Life of a pawnbroker….

old ladies, bass guitars, and free sweet tea.

Ok sometimes I'm not the most friendly guy.  I'm quiet and I'm 6'4" 270lbs to boot.  Not what you call approachable, especially in the morning. 

This morning before opening the store I go into the McDonald's next door and get some morning coffee.  I'm in line behind a nice little old lady (NLOL)  and her walrus/daughter. I notice that they are looking at the menu like they have never been to a McDonald's before. Great…..  No biggie, I'm early and I have nothing to do for a hour.

So NLOL finally makes her life or death choice for the day and pulls out her coin purse and proceeds to dump everything out of it onto the floor.  I mean everything……she had civil war coins in there.  Of course everyone else including her 400lb daughter act like they didn't hear the 4000 coins. It sounded like a Vegas jackpot hit the floor. 

Now contrary to my overall look and demeanor I really like old people.  I especially like the ones that have cool stories about their life experiences.  I have crazy old Aunts and my wife's family has some real characters still kicking.  So I do the normal human thing and help her pick up her loot.  All the while the daughter maintains her stunning concentration of the job at hand, getting her big breakfast ordered before 10:30.  If she couldn't get her flapjack on, things might get ugly.

I really didn't think much of it….you will notice this pattern if you continue to read these posts.

About an hour later a guy walks into the store looks around, looks around, buys a bass guitar, smiles and leaves.  No haggling, or bitching about scratches that the Hubble telescope couldn't see.  Pays, smiles and hauls.  My kinda guy.  Again per my usual M.O. I think no further…

We had a good day not great.  Wrote some loans, sold some junk, pawnbroker paradise.

So, I close up shop around 2pm and go back to McDonald's one more time for some sweet tea. Now I think that McDonald's sweet tea has crack in it.  You can't convince me it doesn't.  Until I see a spectrographic report on it, I think it's spiked.  It is one of the best thing for one dollar, the only things that are a better value are:

  1. my opinion (free and good)
  2. a first class US postal stamp (nearly free, really good)

To my surprise the guy behind the counter, is the bass buyer and he is the manager of the store.  He thanks me once again for the bass, then shares with me some interesting info. 

Seems that everyone at McDonald's was very concerned with a pawn shop moving in next door.  Everyone was convinced that it would be the death knell of the neighborhood.  But to his surprise he has had 2 or 3 people now that have said very positive things about the pawn shop.  He told me of his stereotypical view of pawn shops (bad, all bad) and that he had no desire to go into one. 

When I asked why he did he said, "when I saw you help that little old lady this morning I decided to give you a shot".

Moral: You never know who is watching you in life, it pays to be nice, and sometimes you get free sweet tea.

Tim

Posted via email from Big Tims Pawn’s posterous

I've got the face for radio…..

OK, so there are very few people that what they think of me really matters.  My wife, children and my parents a few friends, that's really just about it.   That little bit about me will explain my latest venture.

In almost any poll about what people fear the most, public speaking, is frequently the top result.  Even more than death. Something else about me is that I have never had any aspiration to be famous or a public figure.  So this latest idea is out of nature for me.  To better understand this story though I have to take you back about 7 years. 

I have a friend who owns a business in Largo called the Watch Studio.  Ken Duval is a great guy and I was his daughters Track coach at the school that our children go to.  Ken is the local goto guy for high end watches.  Patek, Vacheron, Chronoswiss, real watches.  Because of our love of all things mechanical, and horolistic we became fast friends. 

One day at his store I met a guy by the name Al Leo.  Mr. Leo owned/managed the local Buick, Saab, GM dealership.  Huge dealership, 25 acres on US 19 in Pinellas Park.  Al was a collector of watches but only because he could afford them.  Not because he had a keen grasp of fine watches.  While I was there I got into a discussion about the pros/cons of handmade watch movements and my general love of complicated Valjoux products. 

While we were talking I mentioned to Al that I frequently listened to his Saturday morning radio show about his car dealership.  This was a two hour show and it covered everything related to cars.  During the show I noted Al never really seemed like he was selling or promoting his dealership.  I mentioned that to Al and he gave me some of the best business insight I have ever heard.

