Anyone out in Vegas? Who watches Pawn Stars?

ddadams

ddadams

Absolutely love this cue.
Silver Member
I haven't seen anyone go in there offering any cues. I would love to hear/see you on the show one season offering a Szamboti and being told its maybe $4K and being offered like $1500.

Some of these prices are ridiculous and the people aren't even biting back.


BUT in one instance tonight as a redeeming quality this lady had NO idea what she was selling and asked for $2K, he laughed and said he couldn't because he has a conscious and said I'll give you $15,000. She then asked for $17K but my thoughts on her after that may get me banned for the language I'd use.



Anyone else watch this show? Ever see any pool cues?
 
I lived in Vegas for 2 years when i was in the military and frequented the shop. The actual pawn stars only come in once a week to film. They had a decent rack of cues there last time i was in.
 
Wow... It's obvious with that remark that you have not owned a company that deals with retail or products. You buy cheap and sell high.

First off the pawn business is just that a business. They aren't in the market to pay market prices and sell under worth because they wouldn't have a business. The people in the pawn business don't buy higher than 50% of market value because they couldn't make a profit to pay employees, keep the lights on and rent the space they are in.

Second off the people who are offered the cash take it. So in my eyes the customer is a moron taking way under what they could get for any item on a private market. Look at Craigslist, you can remarket your item until it sells or list it on eBay and let the bidding wars begin.

I've seen one pool related item but it was a shadow box with Masconi items from a collection and a cheap graphite cue in a case.
 
I try to watch it when I can. The show is what it is, entertaining. I have read that the show is rigged as far as what is brought in and offered for sale.
 
desertshark said:
Wow... It's obvious with that remark that you have not owned a company that deals with retail or products. You buy cheap and sell high.

First off the pawn business is just that a business. They aren't in the market to pay market prices and sell under worth because they wouldn't have a business. The people in the pawn business don't buy higher than 50% of market value because they couldn't make a profit to pay employees, keep the lights on and rent the space they are in.

Second off the people who are offered the cash take it. So in my eyes the customer is a moron taking way under what they could get for any item on a private market. Look at Craigslist, you can remarket your item until it sells or list it on eBay and let the bidding wars begin.

I've seen one pool related item but it was a shadow box with Masconi items from a collection and a cheap graphite cue in a case.
Click to expand...


Oh okay.

Is there also some kind of business thing that determines how much something is worth if more or less people want it?
 
I watch Pawn Stars. I find it entertaining altho the items brought in are most deffintely rigged. It would be a boring show if they featured what people usually bring in.

Contractors bringing their tools, tools, tools, and more tools.

Video game boxes and games, TVs, stereos, vcrs, dvd players.

Guitars, Cadillacs and Hill Billy Music. Hey, just had to throw that one in for Dwight Y.

Tons of jewelery, crappy art work and just about any other piece of crap that someone thinks they can pawn.

I used to manage a Pawn shop for a friend. Its a freakin joke most days.
People bringing in absolute crap thinking that its worth a million dollars.

Someone brings in a banged up broken down piece of crap Skil Saw and they want 40 bucks for it. Hey bud, you can buy a new one with warranty for 40. If I give you 40 for it, what am I supposed to sell it for.

Duh, I dunno.

The Gypsies, they were fun to mess with. When a band of Gypsies would pull into town and they would send in a couple of hot women with rings all over their fingers and they would want to look at the jewelery trays.

One would flirt with you and try and distract you while the other one would try and do a switcheroo on ya. I used to get going and talk dirty to them. See how far I could push it. In a charming way of course. They had to put up with it in order for them to try and pull the scam.

Yeah, its a total set up. No way in heck they get that much cool stuff in all on one day. Just doesn't happen. Once in a Blue Moon, you get something good. Still a fun show to watch.
 
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i watched the first couple seasons, i knew 2 people who came in as customers that aired-well one customer and one appraiser. the appraiser guy had a Author cue from Germany he told me he took in and they shot it but it didnt get aired that i know of, it was the $175,000 cue Bill Grassley had for a while.

I remember driving by there when the show started and there would be a short line, 2 years later there was a line of ppl around the block, then they started building more space-when NOBODY was building in vegas, they are making a ton of $$$, good for them. I don't know them or met them.

BTW the customer guy i know was the guy with the Pez Candy dispenser collection in the 2nd? season. the guy with the cue is a friend he plays good too, he is in the gold biz in Vegas.


thats what i know about pawn stars,
 
I worked in a pawn shop for quite awhile and to answer your question this is how it works. You bring in an item, for conversation sake let's call it a pool cue, they will then usually consult a blue book (for all applicable items that have a blue book printed) to get a general idea of what something is worth and to get any clues to determine authenticity, signatures, determining marks etc. Then they will do an internet search, they usually start with Ebay and use others such as Amazon, Craigslist, and other sites as well to find out what a similar item is actually selling for NOT what is being asked, they want to know how much people are actually paying for items. Then depending on quality, rarity, customer dependability, etc...They will offer up to 50% of what it is selling for on Ebay on items in pristine condition and 50% is actually usually only for brand new items still in sealed packages. The reason they offer 50% of what it is selling for on Ebay is because they then turn around and will sell it for slightly less than it is selling for on Ebay, that is how they keep customers coming in and not buying predominantly online. Now, keep in mind, great customers who have came in before, pawned a lot of things or high dollar items and have never been late can usually expect a little leniency on prices for items being pawned and not sold to the shop because they can rely on them to pick the item up and they don't have to attempt to re-sell it. As far as the T.V show goes, the shop is real as most people know and the guys who work there that you see on the show are the real owners and do put in a little time at the shop but they own others businesses as well in the Las Vegas area. As far as the customers you see on the show, totally fake. They are paid actors and every item you have ever seen come in the shop on that show, they already own it, whether the "customer" said no on the show or not. The way they get these high dollar items is putting out ads to other pawn shops, thrift shops, or just general ads to get them to bring in unique items. Obviously since the show has came on they pretty much stopped that because it was no longer needed as the show gave them all the publicity they want and sometimes you can expect to wait outside for hours just to get inside the shop. Just my educated 2 cents.
 
