Pawn shop tips...How to haggle.

[twofoolsaminute]

So, I've not ever bought from a pawn shop before, but recently I've seen a few things I like. How does it work? It seems that what I've seen is actually pretty reasonably priced as opposed to years ago when the pawn shop price was inflated. Is it still a haggling environment or has craigslist and ebay brought pawn shop marked prices back to reality?

[Yarbicus]

You can still haggle. 15% is pretty standard but I always go for 30% off. Just bring cash and be prepared to walk. Nothing gets a price down like you heading for the door after they have seen your money.

[Elias Graves]

Offer them what you want to pay. If they say "No," walk away. A view of your backside and your fat wallet going out the door is a powerful negotiating tool.

 

EG

[bubkus_jones]

I've tried a couple times to haggle, but the few I've gone to seem to have an unwritten "No Haggle" policy.

[metal0822]

you gotta sell it, and you gotta want it. im sure they see people trying to haggle all the time, and they can probably tell who is gonna walk and who is just fishing.

[-Assy-]

the best thing to do is convince the guy who thinks his guitar is made of gold that its actually made out of turd. when you can do this logically without insulting the man, you will make a lot of money. point out fretwear, throw into the conversation that a fret dress is over 100 dollars. plug it in, scratchy pot? another 20 bucks. bad output jack? 15 bucks. missing a bridge piece, nut is messed up, etc etc. just casually mention your minor observations then be like, i bet this has been here awhile, what would it cost for me to get it out of here?

[sylvesterlowery]

 

You can still haggle. 15% is pretty standard but I always go for 30% off. Just bring cash and be prepared to walk. Nothing gets a price down like you heading for the door after they have seen your money.

 

 

This.

1.Always be prepared to walk.

2.Never show how much you want the item or look super interested. The more it looks like you want an item, the more they will try to squeeze out of you.

3.Make sure to note any flaws and use them to your advantage. Missing boxes, manuals, adapters that you can find anywhere can all be used to lower the price.

4.In the case of guitars, always check the tag to see if a case is included. If not, sometimes you can use that to either get more off the selling price, or possibly get a free case with it. If it says "w/case" make sure you get the case.

5.Most places have a computer generated tag on the item (at least most all of the ones I've been to). On that tag is usually a date code showing when the item was received into the shop. It's usually not hard to decode. The longer an item has been at the shop, the more likely you are to get a drastic reduction in price.

6.Make sure to test all functions of the item before you leave.

 

Hope these help, happy hunting!

[snowaie]

wow this thread is great, thanks

[Yogi_Sizzle]

 

the best thing to do is convince the guy who thinks his guitar is made of gold that its actually made out of turd. when you can do this logically without insulting the man, you will make a lot of money. point out fretwear, throw into the conversation that a fret dress is over 100 dollars. plug it in, scratchy pot? another 20 bucks. bad output jack? 15 bucks. missing a bridge piece, nut is messed up, etc etc. just casually mention your minor observations then be like, i bet this has been here awhile, what would it cost for me to get it out of here?

 

 

This, I have always gotten a lot knocked off the price if I point out little minor things with the guitar and pretend if they are major. I once got an MIJ strat with hardcase for 180 because it had a bad output jack that cost me a few bucks to replace

[slashfacepalm]

Stretch a whole bunch before you're about to say something, and always preface your sentences with "Well..." or "WELP".

[Rich4Once]

The last time I was in a pawn shop, they had something I wanted...a rack piece. The problem was that it wasn't by itself, it was in a rack with a bunch of crap I didn't want. They wanted to sell it complete, and had listed it on Ebay.

 

They actually had a bidder, which is why he didn't want to sell me the one piece, I guess. I told him the online bidder would be pissed when he got it, and might want his money back! There was a wireless receiver without a transmitter or power supply, and several other things that looked dodgy to me, although I don't remember specifics, just that I wouldn't buy the whole thing hoping to re-sell the rest.