Al went on to tell me that before the radio show his monthly advertising budget was over 40,000.00 per month.  Once the show started it eventually went to ZERO, nothing, nada.  In the car business advertising and it's effectiveness is literally life or death.  He said that the by just talking to people and telling them how to get the best deal on a new vehicle he got to disarm people  and their fear of buying a car.  Just a simple show, Al would appraise their car and give them a price of a new car on the phone.  Half the show was retirees calling in to tell everyone what  great experience buying from Al was.  People would call from all over Florida to trade with Al.  It was the 3rd largest dealership in Florida and the largest volume Saab dealership in the US.  I convinced myself that if I ever had a business that needed direct consumer contact I would get my own radio show. 

Yes readers a Pawn Shop Talk Radio show.

So how do you get a radio show?  You ask.  Simple huh?  I recorded two test shows. Then I sent them to WWBA 820AM in Tampa along with a short email asking for some guidance how to eventually have my own show.  Surprisingly the next day I got a call from the station asking to meet.  The story from them was the station owner has a Palm Beach station that has a 3 hour swap meet show, like Craigslist for radio.  Now they are ready to try it in the Tampa area.  That and with all the success of Pawn Stars on cable TV's History channel  they thought it was worth a shot.  So, starting in about a month on Sundays 7pm yours truly will have a 1 hour talk show about all things Pawn.

I hope it does well but like most things I try it has the potential to flame out horrifically.  The plan is to give listeners and those that call some insight to Pawn Shops.  Hopefully we have some callers and we can talk about their stuff and what it is worth.  The station is heard from south Georgia to Miami.  Same idea as Al's show, no gigantic promotion of the Pawn Shop just a way to go to the shop without having to leave the house.  Hopefully they will see that it isn't a creepy place full of criminals.

Those close to me know that I am blue green color blind.  Not really a big deal but it is something to blame for my "unique" fashion sense.  Whenever people, especially children learn that I am color blind we play a game I call, "what color is this".  It's a fun time and it generally goes like this.  I can tell people or they find out about my lack of color vision and I get an hour of, "what color is this, what color is that?". 

I tell you this because I am a student of human nature.  I like trying to analyze why people do things and apply the observations to understand what people will do next.  I know when the game starts it's just curiosity because most people could never understand not being able to see them.  Trust me I have been on a color intensifier at the doctors office you should really appreciate color vision. 

What this has to do with a radio show is that when people find out I have a Pawn Shop it is the same reaction.  I get an hour of, "what is the strangest thing in the shop?, are the people weird?, how much is ______ worth? 

People are curious animals, not quite enough to go into a Pawn Shop sometimes though.  The National Pawnbrokers Association says that only 3 out of 10 people have ever been in a Pawn Shop.  So I am going to take the shop to them.  The merchandise, people and stories.  Every Sunday 7pm 820AM radio.  Maybe the show is interesting, maybe not.  All I know is that I'm not going to wake up 40 years form now too old and tired and wish that I had tried it.  I hope you'll listen, and even call.  Maybe we both learn something.

Posted via email from Big Tims Pawn’s posterous

How much is my xBox360 worth at a pawn shop?

                                                                    

How much is your Xbox 360 worth?  There are a few ways to sell your Xbox 360 all will work with some patience.  Lets walk through the most common ones.

eBay
Craigslist
Gamestop
Pawn Shops
      

Thousands of  Xbox 360's sell on eBay, but selling on of eBay is difficult.  As this article is written there are over 7,000 consoles for sale.  eBay seems to go out of it's way to make selling hard.  First you have to sign up with a credit card.  Then getting your money is tedious as eBay only wants you to use their checkout system, PayPal.  I won't go into the problems with PayPal suffice it to say that the buyer has much more protection than you.  eBay is rife with scam artists with little recourse on your part.  Even if you do everything right the buyer can lodge a complaint with you and renege on their payments.  Because of the shipping costs, eBay fees and PayPal fees involved you will not get very much from an eBay transaction.

