# if you go to a pawn shop hunting amps and stereos.......



## RYNOMOTO (Oct 3, 2008)

so, this is a thread to pique some interest and get some ideas....

What brands of Old school amps are considered rare or hard to get and very desirable? Here is a list of stuff I know about.....

Nakamichi
PPI
Hifonics
Zed built stuff (any more rare/wanted than others?)
Rockford Fosgate
Mcintosh



Are there some obscure brands I should look for like the Holy Grail of old school amps?


I travel so much in my job, I like to stop at shops and check out what they have and possibly get some deals.....


just for fun....

Thanks!
RYNO


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## Lothar34 (Oct 6, 2006)

That Sony dual mono amp.


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## alg_alg (Jun 13, 2006)

linear power


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## fredridge (Jan 17, 2007)

old school cheap


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## Chris_Harper (Aug 31, 2008)

I always look for what I need. I only look at brands I like. No junk. Old school HiFonics, Lanzar, Phoenix Gold. Newer good brands are open to my final decision. I got my sub amp at a pawn shop for $70 + tax- Kicker KX-350.2 that I would rate at a 8/10 for cosmetics. No end caps came with it, but I don't care about them.


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## 6APPEAL (Apr 5, 2007)

alg_alg said:


> linear power


 I find LP all the time in Pawn shops, but most are now Internet savvy, so they price them like E-bay or put them on E-bay. I do get lucky once in a while.
John


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## RYNOMOTO (Oct 3, 2008)

very cool suggestions all!!!

THanks....

also, 6appeal, are you interested in a Grandmother Owned 87 Buick T-Type with perfect grey leather bucket seats, column shift, and the 8.5 rear with posi?


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## Mooble (Oct 21, 2007)

Anything that says,

*MONOLITHIC*


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## benny (Apr 7, 2008)

I WANT THAT BUICK!



Awww, Texas.


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## CheshRcat (Sep 18, 2008)

I'm fond of old Orion amps.


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## RajunCajun (Jul 27, 2008)

Mooble said:


> Anything that says,
> 
> *MONOLITHIC*


X2 on that post


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## ItalynStylion (May 3, 2008)

Is buying amps and stuff from a pawn shop facilitating stealing? I mean, if no one bought amps from pawn shops then they wouldn't sell the; and there would be no need to steal amps. Then we could all live happy and not get **** stolen


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## Hispls (Mar 12, 2008)

Picked up an old school Adcom at one and made a fast 10$ selling it here.


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## Mooble (Oct 21, 2007)

I don't know where you are, but the pawn shops around me carry almost no car audio equipment, probably because they know it's stolen. I went into about 10 pawn shops looking for my stolen stuff and they had practically nothing, maybe 1 or 2 amps and some cheap subs.


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## Hispls (Mar 12, 2008)

ItalynStylion said:


> Is buying amps and stuff from a pawn shop facilitating stealing? I mean, if no one bought amps from pawn shops then they wouldn't sell the; and there would be no need to steal amps. Then we could all live happy and not get **** stolen


You do realize that if police come into a pawn shop and find stolen goods they seize them and the owner is SOL for the money. The guys I deal with are pretty discriminating about from whom they buy anything for this reason. Most stuff that winds up in pawn shops seems to be people who are in tough times that are selling things that they bought legitimately. LOTS of women's jewelrey comes in when they break up with whatever sucker bought it for them.

A friend of mine owns one and I used to hang out there with him a lot, and that's at least what I saw there. 

In my youth I knew a couple guys who stole things "for a living" and NONE of them ever tried to fence them off at pawn shops since they take a copy of your ID and that's pretty much the first place cops check for stolen stuff.


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## 2167 (Dec 5, 2007)

RYNOMOTO said:


> so, this is a thread to pique some interest and get some ideas....
> 
> What brands of Old school amps are considered rare or hard to get and very desirable? Here is a list of stuff I know about.....
> 
> ...


