Selling Your Soul
March 14, 2010
There is one aspect of Rexville that people have been asking me to cover for roughly the past six months, but I have so far resisted doing so. At least in-depth.
In addition to weekly motels, wedding chapels, drug sales, streetwalkers-r-us, tattoo parlors, strip clubs, and bail bonds places … the next most prominent business type in the neighborhood would probably be pawn shops. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a two-square-mile area in the world with more pawn shops than Rexville. Unfortunately, these are probably the businesses in which I am the least interested.
Downtown Las Vegas Pawn Shop near Fremont Street
Downtown Las Vegas Pawn Shop near Fremont Street
Downtown Las Vegas Pawn Shop near Fremont Street
Las Vegas Pawn Shop
Las Vegas Pawn Shop Billboard
Las Vegas Pawn Shop Billboard
Pawn Shop near Stratosphere
Pawn Shop near Stratosphere
Las Vegas Pawn Shop Billboard
Las Vegas Pawn Shop Billboard
Pawn Shop near Stratosphere
Las Vegas Check Cashing and Payday Loans
Las Vegas Payday and Auto Title Loans
Las Vegas Payday Loans
Something about pawn shops have always depressed me. They represent the aspect of capitalism that I am the least fond of. Basically, one man’s misfortune is another’s gain. I generally don’t think well of payday loan places, or realtors who take customers on tours of houses where the occupants have just been thrown on the street. I could never go to a foreclosure sale or an auction where people’s lives are sold off piece-by-piece. I would feel like a parasite.
The USA has gone from a nation of innovators to a nation of professional middle-men. We don’t really produce anything anymore. Instead, we just stick our finger in as many jars as we can find. We re-sell the same product or service as many times as possible so that multiple people can skim value off of something they had no hand in creating.
Why create something of value when you can buy, sell, or broker it?
“Entrepreneur” has gone from “person inventing cool shit and selling it” to “person with little talent or intellect who has learned to lie in order to sell other people’s shit for a higher price”. Am I right Girl Scouts?
The quality of most American-produced goods are now on-par with that of China, and the amount of false advertising and outright deception perpetrated by our companies have turned the U.S. economy into the equivalent of a Nigerian email scam.
It’s a large part of why the American empire has fallen, most likely … permanently.
In my opinion, pawn shops are a microcosm of this dynamic. Buy as low as you can from a desperate person, sell as high as possible to someone a bit less desperate, pocket the profit.
It’s far from noble, but hey, I suppose someone has to do it.
After posting a picture of the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop on my blog a couple of months ago, I was informed that the place was the setting of a popular television show. I had obviously never seen the show (not owning a TV and all that), but someone threw up a web link where I could watch clips.
Gold and Silver Pawn Shop - Pawn Stars
Gold and Silver Pawn Shop - Pawn Stars
Gold and Silver Pawn Shop - Pawn Stars
Gold and Silver Pawn Shop - Pawn Stars
Gold and Silver Pawn Shop - Pawn Stars
Gold and Silver Pawn Shop - Pawn Stars
Gold and Silver Pawn Shop - Pawn Stars
I watched about a half hour of the program, observed an old dude saying things, a bunch of large white dudes selling stuff, and a really large black guy that just kind of looked menacing.
Parts of the show were quite interesting, such as when a bald guy bought a plane … and some of it less so, such as when a rotund guy drove around running errands. It was typical reality-show fare, I suppose. I’m really not sure why so many of these retail-reality shows are set in Vegas, but it’s probably because our town is a human-zoo with more weirdos per-capita than any other town on the planet.
I did wince during one episode when one of the owners said “We treat all of our employees like family, as long as they are making money for us. The minute they stop making us money, they are no longer part of the family”. At least I was content that I had not unfairly judged the pawn industry.
Anyway, since I had not been in the interior of a pawn shop for probably ten years, I decided to walk over to the Gold and Silver Pawn Shop this morning. I left the house … but halfway there, I stopped in my tracks.
Just after passing Boston Pizza, I had a change of heart, and decided to abort my morning quest.
