Pawn Stars on History Channel (1 Viewer)

[SmoovySmoov]

IT'S STILL REAL TO ME, DAMMIT!!!!! :cries:

 

[gandalas]

I watch it to be entertained, and I am.

Mission Success.

 

[17seconds]

I wonder if Rick is really as smart as he was portrayed.

What? He's not the most knowledgeable world historian of our time?

 

[Mario Kart]

I watch it to be entertained, and I am.

Mission Success.

I agree. It is just different now that I know some of it is staged. Kind of like WWE.

Just think of it as Antiques Roadshow on steroids.

 

[The Doctor]

Noooo its fake

 

[OC Zed]

I would rather watch the show and plod along through a lot of boring segments than find out a lot of cool, sensational segments were fake.

 

[chet]

I wonder if Rick is really as smart as he was portrayed.

What? He's not the most knowledgeable world historian of our time?

"I can't pay no more than that."

 

[shader]

My dad found some old 1800 era pistols used by the texas rangers in a locked chest he bought at an auction. He is in contact with pawn stars to try and get on the show. I'd love to get some inside info that way.

 

[E Street Brat]

Since they love gambling stuff. I always wanted to take in a Calf. Holdem deck.

:money:

Also peaches >>>>>> new girl

 

[Apple Jack]

I would rather watch the show and plod along through a lot of boring segments than find out a lot of cool, sensational segments were fake.

I've never seen the show before, but a friend told me last night about an episode with Mary Ford's SG and I was like...huh? A guy took Mary Ford's SG to a pawn shop in Vegas? Doubt it.

 

[Jojo the circus boy]

I would rather watch the show and plod along through a lot of boring segments than find out a lot of cool, sensational segments were fake.

I've never seen the show before, but a friend told me last night about an episode with Mary Ford's SG and I was like...huh? A guy took Mary Ford's SG to a pawn shop in Vegas? Doubt it.

that was recent and discussed in thread, if true the guy got ripped off, $90k.

 

[Luke Skywalker]

My dad found some old 1800 era pistols used by the texas rangers in a locked chest he bought at an auction. He is in contact with pawn stars to try and get on the show. I'd love to get some inside info that way.

"I can give you 40 bucks"

 

[B-Deep]

My dad found some old 1800 era pistols used by the texas rangers in a locked chest he bought at an auction. He is in contact with pawn stars to try and get on the show. I'd love to get some inside info that way.

"I can give you 40 bucks"

things like these just don't move, there's a real limited audience for these and they are going to sit on my shelf taking up space for a long time

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Who the flip didn't know this show was staged? Did you honestly believe they stand there with the cameras rolling and hope people bring Civil War artifacts in off the street? From what I gathered, Rick does a lot of advertising and seeks out people with collections to bring in things they want to sell. I don't know if the negotiation part is totally staged but you gotta figure it's the most popular cable show, the budget for Rick at this point must be a fortune which is why he plunked down almost $100,000 for the Les Paul last week, in fact he should have ponied up $100k.

Is the show entertaining? It is but what you are watching is not real time reality, much of it is set up and people have appointments, there wouldn't be much other way to do the show.

 

[B-Deep]

Who the flip didn't know this show was staged? Did you honestly believe they stand there with the cameras rolling and hope people bring Civil War artifacts in off the street? From what I gathered, Rick does a lot of advertising and seeks out people with collections to bring in things they want to sell. I don't know if the negotiation part is totally staged but you gotta figure it's the most popular cable show, the budget for Rick at this point must be a fortune which is why he plunked down almost $100,000 for the Les Paul last week, in fact he should have ponied up $100k.

Is the show entertaining? It is but what you are watching is not real time reality, much of it is set up and people have appointments, there wouldn't be much other way to do the show.

there's a difference betweenreal customer: "hey i have this guitar..."

rick: "can you come in wednedsday, the camera's will be here and we'll have you sign waivers and get this on the show"

real customer: "ok"

and

rick: "hey friend who owns a guitar shop, we need a guitar"

guitar shop dude: "ok, i'll send the employee over with one, you give him a fake price and tell him xxxxx and then he'll take it and you bring the guitar back here later."

rick: "sweet, i have another friend who will come in and pretend to take it in trade to get it back to you. Wanna hit the buffet at the Nugget afterward?"

guitar shop dude: "Sure, bring chumlee, i love watching him destroy a buffet..."

 

[belljr]

Who the flip didn't know this show was staged? Did you honestly believe they stand there with the cameras rolling and hope people bring Civil War artifacts in off the street? From what I gathered, Rick does a lot of advertising and seeks out people with collections to bring in things they want to sell. I don't know if the negotiation part is totally staged but you gotta figure it's the most popular cable show, the budget for Rick at this point must be a fortune which is why he plunked down almost $100,000 for the Les Paul last week, in fact he should have ponied up $100k.

Is the show entertaining? It is but what you are watching is not real time reality, much of it is set up and people have appointments, there wouldn't be much other way to do the show.

there's a difference betweenreal customer: "hey i have this guitar..."

rick: "can you come in wednedsday, the camera's will be here and we'll have you sign waivers and get this on the show"

real customer: "ok"

and

rick: "hey friend who owns a guitar shop, we need a guitar"

guitar shop dude: "ok, i'll send the employee over with one, you give him a fake price and tell him xxxxx and then he'll take it and you bring the guitar back here later."

rick: "sweet, i have another friend who will come in and pretend to take it in trade to get it back to you. Wanna hit the buffet at the Nugget afterward?"

guitar shop dude: "Sure, bring chumlee, i love watching him destroy a buffet..."