Like the majority of the currently airing reality shows, Pawn stars is just one of many that is totally scripted and use paid actors. Very little is left to chance.
 
Eric, I remember the Pez guy. He had quite a collection.

Master, thats the way we did it too. We had customers that picked up their items so they would get more than normal because of that.

If they messed up, they had to earn that right back and it took a while.

You had a couple of new twists that I hadn't considered. I always thought that people that did have unique items would audition for the show. The high dollar items were paid for by the show itself and they ultimately owned them in the end.

Never thought that an ordinary pawn shop had that kind of money to lay out for the high dollar items.
 
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Corey bought a set of ivory billiard balls on one show.

A year or two ago during the opening credits, you could see the Blue Book Pool Cues on the shelf behind the counter.

Stopped in twice a year ago but none of the tv guys were there..... well Antwon was at the door
 
Master, despite the tough Canadian gun laws, we kept one in the safe loaded and ready to go.

If someone came in and demanded money, ya say just a minute, its in the safe, which was always open during business hours.

You grabbed the gun and said, " what was that you were looking for again"?

Never had to do that on my watch which was probably a good thing in the long run.
 
Blue Hog ridr said:
Master, despite the tough Canadian gun laws, we kept one in the safe loaded and ready to go.

If someone came in and demanded money, ya say just a minute, its in the safe, which was always open during business hours.

You grabbed the gun and said, " what was that you were looking for again"?

Never had to do that on my watch which was probably a good thing in the long run.
Click to expand...

We had explosion packs. 3 stacks of money had explosion ink packs, also, our jewelry stands had the same thing. Once you remove it from the base it is sitting on, 5 minutes later KABOOM! Extremely hot ink went everywhere. Nothing ever happened while I was working there but before I started working there I was told a guy came in and asked to look at some rings and while the door on the jewelry case was open he reached over the counter and grabbed a stand and shoved it down his pants and ran out of the door. From what I heard he needed emergency surgery on his "jewels" and he tried suing us and the court wouldn't even hear it, it was tossed out. Also, something else you said about shops having the money to put out. I heard an interview Rick did before and he said that before the show they were doing around $3 million in annual revenue from the Pawn Shop and they also own other businesses so they don't really worry about money too much. I am sure when they buy anything over $50k they already have a buyer lined up for it. When I worked at my pawn shop I bought a custom made lap steel guitar signed by every member of The Plain White Tees band and gave the guy 13k on a loan but before I gave him that much I made sure I had a couple buyers lined up incase he dropped it.
 
So obviously you have no clue either. You almost had it right and explained how a Pawn Business works. But you blew it at the end when you said the customer is a moron to take a lower price than private market price. You missed the most important fact which is cash flow. When using the services of a Pawn Shop gets you cash now. Waiting for a buyer in the private market could take a while. But you got bills to pay now. Don't be so negative in your comments.

desertshark said:
Wow... It's obvious with that remark that you have not owned a company that deals with retail or products. You buy cheap and sell high.

First off the pawn business is just that a business. They aren't in the market to pay market prices and sell under worth because they wouldn't have a business. The people in the pawn business don't buy higher than 50% of market value because they couldn't make a profit to pay employees, keep the lights on and rent the space they are in.

Second off the people who are offered the cash take it. So in my eyes the customer is a moron taking way under what they could get for any item on a private market. Look at Craigslist, you can remarket your item until it sells or list it on eBay and let the bidding wars begin.

I've seen one pool related item but it was a shadow box with Masconi items from a collection and a cheap graphite cue in a case.
Click to expand...
 
ddadams said:
Oh okay.

Is there also some kind of business thing that determines how much something is worth if more or less people want it?
Click to expand...

The stock market? Supply and demand?

Your probably too young to remember pet rocks but it was a genius move. People bought rocks. Supply and demand. I mean now days who would spend $10 on a singular rock and call it a pet?

Just an example...
 
desertshark said:
The stock market? Supply and demand?

Your probably too young to remember pet rocks but it was a genius move. People bought rocks. Supply and demand. I mean now days who would spend $10 on a singular rock and call it a pet?

Just an example...
Click to expand...

I could be wrong, but I detected a bit of sarcasm in his question...

Oh well, it's funny either way.:D
 
I was there over the New Years weekend. I asked if they had any pool cues, and they informed me they no longer accept them unless it's a special circumstance (probably a really high value, or rare cue)
 
If you want top dollar for your item find the individual that covets the item not the middle man (pawn shop) that has to find that person. Seriously with the Internet if you don't have an idea of what it's worth your an Idiot anyway lol

According to there book Rick misses buying at the store but there has to be a small amount of confidentiality by law and since they now get mobbed they can't really do the buying anymore.
 
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