Before I get into answering what you can sell as a pawn shop I just wanted to say thanks to Matt from Spokane, WA for taking the time to write my a note. Matt wanted to know what exactly you can sell at a pawn shop.
Matt’s question was one that I often see get asked and it should really help you out if you have never used or been in a pawn shop before.
The fact of the matter is that not everyone has had dealings with pawn shops and there fore doesn’t know exactly what they do or what kind of merchandise they work with on a regular basis, so this is a really great question.
If you have ever needed to use a pawn shop for the first time, I’m sure this is one of the questions that you have asked yourself before going there.
The truth of the matter is that figuring out what a pawn shop will accept to make a loan against is actually very easy and doesn’t involve too much thought or effort at all.
In fact, after reading this article you will have a better idea of just how many things you can use as collateral to get a loan against in the future should you need one.
Things You Can Buy & Sell At A Pawn Shop
Pawn shops are interesting businesses in that they don’t typically deal with any one set type of merchandise. That’s unique and unlike any other business out there.
If you go to Best Buy, you are going to find electronics and appliances. If you go to Dick’s Sporting Goods you already know that your going to find athletic gear. If you go to a pawn shop you are going to find… Everything?
Let’s talk about some of the things you can buy and sell at pawn shops.
You Can Sell Jewelry At A Pawn Shop
Jewelry is probably the number one type of merchandise that you can buy at a pawn shop. It doesn’t matter what pawn shop you are talking about – the industry is know for dealing with jewelry.
Not only is it known for dealing with jewelry, but it is known to sell it and at great prices compared to most major jewelry stores like Zales or Ashcroft & Oak.
Better yet – if you want to sell your jewelry, pawn shops can and will often offer you more than those ‘Gold Buyers’ you probably see advertised. You see, not only can a pawn shop buy the jewelry for it’s objective metal value but they are usually interested in any diamonds involved as well.
That means more money in your pocket!
So if you are thinking about selling some jewelry, consider selling it at your local pawn shop. You might be surprised to hear what they can offer you.
How Much Can I Sell My Jewelry For At A Pawn Shop?
Typically speaking you can going to be looking anywhere between $5 – $10,000. It just really depends on what kind of jewelry you have and how much of it there is. There is no one set price for this kind of merchandise honestly.
There are some ‘upper end’ pawn shops that are willing to lend much more – into the $500,000 range for the right piece. So if you have something extremely valuable you will have to speak out one of the larger specialty pawn brokers to help you with something that expensive.
Diamond Rings
When it comes to diamond rings, make sure you take a few minutes and clean them up before you take them in.
One of the factors that diamonds are graded on is their color. If a stone appears tan or yellow, you will be offered a lot less for it than it if was perfectly clean and clear. So a few moments spent cleaning your ring can fetch you a fist full of extra cash that you might not have gotten otherwise.
How Much Will A Pawn Shop Give Me For A Diamond Ring?
This varies in prices, significantly.
A single stone (known as a solitaire) ring that is appreciable in size will get more money than rings with a bunch of little diamonds. And the gold still figures into this number as well. The heavier the ring is, the more you are likely to be offered for it.
Gold
You can easily sell gold at a pawn shop. Pawn shops are more than happy to just buy scrape gold from you if you have it. That means things that are damaged or missing pieces, such as an earring where you lost the matching piece and only have one.
Necklaces, bracelets, plain bands & earrings are all very common things for a pawn shop to buy from your.
How Much Can I Get For Gold At A Pawn Shop?
That will really depend on the ‘spot’ price of gold when you go in to tell it. Gold is a commodity traded on the market and it’s price is constantly moving.
Most pawn shops will typically pay between 40-80% of whatever that value is. It’s just too hard to pin down any one value to give you for gold.
You Can Sell Tools At A Pawn Shop
The next most common thing for pawn shops to deal with are professional brand name power tools. Some pawn shops will also take off brands but not all will.
