“Hardcore Pawn” is not as well known as the more popular “Pawn Stars”, but it is more like the thousands of pawn shops found around the country. But like “Pawn Stars”, the “Hardcore Pawn” store is huge, being over 50,000 square feet with over 45 employees. Run by three members of the Gold family, it is located in the heart of Detroit and is formally known as American Jewelry and Loan. They tend to not get as many exotic items as the Vegas pawn shop, but that shop is unique.
“Hardcore Pawn” on truTV
“Hardcore Pawn” can be seen Tuesdays on truTV. I did not know that they are now on their fourth season, since I only started watching the show last year. Like any family business, there are always arguments on how is the best way to run the business. If you have nt been part of a family business, you might not know what I’m talking about. My wife and I had our own antique store for over 20 years. When you are with each other 24/7, it can put an added strain on the family. If you watch the show often, you can see the most heated arguments (other than with customers) are between the family members, especially the sibling rivalry between Seth and Ashley.
“Hardcore Pawn” Is Definitely Reality TV
As I mentioned earlier, “Hardcore Pawn” is much more like a “real” pawn shop than the more famous pawn shop in Vegas, but what do you expect from anything in Vegas. I think there are more confrontations, but maybe not for pawn shops in tough, inner city neighborhoods. You will see what most people often bring in to pawn at the typical pawn shop, as well as what people look to buy in a pawn shop. Most people are looking to buy electronics, tools , or jewelry when they shop a pawn shop. And, as you might expect, that is what most people want to pawn, although you will see many crazy things also. I have seen a lady trying to sell her panties and a guy trying to pawn his wooden leg, which he was wearing.
Some of the customers think that because they need, say $500, that they should be able to get that amount for that item even if it is worth only a fraction of that amount. That is where some of the confrontations begin. The video below will show some of those confrontations between customers and employees and some of those family arguments also. Be forewarned, that the language is pretty rough. Even though some is “bleeped” out, it is not difficult to know what they are saying.
This site is mainly about antiques and collectibles, and news and events about them. So why did I include this show. “Pawn Stars” definitely has many more antiques and collectibles shown on the show than “Hardcore Pawn.” But when we carried more jewelry in our store, we found pawn shops were an excellent place to shop .If you are not carrying jewelry in your store, you need to consider it. Most of the daily shoppers are women and they love jewelry.
So why is a pawn shop a good source for jewelry? Most pawn shops base the amount they will either buy or give a customer for pawn for gold or silver on the weight of the piece. They know they can scrap it for the going price and still come out ahead. We found some real values in some rings, especially the old filigree rings that were real light weight, but the workmanship and beauty in these rings made them very desirable. So if you can find pieces in gold or silver that are worth more than their scrap values, even non jewelry items like sterling flatware, it could possibly be a good buy. Remember that pawn shops are like antique stores, you can negotiate prices. You know this well if you have watched either of the shows, you can see the negotiating both in the buying and selling. So don’t be bashful, that art of negotiating prices can often determine whether you are successful in the antiques business.
If you have enjoyed this article, I would really appreciate your hitting the “Like” button and sharing it with your friends. Also feel free to leave any comments, positive or negative. You can find many other articles on Buying and Selling Antiques on this site. Don’t forget you can catch ”Hardcore Pawn” Tuesdays, @ 9:00 PM.
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