Pawnshop experience survey

[kxxr]

For those of you that frequent local pawn shops ...
We had a short discussion in another thread about pawn shop prices and I'm curious now. And, I see an older thread that is pretty interesting about deciphering the cost codes, but I'd like to revisit the subject anyway.

So here are the questions:
What town do you pawnshop in?
What are prices like? What do you guess you'd have to give for a 5 gallon bucket of randomly mixed sockets?
Anyone else have good luck at pawn shops?
What's your best deal ever at a pawn shop?
Any other descriptive information you'd like to offer.
There is a lot of variation here in my area, from shops that want to count each individual piece and charge a couple of dollars each for them to other shops that just eyeball a huge pile of assorted stuff and say "five bucks".
All of them put the Snap On and Mac stuff, and even some Craftsman if it's shiny, under glass and ask almost retail. They'll take less of course, but they start high. It's a great way to kill an afternoon and I never go home empty handed ... some days the deals are a lot better than others.

 

[balane]

I've had OK luck once in a great while but it's seldom. I go to the ones between N. Seattle and Everett WA. I go a lot less now than I used to, maybe once every three months I make the rounds. Mostly I stopped because of continuing disappointment.

I know they're a business and that they have to make money but I just don't have a lot of respect for the way things are handled these days. It's seem to have gotten worse over the years. I know the internet has hurt their business and I can relate to that but as a consumer I have choices and have started looking elsewhere.

They pay/loan very little on the dollar and sell them very close, sometimes even more, than what the companies charge for new tools. They don't seem willing to haggle very much and will just wave you off for the most part if you don't want to pay their prices.

Selection has also diminished over the years, I assume this because people sell their tools on Craig's List or eBay instead of pawn shops.

I see truck brand sockets, used, now priced at $7-$10 each for smaller ones when they used to go for less than $5 each. Ratchets, screwdrivers, pliers, etc. are priced about 30% higher than they're worth typically.

I think the best deal I ever got was about seven years ago and it was for two complete sets of Snap On nut drivers, metric and SAE, both in trays for $150 out the door. I was pretty happy with that. They were in nearly new shape. Nothing noteworthy since then.

Makes me sad though, it used to be fun to shop for deals at pawn shops. I miss it.

 

[woody 73]

If you get the chance send a pm to Blacknwhitepit he is a fantastic source of information about pawnshops. As for me I have never had any luck, the moment I walk into the shops they can smell what I am up too in a heartbeat (must be the old spice).

Plus several of the pawn shops in my town are in very bad areas and I admit that I am afraid to go even in the middle of the day.

 

[Holt]

The Locally own pawn shops around here are great to deal with but have little selection but there is a person that owns about 6 of the 10 total pawn shows around here and anything craftsman or snap on go behind a locked glass window and want 90% of retail. (they have signs stating it). Sometimes the Some of the snap on items cost less of the truck. With any pawn shop around here the more you buy the bigger the discount. If you give them **** there remember you and wont give you a good deal. They never get any toolboxes in though.

 

[onemore]

When I was a tool salesman down south, I would stop in the local Shops and always walk out with a heck of a deal. I still pick stuff up on E-Bay from Money Mart pawn I think in Tucson.

 

[Blacknwhitepit]

Pawnshops are a favorite SPORT of mine...

Make no mistake, All pawnshops are not created equally.

It does depend on those in your particular neighborhood. Whenever I go on vacation, or on Business trips I always will try to check out pawnshops.

Unfortunately for Woody 73, he lives in a town that has very poor pawnshops IMHO... The only good place is the one in the hilltop area run by the Russians... I have tried to find good ones there Woody, but unfortunately you are stuck... At least you have a good Flea Market in CAESAR Creek 80 miles down 71.

I actually have come to like PAWN AMERICA and some of the chains... They see individual sockets and tools as worthless and you can walk out of the store with a bag full of gold for around $10.00!!!!

Chains also do negotiate!

Back to regular pawnshops....