 

Anyway, whenever I asked him about a price on something, he said "let me check the computer" and went to Ebay to see what they go for. He didn't know jack about what he was selling, except to look it up on Ebay.

[Orange Jackson]

Stretch a whole bunch before you're about to say something, and always preface your sentences with "Well..." or "WELP".

 

:D:D

[Alecto]

Bargain hard, but always be friendly and polite. Treat them the way you'd like to be treated if you were in their shoes and

[SuproSuper Man]

make a point of pointing out the flaws in the product to the sales men and that it might cost time or money to repair them,,,then wait for their response, let them make the first move and then let the haggling begin....good luck...

 

my past experience with pawn shops was that the price of the same item new in a proper music store was only a bit more than what the pawn shops were asking and the music stores would toss in a proper professionally done setup as well, and since it is new the music store will warranty it too...so you dont always gain much by buying from a pawn shop who in most cases dont know anything about instruments or how to service/repair it etc...

 

I only buy instruments from pawn shops if the price is soooooo ridiculously low that its almost like free, that way if the darn thing dont work or fails in some way its no big loss,,,,do your homework and know and research your prices first before buying from pawn shops...imo.,

 

I bought a guitar in a pawn shop, the pots were all loose , the wires were broke so the thing had no sound when pluged into a amp in the store. I pointed all this out to the salesperson and he offered to drop the price from 140 dollars down to 70 dollars, so i took the deal,,,,what i didnt mention to sales person though was that just one of the EMG pickups in that guitar was worth more than his asking price of the whole guitar ...I lucked out and with minor repairs (just solder and tightening up pots) i ended up with a sweet guitar with EMG pickups , Its now one of my favorite axes to play... lol..

.

[JohnnyDD]

I think a lot of them will check ebay first or they know prices.

I think it's a luck of the draw thing depending on the shop, their inventory and their need to move it..

I've done well in pawn shops a couple times only cause I did some research and mostly because they needed to move the item.

Best advice is to walk away. Know yr prices or find them out and come back.

[twotimingpete]

just be matter of fact about it. casually bring up the item and say "will you take $x for that?" and if they decline, just say thanks and walk.

[RaVenCAD]

 

just be matter of fact about it. casually bring up the item and say "will you take $x for that?" and if they decline, just say thanks and walk.

 

 

This.. I hate the whole bull{censored} act in a pawn shop. "Here is my money, this is what I offer, shall I start walking now?" And don't waffle. Make your real offer. Don't say "well, what about 20 more?" because that tells them you a) want it badly and b) have more in your pocket.

[vintage clubber]

or if the price is right and you see something more in the guitar than they do, take the asking price and run! $75 for this Squier Bullet and it was loaded with a set of CS Texas Specials! Body seems to be pretty solid and not plywood either! This will be a gem when I am done with it...

 

 

 

 

[poolshark]

 

This.. I hate the whole bull{censored} act in a pawn shop. "Here is my money, this is what I offer, shall I start walking now?" And don't waffle. Make your real offer. Don't say "well, what about 20 more?" because that tells them you a) want it badly and b) have more in your pocket.

 

 

I can't believe I agree with this, but I totally do. The formality of trying to talk someone down bit by bit is old and tired; unless somebody is truly an idiot, nickel and dime-ing should get you nowhere. I find that a firm and friendly offer is the way to do things.

 

To add, I prefer to make a single offer where possible - low enough to be a good deal but high enough to seem reasonable, which is usually somewhere between 10 and 30 percent off the asking price. If the seller counter offers, politely decline and start walking; negotiation connotes flexibility, which connotes bargaining trickery, which is not what you want the seller to think when you walk. If you genuinely head for the door after a reasonable offer, a smart seller will take it.

 

Also, if the asking price is already low, don't be a dick and offer 50%.

 

 

Stretch a whole bunch before you're about to say something, and always preface your sentences with "Well..." or "WELP".

