Pawnshop tool deals?

[Smokeshow69]

Pawn shops are great! You never know what you are going to find and how it will be priced. My tool boxes are full of "junk" pawn shop tools. I also love when I find brand name tools in the "junk" bins because the employees where not paying attention when they put the tools out. I just found a snap on 5/8th combo wrench, 2 snappy 1/2 drive 9/16th sockets, bunch of proto, p&c and good us made craftsman sockets for $10. I just love the thrill of the hunt because you never know what you will find. I am a huge plvmb collector/user and love finding bits and pieces here and there because most folks don't know what the brand is. I love working on old American cars so the sae sizes are a great deal since most folks are using metric these days and don't care about the sae. The thing about most pawn shops I have found is that the prices are all over the board. One item may be super high and the next is a really good deal. A general rule of thumb is the mom and pop shops are better priced. Also go to sketchy areas of town to find the better deals and don't be afraid to walk away if the deal is not good.

 

[steed andersen]

Here in MI they are almost as worthless as our lions football team

You got that right. Never found a good deal or even a reasonable deal at any pawn shop in Michigan. Even heard of some that were being investigated by police as fencing or laundering operations with Chicago ties.

 

[hickfied]

I do not buy tools from the mom and pop type shops. I try, but generally I can get a better deal off the truck, from homdepot, or lowes, depending on what the tool is. I generally only buy used guns from these shops. They know what they go for, and usually have a quick turn around on them, while the tools set there for years.

I do buy tools from a local chain, Quick Cash. For bigger items they look up what they sell for new, give the person 20% for them, and then set them on the shelf for 50-75% of new. If its no longer available new, they use Ebay, and give 20% of ebays sold for, and ask for what it sold for on ebay. I generally get the available new stuff for 40-50% of retail, and ebay only reference stuff for 60-70% of what it sells for on ebay.

The best deals for me are on the 40% and .25 hand tools weeks such as:
snap on shl80A for $55
snap on sl715 for $25
matco radiator pressure test set $35
matco dial indicator w/ mag base $35
complete craftsman 3/4 drive set $120
3) mac ractchets $5/each
M12 3/8 impact with drill and two batterys $40
brand new MG725 $175
silver eagle air saw $10
matco 3/8 impact $10
matco big truck rad pressure test adaptor set $30


A few of the items they actually lost a dollar or two on, when it was priced well and then 40% off.

I've taken tools into the shops to try to "pawn" them to see exactly what they are willing to pay. Thats how I learned to negotiate with them. I usually offer what they paid for it, and we settle with them doubling their money, with room for me to sell it on ebay and profit.

you'll get better deals the more you are in the shop, bs'ing with the workers and buy something here and there. The local shops know me and my girlfriend by name now.

 

[wagzilla]

There are deals but you have to have a good idea what something cost new. and how much you are willing to spend. I have lost out on some good deal because I wouldn't spend ten more dollars

James

 

[IndyGarage]

I've only stopped at pawn shops a couple of times, but one moved into a pretty large building nearby last summer so I stopped by a couple months ago.

They had tons of everything, but a giant room full of tools. Almost all of them were overpriced junk. Dozens of every kind of power tool - completely ragged out Dewault and Makita stuff with 60% of new prices on it. Harbor Freight stuff with pretty miuch new prices on it regardless of condition. Dozens of toolboxes - all priced pretty high. Shelves piled high with miter saws and welders and all kinds of stuff.

They had bins stuffed with miscillaneous junk, with no prices.

Some of the high end stuff was in glass cases.

I looked a lot but found very little I wanted - most everything I was interested in had prices I didn't want to pay.

I did find two things to buy:

First a really dirty and ratted out looking top of the line 3M speedglas welding helmet. They had a similar one that was much cleaner that had a price of $150 on it (which is not a bad price), but this one had no tag at all. It seemed to turn on, but there was no way to test it. I took it to the desk and asked them for a price and they said $60 - didn't have to give me that price twice. Took it home cleaned it up, and it works like new. In fact it works much better than the speedglas that I paid $300 for a couple years ago.

Second an all metal Makita 7 inch grinder that looked like it had very little use - I thought it must have been an older model, because it looked like an old style tool. Price tag was $59.99. When I took it to the desk the guy started to tell me it was priced wrong and I needed to pay more - said he needed to check with the manager.

I thought to myself if they didn't sell it for the marked price I was going to walk out never to return. Much to my amazement they came back and told me they would honor the tag, but it should have been marked $99.99. Thinking it was really old, I wouldn't have paid that much. Turns out it's the top of the line GA7001 Makita grinder that retails about $275.

Grinder works awesome.

So it turns I spent an hour searching through piles of mostly overpriced junk - found a couple of jewels in the pile. Not sure if I could repeat that every time, but it wasn't a bad experience.

 

[Major Ramifications]

I've bought PLENTY of stuff (mostly guns and tools, oh yeah, and DVD's) from Cash America Pawn chain stores in the area, including quite a few deals that you guys would probably not believe. I've bought very little from the independent shops, they are just not interested in selling anything.

 

[Fugio]

Personally, I get better deals at the big chains that at mom and pop shops. The prices are usually marked higher, but the employees are paid hourly and I don't think they care as much about haggling. And they don't have the old man owner breathing down their necks. Maybe I'm wrong though.

 

[MrGiggles]

Got a Duralast breaker bar for 5.00 today.. Not a smoking deal by any means but it's guaranteed for life, it'll be good for junkyard trips.

He had a Mac MT6340 battery charger too. In great shape with original box, asking 84.99. I'm thinking about picking it up since I need a new one. He might take 60.00 OTD for it. Any comments on that?

 

[Catadj78]

A while back when I had a tree cut down for where my shop is going. They just put it on the ground for me is all. I needed a chainsaw to cut up the wood to use as firewood. I could have borrowed one but thought it was a good excuse to get my own.

I stopped by a couple of pawn shops on the way to HD but they wanted as much for wore out ones as I was going to pay for a new one so I went on and bought a new one.

On the way home stopped by 1 more pawn shop. They had a 16" and an 18" in the clearance isle. Took them outside and both had compression but would not crank. Got em both for $21 after taxes and got them home added fresh gas and 1 bolt to the housing and used them more than I did my new 20".

So now I have 3 for less than $200 so I decided to keep the bigger one too