Pawn shops?

[Cil]

Are pawn shops for buying like silver and gold coins and other stuff? There are so many in Los Angeles and I can offhand see three in my head. In all my reading on this forum, I haven't seen anything about them.

Thanks!

[seekeroftruth]

Most pawn shops deal in gold and silver. *A few deal in coins.

However, unless you know what you are looking at. *I'd make sure that they are a member of the American Numismatic Association, or the International Association of Professional Numismatists, or other nationally, or internationally recognized professional organization and do your research before buying from them..

There are alot of counterfeit coins out there. *And it pays to deal with a reputable dealer and to do your homework.

Good luck, its never too late to start buying Gold and Silver. *Just dont put all your money there. *Food and the means to grow it will be more important in the future, but there will still be those that will deal in gold and silver its been the currency of the world for thousands of years.

seek

p.s. it pays to deal with coins and not ingots because they are recognized, and certified official weights and measures certified by government mints and will be alot easier to dispose of when you are ready to sell or use them. *The most prominant being the American Eagle, the British Sovereign. *The Vienna Philharmonic, the Canadian Gold Maple is another that is gaining international recognition. *And of course the Krugerand. *But the others have more melt value because of the higher gold content. *The American Gold Eagle is 98% pure, while the Krugerand is only about 75%. *you arent getting ripped off cause the cost is the gold value. *Its just how they make them. *The Krugerand has an orangish hue to it which is what they wanted so they added other metals to it to achieve that, but, *the Actual value is represented in the gold content. *Which they are all at 1oz of gold. *The addition of other alloys also makes the krugerrand harder and more resistant to wear.

seek

[OzarkMtnDaredevil]

Yep. What seeker said. I'd rather deal with a coin/stamp dealer. Ask to look at 'junk' coins. Well-worn Mercury Dimes can still be gotten at a nice price.

I prefer shopping at Pawns for items like Coleman stoves and lanterns. I once bought a dbl burner propane Coleman stove for $10, new in box. I guess a lot of the folks that pawn this type of thing seldom use them ??? . If you're looking for something in-particular, don't be afraid to ask what they have "in the back". That's how I lucked into the stove. Sometimes they'll have items that they just don't have room to display.

[whippersnapper]

The thing I don't understand about buying gold coins is that you are usually paying a high premium over melt value, just because most are collectable as coins. Imo, that isn't the best way to buy gold.

Pawn shops around here have "new" prices on most of the things I have looked at. Sure, they would probably deal or be talked down, but it just turns me off when they price things too high to begin with.

[walls0stone]

I do work for pawn shop owners to get stuff like that. Got an awsome ring, and by the time the job was done, the price of the ring had gone up a good bit...but the job didn't chance. ;D

[Cil]

Thanks for your help. I was just really wondering if pawn shops were good places to shop for really most anything not necessarily gold coins and stuff.

[seekeroftruth]

quote whippersnapper : *

The thing I don't understand about buying gold coins is that you are usually paying a high premium over melt value, just because most are collectable as coins. Imo, that isn't the best way to buy gold.


Whipper: *Its true that some gold and silver coins have high premiums and are labeled as "collectible" *the Eagle, Sovereign, Krugerrand, maple leaf, and Philharmonic, are considered "Boullion" coins. *If you find a reputable dealer you do pay a "premium" over the cost of the gold. *That is usually to coverthe cost of minting it, and the dealers profit. *You have to shop around. *But, its not usually excessive. *A reputable dealer should never charge more than 10% above melt.

The dealer I work with charges 7% on Gold and 2% on silver. *you just have to shop around.

The bonus of buying coins is the certified weight and measure of Gold or silver in them. *When you go to "dispose" of them the person you are dealing with will be guaranteed the weight and content if gold. *With gold chain or some other means you are going to get varied people telling you the worth of it. *Because when you redeem gold or silver you are at the mercy of the person you are doing business with as to what they will accept. *Coins remove that ability, leaving you with just the *need to "haggle" over how much you get for your money.

hope that helps a bit.

seek

[tufhelp]

I haven’t seen a bargain in a pawn shop for probably 20 years. I don’t even bother to go in and look anymore. They take this stuff in at a ludicrous rate – pennies on the dollar value, taking complete advantage of the thief’s that stole it last night – and then put ludicrously high prices on the resale side – prices approaching new cost in most cases on usually heavily used items that you wouldn’t even purchase at a yard sale for a bargain price. I really don’t see how they remain in business… They won’t or don’t talk turkey in most cases – a complete take it or leave it attitude – I leave it…

[CatherineID]

The deals available at pawn shops depends on the quality of the places in your area and your state laws. I used to live in "That State That Shall Not Be Named" (aka: CA) and didn't find much in the way of pawn shops there. However, where I live now, pawn shops are a great deal. It is worth checking them out before looking at the regular retail stores.

Some pawn shops specialize in different merchandise. I know one pawn shop that is fantastic as far as tools (carpentry, power, etc) is concerned. Others specialize in musical instruments or sporting goods. You can usually get a sense of what they carry by what they have in their window or on the sidewalk.

As far as buying gold, I tend toward the stone / rock hunter stores. Their usual side business is gemstones and jewlery making. If you search for stores that carry metal detectors, you can usually find them. As a small side business they will sell metal coins or just lumps.

[Jared]

Ebay has killed pawn shop deals. Every pawn shop I've been to in the last year has refused to haggle in price. Their only response was "That's how much it's selling for on Ebay. If you think you can do better, go ahead." End of story. They were rude and didn't even want to talk about price. As far as I'm concerned, pawn shops are dead ends.
Jared

[docsoos]

Pawn shops around here (KY) still have pretty good deals, depending on the shop and the owner. Most of 'em are as mentioned previously, but a few owners still want to move the goods, and will talk "cash money" deals, especially if they see you more than once, and know you are serious, with cash in hand.

I have one owner of a pawn shop in the next town, that has a LIST from me of certain handguns and other firearms I want, and if he gets any in to sell, he'll call me up, and I'll come by on the weekend, and we can haggle about the price. He gets some cherry pieces from time to time, due to older farmers and such dying off, and the kids getting the maximum quick cash they can get from everything that ain't bolted down. Sad, but that's the way it goes. The owner of the shop makes money, I get a good deal on sometimes near impossible pieces to find, EVERYbody's happy!

DocSoos

[tufhelp]

Boy, I sure wish that that was the case here. The last time I ventured out looking I spotted a worm drive Skilsaw, beat to death, I mean this one had gone through a lot of use and abuse. They wanted $100.00 for it and at the time they were $115 +/- brand new, and no talking turkey – take it or leave it…

I love to bargain and trade, but I want value for my money, not top dollar for possible crap!

With the trend in the economy who knows, it may be time for a return to better items and better pricing.

[docsoos]

I love to bargain and trade, but I want value for my money, not top dollar for possible crap!

With the trend in the economy who knows, it may be time for a return to better items and better pricing.


I think ya hit the nail on the head, there, Tuf! Most all of 'em will "talk turkey" once things get REALLY bad, and the dust is "half-an-inch thick" on all of their inventory!

DocSoos