Chumlee isn't necessarily dumb. I remember once they went to check out some arcade machine and Chumlee proceeded to rattle off who made it, when it was made and how many were made. He knows his stuff, it's just that his stuff isn't necessarily the stuff they show on the show much.

WhyteRaven74: Chumlee isn't necessarily dumb. I remember once they went to check out some arcade machine and Chumlee proceeded to rattle off who made it, when it was made and how many were made. He knows his stuff, it's just that his stuff isn't necessarily the stuff they show on the show much.

He also knows about collectable shoes like air jordans and that sort of thing.

no clever name here just move along: and yes, everyone who settles when they could get a lot more on eBay are just silly.....

Is there another ebay I don't know about that guarantees you the value of the stuff you put up for sale? Because the one I use is an auction site and you can only sell something for its appraised value if there is someone willing to buy it from you for that. Sure a lot of people could put there stuff up on ebay, but it is no guarantee it will sell for what you think it is worth. It might sell for less than what a pawn shop is offering, and then you have to deal with a paypal transaction rather than cash, and pay the associated ebay/paypal fees. Not to mention you have to wait probably a couple of weeks for the transaction to be completed. Plus like I said above, I think a lot of ebay buyers are going to be leery of buying from someone with no sales history.

If you need money now (for whatever reason) I can totally see the appeal of taking the pawn shop cash. Plus in his book I think Rick talked about how Vegas has lots of retired people. I can totally see a situation where an old person in Vegas dies and his/her heirs come to clean out their house. In those kind of cases where you could be potentially looking at a ton of valuable stuff it might be worth it to take the discounted wholesale pawn shop price on things and only have to deal with very quick transactions, rather than taking potentially months trying to sell things on ebay and ship them out.

mechgreg: WhyteRaven74: Chumlee isn't necessarily dumb. I remember once they went to check out some arcade machine and Chumlee proceeded to rattle off who made it, when it was made and how many were made. He knows his stuff, it's just that his stuff isn't necessarily the stuff they show on the show much.

He also knows about collectable shoes like air jordans and that sort of thing.

no clever name here just move along: and yes, everyone who settles when they could get a lot more on eBay are just silly.....

Is there another ebay I don't know about that guarantees you the value of the stuff you put up for sale? Because the one I use is an auction site and you can only sell something for its appraised value if there is someone willing to buy it from you for that. Sure a lot of people could put there stuff up on ebay, but it is no guarantee it will sell for what you think it is worth. It might sell for less than what a pawn shop is offering, and then you have to deal with a paypal transaction rather than cash, and pay the associated ebay/paypal fees. Not to mention you have to wait probably a couple of weeks for the transaction to be completed. Plus like I said above, I think a lot of ebay buyers are going to be leery of buying from someone with no sales history.

If you need money now (for whatever reason) I can totally see the appeal of taking the pawn shop cash. Plus in his book I think Rick talked about how Vegas has lots of retired people. I can totally see a situation where an old person in Vegas dies and his/her heirs come to clean out their house. In those kind of cases where you could be potentially looking at a ton of valuable stuff it might be worth it to take the discounted wholesale pawn shop price on things and only have to deal with very quick transactions, rather than taking potentially months trying to sell things on ebay and ship them out.

AFAIK, you can set the minimum price however you want.

CSB:
I used to work for a collectible firearms auction company. When dealing with sellers, my rule of thumb was as follows. If you have a few items, you're better off selling privately (if you can) and avoiding auction fees.

If you have a collection, and it contains desirable pieces, you want to go with an auction company. What we always found was that collections would average out well. Some pieces would go for less than their value, some would go for more. However, you are also likely to hit an absolute home run when you get collectors involved. These guys aren't concerned with resale value, they just want the piece. Conversely, nothing will ever go for WAY less than it's worth, because the antique dealers will buy it if they can make any profit.

The worst thing you can do is let people cherry pick the best stuff before you go to auction. We've seen it time and time again where a 'friend' of a deceased collector will go to the widow and say "well, John would have wanted me to have this' or 'John and I had a handshake agreement' and they end up paying less than market value for the best items. Then, because there's no great centerpieces to the collection, there's no incentive for people to come to the auction for average stuff.

silvervial: I watch Pawn Stars and Hard Core Pawn and sometimes the extreme contrast between those two show makes me wonder if we (the viewing public) are being fed some kind of anti-black propaganda in a sugar-coated way.