Craigslist is whole other animal. As a Pawn shop we have to deal with Craigslist on a daily basis.  We hear the horror stories of dealing with idiots and criminals or worse.  You should have to have a license to sell or buy anything from Craigslist, I would never want my children to use it.  Going to a meeting with stranger where they know you will have either merchandise or cash is an invitation to disaster.  Please use great caution with Craigslist.  Now if you have a store where people bring you stuff from Craigslist, that is completely different.  We buy and sell like that many times per day.  Xbox 360's from Craigslist have a market value of $100-$175 dollars for the consoles.  The games vary widely in worth but can reach up to $25.

Gamestop is probably the worst choice for selling your Xbox 360. We called the local Gamestop this morning to see what I could get for an Xbox 360 Arcade system and they told us $64 dollars or $80 dollars in store credit. That is not even decent value, you might be better off getting that tattoo from the in trade from the guy on Craigslist calls us 3x a week.

One of your best solutions is to call around to your local pawn shops and inquire what they would either pay or loan you for your Xbox 360.  Your console is a valuable possession and pawn shop are your only way to get money for it and not sell it.  Our pawn shop isn't that much different from some we know and if you brought in an Elite system to us you could get $150 loan in under ten minutes.  When you want it back two weeks later it will cost you $15 in interest.  Or you could get up $250 to sell it outright depending on how it is equipped.  Safe transaction, money in minutes.  Hope that helps you make a safe choice.  You can always call us.

Posted via email from Bigtimspawn’s posterous

More Art, Vintage Guns, and where are all the Wii's

So we got some real art in this time from DL Rust four of his Emmitt Kelly Collection — Erie, Pennsylvania, native D.L. "Rusty" Rust is an artist with a repertoire as extensive as his talent. An immensely prolific painter, Rust adeptly renders intriguing camouflage wildlife scenes, landscapes, seascapes, still-life's and portraits. His work is part of many prestigious collections, including the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery, the Ringling Museum of the Circus, and the Norman Rockwell Museum in Philadelphia. Among those prominent people Rust has painted are famous clown Emmett Kelly, Sr., Ringling clown Lou Jacobs, Mamie Van Doren, and Norman and Molly Rockwell. In addition to his fine art career, Rusty has also done extensive work in the field of book illustration, completing commissions for Reader's Digest, Wildlife Art News and Windsor Publications, Inc., to name a few. Working mainly in oil on canvas, this enormously popular artist has produced work for use on a large range of products, including calendars, mugs, and collector's plates. He also pioneered the concept of limited-edition original paintings and has done many such editions featuring clowns and wildlife. The artist now resides and paints in Sarasota, Florida.  These painting are all limited edition oils that are signed by Rusty himself.  Very cool., thanks to Lou for bringing them in.

this one in particular is very rare as it is 48×36 the auction book on it is $7000.00 going here for $4500.00

this set of three are 20×24

This is rarest of them all number 2 of 50 ever produced only $750 book value of over $2,000.00.

As for the guns we carry new guns but the interesting ones are the guns that come in off the street here are some coming out soon……

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Customers: Spying, lying and one that comes in twice a day….

If you wonder about pawn shop customers, you are weird, but not nearly as weird as they are. 

This week I have a few stories to tell, maybe you'll like them. 

The first is a tale of deception and diamonds.  Thursday we had a couple of women come in and tell a story of looking for diamonds.  Ok, I have a few.  We had a very nice 2.5 cttw engagement ring with bridal band come out.  It was priced very reasonably at $900 and was actually worth retail around $1200.  According to their story this was a mother/daughter team that wanted this ring. 

They had recently been robbed of over 100k dollars worth of jewelry and were looking to replace it.  Now I have developed a real ability to tell when someone is lying and my detector went off the scale but whatever.  Unfortunately for me they had talked with Eric beforehand and gotten an $800 out the door price. 

So after showing them how to look at a diamond and explain what to look for they purchase it, or so I thought.  Before they leave I offer to clean the rings and when I put it in the sonic cleaner one of the channel set diamonds falls out. 