Autotek (zed built) 

I think they were the mean machine series


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## 2167 (Dec 5, 2007)

RYNOMOTO said:


> so, this is a thread to pique some interest and get some ideas....
> 
> What brands of Old school amps are considered rare or hard to get and very desirable? Here is a list of stuff I know about.....
> 
> ...


Autotek (zed built) 

I think they were the mean machine or street machine series


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## Boostedrex (Apr 4, 2007)

It's really odd, but there aren't any pawn shops anywhere near where I live. I've never seen that before.


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## fredridge (Jan 17, 2007)

I have picked up a number of things at some local pawn shops. Most of them some nice stuff....old school PPI, Orion etc......Most of those had been sitting there for a while so was able to get nice deals on it. People going in don't know what they are and shops around me don't deal in that kind of stuff, they say mostly because it just doesn't sell.

there is one shop that does and sometimes have some nice stuff, but mostly crap like DHD, Dual etc.


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## yeldak99 (Mar 5, 2008)

I'm fortunate enough to live in one of the most military populated area in the US. I always try to set aside a little money so that on off weeks (weeks opposite of payday), I can make rounds to the pawn shops and pick up anything I find awesome. There are pawn shops in almost every shopping center in this area.


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## starboy869 (Dec 16, 2006)

There's 5 pawn shops in my area of town (pop. around 30,000 btw) Nothing but junk for car audio. A few older alpine decks, some off brand ie. pyle, old school (80's style) amps, etc., One place did have an older PG EQ for $300 vs ebay price of $100. 9 out of 10 ten times the shop know what they have and jack the price on it.


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## 6APPEAL (Apr 5, 2007)

RYNOMOTO said:


> also, 6appeal, are you interested in a Grandmother Owned 87 Buick T-Type with perfect grey leather bucket seats, column shift, and the 8.5 rear with posi?


I've been selling off my Buick collection for the past 3 years. I had 8 turbo Buicks at one time. I'm down to 3, working my way down to 2. I still have enough parts to build 3 or 4 cars. Selling off un-needed parts is next on the agenda. I'll get down to 1 street car if I can't find a way to support my Buick drag racing habit. 

Sounds like a sweet car and I'd love to have another "sleeper" instead of just GN's, but it just ain't gonna happen any time soon. Good luck with the sale, but Muscle car/Collector car prices are super deflated right now. Tons of cars for sale, but realisticly valued/priced cars not selling. Only desperation priced cars are selling at pratically "give it away" prices and most of them are being parted out. Folks that are not desperate are doing like me and just sitting on their cars.
John


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## RedGTiVR6 (Jun 26, 2007)

ItalynStylion said:


> buying amps and stuff from a pawn shop facilitating stealing? I mean, if no one bought amps from pawn shops then they wouldn't sell the; and there would be no need to steal amps. Then we could all live happy and not get **** stolen


Amen.

my dad wouldn't of had anywhere to sell all of MY **** when he stole it from me when I was a kid....more times than I care to remember.

It's too easy to get a quick buck....so it's a natural for ppl looking for a quick fix...like he was/is.

Sure, ppl will still steal and sell at flea markets and the like, but it's not as easy as walking into a pawn shop and just hawking some stuff and walking out with cash in hand....then down the street to the local drug dealer.


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## tomtomjr (Apr 24, 2008)

ItalynStylion said:


> Is buying amps and stuff from a pawn shop facilitating stealing? I mean, if no one bought amps from pawn shops then they wouldn't sell the; and there would be no need to steal amps. Then we could all live happy and not get **** stolen


Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I went into the pawn business for about a year. Was going to open up my own, and needed to learn about it. Most of what you hear about everything in a pawn shop being stolen are myths. There is some stuff that comes in stolen though. I would rate it at about 3% to 5%. Can go to 10% in some really bad areas, but that is about it. NOT half of it like what most people think. Very few car audio items in pawnshops are stolen. Usually they came in from someone who broke down and needed gas, car parts, ect. Or just some spending $$$. No, I never saw someone come in with a ton of ripped out stereos. On the rare occasion, one would come in with a bent up bracket. You could tell that one was ripped out. When you pawn something, you have to give an ID. Do you really think that a car stereo thief would want to do that? Not very often. On the rare occasion where the thief was an idiot. Plus you have pawn-detail come by once a week to pick up pawn tickets. The tickets have the make, model, and serial numbers of EVERYTHING that has been pawned that week. If it does not have a serial number, you are not supposed to take it. So, I hope this eases your fears of buying from a pawnshop. There are a few shady pawn shops out there, but most have been updated about 15yrs ago with new rules, laws, and now most are corps. Also there is a group that governs the pawnshops called Consumer Credit. Consumer Credit is the watchdog for the pawnshops. Believe me, when you own a pawnshop, you don't want to piss off Consumer Credit. They will shut you down quick. And then the owner is out of all the $$$ he has in the company. So, I can assure you that you dont want to take any hot items in. It happens, but rarely. Stick with the nicer shops and you will most likely only get "non-hot" items. If anyone has any pawnshop questions, let me know.


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## GlasSman (Nov 14, 2006)

ItalynStylion said:


> Is buying amps and stuff from a pawn shop facilitating stealing? I mean, if no one bought amps from pawn shops then they wouldn't sell the; and there would be no need to steal amps. Then we could all live happy and not get **** stolen


If only things were that simple.

You'd _*think *_one thing has to do with another....not always the case.


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## 2167 (Dec 5, 2007)

Boostedrex said:


> It's really odd, but there aren't any pawn shops anywhere near where I live. I've never seen that before.


Downtown Sac?


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## ChrisB (Jul 3, 2008)

I have a cousin who owns a pawn shop and he said that he stopped dealing with car stereo equipment many years ago. His main complaint was the idiot that hooked something up wrong and fried something that was tested and proven to be in working order before it left the store. Of course, after they broke it, they brought it back saying that they were sold a bad amp/cd player/speakers etc. 

In fact, I called my cousin two weeks ago hoping he could grab some old school Linear Power or Orion gear for me and he said he would give me a call if anyone brings something in


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## Lothar34 (Oct 6, 2006)

starboy869 said:


> There's 5 pawn shops in my area of town (pop. around 30,000 btw) Nothing but junk for car audio. A few older alpine decks, some off brand ie. pyle, old school (80's style) amps, etc., One place did have an older PG EQ for $300 vs ebay price of $100. 9 out of 10 ten times the shop know what they have and jack the price on it.


With the advent of the internet, it's much easier for pawnbrokers to check and see what something like that is really worth now. If they do get something of value that they don't have much market for, they can always put it on ebay, so it's getting harder and harder to find a good deal.


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## DaleCarter (Jan 3, 2008)

ItalynStylion said:


> Is buying amps and stuff from a pawn shop facilitating stealing? I mean, if no one bought amps from pawn shops then they wouldn't sell the; and there would be no need to steal amps. Then we could all live happy and not get **** stolen


I guess you shouldn't buy gear off of Ebay, then.

Ebay is a bigger fence of stolen items than 10,000 crooked pawn shops.

There are vendors there that only sell the three most stolen car parts: airbags, HID lights and seat belts. Catalytic converters are coming on strong. There are legit suppliers like LKQOnline, but there are a few that are obviously thieves and fences.


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## falkenbd (Aug 16, 2008)

if a pawn shop gets some gear and doesn't look it up online to see what it is and what its worth, they probably already went out of business.

I've looked at a couple of pawn shops here, really hoping to find a diamond in the rough for next to nothing - but failed to find it. I will stop in everyone couple of months tho just in case someone decides to sell their dead family members old Audio gear without first looking online to see what its worth.


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## ChrisB (Jul 3, 2008)

The best deals I have found at pawn shops was on tools of all things! I may go looking at the pawn shops when I am in the market for a plunge router, which will be soon!


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## falkenbd (Aug 16, 2008)

tools, yes they have tools. i just saw a rotozip for $10...

probably want to test them before you leave with them.