There are some who are jerks and put snap on prices on shiny GREAT NECK... Good for a laugh...

If you find/have a good pawnshop near you, develop a rapport and smile and be polite and respectful.

First ask "what do you have on this"?

Then ask "what will you do on this"?

the number changes... if not low enough then ask


"What is your best price"?

At that time, they most likely will give you your best price.

Another tidbit!

REPEAT AFTER ME!!!!

NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, GIVE FIRST PRICE...

There were times on things I would have paid double, but I asked and they said half of what I was expecting... They gladly would have taken double!!!

Here are a couple of Maxims I have learned.

1. Don't pitch the *****... IMHO women think you are getting over on them on the tool prices and negotiation, so talk to a man if you can...

2. Never make it personal or angry... Trust me, they will remember you....

3. If you can't agree, say "thanks, I appreciate your time"

4. If you get a big win (a great price on something, and come back a few weeks later and the best price on something else you want is a little more than you want to pay... pay it... it all evens out.) Consider it a payback.. You still are winning.

5. Shake a hand when you can....

Hope this helps

-BWP

 

[supertooljunkie]

I love pawn shops. There are some that are better than others. Like others have said, some look at Craftsman and want almost full retail. They know the name. like Snap on. Then they don't know the names Proto, Williams, Wright, and other quality names, and will dump them in the "**** bins".
There are two shops almost next door to each other. One I go into and can come out with 25 or 30 pieces, including ratchets and other name brand tools, for $15-20. The store next door wants $10-12 ea. for a SK chrome combo wrench. I have made purchases in both stores, but tend to buy more from store #1.
I went into a store yesterday and came out with 65 items, including Snap on, C-man, SK, Kal, Plomb, Vlchek, Herbrand, Klein, Wright, and others for $17. They guys running that store are young. All they spoke about while I was in the place was video games and gaming stations. I made my choice and asked for a box, which they supplied. I loaded up and set it on the counter. The kid didn't even look in the box and asked me how much it was worth to me. I told him $15. He said $20, and we met in the middle.
I went to another shop yesterday that I frequent. Picked out several items and the guy at the counter wanted $2 per item. I tried to bargain, but he wouldn't back off. I normally deal with the owner and get much better pricing. I bought a set of Snap on 1/4 drive metric sockets 4mm-14mm, missing the 10, for $8, there. Most never used. With the owner, I normally pay $1 or less.
There are good deals. I recently bought a nearly new Cornwell, 1/4" TR-3 ratchet for thirty eight cents. Other places want $10 for a crapped out, broken PRC ratchet.
Like Blackandwhite pit said, get to know the people and be friendly. Sometimes the deals are there, sometimes not.
Here is my haul from yesterday. Several 3/4" sockets, SK Wayne 3/8' ratchet, Kal 1/2" ratchet, Klein pocket knife, all US made, pretty much.
The brake tool, the 1/2 impact extension, several of the sockets are Snap on. All for $16.94.

 

[earlthegoat2]

I have found my best deals at Pawn Shops. I used to work at one for a few years so I know how it works. My favorites are the ones have have very high prices marked as these are the ones which will sit on invetory the longest and be willing to lower the prices substanally to move an item that has recieved little intrest because of its high marked price and has sat around for half a year.

It is a great way to assemble a hodge podge looking but very functional set of tools.

 

[kxxr]

I've had OK luck once in a great while but it's seldom. I go to the ones between N. Seattle and Everett WA. I go a lot less now than I used to, maybe once every three months I make the rounds. Mostly I stopped because of continuing disappointment.

I know they're a business and that they have to make money but I just don't have a lot of respect for the way things are handled these days. It's seem to have gotten worse over the years. I know the internet has hurt their business and I can relate to that but as a consumer I have choices and have started looking elsewhere.

They pay/loan very little on the dollar and sell them very close, sometimes even more, than what the companies charge for new tools. They don't seem willing to haggle very much and will just wave you off for the most part if you don't want to pay their prices.

