Why I hate Pawn Stars

[TrenchfootJoe66]

Just watched some guy walk into the shop with a complete Nam era ejection seat from a Phantom. An "expert" appraised it at 3500. "Rick the male member" offered him a 150 bucks for it. Because he wouldnt be able to get rid of it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He could of sold that thing in 30 days or less, with a few well placed phone calls. Fortunately the kid didnt take him up on his generous offer.

[USARV72]

It's just not pawn stars, its all these B.S. shows, the pickers, deals, dumb sons of guns, storage unit auctions wars and any others They have ruined many hobbies. :thumbdown:

[Ronald]

I know this is a U.S. forum, but on Real Deal (I just caught the last of it, I 'll have to watch the rerun to see the maker)), a guy brought in an WW2 German SA dagger. The Real Deal guy offered him 100.00. The guy turned it down and went to auction. It did bring (I think) 535.00. Depending on the makers and condition, it could have been worth more. Ron

[oldfireguy]

Most of their high end items are rented and shown with fake owners. Most of the rare firearms are coming from the same person with different people bringing them in. Some of their local experts fly in from Calif and other places and are there only for the shoot. It's TV.

 

How many people wander into a pawn shop with a Colt Navel Gatling gun or a rotating Hotchkiss cannon only to be given some phoney offer?

[Ronald]

What gets me (and I guess I could utilize the on/off button) is the arrogant, annoying laugh Rick does after just about every sentence.

[History Man]

that laugh is very annoying. there is a guy that has been on Pawn Stars ( i believe he was selling a basketball championship ring), Storage Wars (background person), and on Real Deal (he lied about a naval instrument being his grandfathers). In Real Deal, they rarely make a reasonable offer and some of them are downright rude. American Pickers is a good show (don tknow about the offers they make as i have no clue to what most of the stuff is worth) and Storage Hunters is okay. there are just too many shows like that: buying and selling. its kind of getting annoying :ermm:

 

here is a list off the top of my head on all the shows that are the same:

 

Storage Wars

Storage Wars: Texas

Auction Hunters

Storage Hunters (or something, all auctions are in Hollywood)

American Pickers

Picker Sisters

Pawn Stars

Hardcore Pawn

Flip Men

Real Deal

Born Dealers

Auction Show (gallery 63)

 

philip

[Ronald]

philip

I agree! Did you ever get your A-11 set up? Ron

[oldfireguy]

These are all guns that have been on Pawn Stars. I just got a Christmas card from the owner and in it he said he had been down there filming with these. Trust me, he still has them. I just wish he would let me pick out one for Christmas.

 

 

 

 

[Bluehawk]

I've seen them make some "mistakes" or, at worst, undervalue the notion of getting the word out about unique stuff like the ejection seat. Heaven knows I've made more than my fair share...

 

And then, I've mostly seen them make pretty good deals with people for great items which they will, for sure, be able to turn around in a retail setting pretty quickly.

[doyler]

I know this is a U.S. forum, but on Real Deal (I just caught the last of it, I 'll have to watch the rerun to see the maker)), a guy brought in an WW2 German SA dagger. The Real Deal guy offered him 100.00. The guy turned it down and went to auction. It did bring (I think) 535.00. Depending on the makers and condition, it could have been worth more. Ron

 

 

Havent seen that one and I dont watch many of the episodes.I just wonder what the comission is they pay ath these auctions and how well the item is advertised. :think:

[Ronald]

That episode was on last night. I imagine it is the standard 20%. Not sure though. Ron

[Bob Hudson]

What gets me (and I guess I could utilize the on/off button) is the arrogant, annoying laugh Rick does after just about every sentence.

 

That's his "all the way to the bank" laugh. He personally makes $1 million a year for the show.

 

I do a lot of buying from the general public who respond to my newspaper ads and I have found the Pawn Stars Effect to be favorable as many people says things such as "I watch Pawn Stars so I know you guys need to make a profit." I much prefer them to the ones who say "I did a little bit of research online..." because they always find the absolute highest asking prices for something that looks a bit like they have and that's want they want for it. I feel like telling them "Hasn't Rick Harrison taught you anything?" Those people also don't want to understand that the devil is in the details and just because their 1980's helmet looks lot like a WWII fixed bail helmet, they are not worth the same.