06BLMUSTANGGT said:


> The best deals I have found at pawn shops was on tools of all things! I may go looking at the pawn shops when I am in the market for a plunge router, which will be soon!


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## DaleCarter (Jan 3, 2008)

I used to have a pawn shop as a tenant and i know that most of them are honest. That said.....

Pawn shop trick #1 - write down the serial number change the 8's to 6's or the 3's to 5's. That way it doesn't come up on the hot sheets if someone runs the legit serial #. Happened to me on my stolen Litespeed road bike last year.

Pawn shop trick #2 - the crackhead takes my bike to a pawn shop just across the police jurisdiction, so the pawn desk cop there was not familiar with my case.

Pawn shop trick #3 - "assistant manager" list stolen item on Craigslist and sells it as a "private" individual

Problem with photo ID - crackhead who stole my bike lists the local homeless shelter as his address, good luck finding that *******.

Pawnshop Cop problem - Atlanta has two, count 'em, two pawn desk cops.


Pawnshop happy ending - my persistence got the pawn shop raided. Ten assorted felonies and misdemeanors on four different people (owners and employees) and the shop got closed.

3 - 5% is stolen, you must be in Beverly Hills. Most of the stuff in the local shops here are tools, yard equipment and other things owened by working men. Do professional tradesmen sell their means to make a living? No, but there **** gets stolen all the time. I live in downtown Atlanta and there is a car break in in my four block area almost every night. Rule number one at a job site si don't remove your tool belt unless it is going straight into the locked job box. They are selling that crap somewhere, primarily pawn shops, Craigs List and Ebay. Crackheads use pawn shops becasue they aren't on Craigslist and Ebay. Conceivably they could go to an unregulated neighbiorhood fence who posts on the web.


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## falkenbd (Aug 16, 2008)

I think tools are stolen even more than car stereo equipment. People see a jobsite and they KNOW there are tools around. People see a car - and if the owner is smart - no one knows there is a stereo in it.


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## RYNOMOTO (Oct 3, 2008)

wow, lots of bad experiences here with pawn shops....



well, the guy I have been talking to is legit, and has some very cool stuff....

He also spoke about the stolen stuff and said that it rarely occurs and is usually what others have mentioned, that someone low on cash has an amp to sell and turn for quick money....

he really doesn't do a lot of purchasing of used amps anymore though....


I hope he will let me take some pics of his little area inside this old pawn shop, as he has more old amps and stereos stacked up than I have ever seen in one place.....


He has more old PPI's, Linear Power, and Rockford Fosgate than I have ever seen....

Literally every brand and size of old-school amp.....

He repairs car stereo stuff and seems to be ultra-knowledgable and very friendly...


I randomly stopped there two days ago on some of my travels because I had this feeling I should.... it was a crappy looking pawn shop from the outside, and this guy just does electronics stuff......


on the other side of things, yeah, overall, at this point, 99% of pawnshops I have been in had Lightning audio or Dual or audiopipe crap in them.... 

this is the first real shop with Real old school stuff.....


who wants to see old art PPI's and chrome PC PPI amps stacked like cordwood 4 foot high for 20 feet????

HMMMM.....

haha....


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## RYNOMOTO (Oct 3, 2008)

and yes, I will disclose the location.....after I hopefully get what I want..... hehe....


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## tomtomjr (Apr 24, 2008)

Ok, here is some info.
1. Pawnshops do not make money on Electronics. Keep this in mind. Pawnshops loose money on electronics. The main source of income for a pawnshop is the interest. Here in TX, it is 240% a year. (20% a month x 12). The second part of where they make their money is jewelry. Most pawnshops do NOT want to buy your items unless it is something really neat, or something very valuable. Not a car amp. They would rather you pick up your item than leave it. Here is the first thing you are asked. "do you want a loan, or do you want to sell it?". If you say loan, they offer top dollar since you are implying you want to come back for it. If you say, sell it (thinking you might get more) then they will offer less. If you ever get a chance to go behind the scenes of a pawnshop you will see hundreds or thousands (depends on the size of the pawnshop) of broken and outdated electronics. They sell them in bulk to fleamarkets and people who take them over into Mexico. The failure rate for pawnshop electronics is high. Reason is because the person don't know how to hook it up, goes out of date, fried batteries (cameras, laptops), or just gets dropped. Also there are a lot of attempts of people bringing in equipment with intermitant "quirks". Works for a few minutes, then goes out. Saw a lot of that... 