Gold and Silver Pawn Shop - Pawn Stars
Gold and Silver Pawn Shop - Pawn Stars
Gold and Silver Pawn Shop - Pawn Stars
First of all, I don’t queue up in lines to see TV personalities. It’s just not something that I do. The grapefruit-effect has no influence on me whatsoever. I’m just more interested in my own life than the lives of other people. I don’t think this is narcissism, I think it is normal human behavior which has been bastardized into somehow being abnormal by endless streams of reality shows. I’ve never watched Survivor, never watched The Bachelor, and never watched Jersey Shore. I only know about these shows because other people talk about them ad-nauseum. I’m completely indifferent to the shows, and always will be.
The presence of a “fan line” at the pawn shop was not my biggest worry, however. I was far more worried that there would not be a line, at which point I would have no excuse but to go inside. The realization that I might have to talk to the owners and justify my presence in the store caused me some level of anxiety. I had no idea what to say to these people.
In my head, I ran through the scenario, and it went something like this:
Me: Hi.
Chumlee: Hi.
Me: So, you are the guys with the TV show?
Chumlee: Yeah.
Me: I see. Okay, thanks. Have a nice day.
Chumlee: You too.
(I walk out the door)
Chumlee to the Old Man: What the fuck was that about?
There was just no point in the endeavor. I had nothing to say, and I had no legitimate business in the establishment, so why waste their time? The whole thing just seemed gratuitous.
Instead, I did a 180, walked to Tiffany’s, and enjoyed breakfast with about a dozen of my bizarro peers from the neighborhood. We acknowledged each other with a nod, ate shoulder-to-shoulder without saying a word, and disappeared into the Rexville cityscape after paying our check. This is human interaction the way God intended it to be.
When all was said and done, I was pleased with my choice.
As far as Pawn Shops go, I got in the car a bit later, drove around the neighborhood, and took an external tour of the various shops. Even though I’m not fond of the business model, I can still appreciate the aesthetics of pawn joints. Each shop is almost like a piece of pop-art. They have their own character and style, and they do help contribute to the overall “weird and seedy” vibe of the neighborhood.
When push comes to shove, I suppose it’s better to have your neighborhood infested with pawn shops, rather than Best Buys, K-Marts, and Walmarts.
Like the aforementioned big box stores, however, I think I will always be content to admire pawn shops from the outside.
Written by james on March 14, 2010 at 12:42 am
Rex, Thank you for making my paper pushing desk job even less rewarding than it already is.
Written by ColinFromLasVegas on March 14, 2010 at 12:47 am
I’m the same way with pawn shops here in Las Vegas. I just cannot go in one. They depress me. And I can’t go in places that depress me. I don’t care what bargains there are. The idea of buying something that someone considered something of value, perhaps even sentimental value, but they just had to cash it in for money in order to survive, to pay a debt, to pay a gambling marker, to part with because they just had to, this really, really turns me off. If I were to buy it, it makes me feel like a vampire, makes me feel like I’m exploiting someone else’s misfortune. I don’t care if it’s directly or indirectly, I just can’t do it. Perhaps I have fucking scruples. Perhaps I have a conscience. Whatever it is, I stay away from those places.
I have driven past that pawn shop many times that you said was in the TV show. For the longest time, I could never figure out why the hell people are lined up outside a pawn shop waiting to get in. I would laugh because it looked like they were lined up like they were waiting to go into a Rolling Stones or a Santana concert or something. I’m thinking to myself, this is ridiculous, it’s just a stupid ass pawn shop. And I’m thinking, what’s the big deal?
But then I found out it’s the setting of a TV show. And I shook my head again. And it just confirmed that I will never go in there. Because that joint now has two strikes against it.
As mentioned above, I don’t do pawn shops.
And secondly, I don’t watch reality shows on TV. Because they also depress me. Because every reality show I’ve ever seen on TV always has people that demonstrate (and actually encourages) aspects of human behavior that I thoroughly detest. Stuff like greed, selfishness, spoiled brats, total disregard for other people and their feelings, bragging at the expense of other peoples’ misfortunes, exhibiting what used to be called “keeping up with the Joneses” stuff…in that I have a bigger fucking flat screen TV than you do..nah nah nee nah nah, and even sometimes depicting downright criminal behavior on these reality shows. I can safely say I have never watched a reality show all the way through. They just don’t interest me at all. Mainly because I am totally uninterested in the over-the-top behavior. I don’t need to see dumb shit like that and watch it on television for entertainment. Because I have in the past seen idiocy like that before in real life. And I continue to see shit like that here in Las Vegas. Why should I sit down and watch it on television? And that’s supposed to be entertainment?