Dammit, so I'm  off to my friend Vu around the corner and in a jiffy have it replaced.  Vu is a master jeweler and an even nicer guy.  If you ever need repair work just give me a call I'll get you his number. 

Back to the story I re-ring their credit card and off they go, but not the end of the story. 

Now I market a lot on Craigslist and the very next day I see the same ring for sale in an ad that says she had canceled a wedding and wanted $2150.00 for it…………good luck sister.  Eric tells me the next day she came in looking for some earrings that are coming out soon…..the price for those earrings just went up. 

I thought about the time I spent, all the effort to buy the ring and hold it for 30 days.  Then I sell it to her for 20% more than I bought it.  For those of you math inclined you will realize that is a 240%+ investment and should be happy, and I am,  I just don't like being lied to.  I can't wait for her to come back.

For a pawn shop you would probably be surprised how much technology we use.  We have eBay stores, blogs, websites, Facebook pages and google adwords accounts and we track everything through google analytics and statcounter. 

If you think that when you are cruising around the internet you have some cloak of anonymity you'd be wrong, really wrong. 

I know where every visitor comes from, I know what keywords you typed in to find my sites.  I know the website you were in before and after you got to my site.  I know how long you stay and what you read, I even know where your mouse goes on the page.  So for all my friends and family and extended family I see you peeking from your FB pages.

Finally, we are starting to develop our own set of regulars.  One of those is Paulie.  Paulie is an extended relative of Eric's.  One of those "Uncles" you have as a kid who really isn't related.  Paulie is a pawn shop lifer who has been run out of Southern pawn and the others around here.  Paulie comes in twice a day every day usually once with stuff we don't want then with better stuff because he gets desperate for smokes.  customers like Paulie are great to have and he already has brought other friends in the shop.  Hopefully we can get the video from the security system going on the website and you can see this guy, he's one of a kind.  That is one of the projects to come this month, live pawn shop video, now that's entertainment.

I will have a listing early in the week of stuff coming out stay tuned…..

Posted via email from Bigtimspawn’s posterous

More bad Pawn Shop press…….:<

DENVER – Your old jewelry can make you some money. Gold is in hot demand these days and selling at near-record prices around the world because it is seen as a safe asset in uncertain times.

Advertisement

You probably have seen the ads asking you to send off your old jewelry to receive a check in the mail.

But you should not expect a pot of gold in return. In fact, consumer experts say the best and safest way to cash in on your gold is to compare prices around town.

9NEWS brought a few pieces of jewelry to several stores to see what they were offering.

The difference was almost $2,000 in one case.

Our biggest piece was a thick, 14-karat gold necklace, made up of two bracelets that lock together.

The jeweler examined and weighed it before calculating the price based on the percentage of weight in gold.

The price for the heavy necklace came to $1,572.78.

Then we pulled out a few old bracelets and necklaces, five pieces in all, for a price.

The pieces were worth more than $756, bringing the grand total of the jewelry and heavy necklace to $2,329.60.

“If people have got it and they want to sell it, I think now is as good a time as any,” one jeweler at William Crow said.

9NEWS took the same pieces of jewelry and went to a handful of stores, all in the same day.

First, we went to a pawn shop in Wheat Ridge, where the staff would not even accept our heavy necklace, saying it was fake, even though it was worth more than $1,500 at a Denver jeweler.

They did offer money for our other necklaces and bracelets.

After tapping buttons on his calculator, the worker said, “I’ll go as high as $400 for you.”

That was compared to the $2,329.60 from our first offer, which included the necklace.

The next pawn shop we visited in Lakewood also refused to offer anything for the heavy necklace, after examining it, also saying it appeared to be fake.

The store was willing to go as high as $650 for the other jewelry; no where near the amount of our first price quote.

Finally, somebody else was willing to buy our thick heavy necklace at a pawn shop on Colfax in Denver.

Along with our other jewelry, it was the second-highest offer.

“We’ll get you $2,175 [for all of the jewelry],” said one worker.

Our last stop took us to a Cash for Gold kiosk in an area mall.