Selection has also diminished over the years, I assume this because people sell their tools on Craig's List or eBay instead of pawn shops.

I see truck brand sockets, used, now priced at $7-$10 each for smaller ones when they used to go for less than $5 each. Ratchets, screwdrivers, pliers, etc. are priced about 30% higher than they're worth typically.

I think the best deal I ever got was about seven years ago and it was for two complete sets of Snap On nut drivers, metric and SAE, both in trays for $150 out the door. I was pretty happy with that. They were in nearly new shape. Nothing noteworthy since then.

Makes me sad though, it used to be fun to shop for deals at pawn shops. I miss it.

Agreed. Nothing worse than spending an hour finding a few gems and then have the kid working the counter try to charge $2 each because they say craftsman. I have better luck with the brands those kids have never heard of, but they sometimes want a premium just for the U.S.A. stamp. It does ruin the fun. They don't seem to understand that if the price is right, I'll come back often and give them a little money each time. If it isn't, they get to keep a thousand pounds of greasy rusty buckets full of stuff for another decade or two.
I do have a couple of shops but even there, I have to watch out to see which guy is working to get the right deal.

 

[toymn6366]

i go into 4 pawn shops about 3 times a week i of them is a chain and i know everybody that works there by name they will save me tools to look at before they put them out like friday i went in and the manager had saved 5 full handboxes for me to look through[bought 2 of them]
the other 3 shops are local owned 2 are run by guys that are friends sometime i get good deals sometime not.
the 2 other shops are owned by same woman run by women i don't go into them anymore can't buy from them my wife says i just have a way with woman.
best deal i ever got was christmas 2 years ago bought a cm 3 dreaw handbox full of snap on wrenches,skockets,ratchets and hard handle sreawdrivers for $200

 

[KEH]

Pawn shops in Spartanburg and Laurens, SC. I have a vague recollection from some years ago of one of the shops having a 5 gallon bucket of tools which I had bought things out of and after I noticed it gone the guy said they sold it to a flea market tool jockey for $100.

I've gotten a lot of good deals. If it's I politely refuse, joke around a little If time permits, and leave. One deal I remember was asking how much they wanted for that rusty old ratchet and getting for $2, their price. It turned out to be an industrial finish William 1/2 drive round head in pristine condition.

I haven't seen any tool truck stuff in the shops in a long time. I think the bad economy has people out of work so they can't buy tools to work with, and they have already pawned the good stuff. There is still a good supply of the older Craftsman sockets and wrenches, but ratchets are scarce. I did manage to fill out a set of Craftsman RHFT in 1/4,3/8, and 1/2 drive, plus a compact 3/8 Craftsman RHFT which has the T15 torx fastner on top holding it together.

There is one shop which tries to get a high percentage of new price for quality stuff, but he knows i won't pay it. I've gotten some good deals on ratchets there.

KEH

 

[kxxr]

Pawnshops are a favorite SPORT of mine...

Make no mistake, All pawnshops are not created equally.

It does depend on those in your particular neighborhood. Whenever I go on vacation, or on Business trips I always will try to check out pawnshops.

Unfortunately for Woody 73, he lives in a town that has very poor pawnshops IMHO... The only good place is the one in the hilltop area run by the Russians... I have tried to find good ones there Woody, but unfortunately you are stuck... At least you have a good Flea Market in CAESAR Creek 80 miles down 71.

I actually have come to like PAWN AMERICA and some of the chains... They see individual sockets and tools as worthless and you can walk out of the store with a back full of gold for around $10.00!!!!

Chains also do negotiate!

Back to regular pawnshops....

There are some who are jerks and put snap on prices on shiny GREAT NECK... Good for a laugh...

If you find/have a good pawnshop near you, develop a rapport and smile and be polite and respectful.

First ask "what do you have on this"?

Then ask "what will you do on this"?

the number changes... if not low enough then ask


"What is your best price"?

At that time, they most likely will give you your best price.

Another tidbit!

REPEAT AFTER ME!!!!