Typically this means brands like DeWalt or Snap On but can include better ‘House’ brands such as Craftsman or Kobalt. It’s not as common for the pawn shop to buy or sell less desirable brands such as Black & Decker or Skill.
The kinds of tools that are most often loaned against are power ‘hand’ tools. Think about things like drills, circular saws, reciprocating saws, impact drivers – small tools that are easy to store.
It’s less common for pawn shops to take in really large tools like jackhammers or concrete hammers, but some do.
Even less common but still possible are really large industrial tools. Complete assembly presses for instance have been pawned on the TV show Pawnstars – so there is a market for that kind of item but it’s much less common for pawn shops to loan on these kinds of items.
How Much Can You Get For Your Tools At A Pawn Shop?
Much like jewelry it completely depends on the tool and what kind of condition it is. Expect something between $5 – 10,000 because of the variety of tools out there.
For hand tools figure $5-$50 and industrial tools could vary in price considerably.
Can You Sell Electronics At A Pawn Shop?
Yes actually many pawn shops will accept electronics but not all do. Make sure you call ahead before heading down there with whatever you have.
Much like tools pawn shop typically want the better brand names and never devices. This goes for just about any kind of electronics.
Laptops
Typically speaking they will want laptops less than 2 years old although some pawn shops are willing to work with older units. Expect anywhere between $10-$400 for a laptop depending on it’s brand, hardware specs and condition.
If you have something really unique like an Alienware laptop, they may be willing to buy it for even more than $600 but certainly not much more.
GPS
A lot of pawn shops will shy away from GPS systems because of how often they are stolen out of cars. Pawn shops typically don’t want to take in stolen items if they can avoid it and that means GPS’es are turned away pretty frequently.
But there are still some shops that will deal with them and don’t have a problem buying them from you.
How Much Can I Get For A GPS At A Pawn Shop?
You aren’t going to hit a home run with a GPS unit – they are really common and there are a lot of them out there. On top of that, because of the risk of them being stolen, a lot of pawnbrokers don’t want to put a whole lot of money into them.
Expect between $10-$50 for yours if it is in good condition, newer and complete.
You should call ahead before you take a GPS unit into a pawn shop, just to be sure that they take them to begin with.
Xbox & Playstation
These are also dependent on their age and condition.
The Xbox One and PS4 will be able to get quite a bit of money at first. The Xbox 360 and PS3 are already declining in price considerably and some pawn shops will not work with them.
Less desired game systems like a PS2 or Wii will get much less than the more popular systems.
How Much Can You Get For A Xbox Or PS3 At A Pawn Shop?
It depends on the shop and the condition of your systems. It is reasonable to expect between $40 and $100 for your video game systems though as just a rough average.
Fewer pawn shops will even deal with video game systems so make sure that you call ahead of course just to make sure your local pawn shop will in fact buy them. While you are on the phone with them you might as well ask to see what they typically offer for them – but some pawn shops won’t give you a number at all without seeing the merchandise.
Video Games
Some pawn shops will take the actual video games themselves but not many. Typically speaking you want to be sure that you have the original case and instruction manual (if present originally) to the game.
Pawn shops are going to be picky about the actual condition of the disc. If it has a bunch of scratches or fingerprints on it, they may not take it – so make sure that you clean them up before you take them in.
How Much Can I Get For Video Games At A Pawn Shop?
A lot of this will depend on things like what system the game is for, how recently was it released and how popular the game is.
Obviously if it is a new release for a very popular system you will get more for it than if it were a less popular and older game. You can expect to get between $2-$20 for video games.
Cell Phones
Some pawn shops will take in cell phones. They will even do full service for them which means unlocking them, transferring data to a new phone, etc.
That having been said, the number of shops that will actually work with them are very few. More often than not, your local pawn shop will have no interest in buying your cell from you.
How Much Will A Pawn Shop Pay Me For A Cell Phone?
This is a really tough question to answer because of how many different carriers an phones there are on the market. If you have the newest smart phone with a lot of storage, and on a network that the pawnshop typically deals with you can expect to get between$35 and $125 for it.