 

I negotiated with a guy yesterday who had a Luger and other German stuff: I made a pretty high offer based on my knowledge of what he had, but after much coaxing he responded with somewhat of a counter-offer that was three times what I had offered. I think I politely suggested he set up a militaria store so he could get his asking price. When I got home and did some more research on what he had, I felt like calling him to thank him for turning me down because my offer, in retrospect, was just too high to be comfortable.

 

As far as the Pawn Stars ejection seat: that's great for collectors because now millions of people think they're not worth much!

 

I don't see those shows ruining anything and in fact I get more calls than ever from ads because more and more people are finding militaria in their attics and basements and realize that it is maybe worth enough that they should not give it to the Goodwill (which will break up groupings, trash valuable uniforms because they have a tear, etc.)

[doyler]

Just watched some guy walk into the shop with a complete Nam era ejection seat from a Phantom. An "expert" appraised it at 3500. "Rick the male member" offered him a 150 bucks for it. Because he wouldnt be able to get rid of it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!! He could of sold that thing in 30 days or less, with a few well placed phone calls. Fortunately the kid didnt take him up on his generous offer.

 

 

I was thinking he could have bought the seat for under $500(havent seen the episode for a long time) before he called in his expert.I know all of this is pretty much scripted out but to me Rick is his own worst enemy on stuff.Comes off as the guru of the pawndom and often really dont know what he is looking at for all the stuff he supposedly handled over the years.Im beginning to wonder if Chumley is realy the brains

 

Then to pay what they did for the 15th AF uniform and the navy jumper.Cant really believe they would actually give that for the stuff

[doyler]

that laugh is very annoying. there is a guy that has been on Pawn Stars ( i believe he was selling a basketball championship ring), Storage Wars (background person), and on Real Deal (he lied about a naval instrument being his grandfathers). In Real Deal, they rarely make a reasonable offer and some of them are downright rude. American Pickers is a good show (don tknow about the offers they make as i have no clue to what most of the stuff is worth) and Storage Hunters is okay. there are just too many shows like that: buying and selling. its kind of getting annoying :ermm:

 

here is a list off the top of my head on all the shows that are the same:

 

Storage Wars

Storage Wars: Texas

Auction Hunters

Storage Hunters (or something, all auctions are in Hollywood)

American Pickers

Picker Sisters

Pawn Stars

Hardcore Pawn

Flip Men

Real Deal

Born Dealers

Auction Show (gallery 63)

 

philip

 

There is one about two chics who have a pawn shop in Napierville(?) Ilinios.They try to cater to the female side of pawn.Saw them with a WW2 Red Cross uniform and they thought it was fake.Brought in a textile expert and he also gave it a thumbs down and it was right as rain.

 

Rickys laugh reminds me of the cartoon dogs Muttley and Mumbly.If the show goes down maybe he can get a job doing laugh overs.

[Austin R]

. there is a guy that has been on Pawn Stars ( i believe he was selling a basketball championship ring), Storage Wars (background person), and on Real Deal (he lied about a naval instrument being his grandfathers). In Real Deal, they rarely make a reasonable offer and some of them are downright rude.

He was also on a short run show Auctioneer$. He bought something on it and then bought it on the pawn stars show.

[History Man]

He was also on a short run show Auctioneer$. He bought something on it and then bought it on the pawn stars show.

 

thats another one for the list! i remember that one. he bought the dynamite blaster and sold it on pawn stars.

 

philip

[Austin R]

These shows are also putting people out of business. I know a few people that do estate cleanouts, its getting harder get a job now and half the stuff gets taken. Same with storage lockers. lockers that would go for 100 now go up to 600 or 700. A few shows are fine, but they are on every channel now.