NEVER, EVER, EVER, EVER, GIVE FIRST PRICE...

There were times on things I would have paid double, but I asked and they said half of what I was expecting... They gladly would have taken double!!!

Here are a couple of Maxims I have learned.

1. Don't pitch the *****... IMHO women think you are getting over on them on the tool prices and negotiation, so talk to a man if you can...

2. Never make it personal or angry... Trust me, they will remember you....

3. If you can't agree, say "thanks, I appreciate your time"

4. If you get a big win (a great price on something, and come back a few weeks later and the best price on something else you want is a little more than you want to pay... pay it... it all evens out.) Consider it a payback.. You still are winning.

5. Shake a hand when you can....

Hope this helps

-BWP

All good advice. Tried and true. You do catch more flies with honey than vinegar ... even in a pawnshop. Courtesy always is worth the effort. Thanks bwp.

 

[kxxr]

Pawn shops in Spartanburg and Laurens, SC. I have a vague recollection from some years ago of one of the shops having a 5 gallon bucket of tools which I had bought things out of and after I noticed it gone the guy said they sold it to a flea market tool jockey for $100.

I've gotten a lot of good deals. If it's I politely refuse, joke around a little If time permits, and leave. One deal I remember was asking how much they wanted for that rusty old ratchet and getting for $2, their price. It turned out to be an industrial finish William 1/2 drive round head in pristine condition.

I haven't seen any tool truck stuff in the shops in a long time. I think the bad economy has people out of work so they can't buy tools to work with, and they have already pawned the good stuff. There is still a good supply of the older Craftsman sockets and wrenches, but ratchets are scarce. I did manage to fill out a set of Craftsman RHFT in 1/4,3/8, and 1/2 drive, plus a compact 3/8 Craftsman RHFT which has the T15 torx fastner on top holding it together.

There is one shop which tries to get a high percentage of new price for quality stuff, but he knows i won't pay it. I've gotten some good deals on ratchets there.

KEH

I went to 5 shops in a nearby town yesterday and they all had a few things but one thing I noticed that I thought was really strange was that not one of them had any ratchets in the bins. Not even no name or taiwan ratchets. They each had one or 2 'under glass' but absolutely nothing in the bins. Strange, I thought.
Another thing I hate is when they place the items behind the counter just far enough away that I can't see what it is or what the price tag says. Then they come along and say "Did you want to see something"? and I'm thinking "Yeah, I want to walk back there and see it all" ..... but I just say "no thanks".
I think they need a course in Merchandising 101.

 

[sumner52000]

I frequent the one (out of two) pawn shop in town that will deal with hand tools. They put it all in boxes marked $1 or $2 each. I frequently buy good ratchets for $2 each. They don't usually get many truck brands. The guy knows me now and i typically just pay about half what he had marked. I am slowly trying to teach him what i am looking for so he will get me better stuff. But if I teach him too much the prices may go up. I don't even try to negotiate any more, but i should probably start paying more to help keep him in business, so he can keep getting me good stuff.

 

[Danglerb]

I've looked a few places around Orange county Calif, spent a total of maybe $5 on nothing special.

Pawn shop north of 405 on Beach has a few shelves of truck brand misc, loose sockets, in no better than fair condition at 50% of retail new prices.

Rest of the handful of pawns I have looked at had mostly junk power tools at crazy prices, and cheap bin full of junk.

Most of the pawns sell on ebay, often with some kind of photo box visible in the back, so I assume everything of value goes on ebay.

 

[justanengineer]

I window shop 3 or 4 of them once a month around Lafayette. Like when I lived back east, common tools are ridiculous, but if its something specialty then you see an occasional deal. I enjoy deal hunting, so if I leave 99% of the time empty handed, I dont feel like I lost anything.

 

[tool whore]

I do most of my pawn shopping around Charlotte, NC. Outside of the big city the deals are to be had. The center city just has too high rent and too much traffic so they keep the prices high on anything good. They too are posting on CL. Filling it up really!!

