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I hate pawnshops.

If it makes you feel any better I'm legally insane so I would say I don't fall into the "norm" of the generation.


You are "legally" insane?

What exactly do you mean by that? The psychological community frowns upon labeling especially the concept of sane vs. insane. And from a legal perspective it means a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality thus making themselves a danger to self/others.

These people are usually not out in society perusing pawnshops unassisted. So just who called you this and what does it mean?
 
I've scored a some good basses and guitars for cheap at pawnshops, i.e. Yamaha bass for $90. There is a lot of overpriced junk in pawn shops typically, but sometimes there's a diamond in the rough. Price is usually negotiable too in my experience.

I would never sell gear to a pawn shop since I can get more $$$ using CraigsList, eBay, or other sites specific to gear.

During my college days, I did use a pawn shop for a couple small loans on guitars.
 
You are "legally" insane?

What exactly do you mean by that? The psychological community frowns upon labeling especially the concept of sane vs. insane. And from a legal perspective it means a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality thus making themselves a danger to self/others.

These people are usually not out in society perusing pawnshops unassisted. So just who called you this and what does it mean?

you would think?

I was put on disability (not my idea but my therapist) because of mental disordeders

bi-polar, border line personality, anxiety, psychosis.

I take mood stabilizers antipsychotics and anti-anxiety medication.

I've been several different psyche wards usually staying 5-14 days.

I say legally insane because I of the disability and the fact that I pulled a butcher knife on my dad once (hints the anti-psychotics). My dad didn't press charges however I did spend two weeks in the psyche ward while they balanced me out.

and as far as insane vs. sane. The people i met in the psyche wards, a lot of them really didn't understand that they've been declaired insane. OF course those where the people with dementia(sp) and skitzophrenia(sp). The people who were more emtionally unstable actually knew quite well that they were unbalanced.

Also psyche wards only hold you until they feel that you are not a threat to yourself or others. This is determinded by your cooperation with therapy and your reaction to medication. So once released if you do not continue therapy or your medication then you can quickly become a threat. If that's the case you can only be recommitted if you either volunteer or if you've actually hurt yourself or someone else.

Also I joke about my disorders a lot because if find it funny that I'm apparantly such an emotional train wreck. I do feel fine the majority of the time (even off my medication which is going on 6 months now). Do I notice the difference's in myself? yes. I think about suicide a lot, and I fidget non-stop. I also get severly depressed about things that really aren't that big of a deal, always assuming the worst. I do have fits of rage where I ended up punching myself or breaking things but I feel like I've gotten those mostly undercontrol (YAY punching bag). It's all subjective really when you think about it.
 
You are "legally" insane?

What exactly do you mean by that? The psychological community frowns upon labeling especially the concept of sane vs. insane. And from a legal perspective it means a person cannot distinguish fantasy from reality thus making themselves a danger to self/others.

These people are usually not out in society perusing pawnshops unassisted. So just who called you this and what does it mean?

Im making an assumption, but I believe he may mean he is 5150. Basically it means he is unable to hold a job due to mental unstability.
 
I hate them too. They don't want to give you a darn dime for stuff you pawn or sell, but they want to charge and arm and leg when you go buy something from them.
my ex used to work at one, and we pawned some of my jewelry to get money for something (been so long, I don't remember what for, probably for bills), and one of the items was a HEAVY 18K solid gold necklace, which was HEAVY and I could of probably gotten about $500 for it, but at the time I needed the money fast and didn't have time to sell, so I figured his place would help me out more. NOT. They gave me $65 for it, and what made it bad, I couldn't afford to get it out-ex was supposed to help me but he had other things come up, so I lost it. I was ticked for months, heck I am STILL ticked, despite I can't do anything about it anymore. You would think being that he worked there for years, and STILL works there (it's a different business now, owned by same owner), that they'd help out some. They knew what they got, they probably made a killing off of it too.
Another time I needed a tire for my van, and took a nice diamond tennis bracelet of mine to sell. The bracelet came from that very pawn shop that my ex used to work at, but since they closed the pawn, I took to another place. They just gave me for the weight of the gold. Mind you it was used to me, but still cost a couple hundred, and I didn't get but like $30 for it. NO wait..$35. I managed an extra measly $5 out of Mr. Stingy pawn shop owner. and boy were they snobs too!
 
I hate them too. They don't want to give you a darn dime for stuff you pawn or sell, but they want to charge and arm and leg when you go buy something from them.
my ex used to work at one, and we pawned some of my jewelry to get money for something (been so long, I don't remember what for, probably for bills), and one of the items was a HEAVY 18K solid gold necklace, which was HEAVY and I could of probably gotten about $500 for it, but at the time I needed the money fast and didn't have time to sell, so I figured his place would help me out more. NOT. They gave me $65 for it, and what made it bad, I couldn't afford to get it out-ex was supposed to help me but he had other things come up, so I lost it. I was ticked for months, heck I am STILL ticked, despite I can't do anything about it anymore. You would think being that he worked there for years, and STILL works there (it's a different business now, owned by same owner), that they'd help out some. They knew what they got, they probably made a killing off of it too.
Another time I needed a tire for my van, and took a nice diamond tennis bracelet of mine to sell. The bracelet came from that very pawn shop that my ex used to work at, but since they closed the pawn, I took to another place. They just gave me for the weight of the gold. Mind you it was used to me, but still cost a couple hundred, and I didn't get but like $30 for it. NO wait..$35. I managed an extra measly $5 out of Mr. Stingy pawn shop owner. and boy were they snobs too!

