Pawn Shop mark-up

[Barcelona Rick]

Went Pawn shopping today and saw a couple Remington shotguns.....what do y'all think the average Pawn Shop mark-up is ?? I am gonna go back tomorrow and make an offer....

rick

[86er]

25-30%

[horsesoldier03]

Alot of the pawn shops in my area are marking up well over 50%. I was sick one day, I was standing at the counter and a guy brought in a 336 Marlin in .35 REM. He had 1/2 of the only box of shells that had ever been fired through it. The guy asked him, do you want to pawn it or sell it. He stated he wanted to SELL. The pawn shop owner said, how much would you like to get. The IDIOT told him $100. The pawn shop owner said ok, lets do the paper work. It was all I could do to bite my tongue and not make an offer.

[Dave]

Around here it can be 100% or more. They want to give you $100 for your Marlin 336 and sell it for $200-$275. Check the tag for codes. Some shops use "Mary Louise" or "Black Horse". It works like this, "1" is the letter "M" in Mary Louise. "E" is "0". So if you look at the tag and somewhere in small letters it says MLEEE they have $150 in it.

I have had very good and no luck at different pawn shops over the years. Some guys want to move stuff and some guys are running a museum. All they can so is say "No" so ..............

[Kansas Ed]

So are you saying that ALEEE would be $250?

Ed

[TMair]

There used to be a pawn shop in Provo Ut. that had more guns then you could imagine, and every kid of gun, they always had a price on them to move the guns, I bought my share of guns from them, now you go in and they don't have any guns, that is a sad deal, I mis that pawn shop.
There was a pawn shop in Heber UT. I know that guy marked them way up, I made a couple of trades with him but always kind of wished I would have brought the vasoline
Terry

[Dave]

So are you saying that ALEEE would be $250?

Ed

Right

[Pisgah]

Alot of the pawn shops in my area are marking up well over 50%. I was sick one day, I was standing at the counter and a guy brought in a 336 Marlin in .35 REM. He had 1/2 of the only box of shells that had ever been fired through it. The guy asked him, do you want to pawn it or sell it. He stated he wanted to SELL. The pawn shop owner said, how much would you like to get. The IDIOT told him $100. The pawn shop owner said ok, lets do the paper work. It was all I could do to bite my tongue and not make an offer.

So what you do is what I have done on numerous occasions. As soon as the seller's out the door, say "Here's $120, and you won't have to bother locking that one up in the safe tonight, and having it taking up display space tomorrow." It works.

[Rifleman336]

Around the Dayton, OH area you have the privilege of getting a M44 Mosin-Nagant ,with a totally orange bore, because the last idiot never knew how to clean it properly for the rock bottom low price of $300!!! This VERY GUN was used in Stalingrad and captured by a Amercian Soldier as we fought the Germans so says the pawn shop manager!!!!

Here it's strictly MSRP + 50-75% with no haggle room.

I stopped going to pawn shops for this very reason.


Rifleman 336

[Streetstar]

Pawn Shops I almost spit on the ground they reside on. I have several millionaire friends (aquaintances, not the folks i call if i am in jail or anything) who own pawn shops in the Oklahoma City area. I don't talk to them about their idiotic pricing ---- in addition to firearms , i have other hobbies to include messing around with horses a little bit, and messing around with classic pickups.


Just burns me up to see them sell a SnapOn or MAC wrench or socket set for 75% of retail --- or a Marlin 336 with safety (and usually a Wal Mart blister pack scope) for $350.00. My brother got burned a bit on a saddle he bought at a pawn shop

To heck with pawn shops === pawn shops and lottery both conspire to strip the folks with modest financial means of their disposable income ----------- I have seen Craftsmen hand tools and DeWalt drill motors priced over what a person could buy the same for from Sears or Lowes many times ------ then it makes people feel like they are getting a "solid deal" whean they talk the clerk down 10%
Some poor chump sold that SnapOn Wrench set to the pawn shop for 50 bucks or less and they sell it for $250

I don't like Pawn shops for the most part ---- )

[Idiot]

I, on the other hand, like hockshops, or at least some hockshops. Usually a good variety of guns come and go through their doors, including rare and discontinued models, in all types of conditions. I find them to be the best place to find that old Marlin, or Pre-64 Winchester, or Abilene, or whatever is good and ain't made any more.

As far as mark up goes, the best hockshops buy the guns for least they can, and mark at or just above market. That leaves plenty of room in between to bargin in. I like hockshops.

[Barcelona Rick]

Streetstar......please don't hold back brother.....there are 3 pawn shops here in town.....one is out of sight price wise. The other 2 are pretty good at dealing....but only if the right manager is on site. Within the last 5 years I have bought 2 revolvers from these shops.....a M & P Smith 5 screw (pre-model 10) with blue wear from carrying but like new bore and lockup/timing for $109 and a Model 64 4" pinned heavy barrel that was like new for $189 out the door....I am looking at a 60's vintage Wingmaster 870 and a 60's vintage 1100.....both with plain barrels and light surface rust, blueing wear in the area that you expect from a hunting shotgun and good to very good wood with the normal dents and dings......gonna go at lunch while the manager is eating his burger.....report to follow.....

rick

[Rusty]

So using the black horse and mary louise thing, are you saying that's what they paid for the gun?

