Pawn shops can be a sea of great finds, unique one of a kind items and awesome deals. They can carry everything from top-end jewelry to your basic power tools and with that in mind, you might be curious to know if your local pawn shop will take in your fishing poles.
Well when it comes to fishing poles, they are pretty much like anything else in the pawn industry.
It’s going to come down to figuring out what the demand is for the fishing poles in your local region, their online salability and the value of your poles when they were new versus what they can be sold for in used condition.
You see, fishing is more popular in some parts of the country than others. There’s just more lakes or other bodies of water that people can fish in.
For instance, someplace like Ohio has Lake Erie and numerous smaller bodies of water that are great for fishermen year round.
But on the other hand, there may be areas in the middle of the country that are otherwise land-locked, where fishing isn’t so accessible and therefore isn’t as popular of a hobby as it is elsewhere.
So when you are thinking about taking your fishing poles to a pawn shop, keep in mind where in the country you are and just how popular of a sport or hobby it is in your local region as it may make a difference with the pawn shop on if they will even take in the fishing poles to begin with.
Some pawn shops will be happy to accept your fishing poles for a loan or to buy them outright.
Make, Model, Condition
Now with that having been said, fishing poles are a lot like other items that pawn shops will typically see.
The value or desirability of your fishing poles are going to be determined in part by who made them, what they made them out of, what their initial value was vs how much they are worth in the condition that you are bringing them to the pawn shop in, etc.
For instance, a basic fishing pole from Walmart that originally cost $49 might not be very desirable to a pawn shop and they may not take it in at all. If they do, they likely won’t offer you very much for it unfortunately because you can go out to any Walmart and buy one brand new for not much money.
On the other hand, a custom pole made by a highly desirable builder, especially something boutique or exclusive can be worth a lot of money and a pawn shop that is able to identify what it is may really have a market for such an item. If they do, there is a very good chance that they will really pay up well for a pole like that because there’s a lot of value in it for them. In addition, they will probably be able to sell it easily and that is always a huge bonus for just about any pawn shop.
Accessories or Modifications
When it comes to fishing poles, sure, we all know that there is the pole itself to take into consideration.
That having been said, fishing poles, depending on the type of pole, may also have additional parts of accessories that are worth quite a bit of money – such as the reels.
Fishing reels can be worth hundreds of dollars (and sometimes more) so if you have a really desirable reel on your pole that works well and is in really good condition, you may be really surprised to find out just how much you can get for your pole at a pawn shop.
The Nerd’s Opinion
Not all pawn shops are going to know a whole lot about fishing poles for the most part. It’s just not something that most pawn shops really deal with regularly – although there are exceptions of course.
So with that in mind, try to document what your pole is, who made it, when and if there is anything like expensive parts on it or really anything at all that would make your pole(s) more valuable then make sure you bring some kind of paperwork with you showing that.
It should only take you a few minutes to look these things up on Google and print them out but spending that few minutes doing it can really help you out when talking to your local pawn broker as they won’t have to guess what your pole is or what’s on it.
In the end, they will appreciate the effort that you put into the process up front and very well may offer you more for your pole than you would have gotten otherwise.
