Antiques Roadshow for big strong manly men

[Laxation]

Lately I've been devouring the shows Pawn Stars and Auction Hunters, and am going to be really sad when I've seen all the episodes available.
Does anyone know of any other shows in the same vein as these ones? I'm guessing there will be more cos they seem so dam cheap to make!

[shadowgrin]

Try American Pickers.

Is it just me or do everyone who sell their items in Pawn Stars get ripped off?
Guy brings in an antique item, expert appraises the item, owner makes a price offer lower than that of the appraised value, guy sells item lower than the expert's appraised value.
Or do the sellers really need the cash?

[Laxation]

You missed the point. If they bought stuff for appraisal price, then the pawn shops go out of business. They have to make money on what they sell...
Auctions take 30-40% of sale value, and the pawn shop is a quick buyer. They could be holding onto the item for months or even years before it sells, which makes it worthwhile for the seller to go there.

Ill have a look at american pickers, cheers!

[shadowgrin]

You missed the point. If they bought stuff for appraisal price, then the pawn shops go out of business. They have to make money on what they sell...

Well duh, but it's just ridiculous in the price drop. Say something that's valued at $15,000 and they offer to buy it at $3,000 tops (not an actual price from the show but possibly near it)? That's a huge difference.

The only 'fair' trades I have seen are where the sellers get cash plus an antique item (which the seller is also into) in exchange for their item. Antique guns/old electric guitars + cash iirc.


From Cracked:

Pawn store professionals note that Pawn Stars is an unrealistic representation of how a pawn shop actually works. For example, most pawn shops don't call in experts to price items, they make a guess. While this is true, pawn shops everywhere are basically admitting that at least one party in the sale will be getting ripped off. The only difference between that and Pawn Stars however, is that in Pawn Stars, everyone knows the seller is being ripped off.

Another reason disgruntled pawn shop owners point out is the lack of stolen goods and the high amount of actually interesting items that come into the store. Personally, we think they're just mad that they didn't think of this idea first.

[JaoSming]

Pawn Stars and Auction Hunters are my two favorite "reality" shows on TV.

Hardcore Pawn, never seen it, don't care to watch it.

American Pickers is hit and miss for me, sometimes it can be a really interesting show....other times.....eh. IMO these guys rip people off more than the Pawn Stars. They'll say they can't pay $100 for it, because that's what they'll sell it for, so they buy it for $50, then in the cut-away say they will sell it for $250.

American Restoration, based on that Rick Dale fellow from Pawn Stars....I think they just try too hard to have stories going on for me to care about it.

Storage Wars, I guess it's just like Storage Wars, never seen it, I like Haff/Ton better.

Sons of Guns, when it's on, I'll get sucked into it. Not as good as Top Shot IMO in terms for a gun show, but it's interesting sometimes.

Swamp People, just because watchin' rednecks shoot alligators = TV gold.

Repo Games, now that is an interesting "game" show, so many dumb people.

And unrelated to all these, watch Top Gear (US Version). The last episodes of Season 1 and everything in Season 2 has been hilarious with some quite good car pron if I do say so myself.

[benji]

I think I've seen one episode of these shows when my dad was watching but I'm pretty sure a good reason the shows bring in appraisers is likely due to the fact it's filmed and backed by a giant company. If it's just some random pawn shop dudes trying to figure out what they can resell it for then some moron is going to sue them after the internet posts a billion videos of them selling a legitimate DaVinci for $50 because the guy said "a painting huh, yeah I can probably sell that, how about fifty bucks?" and they really needed some paint thinner from Wal-Mart for their meth lab. The giant corporations that back the shows want it vetted and on tape that the person knew it was worth more among other likely legal reasons. (Like the fact that a real pawn shop often does a lot of things that are not, well, "technically" legal.)

As an aside, it's not ripping people off if they prefer the instant money or reward over the possibility of not being able to or wanting to apply the effort needed to sell the good for more.

This is also known as the GameStop/EB Games business model.

[Laxation]

You missed the point. If they bought stuff for appraisal price, then the pawn shops go out of business. They have to make money on what they sell...

Well duh, but it's just ridiculous in the price drop. Say something that's valued at $15,000 and they offer to buy it at $3,000 tops (not an actual price from the show but possibly near it)? That's a huge difference.

SOrry, im not with you on this one. They start low ($3000) but generally come up to half of the appraised value, which is fair. Think of it as any wholesaler/retail relationship, there's no difference except the wholesaler here is a redneck.

Also benji, I think the shop brings in appraisers and gives fair value also to get a good reputation. Sure, they might miss out on a goldmine here and there from ripping someone off, but soon enough word will spread and noone will bring anything to them. If they pay fair prices, they won't hit the jackpot. but will be way more likely to keep getting customers in.