[Barcelona Rick]

Well the wheeling dealing manager did such a great job he got himself promoted and sent to another area...this is a chain store......so the new lady manager says " they are already way below new retail !!" so ole fatboy just kinda grinned and walked out.....guess that shop is now off my radar. Gotta admit I didn't really need them just thought I might clean em up and hold on to em.....haven't shot a shotgun in about six years and when you come right down to it I don't get out much anymore....guess I still have the dreams and desires of a healthy man but I gotta sick crippled up body....well dreaming kinda keeps me upright but it is awful hard sometimes.....

rick

[wm]

Locally here in Michigan it is somewhere between 50 and 100 percent. If you find a rifle for $300 on the shelf you should not be surprised if the pawner/seller only got about $150 for it.

They are in buisness to make money and to make as much of it as they can.

Wm

[Pisgah]

I won't say all pawn shops are my cup of tea, nor all al pawnbrokers. But over the years I have develped friendships with 3 pawnshop owners within a 20-mile radius, and we have a good reationship. They know my interest in firearms, I keep them up-to-date on what I am looking for, and they will call me whenever anything I might like comes in. I understand their business, and the fact that staying in business requires a profit. When I dicker with them, I do it with respect for that fact -- they may make huge money on one item while losing their shirts on 25 others -- and I have ended up with some outstanding deals. I think a large part of it is that I don't go in obviously sniffing around for a deal -- I go in as a friend, to visit, chat about the family, and just generally catch up. Many's the time I am greeted with, "Hey,man, I been meaning to call you!", at which point they head for the safe and drag out something to tempt me with.

[Dave]

So using the black horse and mary louise thing, are you saying that's what they paid for the gun?

That's right. They put that on the tag so when they start dickering they can see what they have in the gun. Some places use other codes so if you see a string of letters you may have to take note of them and figure out the code that shop uses. Some don't though and will consult a book or the computer to see what they have in something before you get started. I have had times when I was on the gravy train at pawn shops and times when I had no good shops. At my good one now in the last year or so I bought:


Multiple nice presafety Marlin 336's ranging from $130 to $200

Two Remington Model 7's, one a 7-08 and one a 260, for $250 each

Older, nice Smith Model 60 for $210

H&R single shot 30-30 for $125

Cherry Smith 19 in nickel for $300

Couple of 10-22's for $125

Those are just the ones I can think of right now. A lot of those guns I pass on to my buddies or use for trading. I have passed up a lot of good deals there too and I try to send someone to get those. That helps the person who gets the deal, the shop, and enhances my welcome since I still generate business for them even if I am not buying right then.

In years past I had even better shops where we were buying Remington stainless short action BDLs for $250. My bolt action buddy would buy them, spin the barrel off, keep the action and sell the stock, take off barrel, and maybe the bottom metal and get his build actions for free or close to it.

I bought a cherry Colt Frontier Scout there for $69 because she had $30 in it. That was a golden time.

Many shops make it impossible to buy anything so I don't go there once I see they are running a museum. I stopped by one on a hot tip about a 3" Smith Model 66 I had sworn off. I bought the 3" for a very fair price but some of the guns in the rack have been there a year or more and it is full. You would think they would want to sell them but hey, it's their decision.

If you find the right shop and establish rapport with them, stop by and visit, send them a few buyers, and buy something now and then, it can pay off when something you like comes in.

[JB]

Locally here in Michigan it is somewhere between 50 and 100 percent. If you find a rifle for $300 on the shelf you should not be surprised if the pawner/seller only got about $150 for it.

They are in buisness to make money and to make as much of it as they can.

Wm

That's pretty well my experience as well. I know a couple pawn shop owners. I've seen them double their money on firearms a number of times.

[Joe Reilly]

I was looking at a Winchester 1897 serial 974XXX today marked $499. The tag had "AFR" at the edge. Anyone want to "crack the code" for me?

[mouthpiece]

It works like this, "1" is the letter "M" in Mary Louise. "E" is "0". So if you look at the tag and somewhere in small letters it says MLEEE they have $150 in it.

Can you explain further? Why is the 'L' 50 instead of another number? How do you know the 'A' is a 2 instead of a 7 or 4?

I like crytography but you explanation so far has me stumped.

[Dave]

It works like this, "1" is the letter "M" in Mary Louise. "E" is "0". So if you look at the tag and somewhere in small letters it says MLEEE they have $150 in it.

Can you explain further? Why is the 'L' 50 instead of another number? How do you know the 'A' is a 2 instead of a 7 or 4?

I like crytography but you explanation so far has me stumped.

Mary Louise is:

M A R Y L O U I S E
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

[JB]

Marylouise is one popular code, but some shops use all kinds of codes. One local shop has X, Y, Z, and some other letters in their price code. I haven't been able to crack that one.