Pawn Shop Tuesday

[Zrexxer]

Buddy of mine stopped by today and we went to grab some barbecue for lunch, followed by a few pawn shop visits. There were a few items today...

The 8 pc Snap Instinct Soft Handles had maybe been used once, otherwise they're pretty much as new. The last thing in the free world that I need is more screwdrivers, but they were $69 and I wanted to try the Instinct grips.

The Wiss straight snips worked out to be about $2...

And the Cornwell tool bag, eh, I dunno, it was just kinda cool. $9. Not bad for about 45 minutes worth of shop-hopping.

 

[rakesdl]

OK that's it "honey pack your bags were moving to TX" You can't find anything like that here all they have is chinesse junk! Good haul

 

[SocketDeviler]

Damn, very nice. Some fine quality pics too.

 

[MarshallGirvin]

Why don't I have pawn shops like these where I live?!

 

[Scout Driver]

Great finds! I especially like the Cornwell tool bag.

Scott

 

[Wrenchette]

Mind if I ask which pawn shops you go to?

 

[MartinTech]

Austin has great pawn shops...no matter which side of the river you're on. Or even the Interstate... I believe there may be one on S. Congress that is interesting. Happy 4/20...Slow down, Sally.

 

[Wrenchette]

National Pawns - Major pass
Cash America Pawns - Fail (we did buy a Blue Point 1/4 air ratchet for $10 on clearance once though)
Lamar Pawn - Major fail - thinks all Snap On, Mac, Matco and even Craftsman is worth twice as much as new and won't deal.
Mustang Pawn - pass - depends on who you get at the counter and what you find in the socket bins
Top Cash Pawn - fail - never find anything
Cash pawn - pass - always leave with something good for cheap

I will have to check out the one on S. Congress. When I have money.

 

[Teken]

In all the years I have gone through the pawn shops in this hick aszz town, I have found one set of abused wrenches and the **** wanted more than the list price for them!

Please, will one of you take me on a road trip to these estate sales, and pawn shops, please . . .

 

[jride200]

In all the years I have gone through the pawn shops in this hick aszz town, I have found one set of abused wrenches and the **** wanted more than the list price for them!

Please, will one of you take me on a road trip to these estate sales, and pawn shops, please . . .

Agreed. This is totally a matter of geography.

I recently moved from St. Louis to the inter-mountain west. I've been amazed at how much less there is in the way of pawn shop and estate sale tools here. Suppose its a matter of St. Louis being a more industrialized area.

 

[Teken]

You know you got a problem when all you see in the so called tool box at the pawn shop is Fisher price play toy tools!

 

[Coleman]

I've been to a lot of Pawn shops lately, and I've noticed the following. First, the place with the most Sh|t usually has the best deals. I'm talking buckets and boxes full of sockets. I actually had a pawn owner today over helping me dig out American made sockets. He made the comment that he's got too much of it and just wants to get rid of it. Secondly, if they are high priced..and initially your gut feeling is they are asking top dollar, pass on it and go do some resarch on actual prices of things. Third..buy a little from pawn dealer and kindof get to know him. I stopped by a pawn shop 2 days in a row. Told the guy he gave me such a good deal yesterday, I was gonna make another haul. He actually cut me even a better deal, I believe because I shot the you know what with him. And finally, the best deals I've found are in the area of town where you've got strips of flea markets, pawns and what not all together. You may not get a good deal one place, but you can always tell the seller no thanks...and just go down the street. They know this..andthey want to do business.

And the ultimate...Cash talks. No credit card reciepts. They love that ****!!

Best of luck fellas!!!

-Coleman

 

[Sick Puppy]

The Wiss straight snips worked out to be about $2...

Sorry for the n00b question, but what are these used for? I can see there are right, left and straight angled snips, but again, no idea what they are for- cheers!

 

[mooman]

Cutting sheet metal.

 

[Sick Puppy]

Cutting sheet metal.

Darn that's quick, I just found out myself and was about to delete the post lol

Looking around for them now, eBay FTW!

 

[highland512]

There is a pawn shop in southern Indiana that would blow your mind. I once spent 4 hours with the guy and didn't even to began to scratch the surface of what he had. He really doesn't have any "holly sh!t you **** deals" but if a guy was looking to stock a tool box with fine U.S.A. made tools it's the place to be. I went in one afternoon and bought a 9-15mm proto combo wrenches, long handled proto 1/2" ratchet, 1/4-3/4 proto combo's, and 3 mac hard handle screw drivers for $40. Plus I got to play with old tools for hours on end

 

[arkangel06]

Decent haul!

