Bad taste after pawn shopping today

[YadaYadaYada]

Posting this as both a vent thread and a maybe someone can relate thread. Sorry for the length but wanted to give the whole story.

Went to Cheers today, most of you know this is a weekly stop for me and I'm very chummy with the owner. In the past I've remarked that she seems to hold things for certain people and now I have absolute proof of that, here is what I'm taking about.

Today I walk in and after a while the owner says she has some things to show me, I didn't ask she just brought out a tray. It was all gold which is super unusual and lots of rings, I started louping and setting aside rings to consider when a car pulls into the parking lot. She tells me that this is her gold buyer and I need to decide what I want because she already called him and told him she had stuff for him. Right there I should have just forgotten about everything in the tray but instead I handed her what I was interested in to see what her number was. In the meantime the guy has come in and is standing there so it's very awkward and uncomfortable. She comes back with this crazy number which I believe was to encourage me to only buy a couple of things so she could sell the rest to the gold buyer.

So at that point she says "why don't you just pick your favorites" so there was a sapphire ring and a Black Hills onyx ring I had picked out to resell mainly because our rabbit has cost us $900 this month. I gave the rest back and the gold guy bought all of it. Now there was a gold cabochon Amethyst ring with red Enamel and diamonds that I'm thinking I should have bought instead of one of these but I just did not have enough time to think, she was hurrying me along and stressing me out.

I told her afterwards that I was really unhappy with how that went down and she apologized and said she didn't think any of it was my style and she had really put that aside for the gold buyer. None of that makes any difference in how I feel about it, why tell me you have something to show me if you don't want me to potentially buy it?!

I'm still not sure if I made the right decision with buying anything. Of course I can't find the enamel ring I passed on anywhere so I'm kicking myself for not buying it. See, but this to me just proves that she only sells certain customers certain things and wants to always have something so people will keep coming back. Looks like I'm taking a break for a while, feeling kind of upset about how this all played out, a bit unprofessional IMO.

 

[Lisa Loves Shiny]

I used to visit a pawn shop back in the day for jewelry. During a conversation the owner told me most of his revenue was made on loans, not re-selling the merchandise. So there may not be much of an incentive to provide the best customer service for jewelry buyers for some pawn shop owners.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

@LisaRN, glad you mentioned that because she has mentioned this in the past. Really wish I had kept my head straight but live and learn.

 

[JPie]

I can understand why you're upset. The Cheers lady did not handle this well at all! It's her prerogative to hold things for people, but she shouldn't have offered the tray to you if she didn't want to sell to you.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

Thanks @JPie yeah it was just strange, she said the gold guy usually comes in on Thursday but she was still risking me buying and not leaving "enough" for him. I don't know, it was just strange and then he is standing there waiting on me, talk about awkward.

Is it too early for a drink?

 

[JPie]

Thanks @JPie yeah it was just strange, she said the gold guy usually comes in on Thursday but she was still risking me buying and not leaving "enough" for him. I don't know, it was just strange and then he is standing there waiting on me, talk about awkward.

Is it too early for a drink?

It's 5:00 somewhere!

 

[stracci2000]

Ugh. I know how you feel.
The guys with the big bucks to spend get first crack at everything. Whatever they reject is what ends up in the case.
The estate sale companies do this, too.
It is very frustrating for us little fish in this big pond.
There were 2 ads in the paper a while back for "big estate sale!!!!" The ad listed all kinds of great stuff, so DH and I headed out to find them. When we got there, it was a warehouse in an industrial area. We walked in, and there stood a guy who I recognized as a worker from one of the estate sale companies. Turns out that everything they can't get rid of goes to this warehouse.
So we walked around. And I couldn't find one single thing worth having. Really picked over stuff.
There was a big jewelry case, full of jewelry, but very little gold. I said to the guy, "where's the good stuff?" And he said "Oh, it all goes to the dealers "
I was pissed, so I said, "Well, I'm a dealer!" He didn't have a response to that.
And there have been many estate sales I've gone to that were pitiful. Nothing good to speak of, everything nice was already removed.
The best estate sales are those put on by individuals cleaning out grandma's house.

 

[Luvallgems]

Posting this as both a vent thread and a maybe someone can relate thread. Sorry for the length but wanted to give the whole story.

Went to Cheers today, most of you know this is a weekly stop for me and I'm very chummy with the owner. In the past I've remarked that she seems to hold things for certain people and now I have absolute proof of that, here is what I'm taking about.