After examining the pieces, the worker came up with an offer of, “Close to $1,500, possibly as much as like $1,500 and change.”

It was still far short of the $2,329.60 offer we received at our first Denver jeweler.

While one Denver jeweler said he would offer 75 percent to 80 percent of the current value on the jewelry, consumer experts warn that many companies will only pay as high as 15 percent to 20 percent of the value.

Experts also warn that some stores may be willing to pay good money to reuse your old jewelry, but others will give you the lowest value and end up making money on it by scrapping it.

(KUSA-TV © 2010 Multimedia Holdings Corporation)

via 9news.com

Be careful out there it’s a jungle. Go to more than one shop.

Posted via web from Bigtimspawn’s posterous

Pawn Stars

via histmyst.blogspot.com

good post

Posted via web from Bigtimspawn’s posterous

Circus bikes, eviction notices, and perfect redemption….

What is the weirdest thing in the shop is a question I get a lot.  I have an Ivory walrus, and a boars tusk on a silver claddah, even a Frank Frazzeta lithograph but…..

Today one of our fair customers called me and asked if we would give $20 on a circus bike.  So, I ask "what are you talking about?".  Seems he had one of those tiny bikes that clown ride on and his kids ride it.  I told him to bring it in and within 20 minutes sitting on my counter was the smallest bike you could ever imagine.  He asks for 25 of course I tell him that if he rides it I'll give him $25, no go.  So he gets his $20 and is on his way…

Then yesterday I had a customer come in that is really on his last bit of any luck and brings in a kitchen-aid mixer, a big one.  He wants $60 but I don't want it so I offer him $20 hoping he says no.  Then in dramatic fashion he whips out an eviction notice and point to the 2 women that came with him.  His mother and daughter look down and he tells me that he needs $60 to move them.  Mom starts crying and the daughter is deaf and looks like she is going to join Mom….  If anyone ever tells you that pawnbrokers are heartless I'm living proof to the contrary.  I now have a mixer that I can't sell probably, hope my wife likes it….

In our business you hope that every loan comes back to pick up thier pledge but that never happens.  Eventually some of them default.  Becasue we are less than 60 days old we haven't had anyone default but we have over 60 loans at this point and today we had 4 of them come in and redeem, we literally have zero late loans at this point.  The merchandise that is on the shelves is all purchased off the street no bad loans yet………..maybe I can be the first pawnbroker ever that has no defaults I'll keep you in the loop…

The door hanger ads go out tomorrow flyer Mike says he will get all 2500 out in the morning woohoo.  Until then have a gander of Thunder and me in front of the store if anyone wants more of the car or less of me let me know.

Tim

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Where can I sell my PS3 for the most money?

Where can I sell my Playstation 3 and get the most money? Better yet where can I sell a PS3 for the most money with the least amount of headache? People will ask you why do you want to sell your PS3, it's great. The fact is you probably don't want to sell it but you have to because of some unforeseen financial problems. And if this is the case you need money quickly to solve your problems. This can limit your options and hinder you getting the value you deserve for the PS3. First you need to find out how much is a PS3 worth?

Brand new the 250 GB PS3 can sell for as much as 350 dollars and the 80GB and 120 GB sell for 300 dollars. Some used models sell that high as well. The backwards compatible PS3 can command a price as high as the new 250 GB PS3.   What you need to know is how much do PS3's sell for used and more importantly how much will someone pay for yours? And how long will it take you to achieve your monetary goal? Sometimes a couple extra bucks are not worth the hassle of listening to a dozen hucksters try to give you their old twenty five gallon fish tank and a gift card to Walmart for your 40 GB PS3.  So what to do? There are a variety of options. You can sell the PS3 on Ebay, sell it on Craigslist, sell it or trade it in at Gamestop, or take the PS3 down to Big Tim's Pawn.