2. If you learn the "pawnshop codes" you will have a much better shopping experience. This is where there are letters on the tags. This tells you how much the shop has in the item. Lets say the tag says $100 and has the letters "BEEE". This would mean $10. B=1 E=0 . The key word for that store would be BLACKHORSE. B=1 L=2 A=3 ect... It really helps when buying items. A pawnshop would love to break even on electronics, but rarely do. Learn the codes, and you will have a much better shopping experience. DO NOT tell them you figured out their codes. If you do, they will most likely not deal with you, or will stick to the price of what it is marked. Due to the fact you just pissed them off.

Total I have 1.5 yrs experience behind the counter, plus about 8 years of repairing the electronics for various pawnshops. When repairing for them, they like to do a flat rate on the stack, or fix one, keep one. They will not spend much on inventory to be fixed. So, you can ask to see their broken msde, and you might get lucky. You have to get to know them pretty good before they will bring you into the storage areas. 

Hope all this info helps. If anyone has any pawnshop questions, let me know...


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## fredridge (Jan 17, 2007)

my best paw shop buy was a Carver amp that I paid like $13 and sold for 140..... it had no markings and didn't look like much, but I recognized the name...the had no clue, neither did I until after I bought it and brought it home.


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## RYNOMOTO (Oct 3, 2008)

tomtomjr said:


> Ok, here is some info.
> 1. Pawnshops do not make money on Electronics. Keep this in mind. Pawnshops loose money on electronics. The main source of income for a pawnshop is the interest. Here in TX, it is 240% a year. (20% a month x 12). The second part of where they make their money is jewelry. Most pawnshops do NOT want to buy your items unless it is something really neat, or something very valuable. Not a car amp. They would rather you pick up your item than leave it. Here is the first thing you are asked. "do you want a loan, or do you want to sell it?". If you say loan, they offer top dollar since you are implying you want to come back for it. If you say, sell it (thinking you might get more) then they will offer less. If you ever get a chance to go behind the scenes of a pawnshop you will see hundreds or thousands (depends on the size of the pawnshop) of broken and outdated electronics. They sell them in bulk to fleamarkets and people who take them over into Mexico. The failure rate for pawnshop electronics is high. Reason is because the person don't know how to hook it up, goes out of date, fried batteries (cameras, laptops), or just gets dropped. Also there are a lot of attempts of people bringing in equipment with intermitant "quirks". Works for a few minutes, then goes out. Saw a lot of that...
> 
> 2. If you learn the "pawnshop codes" you will have a much better shopping experience. This is where there are letters on the tags. This tells you how much the shop has in the item. Lets say the tag says $100 and has the letters "BEEE". This would mean $10. B=1 E=0 . The key word for that store would be BLACKHORSE. B=1 L=2 A=3 ect... It really helps when buying items. A pawnshop would love to break even on electronics, but rarely do. Learn the codes, and you will have a much better shopping experience. DO NOT tell them you figured out their codes. If you do, they will most likely not deal with you, or will stick to the price of what it is marked. Due to the fact you just pissed them off.
> ...




Thanks so much for that TOMTOM!!!! very cool info there and some great tips on figuring out the pawn shops....


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## 00poop6x (Jan 20, 2007)

fredridge said:


> my best paw shop buy was a Carver amp that I paid like $13 and sold for 140..... it had no markings and didn't look like much, but I recognized the name...the had no clue, neither did I until after I bought it and brought it home.