 

 

Also, I lol'd pretty hard at this.

[yz250f49]

A little bit OT, but I'd sure like to know what those guys on the TV series "Pawnshop" are asking for the guitars they got hanging in there.

 

Seems like they got money coming out of their ass in that business.....

 

 

Back to On Topic.

[captainultimus]

iv actuallt had good transactions with them. i had a girl cover 10$ of my bill for me b52 at100 head and a hamer slammer (which i sold back later lol) i think she just took the normal haggle percent off.

[RaVenCAD]

 

A little bit OT, but I'd sure like to know what those guys on the TV series "Pawnshop" are asking for the guitars they got hanging in there. Seems like they got money coming out of their ass in that business..... Back to On Topic.

 

 

There is a reason for that. Pawn shops make their living off of idiots and crackheads. Amazingly enough, most musicians fit into both of those groups. They buy it for cheap because some crackhead needs a fix. Then they jack the price through the sky so that some idiot can come in and haggle them down to ONLY a 4-500% profit..

[lowbrow]

Waste of time to bull{censored} around and play games. They have a margin built in that grows in direct proportion to how long the merchandise sits in the store.

 

If you can read their coding system, you can figure out how long it's been there. A coupe days, you'll be lucky to get 5-10% off. Closer to a year, you may be able to get it for %50 off. They are likely marking guitars up 400%.

 

Being a regular customer, helps as well.

[cratz2]

 

Waste of time to bull{censored} around and play games. They have a margin built in that grows in direct proportion to how long the merchandise sits in the store. If you can read their coding system, you can figure out how long it's been there. A coupe days, you'll be lucky to get 5-10% off. Closer to a year, you may be able to get it for %50 off. They are likely marking guitars up 400%. Being a regular customer, helps as well.

 

 

I agree, but sometimes they will knock a big chunk off quickly. I got a set of powered M-Audio monitors at 16th and Emerson the first time I ever saw them there. They were marked $99 and hadn't been there more than a week. I politely and honestly told the guy that I had $53 in my pocket (which is what I had in my pocket) and if they'd do that, then I'd take them. He went back, calculated for about 30 seconds and said 'sure'.

 

Another time they had the small Vypyr amp for $99. I told them that at that time you could get a brand new one at Guitar Center for $90 (which was true) so I'd give them $80 for it and without hesitation, the same guy said, 'Then go to Guitar Center because this one is $100.'

 

I'm sure it's a commission thing. In the camera section, sometimes they'll give you extra stuff from other cameras and still knock the price down, sometimes they won't budge even $1.

[curseoftruth]

Pawnshops in my area still don't haggle much, many are now part of larger chains (like Cash America). They are still over priced and most still have garbage. Back in the 80s, there were good deals to be had and some cool stuff. I remember walking into one pawnshop over in a bad part of Dallas and they had this little back room stocked full of just cool gear and really good prices. I can't find the place, don't think its there anymore.

 

Even the closest independent pawnshop to my house is terrible on negotiations. They have had 90% of their instrument inventory for over 10 years, I know -- I've been swinging by for 10 years and tried on numerous occasions to buy something! And they have some cool stuff -- some now vintage USA Washburn stuff, a cool Japanese Fernandes Strat from the 80s I believe, and others. All expensive. That strat is like $700 and they recently dropped it to about $550 after all these years. Still on the wall! A few years back there was this kid who worked there who was a gear freak that I talked to once in a while, he said the owner wouldn't budge on most things and maybe 10% on others - and he tried to talk to the guy about trying to move some of that old inventory. And of course some of the stuff you could walk into GC and buy new for cheaper than they had it for.

 

There is another one local that has the best collection of Neptune NJ Kramer (I know still probably imports) guitars from the 80s and pretty cheap, they have like 6 of them. But you have to like yellow, aqua or pink - true hair metal time machines, a few with one pickup!