You agreed to the deals. No rip off.
 
You agreed to the deals. No rip off.

taking advantage of those in need is ripping them off.

Honestly if you know what your stuff is worth and they know what it's worth but only offer a fraction of that they're trying to rip you off. If you want any chance of getting your stuff back you gotta go through pawn sharks. It's not like you can go through cl or a guitar store and say "I'll sell you my bass but let me buy it back from you in a few weeks".

So unless you want to say "by by" to your stuff you gotta go through pawn shops and even then it's a risk considering that if something comes up between the day of the loan and the 90 days you need to get it back. So in the end you could end up selling a 400$ bass for 100$.
 
taking advantage of those in need is ripping them off.

Honestly if you know what your stuff is worth and they know what it's worth but only offer a fraction of that they're trying to rip you off. If you want any chance of getting your stuff back you gotta go through pawn sharks. It's not like you can go through cl or a guitar store and say "I'll sell you my bass but let me buy it back from you in a few weeks".

So unless you want to say "by by" to your stuff you gotta go through pawn shops and even then it's a risk considering that if something comes up between the day of the loan and the 90 days you need to get it back. So in the end you could end up selling a 400$ bass for 100$.

And if you need that $100 really bad, you're going to be thankful for pawn shops.

No one puts a gun to your head and makes you sell them your gear. They are a business that needs to make money, they don't just give it away.
 
The pawnshop is an industry not a massive altruism-fest. People are forgetting this. Making money from the needy is no different from how most organised religions opperate, and atleast the pawnbroker comes up with the goods again if you somehow find the money. They are a bit rock bottom, but something has to be down there right?

A pawnshop near me had a lovely Guild SG guitar (I forget the correct name for them) and a Burgundy Rickenbacker 4001. This is the exception rather than the rule. Most of the shops round me flog only the cheapest knockoff chinese junk guitars and bassists. If you want a dirty black affinity P-bass then you can always count on them to have 2 in stock...
 
Interesting side note: through pure luck I happened to run across my Dad`s 74 Les Paul after 11 years and at least 3 different sets of hands. You better believe I sold some stuff to snatch that up!

Awesome man! That almost had me choked up...really. :crying:

My ex-wife did me in at a pawnshop about 7 yrs ago. She had taken my 5 string Conklin and SOLD IT (not pawned) for $150!!!! She waited until I went out of town and took it in. I originally purchased it used for a song and told her about it. She told the pawnshop that it was worth $500 so thats how they figured $150. I was home 2.5 weeks before I noticed that it was gone (for a grand total of 3.5 weeks). I asked her why she had done it, her answer was that her mother needed the money and she knew that I wouldn't give it to her (in which she was correct because mom was a swindler)!

I had gone to the pawnshop to see what was up with the instrument. I asked to speak to the manger immediately, and told her my story. She said that the instrument was in the back and she would get it for me. She stated that she was surprised to see the instrument there because she had seen me playing that instrument recently (even though I had no clue as to who she was) and thought it was quite a coincidence to see the instrument in the shop. she was also shocked at seeing it being labeled for sale so cheaply and in the process of changing the price 2 days ago but didn't get around to it. She returned from the back looking as if she had seen a ghost! She said that it wasn't there. She looked in the computer, covered her mouth, and tears started running down her face. She said "I'm sorry, but it's gone. Sold yesterday." I asked her how much did it go for, she said that she was afraid to tell me. I yelled, and she told me $350!!!!!! I was FURIOUS!!! She stated that no one in the shop knew what it was and they were only familiar with Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, etc. The others didn't know how to pull the info up on the internet, neither did she, but she knew it was way more valuable than what they had it listed for. She still wiping away tears. Finally I asked her why was she crying, when I SHOULD BE THE ONE CRYING......

She told me she was crying because she was afraid for my wife!
 
And if you need that $100 really bad, you're going to be thankful for pawn shops.

No one puts a gun to your head and makes you sell them your gear. They are a business that needs to make money, they don't just give it away.

I never said anyone was. I'm just saying I like I got ripped off and was backed into a corner because I needed the money.

and I did need the money bad but I need more then what they gave me and if I had sold my bass out right on cl then I probably would have gotten as opposed to taking it to a pawnshop... unfortunatly I didn't want to sell it, needed the money and thus felt the only way to get what I needed was to accept the lowball offer the pawnshop gave.

Unless you are a very young child, take responsibility for your own actions... no one is forcing you to buy/sell at a pawn shop.

You're talking like I committed a crime and trying to blame it on peer pressure or something.
 
I never said anyone was. I'm just saying I like I got ripped off and was backed into a corner because I needed the money.

and I did need the money bad but I need more then what they gave me and if I had sold my bass out right on cl then I probably would have gotten as opposed to taking it to a pawnshop... unfortunatly I didn't want to sell it, needed the money and thus felt the only way to get what I needed was to accept the lowball offer the pawnshop gave.



You're talking like I committed a crime and trying to blame it on peer pressure or something.

You're acting like they're bad guys. You should be thankful. You were in a bind and needed cash, where else were you gonna get it? If you could of gotten more on CL, then why not sell it there?

Just seems like you're complaining for the sake of it.
 

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