Shame on you for not knowing


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## tomtomjr (Apr 24, 2008)

One more thing I forgot to mention. When you see an item that is overpriced, and they will not come down on it, that means they have a LOT in it. What happens is that you get certain customers that have a good pawn record. They will pawn something worth $20, and get $45 on it. 99% of the time, they will pick it up. But the one time they don't, you eat it. So then that scratched up Orion 225 that is priced at $400 will sit there for years until it is written off by the CPA as a loss. Sometimes this takes several years of sitting in the shop. Doesn't happen often, but if you wonder why they won't come off of a $20 new at the store item, and it is priced at $50, now you know...


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## Oliver (Jun 25, 2007)

You could also wait outside the shop and offer to drive the crackhead to his crackhouse of choice after he pawns his LP amps and gold wedding ring [ for a woman ], then drop him off at the local homeless shelter or jail which ever is more convenient.


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## Lothar34 (Oct 6, 2006)

RYNOMOTO said:


> and yes, I will disclose the location.....after I hopefully get what I want..... hehe....


Is it in Houston?


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## Oliver (Jun 25, 2007)

I set my niece and her man up with sound systems, whatever wasn't installed was in their house, until someone came buy and removed all of their valuables.

They went to pawn shops until they found their stuff, notified the police ... when all was said and done they bought what they could back and the police will prosecute the offender.

6 month shoretened version[ synopsis ]


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## RYNOMOTO (Oct 3, 2008)

Lothar34 said:


> Is it in Houston?



NOPE!!! TRY AGAIN!!!


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## unpredictableacts (Aug 16, 2006)

Well I would like some pics of these Bucks being talked about. Cant beat a turboed V6 for **** and giggles.


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## RYNOMOTO (Oct 3, 2008)

Link to where I have the car posted for sale.....

http://www.turbobuick.com/forums/ca...al-miles-1987-buick-regal-limited-t-type.html


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## RYNOMOTO (Oct 3, 2008)

It even has the stock radio and CONCERT SOUND door speakers....  unfortunately.....


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## nsx1972 (Nov 26, 2008)

I've been in a few pawn shops and never found anything good. Only cheap stuff not worth buying. The best place to find old school stuff and good deals is Craigslist. I have bought a few amps( o/s punch45,PG zx450,Adcom GFA amps, o/s PPI amps , ADS amps, Mcintosh amps and a bunch more. Sometimes you get sellers wanting to sell the old stuff as it were new, but the majority of the time I get a good price and usually double or even triple my money selling it back on ebay. Just got an A/D/S p840.2 anniversary edition amp on CL for $50 what a steal. Offer me a good price and I will part with it. Also have Zapco z300c2slx amp with amp remote . My best find was a Mcintosh MC431M for $200 he was also selling a Mcintosh CD player with a DAC for $250 but couldn't buy it. Didn't have enough money.


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## aztec1 (Jun 13, 2008)

Hafler.
Soundstream.
LP.
Fosgate.
Orion.
Autotek.

On the above, make sure the heatsink is comprised of big fins and is the whole amp casing.

If you ever find a Redline or Godfather sub, buy it immediately


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## headbussaboi (Sep 28, 2006)

I got you all beat. I bought 3 OS RF waffle style amp in MINT condition for $50 each. 100x2, 200x2, and Power 50m2.


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## snaimpally (Mar 5, 2008)

RYNOMOTO said:


> It even has the stock radio and CONCERT SOUND door speakers....  unfortunately.....


So where is this pawn shop? Those of us in TX want to know.


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## FoxPro5 (Feb 14, 2006)

I check the shop up the street once and awhile and 90% of it is total junk. But, they do have a Stroker 15" and about a 6' long OS US Amps stereo amp in there. Thing is, they want an outrageous amount for everything....like way more and used eBay prices. Funny how the stuff just sits there.


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## The Dude (Mar 24, 2007)

Keep an eye out for rodek amps, also. picked up an art series a600.2 for cheap last year, artwork was still in very nice shape on it also.