So, basically, I enjoyed your article. Probably the only time I enjoy anything to do with pawn shops and/or reality shows ever in my life.
I avoid both of them. Always have. Always will.
I drive past pawn shops all the time. Never think of them. Never will go in one.
I turn on TV. Look at what it is for a few seconds. Oh. Another dumb reality show. Click. Change the channel. Watch something else.
Just the way it is.
Written by RG on March 14, 2010 at 2:24 am
Colin- you need an editor man, your posts are novels.
Written by tully on March 14, 2010 at 3:36 am
Nah, Colin doesn’t need an editor. I enjoy his comments, along with everyone else’s. Part of the fun—chime in with as many or few words as one likes. It’s all good.
Written by CBaker on March 14, 2010 at 3:40 am
I started watching the show this year and the segments where the historical items are discussed are pretty interesting and entertaining, especially when the experts are brought in and give background on the significance of the item etc. The parts dealing with the staff interactions/personalities are a lot less interesting and kind of like filler, but overall it can be entertaining to watch, especially if you like history. If the show were just about pawning granny’s wedding ring it would be a lot less interesting…obviously they aren’t showing the details of your “average” pawn shop and I doubt anybody would care if it were that way.
Written by philipj on March 14, 2010 at 4:18 am
I had a retired school teacher lady friend, quietly wore Southwestern jewelry with diamonds set in. On a trip to grand rapids she stopped at a pawn shop where she was known. This is where her diamonds came from. It bothered me, and became a pillar that stopped she and I from getting closer.
Rex, you hit the nail on the head again.
Written by tully on March 14, 2010 at 4:54 am
Never thought Rex was the type to do breakfast at Tiffany’s.
Ooops—-different Tiffany’s.
Written by Darcy on March 14, 2010 at 5:48 am
I see it in a different way. Most pawn shop items are things that people cannot afford to own in the first place. They are evidence of how many people are living far beyond their means.
People are certainly entitled to sell any of their own possessions to anyone that they can come to terms with, and the reason that they do so is entirely a private matter.
I don’t believe that Rex or any posters have any expertise to judge someone’s character by observing that they sold or bought something with any merchant, be they grocer, waiter, or pawn broker.
Written by par88 on March 14, 2010 at 7:48 am
You’re making some assumptions here which may or may not be true…. people are not necessarily on the edge of destituion when they pawn stuff. Might be they don’t want the item (inheritance?), might be they want to “de-clutter”, might be any number of reasons.
I enjoy Pawn Stars (except for Rick’s annoying laugh). What I find amazing is there are “experts” on every conceivable type of historical artifact livijng in Las Vegas.
Written by tully on March 14, 2010 at 2:59 pm
When I was in my twenties, I sold a few pieces of jewelry at a pawn shop. The broker paid me absolute bottom dollar for what I sold.
Sure, some people have items to sell because they are decluttering/minimizing their stuff. Unless they are jammed for time, they will get a fairer price using Craigslist or a similar service. Some items are better suited for Ebay. If you need to get grandma’s sterling flatware to a new home, or estate quality jewelry, Ebay is good for that.
Pawn shops tend to be the choice for someone needing the money quickly. They’re willing to shortchange what they get paid to receive the money now, rather than wait a few days to sell via another means. The brokers know this, and low ball the price they pay as hard as they can. It’s taking advantage of another person’s circumstances, and that’s sad to me.
Written by ColinFromLasVegas on March 14, 2010 at 3:47 pm
Sure. People get rid of stuff to de-clutter their home and get out of their pack rat ways. That’s a given.
But, that logic defies reason because of geography.
This is Las Vegas. Serious Sin City shit. Gambling.
And all of the pawn shops that Rex took pictures of are very, very close to payday loan centers, strip clubs, low end hotel/motel joints where you don’t really want to use the sheets (or even know where they been or who used them), at least one hostel, marriage parlors complete with various incarnations of poor man’s Elvi in attendance at the wedding, and, last but not least, it’s stuck smack dab in between Fremont Street gambling joints and the Strip mega-casinos.