I've been thinking about these things a lot when watching these shows, because lets face it, they don't make you think too much to watch them!

Cheers Jao, il check em out

[formx]

Is it just me or do everyone who sell their items in Pawn Stars get ripped off?
Guy brings in an antique item, expert appraises the item, owner makes a price offer lower than that of the appraised value, guy sells item lower than the expert's appraised value.
Or do the sellers really need the cash?

Glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks that.

[Oznogrd]

Storage wars is sorta like Auction Hunters but more dickheadish people

[shadowgrin]

SOrry, im not with you on this one. They start low ($3000) but generally come up to half of the appraised value, which is fair. Think of it as any wholesaler/retail relationship, there's no difference except the wholesaler here is a redneck.

To each his own I guess, I just hope you don't plan on selling anything to a pawn shop in the near future because you're a pawnbroker's dream.

I did enjoy that douchebag having to sell the Miami Heat championship ring he owned/bought from someone. The guy's a total jerk saying how women would crowd to him in a bar if he went wearing that ring even though he was in no way part of the team/organization. So ladies like rich dudes (just take a look at that ring and it's a smaller version of the player/coaches rings!) but if he's really rich he wouldn't be in a pawn shop selling the damn ring because he needs the money to gamble in Vegas.

Also benji, I think the shop brings in appraisers and gives fair value also to get a good reputation. Sure, they might miss out on a goldmine here and there from ripping someone off, but soon enough word will spread and noone will bring anything to them. If they pay fair prices, they won't hit the jackpot. but will be way more likely to keep getting customers in.

Yeah but those appraisers also need to get paid. They are just additional expense and if a camera wasn't there the shop won't need any of them, so I'm with benji on this one. Just look at the old man. He's mostly knowledgeable about cars (and anything old like those old bills) and doesn't need appraisers for it in the show (iirc). You don't learn and build a career on something like that by calling appraisers when a customer comes in, it's mostly from experience. Same with the bald dude. I have a hunch he's into and really knowledgeable about (old) electric guitars and doesn't really need an appraiser for it but he needs to because of the camera/show like benji said.

Swamp People, just because watchin' rednecks shoot alligators = TV gold.

I can't watch a minute of that show without having to laugh, which is wrong.
So I change the channel.

[Laxation]

SOrry, im not with you on this one. They start low ($3000) but generally come up to half of the appraised value, which is fair. Think of it as any wholesaler/retail relationship, there's no difference except the wholesaler here is a redneck.

To each his own I guess, I just hope you don't plan on selling anything to a pawn shop in the near future because you're a pawnbroker's dream.

A pawnbrokers dream is anyone being realistic? They run a business, they don't exist to give people retail prices for their shit, they exist to give people quick money for their shit.

And from what I've seen, he rarely gets an appraisal for guitars, but did do it once to find out the year on a Gibson because their serial numbers were fucked... The appraisers do get paid sometimes (the clock guy got $50... dunno bout the others) but they also get their name on TV and sometimes a bit of a plug, so really its a win win.

Also throwing out another theory, on the show they show us the rare and special items - the ones that are interesting with stories. These are the items that need appraisals because they are so rare, and you can't really get to know them without specialised experience. If they showed all the boring shit, you would probably find that he does most of the stuff without getting in experts. Wouldn't be practical at all to do it all the time! I agree they don't need these guys all the time, but for the interesting items that they film, they probably do!

[shadowgrin]

they exist to give people quick money for their shit.

Fortunately for the sellers there's no way that system can be exploited in favor for the pawnbroker. No way.

I agree they don't need these guys all the time, but for the interesting items that they film, they probably do!

Key word.
If there wasn't any cameras or the show, they even wouldn't hire appraisers for the really rare and interesting items before buying from the seller. It's up to the seller to produce any evidence of it's authenticity, like that guy who had (fake) gold coins and they were asking for some papers. If the pawnbrokers manage to buy it cheap (with the corresponding authenticity of course), then they get an appraiser after buying to see how much they can sell it.

Summary: they don't hire appraisers to make a good impression to their customers and make a good reputation, they hire appraisers to know how much they profit from it.

EDIT: italics and emphasis to make it clear

[Laxation]

Why the fuck wouldnt they get appraisers in for rare stuff? The shop makes money off selling rare shit, even if it costs them a lot. They need to know it isn't fake too.

[shadowgrin]

Edited and emphasized to make it clear.

[Laxation]

You must just be being a dick for the sake of it... no way anyone is this stupid.

[shadowgrin]

no way anyone is this stupid.

I know. I never thought I had to edit just to make my post clear.

[shadowgrin]

Just saw the recent season of Pawn Stars and the prices they are offering are definitely better (for the sellers) compared to the previous seasons. The show must be doing really well bringing in money that the shop can afford to give such a price to sellers.