If you cell phone is slightly older (even just a year can matter when it comes to cell phones) then you will be getting significantly less for it.
Condition is particularly important with cell phones, which is why it is always a good idea to get a quality case or cover for yours.
DVDs & Bluerays
You can sell DVDs and Bluerays at some pawnshop but not very many. The problem with them is that they are so darn cheap brand new that there just isn’t much money that can be loaned against them.
On top of it, they don’t hold their value very well. As soon as a movie is more than a few weeks old everyone forgets about it for the most part.
It’s one of those items that you want to be sure you call about before you head down to the pawn shop with a basket full of them.
How Much Will A Pawn Shop Give Me For DVDs
These items can be very difficult to price because it completely depends on the type of business that the pawn shop has for them. You can expect to get someplace between $.50 and $5 for each disc.
If you have collectible box sets or highly desirable limited edition sets than you can expect to get even more for them but it won’t be a huge sum of money. I’ve never seen anyone pay more than $30 for a box set, no matter how desirable it may have been.
The reason most pawn shops won’t pay more than that is because it’s hard to find a customer for that exact movie. The fact of the matter is that people love all kinds of movies and if a set is really collectible, only a small portion of fans will realize it even exists. Finding one of those fans and selling it to them is pretty hard to do, so pawnshop don’t spend a lot of money on them.
Digital Camera
You can typically sell a digital camera at any pawn shop that accepts electronics. Remember that just like everything else, there is a range of values for these kinds of items depending on their technical sophistication.
A digital camera that only cost $100 a Walmart when it was new simply won’t be nearly as valuable as a high tech, prosumer Canon digital camera that cost $3500 new.
How Much Will A Pawn Shop Pay me For A Digital Camera?
As mentioned above, the value on these things can be quite a bit different depending on what quality the digital camera was when you bought it. If it only cost $100 when it was new, don’t expect to get more than $5-$10 for it.
Digital cameras that are significantly more sophisticated can often fetch between $75-$300 at a pawn shop. It really just depends on what it is.
Again, the actual physical condition of the digital camera matters quite a bit. The better condition it is in, the more you might be able to expect to get for it.
Age is another important factor as technology is constantly on the move. Generally speaking pawn shop will only deal in cameras that are 10 Megapixel’s or greater. The low resolution cameras are just too old to carry significant value unless it was a real high-line model like a Canon Rebel.
Printers
Surprisingly printers are not something you can frequently sell at pawn shops. A computer printer is just not a very common item for a pawn shop to buy.
There aren’t a whole lot of customers for them, and they typically don’t have a great record of reliability. When you combine those two aspect, they aren’t desirable for pawn shops to take in most of the time.
This is the kind of item where you better call ahead and make sure that your local pawn shop will take it at all.
How Much Will A Pawn Shop Pay Me For A Printer?
Don’t expect a whole lot. Not only are new printers pretty cheap, but there aren’t a whole lot of buyers for used printers to begin with.
Assuming your printer was in very good condition, newer and complete – you could expect to get between $15-$50 for it.
Surprised? Just remember a pawn shop still has to sell it and if you couldn’t find a buyer for it, they probably will have a tough time doing so as well.
iPod Or iPad
You can normally sell iPod’s and iPad’s at pawn shops that deal with electronics.
The big thing with these are:
- How Old Are They?
- How Much Storage Do They Have?
- What Kind Of Condition Are They In?
Pawn shops typically won’t care if it has a lot of storage or not if it is in exceptionally good condition. They always want the newer models when possible and may not deal with anything to old.
How Much Will A Pawn Shop give Me For An iPod or iPad?
Let’s tackle this question by separating them.
iPod’s will typically get between $20-$60 depending on what shape they are in. If it has a bunch of scratches and dings, expect much less for them.
iPiad’s will typically be bought for $50-$150 depending on what kind of condition they are in. If they have cellular capability, add $50 to the price in most cases as they are highly desirable.
Don’t forget to bring you USB cord and wall jack with you as some pawn shop that typically deal with them will turn you away without that cord and plug. It’s really important!