The thing that these pawn shops, based on where they are placed, because they are in major abundance in this area more so than any other area in Las Vegas, is in hopes that a degenerate gambler loses. And he loses big. And he wants to continue gambling. These pawn shops hope that degenerate gambler jumps in his car and heads to the nearest pawn shop to pawn his watch or something.
There’s no denying it. THIS is the main reason these places are there. To catch these degenerate gamblers. And I could probably safely say those types are the major part of their business.
Hell, at one time, there was a 24 hour pawn shop that had a DRIVE THRU! This was a few years back where you’d drive up to the side of the place, like at a McDonald’s, they’d slide open a tray, you’d put what you want to pawn in there, the guy inside would look at it, then tell the guy what he’d give him for it, take it or leave it. If it was agreed upon, the customer completed the transaction while in his car, then drove off with the money.
I kind of defeated my own logic in my previous post, but I still won’t go into a pawn shop. I don’t deal in peoples’ misfortunes and inadequacies.
Written by DoubleDownNow! on March 14, 2010 at 5:11 pm
Pawn shops are nothing but bottom feeders. As another poster said, they’re there to take advantage of the desperate that are down on their luck! Sad, very sad, ….
Written by DavidFromLasVegas on March 14, 2010 at 6:20 pm
So what would you have the desperate do when they are desperate–eat shit and die? Most items pawned–70 to 80% are redeemed within the 120 days. The shops provide a short term fix for people who need short term help. Or do you want the government to solve their problems? Please!
Written by james on March 14, 2010 at 6:30 pm
Tully makes a good point. I think the internet, via ebay, craigslist, etc would make the pawn shop industry obsolete, except in Las Vegas.
I’m surprised to still see them in other places. I guess the ghetto doesn’t have the internet yet.
Written by james h on March 14, 2010 at 6:51 pm
ok, first of all the pawn stars show is pretty entertaining, i like it and it is the no. 1 show on the history channel.
the problem i have with pawn stores is everything for sale seems to be worn out, and the prices are way to high… the jewerly and watches all look grimy and nasty. if you compare the price for a pawned tag watch with a new one the prices are closer that you would think.
you may not know this but pawn shops are some of the biggest sellers on ebay and craigs list, so whoever said buying on craigs list is better is probably still buying from a pawn shop. I guess they fooled you!
a lot of these shops also sell new products.
colins post are usually interesting, but i agree they are too long, sometimes longer than rexs blog…maybe colin needs a blog, i would read it.
when i was in vegas last month i swear i thought i saw rex sitting against the side gold and silver pawn shop eating some fast food…i circled my car around to get a better look and still thought it was him…however out of respect for rexs anti people policy i didnt stop…
keep up the good work rex!
Written by Ben S., of Las Vegas on March 14, 2010 at 9:52 pm
Not sure why foreclosure sales would make someone uneasy. If someone can’t or chooses to no longer to make mortgage payments, the house goes into foreclosure.
Should it be abandoned? Left to deteriorate? Given over to squatters? Burned to the ground by vandals?
The foreclosure sale is a natural part of the process of an asset that has been overvalued regressing to a more accurate market value. If a mortgage payer decides he or she can’t or won’t keep current w/a mortgage at say $400k the house has to go back on the market where potential buyers will set a new price, considering today’s situation the new price will be much lower. And that’s an opportunity for someone else to get lower cost housing, either by buying when they couldn’t afford to before or by renting from a landlord who bought low and can offer more competitive rent.
Also, if a person is allowing a home to go into foreclosure it means they probably couldn’t afford to maintain it. A new buyer getting it for a lower price is more likely to hire roofers, electricians, plumbers, handymen, gardeners, etc., to catch up on deferred maintenance and improve the property. And that provides work for people who need it and results in more money sloshing around the local economy.
Written by ohdio on March 14, 2010 at 11:51 pm
I can understand the depressing aspect…but come on.. all auctions and pawn shops aren’t the results of some poor druggie needing a fix or a gramma forced to sell her wedding dress for her nitro pills. I’ve been to tons of auctions…most of which are people who are downsizing or families settling an estate of stuff that none of them want. So the items end up with someone who really wants them. As someone else mentioned…with pawn shops people can get their items back if possible, I think it’s a reasonable business.
There are definitly some depressing stories involved I’m sure ,but I bet there are just as many depressing stories at a hospital, in a casino or a library….you just dont have an item to symbolize it.