So will a pawn shop take in a radio or not? That’s actually an interesting question because there’s multiple layers to it.
First of all, what you’ve got to understand is that not all pawn shops are the same. There is no one basic rule book that all pawn shop must follow or deal with.
Pawn shops are owned by thousands of individual small business owners that each have their own ideas about what is good for them to take in versus what is not.
With that in mind, there are also multiple types of radios out there that we could be talking about.
Are you asking about a house radio, such as a Bose Soundwave or are you talking about a car radio? Thirdly, might you be referring to a work-site radio such as those made by Dewalt or Milwaukee?
Each of these different types of radios might have different answers depending on the pawn shop that you are working with so it’s good to be as specific as possible when phrasing your question to them.
Let’s break this down by radio type to get to the best answer possible.
There are plenty of pawn shops that will take in radios. Radios are a very common thing for most pawn shops to buy but just be aware, when it comes to car radios you may meet a little resistance because of how frequently they are stolen.
Home Radios
Home radios such as the various Bose radios are going to be a pretty common thing for pawn shops to take in on a regular basis.
These are something that still have strong demand and therefore pawn shops know that they would be able to resell them easily if they had to.
Additionally, a Bose radio will typically be worth some pretty decent money, which only makes them more attractive to pawn shops as something to take in.
Surround Sound Systems or Component Systems
These are a little less likely for pawn shops to take in on a regular basis.
First of all, they take up a lot of space. While that might not be the end of the world in some pawn shops, for smaller pawn shops storage space is at a premium to begin with.
Therefore, you should only really consider this if your component or surround sound system is pretty valuable – Bose for example.
Jobsite Radios
These are going to be very common for pawn shops to take in because most of them consider it a tool of sorts.
Jobsite radios are radios built by major tool manufacturers such as DeWalt or Milwaukee and as such, construction workers love to have them when they can get them.
They also have the additional feature of working like a battery charger in most cases, making them only more appealing to pawn shops that deal with tools.
Car Radios
These are going to be rather limited in what pawn shops will deal with them.
You are going to have to find a pawn shop that works specifically with car audio, which not all pawn shops do.
The reason that not all pawn shops work with car audio is because very frequently car audio components are likely targets for theft and as such, a pawn broker will be cautious about taking them in.
That having been said, there are plenty that do. Just make sure that you have the mounting sleeve and wiring harness with you when you take it into the shop.
How Much Can You Get For Your Radio At A Pawn Shop
Typically speaking, radios follow the golden 40-60% rule that virtually every other type of item does when you take it into a pawn shop.
That is to say that you can expect to get roughly 40-60% of whatever the radio’s current eBay value is.