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## less (Nov 30, 2006)

RedGTiVR6 said:


> Amen.
> 
> my dad wouldn't of had anywhere to sell all of MY **** when he stole it from me when I was a kid....more times than I care to remember.
> 
> ...


UGH~ your dad? So sorry! 

My son is fighting the heroin battle and has been for several years now... it sucks hard and please folks, just don't try it so you never get tempted... PLEASE! 

Anyhow, I guess I did something right. He's stolen alll kinds of things from me, I mean nearly anything you can imagine. Naturally the pawn shop has been the fence every time... regardless of what they tell you about the cops! Hell, my friend found his stolen stuff at a pawn shop and it took 18 months for him to get it back... Thankfully though, my son never stole my car audio gear! I think he was worried that I might really make him pay for that lol.

Less


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## yeldak99 (Mar 5, 2008)

I'm going to be the one who brings this back from the dead....

I've been checking my local pawns lately and have found some interesting pieces.

A coustic powerlogic amp, I believe the AMP268 (4x45) in great shape
Phoenix gold M50, but it was beat to hell cosmetcially
Old school round solo baric 10 with chrome basket
A pair of Phoenix Gold Sapphire 12's
A couple of Art series amps, but they are usually missing plugs and beat cosmetically.
An Orion cobalt amp, mint, but missing plugs
and tonight a Kicker ZR240 that was perfect cosmetically.


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## qikazel (Aug 9, 2009)

RYNOMOTO said:


> very cool suggestions all!!!
> 
> THanks....
> 
> ...


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## freemind (Sep 11, 2008)

A Pawnshop pays a person 10% of retail for a loan on said Item. Then when they come to own said Item, they ask 90% of retail for said Item. IME they do not offer many good deals at all. Nor do they want to haggle. That said, if you know that it has been sitting there for a couple of months you have leverage.


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## rmenergy (Feb 15, 2009)

Unless the pawn shop doesn't know what they have. I know someone who picked up a pair of Speaker Art Super Clef bookshelf speakers in perfect condition(grills were faded and had a small tear in one) for $50. Pawn shop had never heard of them, they list new for about $3000/pr. (at the time this pair was made about $1800). I bet some old school car audio brands that are hard to come by might pass right through their hands w/o them knowing what they had.


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## Catman (Mar 18, 2008)

This is the experience I have found with pawn shops. You will find Nakamichi, Conrad Johnson, Mark Levinson, etc...cheap. But will find Pioneer, Sony and Kenwood at retail prices. I'm into photography as well ...found several 'high end' cameras cheap. They sell Hasselblad cheaper than Nikon.

>^..^<


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## ryan s (Dec 19, 2006)

freemind said:


> A Pawnshop pays a person 10% of retail for a loan on said Item. Then when they come to own said Item, they ask 90% of retail for said Item. IME they do not offer many good deals at all. Nor do they want to haggle. That said, if you know that it has been sitting there for a couple of months you have leverage.


The one shop I've been into (once...) had good deals on guitars...nothing else. Their **** has been sitting for yearsssssssssss, for obvious reasons.

They had a pair of Rubicon amps, one broken, the other supposedly working. Anyway, they wanted like $160 for the broken one and and almost $300 for the working one  They were good looking but not mint. Nor were they the most powerful of the line. I commented that I could probably get 2 working ones for less and the dude wouldn't believe me  I bet they're still there.


Catman said:


> This is the experience I have found with pawn shops. You will find Nakamichi, Conrad Johnson, Mark Levinson, etc...cheap. But will find Pioneer, Sony and Kenwood at retail prices. I'm into photography as well ...found several 'high end' cameras cheap. They sell Hasselblad cheaper than Nikon.
> 
> >^..^<


Not even close to true at the shop I'm talking about. Example: Fujica bayonet mount camera (I think an STX) with a 55mm f/2.2 lens...they wanted like $250 for it. This was 2008, mind you, so the camera was worth $20 to the right person...more like $10 to the rest of us.