I wish I could find deals like that!

 

[selohssa]

Great finds! I especially like the Cornwell tool bag.

Scott

+1!!!!!!!!!

 

[Zrexxer]

Mind if I ask which pawn shops you go to?

I've spent over 25 years cultivating my pawn shop connections around here, so if you live the same place I do, then sorry - I'm afraid you're on your own. There's enough competition out there for the good stuff already!

 

[supertooljunkie]

Very nice haul. I'm getting a list of needed sockets together right now. I found three new pawn shops near me yesterday and I'm head'in out!!

 

[SocketDeviler]

I miss the Austin shops. Lots of good deals at the right time/right places. Of course there's the flip side of charging Snap-On prices for Stanley. All part of the hunt.

 

[Lump]

One sad truth is that pawn shops near the edge of high-theft areas do end up with lots of tools...

 

[heelsroll]

NICE Score!

 

[SocketDeviler]

One sad truth is that pawn shops near the edge of high-theft areas do end up with lots of tools...

Stolen goods of all kinds wind in pawn shops but it's not a desired commodity as they are a time consuming and costly hassle. As much as my old boss loved money he wanted nothing to do with stolen merchandise. I saw a lot of people get turned away on suspicion but yeh, stuff still gets through.

 

[Zrexxer]

One sad truth is that pawn shops near the edge of high-theft areas do end up with lots of tools...

People are generally confused about this. Here's what I've seen from 25 years trolling the shops.

"Stolen" merchandise in terms of someone broke into your shop and stole all your tools and equipment? Hardly ever. I've seen once case actually make it through to the sales floor. Most get run off by the pawnbrokers, who, trust me, have seen it all - or picked up off the reported stolen lists by the APD detectives who visit the stores weekly.

What DOES end up in the pawns is identity theft and credit card fraud items. Why would someone pawn a 100% new in the box, never been used, DeWalt reciprocating saw, you ask... I see them every week. The answer is that they are using stolen credit card numbers. In order to convert credit - which they DON'T need, to CASH, which they do, they'll buy up merchandise at Home Depot etc. then take it and pawn it with a fake ID. Fake IDs are even easier to come by than stolen credit card numbers - I found out my GF's daughter has one and that kid just about couldn't figure out how to operate a faucet to get a drink of water.

So the stereotype of pawnshops as smoky dark dens of seedy characters and stolen merchandise is probably best relegated to the movies; for the most part now they're corporate retailers, and similarly the "stolen" merchandise usually is from a different kind of criminal than a masked bandit with a crowbar.

 

[Lump]

Did anyone see that reality cop tv show about this kind of thing recently? Some cops set up a fence operation in a shop, and stood behind a counter buying stolen merchandise from thieves. Soon the place was teeming with crooks, when the word got out among them. They came rolling in, selling tools, stereos, etc. The same people came again and again. Then the cops lowered the boom. Cool!

 

[Wrenchette]

I've spent over 25 years cultivating my pawn shop connections around here, so if you live the same place I do, then sorry - I'm afraid you're on your own. There's enough competition out there for the good stuff already!

can't blame a girl for trying!

 

[Mickey O]

Nice score, as I've bitched about several times we get nothing but overpriced junk and seedy people at our local pawn shops. So how are the Instinct grips, and how is clean up if you know yet? I just tried a newer style soft grip screwdriver (German one) for the first time yesterday (replacing disposal) and I liked it. Not sure if I need a whole set (maybe I do), I've got a bazillion Snap-On and Mac hard handles but I liked the new style.

 

[O RLY]

If you ever want to sell those 2 snap on stubbys I got dibs =)

 

[bonneyman]

It's not a pawn shop, but we have a used tool place in Tucson called Kents Tools. His prices can be a bit on the high side, but he has tons of stuff.
And he might be willing to deal with you, because the city is planning to widen the road....and his building is going to get demolished!
He's on the web.

 

[Zrexxer]

So how are the Instinct grips, and how is clean up if you know yet?

The whole grip isn't soft, like I was wondering... the red part - or green, or orange, or whatever color Instincts you get - is hard, I guess the same as the hard handles, and the black part is dense smooth rubber.

It's not spongy or flocky like some of the German drivers, just black smooth rubber. I cleaned some greasy handprints off them when I got them by just spraying them with Formula 409 and wiping with a rag; they seem to clean up very easily. Most of all, I do really like the shape.