Today I walk in and after a while the owner says she has some things to show me, I didn't ask she just brought out a tray. It was all gold which is super unusual and lots of rings, I started louping and setting aside rings to consider when a car pulls into the parking lot. She tells me that this is her gold buyer and I need to decide what I want because she already called him and told him she had stuff for him. Right there I should have just forgotten about everything in the tray but instead I handed her what I was interested in to see what her number was. In the meantime the guy has come in and is standing there so it's very awkward and uncomfortable. She comes back with this crazy number which I believe was to encourage me to only buy a couple of things so she could sell the rest to the gold buyer.

So at that point she says "why don't you just pick your favorites" so there was a sapphire ring and a Black Hills onyx ring I had picked out to resell mainly because our rabbit has cost us $900 this month. I gave the rest back and the gold guy bought all of it. Now there was a gold cabochon Amethyst ring with red Enamel and diamonds that I'm thinking I should have bought instead of one of these but I just did not have enough time to think, she was hurrying me along and stressing me out.

I told her afterwards that I was really unhappy with how that went down and she apologized and said she didn't think any of it was my style and she had really put that aside for the gold buyer. None of that makes any difference in how I feel about it, why tell me you have something to show me if you don't want me to potentially buy it?!

I'm still not sure if I made the right decision with buying anything. Of course I can't find the enamel ring I passed on anywhere so I'm kicking myself for not buying it. See, but this to me just proves that she only sells certain customers certain things and wants to always have something so people will keep coming back. Looks like I'm taking a break for a while, feeling kind of upset about how this all played out, a bit unprofessional IMO.

 

[Luvallgems]

@StephanieLynn I try to be the “glass half full” type of person - What
if the gold buyer caught the owner off guard? It was rude of her to
pick favorites! I would give Cheers another chance to make things right.
If the owner doesn’t give you 100% of her attention on your
next visit, I would find another place to shop! Who knows, you may great a great deal on your next visit.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

@stracci2000, that really is crappy, it's just like when the estate sales are posted in the paper, by the actual date the dealers have already gone through everything because they call ahead and get first pick.

The guy today dropped over $1,000, clearly I can't compete with that but if I make a little bit off what I bought today then it will be all good. It's tough being a little fish!

@Luvallgems, I think he did catch her off guard for sure, I just hated being put in that position, like two people fighting for the same stuff you know? Me taking a break from Cheers is just more about needing to take a step back and learn not to get caught up in the moment. I will go back for sure because she does treat me well and has great prices, for example I paid scrap price for what I bought today so I'm not complaining about that aspect at all.

 

[Luvallgems]

@stracci2000, that really is crappy, it's just like when the estate sales are posted in the paper, by the actual date the dealers have already gone through everything because they call ahead and get first pick.

The guy today dropped over $1,000, clearly I can't compete with that but if I make a little bit off what I bought today then it will be all good. It's tough being a little fish!

@Luvallgems, I think he did catch her off guard for sure, I just hated being put in that position, like two people fighting for the same stuff you know? Me taking a break from Cheers is just more about needing to take a step back and learn not to get caught up in the moment. I will go back for sure because she does treat me well and has great prices, for example I paid scrap price for what I bought today so I'm not complaining about that aspect at all.

If you paid scrap, that’s great. I would bet she doesn’t feel good about
today. Don’t start drinking this early I agree, it’s hard being a minnow swimming with sharks.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

Nah no drinking but I do have a couple of peanut butter cups stashed in the fridge @Luvallgems

 

[Luvallgems]

Nah no drinking but I do have a couple of peanut butter cups stashed in the fridge @Luvallgems

Good for you

 

[Bron357]

Upsetting for you but I guess that other guy is her “bread and butter” buyer meaning he gives her the most regular business so she needs / wants to sell to him. While you might put a “pile” to one side to contemplate purchasing a few from, he just pays gold price in 5 minutes for the whole lot. So to her, he is her better and more important customer.
I’d keep going back, ask her to set aside anything antique, anything with precious gems because you’ll pay her more than the gold guy for them and you go every Wednesday before the gold guy comes. That way she’s not risking her sales. To her it’s just about the money, that’s her business. Most pawnbrokers aren’t jewellers, they lend money and take items as collateral and buy items at bargain basement prices to resell to whomever will pay a bit more as soon as possible.

 

[YadaYadaYada]

@Bron357 you are totally right and from a business standpoint she did the best she could in the moment. After really thinking about it and putting her shoes on it was easy to see.

But as you vintage lovers know when there is a tray of pretties put in front of you part of the fun is checking out each one and admiring all the little details, it is so seldom this happens at Cheers.

So it burst my bubble a bit but for her it's business, I'm sure for him it is too and I still walked away with something so I really should stop pouting