Thread: Pawn Shops

Avalancher and Nmurg, both of you are commended and repped for a civil debate with good points on both sides.
The thing you're both not seeing is that you both barking up the wrong tree.
Prey and predator, they are both one and the same.
Some folks in the position to use pawn shops are there by their own hands and poor decisions, and some by financial twists of fate they may have had little to do with. Some give away hard earned money and some go there to save.
People are parasites by definition and arguably by nature. We take advantage of each other and situations so that when the tables turn we will hopefully find a place of balance, somewhere between making it big and getting ripped off. One only stays on the top so long and never without a price to pay.
Credit was, and still is, just another scheme to take advantage of another person and maybe today we will all look at credit differently, with clearer eyes. Probably not. Sometime, maybe, we'll realize that we are not all entitled to all the stuff we can choke on, just because we want it. Plasma tv, club med vacations, sexy blondes with large breasts. And yes,,,,cheap chainsaws.

Every good deal we get is someone else's loss, even if they don't know it. Our cheap oil is another lands poverty. Our luxury and freedom comes at great expense to others. I'm not saying this to make anyone feel guilty, including myself. I'm saying it to acknowledge that it goes up and down. We live in a world of give and take. Asking the pawn shop or the bank to be nice is like asking the cougar not to eat the sheep. And the sheep not to eat the grass. And the grass not to consume the nitrogen. And the nitrogen not to do something,,,,I don't know what nitrogen does. lol
Life, use at your own risk.
Anyway, thats all I have to say, I hope I make a little sense.
-Mark

Well said, Mark!

Originally Posted by madrone

Avalancher and Nmurg, both of you are commended and repped for a civil debate with good points on both sides.
The thing you're both not seeing is that you both barking up the wrong tree.
Prey and predator, they are both one and the same.
Some folks in the position to use pawn shops are there by their own hands and poor decisions, and some by financial twists of fate they may have had little to do with. Some give away hard earned money and some go there to save.
People are parasites by definition and arguably by nature. We take advantage of each other and situations so that when the tables turn we will hopefully find a place of balance, somewhere between making it big and getting ripped off. One only stays on the top so long and never without a price to pay.
Credit was, and still is, just another scheme to take advantage of another person and maybe today we will all look at credit differently, with clearer eyes. Probably not. Sometime, maybe, we'll realize that we are not all entitled to all the stuff we can choke on, just because we want it. Plasma tv, club med vacations, sexy blondes with large breasts. And yes,,,,cheap chainsaws.

Every good deal we get is someone else's loss, even if they don't know it. Our cheap oil is another lands poverty. Our luxury and freedom comes at great expense to others. I'm not saying this to make anyone feel guilty, including myself. I'm saying it to acknowledge that it goes up and down. We live in a world of give and take. Asking the pawn shop or the bank to be nice is like asking the cougar not to eat the sheep. And the sheep not to eat the grass. And the grass not to consume the nitrogen. And the nitrogen not to do something,,,,I don't know what nitrogen does. lol
Life, use at your own risk.
Anyway, thats all I have to say, I hope I make a little sense.
-Mark

kuddos to you! Good point!

Prey and predator, they are both one and the same.

what kind of psycho-babble is that? that would mean that we eat ourselves.

People are parasites by definition and arguably by nature.

definition of a parasite--
a person who receives support, advantage, or the like, from another or others without giving any useful or proper return, as one who lives on the hospitality of others.

there are some who, i would not argue, are parasites. but to paint everyone with the same broad-brush is hyperbole.

Credit was, and still is, just another scheme to take advantage of another person and maybe today we will all look at credit differently, with clearer eyes.

credit is a contract bw two or more parties with enforceable provisions. if someone is not capable of understanding the expectations of the contract, they should be wise enough not to do so. if they do so with out a full understanding, caveat emptor. experience will hammer away at ignorance, though some are unyielding, as stone.

Probably not. Sometime, maybe, we'll realize that we are not all entitled to all the stuff we can choke on

yes you are, provided you have the legal means to obtain it. the beauty of this country is that we are free to set our own standards of accomplishment. it is no more noble to go to the grave poor than is it is to do so with all of the wealth.

does the quote "........to each, according to his needs." ring a bell??----Marx.


oh yeah, back to the OP's comment about good deals at pawn shops: i agree that they are usually over priced. i have found one really great deal but i still look. i guess that is how i choose to spend my free time.

Fun thread!!!!!!!!!


i'm out!

having the legal means to buy all the stuff you can choke on is a difficult thing to show to people who want loads of stuff but really don't have the means. I haven't seen their advertisments recently but we used to have a lender called Brighthouse who would give credit to anyone - no checks, no delays, no problem. Except that their APR was 30% on everything. It's very hard to explain to someone how if they want a £1000 plasma tv but can't afford it, what makes them think they can afford to pay nearly half as much again by financing it over 3 years?

Credit has simply been far too easy to get, and lenders have been frankly irreponsible in adding to the myth that credit equals wealth. It doesn't, it never did and it never will. I've been there myself, the repayments on stuff like a car, a central heating system etc. can soon mount up to a terrifying level. I'm older and wiser now, and digging my way out of it by bloodymindedness and sheer hard work. What drives the point home to me is the fact that i never saw myself as the sort of person who'd have debt problems. I'm sure this is true of most people who end up in that situation, although it could be a lot worse. I never got taken to court, my house wasn't reposessed, my wife didn't leave me and I never had the bailiffs round. others haven't been so lucky, indeed I've seen a number of suicides reported over mounting debts, and I can't say I'm surprised.

Originally Posted by Nailgunner

I never got taken to court, my house wasn't reposessed, my wife didn't leave me and I never had the bailiffs round. others haven't been so lucky, indeed I've seen a number of suicides reported over mounting debts, and I can't say I'm surprised.

Phewwwwww... I was thinking another country song was going to come out, lmao... hehehehehehehe

I looked through a bunch of pawn shops while I was on vacation around the new year. 8 hours of driving around netted two deals.
Deal #1
A runs good but rough looking Jonsered 2065 TURBO, 20" bar & new chain. Asking price $50, got it for $50 out the door.
Deal #2
Different pawn shop, Stihl MS650, 25"bar & good chain. The clear part of the fuel tank had rtv where it joined the handle. I put gas in it, & it leaked out all over, but ran good. The MS650 tag was unreadable, epa handle decal said 85cc. Pawn shop didn't know what model it was! They tried to talk me into a 290 for the same price. "LOL"
Asking price $450 I bought the saw for $200 cash out the door AS IS!
JB WELDED the fuel tank & we have a winner!

Though I agree they are 100 misses to every hit........ I bought my 346xp at a local pawn shop for $145. They let me step outside the door and start it before i bought it. It has been the best saw-for-the-buck i've ever owned.

Sorry avalancher I havce to agree w/ Murph. The people down on their luck having to pawn stuff are far from prey. Take it another step...they probably can no longer even get a credit card or have maxed the card(s) they are using.
They in turn go and pawn the MS260 they purchased w/ a credit card a year prior. So they have now pawned a saw and made 50 bucks on something they never actually payed for.
Just another perspective...interesting thread for sure.