So, I’ve never been to a pawn shop before. I’m curious what’s there, but TV makes them seem shady and odd. What should I know before I visit? I’m sort of expecting a cross between an antique and a thrift store, that sort of vibe.
I’m in the USA and don’t intend to pawn anything.
Try haggling unless they have weapons very close to the employees. Other than that, same as any other store. (Except like, most of these goods are from desperate folks etc. Still, probably about as ethical as our phones etc.)
They’re not going to shoot you for trying to haggle. Shit I’ve haggled on the purchase of a gun.
No, you’re not getting shot for that.
And it absolutely depends where you live. But hard pawn shops, where they’ve seen enough shit, haggling will make your price go up or just get you a “get the fuck out.”
Proximity to weapons is a reasonable indicator of what kind of place you’re in.
Every pawn shop I’ve been to has guns displayed behind the cashiers. If you are experiencing a lot of people saying “get the fuck out”, I’d attribute that to some other common variable.
Nah man, businesses tell their customers to get the fuck out all the time.
This isn’t GTA.
Haggling will only make the price go up if you suck at haggling. If someone offered to buy something 75% off they might get told to leave. But if you offer someone $185 on something listed at $200 they’ll likely be more willing to haggle with you.
As for the last part lots of pawnshops have random guns or swords. Owning either does transform someone or some business into some harden gangsters.
If you’re not really comfortable with haggling my go-to is always “what’s your best price on this?”
They usually have a quick range that they’ll accept and you know if it’s something that you were already interested in and you can suddenly get 10% off just by asking one simple question then go for it.
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