Typical Pawn Star encounter:

Customer: I have something here I want to sell.
Rick: I've seen that before (gives historic details). This is in pretty bad condition. How much do you want for it?
C: I was hoping for $3000.
R: That's not going to happen. How about $200?
C: I think it's worth more than that. You can't come up a little?
R: It's really beat up. I'm going to have to pay to restore it. It's going to sit here for a while taking up space. I got a business to run.
C: Well, I guess I'll take it home then. Maybe it will be worth more in a few years.
R: Sorry we couldn't come to terms. Thanks for bringing it in.
C: Thanks anyway.

Typical Hardcore Pawn encounter:

Customer: I got these earrings from my grandma. She say they 22 carat diamonds. I want $5000.
Ashley: First of all, these aren't diamonds.
C (yelling): First of all, you gonna gimme my $5000 dollars!
A: Don't yell at me.
C (screaming): You gonna gimme my $5000 biatch!
A: Out of my store!
(Security guy looms over customer)
C (screaming): Who the fark are YOU? Get your hands offa me, dog! Don't touch me!
(Security guard muscles customer out of store)
C (screaming in parking lot): This place is a rip-off! They won't gimme my money!
A (who has followed c into parking lot): Get the hell off my property!
C (walking away): I'm gettin', you lumpy-ass biatch! And I ain't never comin' back!
Seth (watching from doorway): See, dad, I told you! Ashley can't close deals, she can't do anything right!
Les (standing next to Seth): Shut up, Seth.

So, what is a viewer to come away with? People in Las Vegas are calm and reasonable, while people in Detroit are farking nutbags? Hmmm...somehow, I suspect the geographic locations don't figure into the perceptions one gets from these shows.

I wonder what the agenda mi ...

In his book (an interesting read, imho), Rick talks about how they were courted by HBO and their current production company, and HBO wanted more of a "Taxicab Confessions" (Rick's words) take on the show, focusing on the night window and people who were miserable. It would have been like Hardcore Pawn, except with even more hookers. Everyone was appalled at the results, and when the other company said they basically wanted "Antiques Roadshow", they jumped on it. They intentionally avoid showing all the times that Corey or Antoine get into fights, while the HBO show would have focused on them.

/Also, Chumley REALLY comes off as an idiot in the book.
//"What you need to know about Rick is that he was a farking awful kid." - Eldest Rick

BoxOfBees: Does Chumlee bag lots of hot chicks? I'm dying to know if being a fat moron with money is remotely appealing to any (hot) women.

nm, I'm going to call in a buddy of mine who knows everything there is to know about hot chicks.

Felgraf: Nina_Hartley's_Ass: FishyFred: I came into this thread expecting to report it for being a repeat of the article about the Storage Wars lawsuit.

Nope. When it rains, it pours.

I hope this is a trend that drives up the cost of "reality" tv to the point that it is no longer a financially viable alternative.

I dunno, I really hope The Amazing Race stays around.

/Mainly because I'd love to try and get on it with my brother.
//I think we would make for fairly amusing television. Also, WE KNOW HOW TO USE A #@%# MAP.

Oops, in my first read through I thought you wrote that you want to get it on with your brother.

Gosling: The_Six_Fingered_Man: Pretty sure rudimentary survival skills are instant dis-qualifiers for shows like that. A buddy of mine and I tried getting on The Great Escape. We were denied because we are both prior service. Air Force.

I made my first audition video a few months ago, for The Job. (CBS, midseason, I think taping now.)

I should not make audition videos. I don't think I'd get a job as a poop taster with the abortion of a video I handed in. It actually took me an hour and a half to get from 'webcam set up and all I have to do is hit record' to 'actually hit record' because I spent the hour and a half trying to psych myself up to just talk into a camera for 2 1/2 minutes. (It took until Take 4, 40 minutes later, to actually complete the video without stumbling.) It was pure and utter babbling, I couldn't even watch it myself let alone whatever poor bastard on CBS' side had to sit through it, and that's only PARTIALLY because I'm not used to the sound of my own voice and I think I sound like a Star Wars nerd with asthma.

Oh, and also there's a nice, gigantic 'TRIAL CONVERTER PLEASE BUY FULL VERSION' right over my face. Because I had never had to convert a video before and I had no need for a converter until that moment.

Needless to say, I was not called back for semifinal interviews.

Reading your account, I can't help but really like you. I was laughing, not at you but with you. Sounds to me like you do have a TV-friendly personality and maybe your video wasn't as tragic as you thought. There are some people who have kept trying and finally made it onto a show. So, if that's what you really want, don't give up.

