Everybody loves a good deal when they go into a store to sell or buy something. There are no better people in business who understand the art of making the deal better than pawnbrokers. They deal with people’s valuable stuff that they are pawning or selling for different reasons and because of that, pawnbrokers never expect anyone to walk in and give their items away for a song. They expect some kind of negotiation to take place before the deal is done.
If you are looking to pawn or sell your valuables to a pawn shop, you need to prepare yourself for some negotiations:
- Research your item
Find out as much as you can about your valuable item so you know what you know what to expect the pawnbroker to offer you.
- Be polite
Don’t be difficult. You don’t have to be aggressive to get what you want. Pawnbrokers have to deal with all kinds of difficult customers on a daily basis, you don’t have to add more to their stress by bring aggressive.
- Think carefully about your initial offer
If you have an idea of what your item is worth, you’ll have an idea of how low is too low and what is more reasonable. Do not start off at the lowest you can go, if you start of at the bottom, you have nowhere else to go but to scrape that bottom. Do not accept the first offer that is made to you either. The pawnbroker expects you to haggle for the price you really want.
- Find a middle-ground
As you go back and forth with the pawnbroker, think of a middle ground where you might be willing to give in. When you get to a price that you are happy with, accept the offer. Shake on it and let the paperwork be drawn up. This takes a few minutes but once you’ve agreed on the price you can get paid in a matter of minutes.
Remember, there are two ways on which you can get cash for your valuables, you can either use them as collateral for a pawn loan or you can just sell them outright.
A pawn loan is ideal if you are only looking for a small amount of money. It is especially ideal when you can’t get yourself to part with your valuable items. You can repay the loan and get your items back. If you fail to do so, you might forfeit these items in which case the pawnbroker will have to consider selling to recover the loan. Some people take out a loan and let it lapse instead of selling their items. Pawning is different to selling. When you sell, you relinquish ownership right there and then. You can’t come back for your items. The pawnbroker can put it on the shop floor immediately.
The bottom line is that pawnbrokers want you to play the negotiation game, this adds to the importance of the items. The best scenario is where both parties reach a happy place where all parties are satisfied with the transaction.