[KASTAUFFER]

I am waiting for a show called " Stamp Show Wars" to come out so the stamps I had as a kid will be worth bazillions of dollars

 

 

Kurt

[swmdo]

Remember Mutual Funds and Flipping Houses? The mass media is now telling people to focus on buying antiques and collectibles. I see a lot of these newbies wandering aimlessly at thrift stores and antique stores most of them are clueless. Knowledge is still power when it comes to military collectibles and many don't take the time to acquire it. Sometimes I admit that includes me. :w00t:

[Austin R]

Remember Mutual Funds and Flipping Houses the mass media is now telling people to focus on buying antiques and collectibles. I see a lot of these newbies wandering aimlessly at thrift stores and antique stores most of them are clueless. Knowledge is still power. :w00t:

I see them walking around acting like a picker. I started renting at an antique store 3 months ago to get rid of stuff I don't want. Nothing was selling and the antique store owner told me to double my prices. Everything sold because they think that it may be more valuable than I am asking. I don't get the logic to it. Then, I went to the local flea market and saw a man selling some of my stuff at a fleamarket for a fortune with other overpriced stuff.

[swmdo]

I see them walking around acting like a picker. I started renting at an antique store 3 months ago to get rid of stuff I don't want. Nothing was selling and the antique store owner told me to double my prices. Everything sold because they think that it may be more valuable than I am asking. I don't get the logic to it. Then, I went to the local flea market and saw a man selling some of my stuff at a fleamarket for a fortune with other overpriced stuff.

 

That is hilarious!!!

[BigDogMilitaria]

Ive noticed the effect of these shows on the estate sales circuit. I am regular, but i do it for my personal collection, occasionally grabbing a non-military item that i know is valuable, such as a sports item and flipping it to fund my hobby. There a ton more wannabe ebay dealers showing up every day. Most of them havnt a clue, but take up valuable space at these houses, and occasionally grab something im after because "it might be worth something". I had a room all to myself full of HBT's, and Uniforms from a WWII Navy Corpsman. I was pretty much grabbing it all, when one of the newbies came in and asked me how to tell which "militaria was worth money". I said i had no idea, "i just buy stuff that looks cool". He stepped out and i finished up.

 

Last summer i was able to get a huge grouping that included some US uniforms and some TR bring back items, helmet, bayonet, mess kit, canteen, armbands. Got the whole set up for $350, helmet was $75. More than a good deal. There were over 100 people in line behind me when the door opened. About a month later the same company had a sale and they had 2 TR helmets, both priced at 3 grand and they were nothing special.

[gunbunny]

I hate Pawn Stars because they feel they have to shoot every gun offered to them regardless of age or rarity.

[willysmb44]

My Dad is a big-time pre-WW2 artillery enthusiast. We got to talking about that Hotchkiss field gun and agreed that no artillery collector would go to a freaking pawn shop to sell it. Artillery collecting is like antique car collecting; you go to the established places when you really need to sell something.

There was a Gatling gun on an episode once, and the owner knows a pal of mine here. I heard that gun wasn’t for sale, never was, and that he got paid a nice amount to act like it was for sale. I can only assume that the high-end cars you see on the show likely aren’t actually sold or bought either.

A co-worker of mine went to that pawn shop a while back with a World Series ring that he had no intention of selling, just for kicks. He had someone at the door check it out, told him what they’d really pay for it, and was asked to come back at a certain time and day and act like he’d just walked in the first time. He was only there for the day so he never went back. I’ve heard from four people who’ve been there that they make the place look totally different while the show is filming and that the place is PACKED with people during the day, mostly buying souvenirs from the shop itself.

A few shows are fine, but they are on every channel now.

Nothing new there, TV has always piggybacked on another show’s success. Cooking/baking shows are huge right now as well and I can’t wait to see that trend die off, as my wife loves them and I’m sick to death of watching what is in effect, THE SAME DARNED show over and over again.

But when one concept goes over well, everyone is going to copy it, especially on cable if the concept as cheap to film. It will always be that way as TV marches forward with the homogenization of cable TV, where all networks all carry the same types of shows… :thumbdown:

[blitzkrieg gsd]

I can't see why anyone would sell to a pawn shop unless they need the money that day rite then as in a emergency. You know your only going to get half at best and maybe not even that much. So the only reason to sell there is emergency situation only.