Resin33: bulldg4life: The chick they hired for night shift....with reckless disregard for humanity.

Her Facebook profile is public and has lots of pictures.

She is not as beautiful as she seems to think she is. But then again, I don't seem to find glampire to be very attractive.

rynthetyn: DjangoStonereaver: Felgraf: I dunno, I really hope The Amazing Race stays around.

/Mainly because I'd love to try and get on it with my brother.
//I think we would make for fairly amusing television. Also, WE KNOW HOW TO USE A #@%# MAP.

Then they probably wouldn't cast you.

Not enough 'drama' in competence.

/Unless you're a woman with a nice rack.

Yeah, I'm fairly certain that the only hope I have of getting on The Amazing Race is to wear a tiny, super low cut top in my audition video. I not only know how to use a map, I've traveled extensively on my own in places where I didn't speak any of the language, and the only "weird" food I've got issues with are roaches.

I need to figure out an angle that plays well on TV.

First, you are much prettier than a lot of the women on that and similar shows. I think what it all comes down to is having a memorable and somewhat unique personality, plus the ability to rather instantly gain either or both fans and "haters."

Me for example, I would never be chosen by any reality TV show. I am rather understated, bland, and forgettable. I don't have anything in my personality that one would either love or hate or remember. And I'm not putting myself down, mind you. I just know who I am and know that a reality show stint for me would never be something I could attain.

That's just my theory, for what it's worth!

mechgreg: WhyteRaven74: Chumlee isn't necessarily dumb. I remember once they went to check out some arcade machine and Chumlee proceeded to rattle off who made it, when it was made and how many were made. He knows his stuff, it's just that his stuff isn't necessarily the stuff they show on the show much.

He also knows about collectable shoes like air jordans and that sort of thing.

no clever name here just move along: and yes, everyone who settles when they could get a lot more on eBay are just silly.....

Is there another ebay I don't know about that guarantees you the value of the stuff you put up for sale? Because the one I use is an auction site and you can only sell something for its appraised value if there is someone willing to buy it from you for that. Sure a lot of people could put there stuff up on ebay, but it is no guarantee it will sell for what you think it is worth. It might sell for less than what a pawn shop is offering, and then you have to deal with a paypal transaction rather than cash, and pay the associated ebay/paypal fees. Not to mention you have to wait probably a couple of weeks for the transaction to be completed. Plus like I said above, I think a lot of ebay buyers are going to be leery of buying from someone with no sales history.

If you need money now (for whatever reason) I can totally see the appeal of taking the pawn shop cash. Plus in his book I think Rick talked about how Vegas has lots of retired people. I can totally see a situation where an old person in Vegas dies and his/her heirs come to clean out their house. In those kind of cases where you could be potentially looking at a ton of valuable stuff it might be worth it to take the discounted wholesale pawn shop price on things and only have to deal with very quick transactions, rather than taking potentially months trying to sell things on ebay and ship them out.

When you use eBay you don't have to sell something for less than you want.
You make the auction with a reserve, or make an outrageous Buy It Now price.

If you can get an extra 25-50% over what the pawn shop is offering, it's just a more logical decision.

Regarding your other point, I can see the appeal of getting something for free (your example of cleaning out dead people houses) and selling it for cheap because it's free money anyway. It's definitely on a case by case situation.

Just sometimes.....I want to reach the computer and scream eBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!

:) 

//p.s. I would love to hang out with Chumley. That guy cracks me up......

no clever name here just move along: When you use eBay you don't have to sell something for less than you want.
You make the auction with a reserve, or make an outrageous Buy It Now price.

If you can get an extra 25-50% over what the pawn shop is offering, it's just a more logical decision.

But again, there is no guarantee that you will get the appraised value of something if you are selling it on ebay. I mean say your thing is "worth" $5000 and you make the opening bid on it $5000. You might sell it but you might not get any bids. You list it for say $3000 (which might be what you could get from the pawnshop) and it might run up to $5000 or more, but at the same time it might only get one $3000 bid, and then you are obligated to sell it for less than its value, and if you take off the ebay/paypal fees (plus the value of your time) you might make less than the pawnshop price. Like you said though it is a case by case basis thing, and like anything if someone has the time and patience and is willing to take the risk (to go through ebay) they will probably make more. If they don't have the time or patience or are willing to take the risk, selling it to a dealer is probably a better choice.

Plus like I said if you are selling something highly collectible and you have no feedback rating on ebay it is going to affect how much money you can get, because I think people would be more worried about buying something that is fake if it is from someone with no reputation.