I frequent about 5 locally and they are all different. Different stock. Different people, attittudes, prices and negotiation tactics. One tries the 90% of retail on truck brands. One doesnt have jack, except for the great neck stuff. A couple others do usually have tools that interest me. One has sockets in bins, wrenches in bins and miscellaneous tools in a bucket. I just dump them out one at a time and sort it all out. Does the guy a favor because I usually spend an hour and straighten the shelf out for him. Sockets are $1 each. 60 for $45 is a deal. Any brand. I plan on CMan and if I get a truck brand I'm in the green.

Across the street is another one. Similar layout and they have a woman working the gold counter and like someone said, "Don't pitch the *****!" So I dont. They try to jack prices based on the drive size and deep/shallow. I just pick out what I want and offer them what I think it should be. I use the $1 a socket price because I know the other guy will eventually have it at that price and I dont NEED it. I am just collecting stuff. She adds it all up after I make an offer and usually takes it. Sometimes she counters. Just depends on how I read her that day how I respond. Sometimes she is worthless as a merchant and others she is friendly and assertive about your shopping experience. After 30 minutes of listening to her deal with a juvenile gangster over the price of a stolen necklace melted down I just dont have it in me to listen to her pricing rants. I have left a pile of **** on the counter at a few of the pawn shops. I go back in a month later and dont think twice. The game doesnt change it stays the same.

Some of the pawn shops are legit businesses and others are seedy. You can tell the difference. I treat it like a yard sale. I try to go to the nice ones and avoid the ones in the trailer parks, so to speak. I want the nice stuff. Certain ones just have junk. Not sure if they only buy junk or they pilfer the good stuff for another location or the internet or what.

To the OP:

Most of the pawn shops would NOT sell you a 5 gallon bucket of sockets. Either at all, or for less than $100. They wouldnt even entertain it. There must be some price point strategy. I think they believe they will eventually get way more.

The best deals are the truck brand 'occasional finds' and I also like cheap craftsman ratchets. The ones with the free replacement at Sears! I love buying a beat one for $1 or $2 and taking to Sears on the way home. Then, I show the old lady my shiny new ratchet that I got at Sears- for $2. I leave the small details out for simplicity!

I bought a couple of sets of hansen trays from tooltopia a while back and have started making a full set of deep and shallow craftsmans. When you have the plastic case sets as a young DIYer, you think you have a lot of sockets, but once you go Hansen you'll know you have only just begun. I always find 4-6mm sockets and also the half-sizes (4.5, 5.5, etc.). I'd never buy these items at retail unless I had to have it. However, at a pawn shop nobody knows what they are used for so they dont sell.

 

[Chris Adams]

There are about seven or so local (sorta) pawnshops in my area.
None of them offer good deals.

One is a police front, and a poor one. I suppose it is one of the standard 'sting' operations, but they do it so poorly, well, it's embarrassing.

Only one of the local stores get good tools, but they want roughly 90-140% of retail, so I've never bought a thing from them. Handled a lot of tools though.
Negotiate? No, they have never heard that word.

A couple more only sell to Hispanic customers, a common local thing.
I've got a Hispanic buddy, and he has nabbed some decent prices, not swap meet low, but still decent, at both of these places.
They absolutely will not sell to Anglos or Blacks, using the 'No speak English' standard reply, then if you ask them in Spanish, they suddenly speak excellent English, but still won't sell.

Frankly, I have bought ten times as much in Riverside, 50 miles away. There the pawnshops are actually trying to sell product and want cash customers.


E-bay seems to be the main 'outlet' for the working pawnshops anymore.

I have to say it's been six months since I even bothered to go into any of them, as swap meets have better tools, better prices and oddly, want the money.

 

[speed bump]

Locales:Anywhere on exists.

Prices are what they are, sometimes they are amazing and sometimes they ***** ***.

luck? Sure I have bought all sorts of stuff and have never found a pawn shop where I couldn't make a deal. Even in nasty pawn shops in Houston where you had to be buzzed in.