TV
Actually yes, a lot of pawn shops do deal with the newer style LCD, Plasma or LED TVs. However, make sure you call ahead because of the size a weight of them you would hate to transport it all the way down there just to find out that they won’t take it in.
A common rule of thumb is that the TV has to be less than 2 years old. Any older than that and your local pawn shop will be less likely to take it in. If they do accept it, you will typically be offered less because of it’s age.
How Much Can I get For A TV At A Pawn Shop?
The price of a TV will depend on it’s size, condition and brand name. A desirable brand name like Sony will get more money than a brand such as Westinghouse.
Depending on how big your TV is, you can expect to get between $25-$200 for your television.
Just like everything else, condition is a major factor with TV’s so make sure you wipe it down or try to clean it off a little before you take it in. Bring the original remote with you if at all possible as some pawn shops won’t take TV’s without that.
Can You Sell A Wedding Dress Or Leathers At A Pawn Shop?
Believe it or not, some pawn shops will deal with more desirable apparel like wedding dress or fur and leather jackets. However these pawn shops are few and far between.
Clothing like this takes a specialized experience and knowledge with this type of merchandise so not all pawn shops will take these things in.
If you find out that you can sell a wedding dress of other apparel at your local pawn shop, consider yourself very fortunate.
How Much Can I Get For A Wedding Dress Or Leather At A Pawn Shop?
That’s pretty hard to say. There are some amazingly expensive wedding dresses out there, but for most of them expect between $50-$500 for them. There are of course exceptions to that, but that’s an average number of the kind of dresses that you normally see worn.
For a leather coat, you can expect around $20-$100. Sometimes if it’s a highly desirable jacket you might be able to get more than $100 for it, but that’s fairly uncommon.
You Can Sell Guitars At A Pawn Shop
Most pawn shops will deal with guitars, both acoustic and electric.
Like everything else, this is going to determine on the manufacturer, age and condition of the instrument. If it’s an older and highly desirable Fender Telecaster you can going to get a lot more for it than you would if it was a newer Fender Squire.
Of course, not all pawn shops will take guitars in, but most will.
How Much Will A Pawn Shop Pay Me For A Guitar?
With these you are going to be paid according to it’s value on the open market. That means if it’s the Fender Telecaster in the example above, a lot of the price will depend on how ‘Hot’ they are at the time. If there is a lot of buyers for them you are going to get a larger offer on it.
You should also bring in a case as that can make a slight difference in the amount you are offered. It won’t be a huge difference, but every little bit helps.
Baseball & Basketball Cards
These are a specialized type of item and not all pawn shops will work with them. Plus the market for this kind of merchandise is dwindling and it can be hard to find a customer to buy them.
If you do take them in, make sure they are in very good condition as most pawn shops won’t touch them unless they are in great shape.
How Much Will A Pawn Shop Pay Me For My Baseball & Basketball Cards?
It depends on the card’s individual collectible value and condition. It helps if the card is actually graded and certified.
These kinds of items can vary in price anywhere from $5 up to $500 or more. It just depends on the card and how seriously the pawn broker wants to get involved with it.
The Nerd’s Experience
It almost doesn’t matter what you take into a pawn shop, the most important thing is that it’s in good shape. If it’s something the pawn shop deal with a lot and it’s in good condition, they will normally be more than happy to buy it off you or loan you money against it.
I’ve seen a lot of folks bring in items that we normally take but had to turn down because of the poor shape they were in.
If you want to save yourself a lot of heartache, make sure your items are in great condition before you try to sell them to a pawn shop. They see this merchandise every day and can easily spot when something is wrong, but by doing it right the first time you all almost always have a good experience.
That About Wraps It Up…
Well, that certainly was a lot to type but now hopefully you have a better idea of what pawn shops will and will not take, as well as how much they will be willing to pay for them.
If you have any questions or comments be sure to leave them for me in the comment field below.
As always, thanks for everything…
The Head Nerd
