Pawn shops can be a fantastic benefit to those with unwanted or unneeded items and who want to sell them. That being said, it can be difficult to determine what your items are worth and whether the pawn shop is giving you a good deal. Knowing how pawn shops value items can help you feel good about pawning your items.
How Does a Pawn Shop Determine Value?
Pawn shops have come a long way in the past few decades, and the majority of pawn shops have technology on their side now to help with the buying and selling process. Most pawn shops will have a blue book or a digital database with just about any item you could ever imagine in it to help with the valuation.
They are not going to be just making up numbers based on their own ideas and preferences, they are going to be able to type in what you are pawning and get a list of prices and values to help them make their determination. This goes for just about any item that you could ever imagine selling. From items like lawnmowers all the way down to video games.
With things like gold, silver, and other precious metals and gemstones, they will refer to the current value of the materials in the world market. That will help you be certain that you are getting the most value.
How To Know if the Pawn Shop is Ripping Me Off
The best way to know if you are getting a fair deal at the pawn shop is to get a basic idea of the value of the item before you go in. This does not mean getting an idea and deciding that you have to get that amount. You have to remember that a pawn shop is still going to need to be able to make some money to make your pawning or selling the item. This also means they will not pay you the total value of the item.
Suppose you have a video game or a video game console, for instance, that is worth $400 new. You have had it for a year; this devalues the system by about $100, so now you are at $300. The pawn shop is not going to offer you $300. They will offer you a much lower price so that they can make money if you do not come back for the item and then have to sell it at their store.
A pawn shop is a great option if you have stuff you do not want, but you do need to manage your expectations and make sure that you will not be disappointed when you take your items to the pawn shop.