Best deal? there have been a lot of them but my favorite was my techwrench for $100 or 1/4" snap on extension set in tray for $10.

Other tidbits: always shop your pawn broker: I actually like talking to the women because as long you dont bring an attitude they basically give stuff away. If you have patience the salesman types are fun to, typically you wont get the best deal but they will be reasonable. I typically avoid non salesman type middle age or older guys as they will look and don't deal well but every once and a while you get lucky.

kxxr where at in Mt are you? I can pass along some recommendations for places to shop from all over the state if your interested.

 

[kxxr]

Locales:Anywhere on exists.

Prices are what they are, sometimes they are amazing and sometimes they ***** ***.

luck? Sure I have bought all sorts of stuff and have never found a pawn shop where I couldn't make a deal. Even in nasty pawn shops in Houston where you had to be buzzed in.

Best deal? there have been a lot of them but my favorite was my techwrench for $100 or 1/4" snap on extension set in tray for $10.

Other tidbits: always shop your pawn broker: I actually like talking to the women because as long you dont bring an attitude they basically give stuff away. If you have patience the salesman types are fun to, typically you wont get the best deal but they will be reasonable. I typically avoid non salesman type middle age or older guys as they will look and don't deal well but every once and a while you get lucky.

kxxr where at in Mt are you? I can pass along some recommendations for places to shop from all over the state if your interested.

Thanks, yeah, I'd be interested. I have been cruising the shops here in Great Falls for many, many years now. I get over to Bozeman/Belgrade pretty often and am only 90 miles from helena. I get to Misoulla pretty regularly too. I have plenty of pawn shop experience. I usually focus on the guitars/music/audio stuff but always try to check everything out.

 

[Toolhorder]

Most of the ones here in my town ****. Never have truck brand tools on the shelf. All of them pretty much sell on feebay. I do have a couple of my favorite sellers list and have got a couple good deals but nothing to write home about.

 

[Allboy]

Around here the stuff you find at Pawnshops is trashed and over priced.

 

[countryroad82]

The pawn shops in my town (Eastern KY) absolutely **** for tool purchases. Most of what they have is junk or on the off occasion they do have something nice they will not budge on their asking price at all. The only thing I have found them good for is buying guns or guitars, for some reason they are more willing to work out a deal on the fast movers like that than stuff they have to sit on.

 

[Gpgtp]

Town: Oklahoma City.
Prices are a mixed bag, we frequent about 6 different pawn shops, all of them vary price wise, but all keep "name brand" tools under glass, at 5-7 dollars a socket. Heck, the store I was in yesterday had an 18volt hf drill on sale at $19 dollars. I bought the SAME drill new at hf Friday for $11.57 (so the wife stops using my dewalt) best deal: tool wise? Dewalt 18 volt drill, charger, 2 batteries for 25 dollars. Batts were bad. Cost me 20 dollars to rebuild both packs.

I've yet to see a single ratchet NOT under glass at a shop around here

 

[tpolley]

I hate pawn shops. Around here they want almost new price for tools that look as if they fell off the back of a truck. I stopped at a pawn shop a few weeks ago to look for. Some stolen items. they had a big sign in the window "no cell phone use allowed". What the hell is that about? Do they not want people looking up the actual value of items and haggling?

 

[Toolhorder]

I hate pawn shops. Around here they want almost new price for tools that look as if they fell off the back of a truck. I stopped at a pawn shop a few weeks ago to look for. Some stolen items. they had a big sign in the window "no cell phone use allowed". What the hell is that about? Do they not want people looking up the actual value of items and haggling?

I think that rule is more for the people who can't seem to put the phone down to do business. Around here it's pretty common to have a ghetto queen on her cell phone that thinks it's okay to talk to someone on the phone about something and at the same time talk to you about something. I watched it unfold at the bank several times until they pointed at the sign and refused them service. Then I watched as the bank was called "racists" and she left cussing a storm up in the place.