a poem about it or going to see a therapist.

So, are you saying that one's affection for a given object should have an effect on the price one pays for said object? I reeeeeeally love Corvettes so I should get a vintage one for less than some evil Corvette collector who only buys them to look at and sell for a profit????? Geeeeeeez. Where's that planet?

A '59 P bass is a thing. It's an object. It's not a holy relic.
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I'm not sure where all that came from! What I said is simple: it's just a shame that people who have a genuine regard for something because it's beautiful/cool/exciting don't get a chance to enjoy that thing because it gets priced beyond their reach. I also said that it's a fact of life. This is further getting off-topic now: I never intended to open a discussion about the merits of the free market. :D
 
#82
I'm pretty lucky in that alot of pawn shops around here have a good selection of stuff at decent prices.Got alot of ppl seeking out of storage units flea market style around here too and that's where most of the jems come from.
 
#83
Stick_Player said:
And the internet will be killed by something in the future. That's how it goes.
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Fun fact: In 1970 AT&T employed about 700,000 Switchboard operators. By the late-1980s, it was down to about 70,000, and the cost of a long-distance telephone call had dropped by a factor of ten over the same period. A century earlier, a whale-oil shortage made distilled petroleum suddenly economically viable. Yes, technology changes things.
 
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#84
two fingers said:
Nah. Don't be so dramatic there, sweetness. It'll be OK. Too close to Christmas to be so stressed out.

My point was that there are many industries that could be interpreted as "preying on those in need or in trouble".

Restaurants and grocery stores "prey" on those who are hungry. (How dare they turn a profit for FOOD of all things??? GASP!)
Gas stations "prey" on those who have to get somewhere and are out of gas. (Big oil is the devil! Transportation should be FREE!)
Drug stores "prey" on those who are in need of medication. (AND they charge $1.75 for a 20oz Diet Dew, which should carry with it a mandatory jail term.)
Hospitals "prey" on those in need of treatment. (I'm in this business. Don't even get me started.)

All parenthetical phrases typed with tongue firmly implanted in cheek.

I don't believe any of that melodramatic horse poop myself, of course. I'm a free market guy through and through. However, pawn shops have been around for centuries. Everyone who goes into one knows what he is in for. With just the tiniest bit of effort, anyone who gets "ripped off" by one could find other ways to make a buck in a real emergency. I would argue that the vast majority of those who sell to pawn shops are not in a real emergency at all (other than perhaps running from the law). If you think that the majority of them scrounged up anything they could find of value so that they could feed their hungry families or keep their heat on you might just be the most naive person I have ever encountered. The only reason that pawn shops are a "bottom feeder" industry is that the majority of people who sell to them are the bottom of the barrel with regard to humanity itself. And then some of the people (not many) who deal with them are just people who would rather sell at a loss something that is cluttering up their attic rather than go through the hassle of dealing with CL flakes or yard sales. Are there exceptions? Sure.

(Honestly, I would rather take a bullet to the face than ever have another yard sale. The people who frequent those things aren't much better than pawn shop regulars. Sure, they might look like sweet old ladies, but they are evil I tell you. Pure evil. Negotiating with the devil himself would be a more polite exchange.)

Short version: There aren't many "victims" in the pawn shop business. Nobody ever forced anybody to walk into one in the first place.

Glad I could clear all that up for you. I'm here to help.
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I hope you don't think I am ever going to read a full page of your thoughts.
 
#85
bolophonic said:
I hope you don't think I am ever going to read a full page of your thoughts.
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Geeeez. Why so touchy big guy? On the naughty list this year or something? We're just chatn. Don't get yer junk in a wad. Life's too short.

I'm guessing that "my thoughts" have pissed you off in the past or something? Wow. Opposing views get you all tense. How sad for you.
 
#87
two fingers said:
...And then some of the people (not many) who deal with them are just people who would rather sell at a loss something that is cluttering up their attic rather than go through the hassle of dealing with CL flakes or yard sales...
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That's me. There are three Pawn Shops that I have a good relationship with. They'll call me when they get in something that they know I'll likely be interested in, be it guns, audio gear, or guitars... they know my unique preferences in all three fairly well.

When I sell them something (and that happens fairly frequently) I don't ask for cash, but rather a credit to my account (which boosts my $ net a bit for obvious reasons), and they'll offer a fixed "buy it now" figure, or offer to "consign it and see if we can get a little more". I'll pick one and we move on. They are there to make money, and I don't mind that at all, as long as they don't try to make it all on me.

The service they offer serves both our goals.
 
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#88
Doctor Hugocat said:
I'm not sure where all that came from! What I said is simple: it's just a shame that people who have a genuine regard for something because it's beautiful/cool/exciting don't get a chance to enjoy that thing because it gets priced beyond their reach. I also said that it's a fact of life. This is further getting off-topic now: I never intended to open a discussion about the merits of the free market. :D
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Free markets are like unicorns; people seem to love them but they don't actually exist in the real world.
 
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#91
Apart from the 'Crack Converters', there's only one biggie pawn shop in Edinburgh. There used to be a smaller one, years ago, that got in good gear but most of it was hot and the place was run by wide-boy crook so it was to be avoided. The current one used to be a gold-mine for guitars until they got smart at the turn of the century and began working off list prices, so no more Warwicks and Fenders for pin money.

They also don't check the authenticity of what they bring in or the condition of the guitars. Whilst looking over a burgundy 4001 with serious up-bow, I politely asked if I could get a look at the truss-rod ends and also the harness; this request was met with a derisory snort and non-compliance. At the same place I once spotted a white 4001 with chequerboard binding for £500 (around $780) and went in for a look. It had a RIC TRC but the output plates gave them game away as a faker. I took great delight in telling them what they actually had.
 
#92
I went by again to check something out. Here's a pic,I saw an ibanez behind the counter. Ergodyne 600, they wanted 280, the body was so messed up and broken
 

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#94
I've pretty much given up on pawn shops around me.I do check craigslist fairly regularly and picked up a Spector for $100 w/case a few months ago that plays and sounds great.It's buyer beware for sure just as with pawn shops you need to know the true value,I saw an Epiphone T-bird,the cheap one w/bolt on neck that they wanted $350 for this morning,I'm pretty sure I can get a new one for $299(or less) at GC! some people are either ripoffs or just have an over inflated idea of what their stuff's really worth
 
#95
two fingers said:
. (AND they charge $1.75 for a 20oz Diet Dew, which should carry with it a mandatory jail term.)
Hospitals "prey" on those in need of treatment. (I'm in this business. Don't even get me started.)
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<snort>!

Been there, done that myself! (Don't get me started either!)

Yeah at least when you do business with a pawn shop you don't run much risk of coming out dead...
 

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