Big Tim's has paid as much as 280 dollars for a playstation 3 and in fact has never paid less than 215 dollars. Between 150 and 250 dollars seems a reasonable amount for a PS3 in working order with all of its cables and controllers. Getting this amount in a reasonable amount of time can be the tricky part. At Big Tim's Pawn you won't have to worry about that problem, you will find out exactly how much you will receive within ten minutes. Plus you can make as much as ten dollars on each of the games you have beaten and don't play anymore. This may not solve your financial problems  but it is a quick and fast start in the right direction.
Selling on Ebay can be a time consuming process and you are often dealing with people in other states or even countries. Even if you are protected from crooks by paypal it can take as long as 3 weeks to receive your money. That may be a problem depending on your needs. If you want to deal locally you can try Craigslist but that can cause all kinds of headaches. Very few offers will match your listing price and if you love to haggle this may be what you want to do. Be prepared to deal with offers of animals, car parts, cell phones, and many other bizarre items for your PS3 that will not solve your money problems. That also doesn't cover the hassle of having to arrange meetings with the prospective buyer who may only be able to meet you after midnight at some dangerous location. If you are willing to put up with this hassle you may get the money you need but again if you are under time constraints there is little chance of getting the money you need in the time you need it. The other option is Gamestop the video gaming store. They do not offer anywhere close to the value of your PS3. This morning I called a local Gamestop to see what I could get for my 40GB PS3 and they offered me 90$ in store credit or 72$ cash. This is for a PS3 worth close to 180 dollars. I don't see Gamestop being able to solve your problems.
Head to Big Tim's to sell your PS3, it is your best bet

Posted via email from Bigtimspawn’s posterous

One Month

OK, so I have been really open for a month now.  If you are reading this then I guess you are wondering how it's going.  Here are some fun stats.  No particular order I'll type as I think of them.

17K in purchases
9k from vendors
"retail" value 66K

We had 225 transactions mostly buys but it is changing.  Now many of our days have more pawn than buys.  Our eBay store is up and we made over 500 this week alone.  We had over 4k in pawns and currently have 100% redemption but that will go down next month.  Our income from these pawn is at 1k per month already I hope to be at 3k next month.  Our busiest day of the week is Mondays and we are busiest from 12-2 and from 4-6. 

No major mishaps yet and only one call from the PD about tickets with not enough information.  We only had two buys where I know I paid too much but we are not making the same mistakes so I chalk that up to education costs.

I've learned that employees are not as interested in being a pawnbroker as I am.  When I come across something that I don't know about I go on a research expedition.  It bothers me to not "know" what something is worth.  The questions:

  • Why is it rare?
  • What is the market for it?
  • Can I sell it?

This stuff actually bothers me, and not many others.  Maybe we (pawnbrokers) are a rare breed.  After only a month I know that there are tons of more experienced brokers than me, but not many. 

I try and educate every single customer that comes in why I offer them what I do.  The reaction to it is surprising.  Seems that other Pawn Shops are not nearly as user friendly, that is too bad.  We have many repeat customers already, and our referral program is starting to work very well.

The business plan is still working and the goals of 30 transactions and 50 visitors per day needed are still realistic.  Our record is 28 unique customers in one day. 

The newspaper ad was a complete and total, nuclear winter, bust.  When the saleslady from the paper showed up again I actually laughed her out of the store.  More tuition towards my PHD in Pawnbrokering.  We have an ad coming out soon that will be on the table of the local hot-rod hangout Biff-Burger.  Next week also starts the door hanger campaign.  Reports on those very soon.

Having almost every single customer ask "do you watch Pawn Stars" is getting old.  My boss (the wife) says I should tell them I have a show coming up soon called "porn stars".  I told her to stick with the day job.

I have written in detail about some of the unusual things that come through but I have some winners that I am saving for slow days. 

All in all it has been one of the best months of my life and hope it's the worst one ever.  I have always tried to live my life exactly how I wanted, sometimes I feel good about it, this is one of those times.

I still haven't received any feedback about my ramblings if you have a question let me know.  The website and blog are surprisingly popular.  They will undergo a complete overhaul this month by my longtime fiend Jim Hundley.  We are going to try and make it fun and we hope to include a live video feed from the Pawn Shop.  If you have any ideas now is the time.

I wake up every day wanting to go to work, how about you?

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