I've been several times to look at jewelry, but have never bought anything. I have a girlfriend here in Austin that hits up all of the pawnshops in town and in the surrounding towns on a monthly basis, specifically looking for vintage jewelry. She has found some fine pieces and has kept the best for herself, but has done very, very well selling antique wedding bands on ebay - all purchased from pawn shops.

I went into a pawn shop, 25 years ago and spent more on a radio than it cost new! :0) The person at the counter was a dirt bag, not a "nice" well dressed sales person. :0)

I currently shop pawn shops on Ebay for jewelry. I scored a very nice authentic Tiffany 18K little diamond ring for $37!!!! (had it authenticated later). A little 5 diamond 18K antique ring for $49!!! YES!!!

But....me....shop one in person....NOT! :0)

I just discovered Pawn Stars last Sunday night as well--what a hoot! I really like the show so far. Had a real LOL moment when that Chumlee character wrecked the kite!!! (I'm still taking pain meds, though. It might not be as funny as I thought at the time, who knows.)

I've been in a few pawn shops, nothing near as nice as the one on this show though. I'd just say "buyer beware." If you know what you are looking for, it's possible to get a deal.

Interesting!
nicole, if your reason for not going in is the same as mine (given location of some far north of me, half the stuff in there is probably stolen, lol). But when I looked on local maps the two I saw were in nice areas, one surprises me, it's in a very upscale area not far from me, where I wouldn't expect a pawn shop to be. You know how google let's people do business reviews and it will show up on the map? Someone wrote the same thing as you, at the nice shop they got a bargain on an antique piece of jewelry. What I saw on that TV show was a pretty nice shop, they even have a "Waterford" section. Don't know how common that is. Probably amped up for TV no doubt. Made me start wondering, tho!

So how do you find a pawn shop dealer on ebay?

Had a real LOL moment when that Chumlee character wrecked the kite!!! (I'm still taking pain meds, though. It might not be as funny as I thought at the time, who knows.)

Ha! ROFL ;D

I only caught two episodes last night, I think they were reruns. I watched those two guys try out a cross bow to see if it really worked. DH and I enjoy shooting, but no matter how comfortable one must always have a healthy respect and treat any weapon as if it's loaded. We both did a light *gasp* when one of the guys made a movement toward the other with that crossbow that was a little reckless. ;)

It's an indicator of the economic climate in my town that two years ago there was one pawnshop in town and now there are five or six. Some are scuzzy, some are just kind of mildly tatty like any other secondhand shop. Around here they are mostly stocked with jewelry (some fabulous, some horrible - I've thought of trying what elizgonz's friend is doing but I would be surprised if the shop owners aren't doing that themselves already! Certainly almost all the antique stores around here have an ebay store or some kind of web presence), musical instruments (can be a good place to get inexpensive instruments for starting out), computers, CDs/DVDs (they usually pay $1 apiece and sell them for $5) and guns. Absolutely nothing like the "Pawn Stars" show though.

You do have to know what you are looking for, what the item would cost elsewhere (don't believe their quoted retail prices), how to assess condition issues, etc. For the educated buyer they can be a goldmine, but they are minefields for the foolish.

moonshadow.....on Ebay I have saved searchs, by entering a hyphen in front of a word you can eliminate it in the title and description of the item. Like for instance, -bonded -filled -gp -plated......for jewelry will eliminate the "not" solid gold pieces. Handles of sellers like, "circlepawn" or "dynastyestatejewelers", tells you a little about the seller, then look at their profile. I purchased this same exact piece on Ebay for $54, the savings was HUGE!!! and yes, I do worry that pawn shops sell "stolen" items. So by not buying local, I'm NOT wearing a locals stolen opal pendant! :0)

Here is a link that might be useful: 14K Opal pendant 3.5cts....NICE!!!

Ah yes, the marriage of eBay and small shops. I was so bummed when the little antique store here in town went cyber. I could walk in there and the owner (jovial guy) would start bargaining with me on anything I glanced at as I stepped through the front walkway. He'd offer me coffee from behind his big antique counter, never followed me as I wandered the nooks and crannies of that big old building with creaky wooden floors. But if he saw me pick something up, and he had eyes in the back of his head, he'd start calling out a lower number or % off. Made it fun. But once they started selling online, and seeing the kinds of prices they could get, the ready bargaining went by the wayside. I do understand it's all in their best interest to get the most $ they can, but I kind of miss those old times. ;)

I just got burnt buying jewelry on eBay. The seller has been around for ages, had 100% feedback. I bought supposedly 14K solid ring and after getting, there was no stamp on it, got it evaluated in the jewelry shop and was told it was 10K. So, be careful, when buying on eBay, even 100% and long time seller does not guarantee what you get :-/

I had a 2-police escort to a seedy pawnshop, where I had the opportunity to purchase back my own stolen jewelry.

I'm told that's how it works here in Michigan. I wasn't "allowed" to go by myself, and the taxpayer's dime for 2 hours for 2 cops was probably many times higher than what I had to pay at the window to retrieve my stolen baubles. Not to mention the cost of the detectives' time. The pawnshop owner is "protected" to the extent of the price he paid the thief.

Of course, the thief could not recall our 2 most valuable pieces, and so could not tell the cops which pawn shop he had taken them to, and of course none of the pawnshops had the pieces. One was a perfect, handcrafted black pearl, platinum and diamond necklace. The other was a Rolex.

That was our second robbery. We don't have much jewelry left. I don't think the presence of pawnshops encourages thefts, though, because I believe he probably sold those two really good items on the street and only used the pawnshops for things that the street didn't want.

I have a similar experience to jamies. A few years back, I regularly hung out at about 5 pawn shops near where we lived in Minnesota at the time...in hopes of spotting some jewelry and camera equipment that was stolen out of our home. I came close to getting one piece of jewelry back...the crook had been there 2 days prior to one of my visits trying to pawn an amethyst pendant on a gold chain. The store owner didn't buy it in, though.

There are rules that these stores are supposed to follow in regards to checking with police for stolen items, but I have no confidence that they are followed all the time.

I would never ever ever buy anything from a pawn shop because I don't want to have to live with the idea that I might be buying stolen goods.

DH used to love going to them, but they skeeved me out. Seemed so seedy and, well, desperate.

One day he went to one and found the .22 rifle his grandfather had given him when he was 13. He'd pawned it years earlier and his ex didn't pay the loan back, so it went up for sale. How it ended up back at the pawn shop was a miracle, but DH ended up buying it. I was skeptical that it was his gun, but he showed me the mark he'd put on it when he was still a kid.

My friend just had her home burglarized and she thought she'd check pawn shops...I told her to check Craigslist...I'd bet more thieves are unloading that way these days.

When my DH's 18V rechargable drill batteries start to go bad, they develop a memory and stay charged 1 hr instead of 12......and the drill starts to wear out. He takes it all to a pawn shop and sells it for $20. Then goes online and buys it all new for $200. It's a buyer beware situation for sure at a pawn shop!!!

When buying online with Ebay, paypal will return anything... even if the seller isn't willing. Paypal is a good "out" if you have a dispute.

I purchased a piece of Van Briggle pottery on Ebay. The size given was large & rare, the piece I got was small and common. I got all my money back & the seller told me to keep the piece. Paypal is great!

I love that show "Pawn Stars" too. Most pawn shops are not like that. They use to be in downtown areas near the bail bondman's.

Now everyone and their cousin owns one down here in the south, including my two cousins. They have crap in their stores except for the plasma television sets from poor people that can't pay their rent. It's pretty sad IMO, but.

.....Jane