There are no more local retail bargains anymore. Goodwill takes all the best stuff and puts it online...camera shops look at ebay BIN prices...pawn shops want to sell stuff for what it was worth 15 years ago and now look on ebay too. Craiglist and once in a while ebay are the last frontiers...


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## Duke Thorens (Mar 31, 2010)

I have better luck finding things in thrift shops instead of pawn shops. I think I've bought two things out of pawn shops. Most of the time the operator has an unrealistic price on what I am interested in, & sometimes it's more than full-retail, especially for tools. The one 'good deal' I did take with me was a Mountainsmith internal-frame backpack about 4K+ cu. in. in pretty-good shape. ANother time it was some JBL car speakers, but most of the time I just shake my head & walk away once they tell me the price, when I hear that I don't even want to try & bargain. If it's not < 50% retail immediately, why bother? Sorry, they don't have much in the way of competitive pricing here (south FL). Especially when they probably give the owner <10% $.


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## sqshoestring (Jun 19, 2007)

I deal with a guy here sometimes, he says flat out he needs to double his money on everything to make it worth doing. If its 400 new he gives you 100 if he is sure he can get 200 out of it. Some stuff he looks up on ebay for prices, on the other hand some stuff he can sell for near retail not sure why. I bought a large (2.5" iirc) angle finish nailer the other day for $43, a bostich, still had the original box of nails half gone and it looked like new, case was good condition but sure it had sat at someones house for years. He has to keep everything for 2 weeks while the cops look over what he bought, and if stolen the police just take the stuff. I'll have to ask what he makes on holding stuff.

There is another shop here I been to that has some old amps, but they are beat up and they want good money for them. Beat up old amps don't fetch much on ebay most of the time. I really think the shops that don't sell anything are selling something else out of the back room. This one guy I know he turns the place over all the time, does a lot of business.

You have to deal with these guys though, just lowball them because they always put a big price on stuff knowing they will come down.


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## supermaxx123 (Apr 3, 2010)

old coustic??


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## Dryseals (Sep 7, 2008)

RYNOMOTO said:


> Link to where I have the car posted for sale.....
> 
> 79,000 original miles 1987 Buick Regal Limited T-Type - TurboBuick.Com


Priced at the wrong time. FYI, I've dealt with cars for a long time. Peak price is fairly simple to calc. I've use this since an old man taught it to me and it works. 
Unless a car is extremely rare, it's just another car. The market will be demand based. Where the demand come from, the buyer, some one with extra cash to burn. Investors don't buy a collectable for driving, it's an investment.
So where's the demand? the 40 something year old buyer. Take the year of the car, add 30 years to it and thats the peak market. You highest demand buyer will be the guy who was 16 ish when the car came out. He's now mid 40's and the kids are moving out and he has some extra cash and wants the car he always wanted as a kid and can now afford it.


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## Brian_smith06 (Jan 31, 2008)

DaleCarter said:


> I guess you shouldn't buy gear off of Ebay, then.
> 
> Ebay is a bigger fence of stolen items than 10,000 crooked pawn shops.
> 
> There are vendors there that only sell the three most stolen car parts: airbags, HID lights and seat belts. *Catalytic converters are coming on strong. * There are legit suppliers like LKQOnline, but there are a few that are obviously thieves and fences.


That is no joke. My dad owns a tow lot and somebody stole like 50 of them from our lot in a weeks time frame. It was pretty crazy. Needless to say, my dad now has hella security camera's up


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## stills (Apr 13, 2008)

i tour my local pawn shops every few months. we have a few. searching mainly for audio and tools.
nicest i've found lately is a MMats 2 channel. not sure of the model. i'm trying to wait them out on it. they want a lil too much, i figure if i wait they will eventually get rid of.
one's got a small clean 4.100 planet audio that's not too expensive.
saw a nice typeR alpine 10(folded surr.) in a tiny box for $35.

i got a little jbl bp150.1 for $40 @ a month ago.

alpine, memphis, kicker, and rockford are pretty common here.


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