We all knew the products were picked and the the staged expert and bartering took place, but at least we thought they were real people with real artifacts. Not actors with "props".

I hope to think that most of the people coming in are at least "real" and some stuff is fake to make "drama" like the lambourghini. I however am a bit down now that the curtain has been pulled back :(

 

[shadyridr]

Who the flip didn't know this show was staged? Did you honestly believe they stand there with the cameras rolling and hope people bring Civil War artifacts in off the street? From what I gathered, Rick does a lot of advertising and seeks out people with collections to bring in things they want to sell. I don't know if the negotiation part is totally staged but you gotta figure it's the most popular cable show, the budget for Rick at this point must be a fortune which is why he plunked down almost $100,000 for the Les Paul last week, in fact he should have ponied up $100k.

Is the show entertaining? It is but what you are watching is not real time reality, much of it is set up and people have appointments, there wouldn't be much other way to do the show.

The bolded is not the issue numbnuts

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Who the flip didn't know this show was staged? Did you honestly believe they stand there with the cameras rolling and hope people bring Civil War artifacts in off the street? From what I gathered, Rick does a lot of advertising and seeks out people with collections to bring in things they want to sell. I don't know if the negotiation part is totally staged but you gotta figure it's the most popular cable show, the budget for Rick at this point must be a fortune which is why he plunked down almost $100,000 for the Les Paul last week, in fact he should have ponied up $100k.

Is the show entertaining? It is but what you are watching is not real time reality, much of it is set up and people have appointments, there wouldn't be much other way to do the show.

there's a difference betweenreal customer: "hey i have this guitar..."

rick: "can you come in wednedsday, the camera's will be here and we'll have you sign waivers and get this on the show"

real customer: "ok"

and

rick: "hey friend who owns a guitar shop, we need a guitar"

guitar shop dude: "ok, i'll send the employee over with one, you give him a fake price and tell him xxxxx and then he'll take it and you bring the guitar back here later."

rick: "sweet, i have another friend who will come in and pretend to take it in trade to get it back to you. Wanna hit the buffet at the Nugget afterward?"

guitar shop dude: "Sure, bring chumlee, i love watching him destroy a buffet..."

Awesome BD, can't disagree, are you saying the 2nd scenario is more likely? I was not under the impression the entire show was a total hoax. It's kind of like Antiques Roadshow for men.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Who the flip didn't know this show was staged? Did you honestly believe they stand there with the cameras rolling and hope people bring Civil War artifacts in off the street? From what I gathered, Rick does a lot of advertising and seeks out people with collections to bring in things they want to sell. I don't know if the negotiation part is totally staged but you gotta figure it's the most popular cable show, the budget for Rick at this point must be a fortune which is why he plunked down almost $100,000 for the Les Paul last week, in fact he should have ponied up $100k.

Is the show entertaining? It is but what you are watching is not real time reality, much of it is set up and people have appointments, there wouldn't be much other way to do the show.

The bolded is not the issue numbnuts

My boys are alive and well thank you very much

 

[shadyridr]

Who the flip didn't know this show was staged? Did you honestly believe they stand there with the cameras rolling and hope people bring Civil War artifacts in off the street? From what I gathered, Rick does a lot of advertising and seeks out people with collections to bring in things they want to sell. I don't know if the negotiation part is totally staged but you gotta figure it's the most popular cable show, the budget for Rick at this point must be a fortune which is why he plunked down almost $100,000 for the Les Paul last week, in fact he should have ponied up $100k.

Is the show entertaining? It is but what you are watching is not real time reality, much of it is set up and people have appointments, there wouldn't be much other way to do the show.

there's a difference betweenreal customer: "hey i have this guitar..."

rick: "can you come in wednedsday, the camera's will be here and we'll have you sign waivers and get this on the show"

real customer: "ok"

and

rick: "hey friend who owns a guitar shop, we need a guitar"

guitar shop dude: "ok, i'll send the employee over with one, you give him a fake price and tell him xxxxx and then he'll take it and you bring the guitar back here later."

rick: "sweet, i have another friend who will come in and pretend to take it in trade to get it back to you. Wanna hit the buffet at the Nugget afterward?"

guitar shop dude: "Sure, bring chumlee, i love watching him destroy a buffet..."

We all knew the products were picked and the the staged expert and bartering took place, but at least we thought they were real people with real artifacts. Not actors with "props".

I hope to think that most of the people coming in are at least "real" and some stuff is fake to make "drama" like the lambourghini. I however am a bit down now that the curtain has been pulled back :(

Exactly, I realize some of the people come in just for the show to show off their products and the store owners have no intention of actually buying it (such as that Robot Dragon that eats cars). That doesnt bother me. Only thing that bothers me would be fake customers (such as actors or a store employee such as the guitar store), fake negotiations, fake restorations, etc.

 

[B-Deep]

Who the flip didn't know this show was staged? Did you honestly believe they stand there with the cameras rolling and hope people bring Civil War artifacts in off the street? From what I gathered, Rick does a lot of advertising and seeks out people with collections to bring in things they want to sell. I don't know if the negotiation part is totally staged but you gotta figure it's the most popular cable show, the budget for Rick at this point must be a fortune which is why he plunked down almost $100,000 for the Les Paul last week, in fact he should have ponied up $100k.

Is the show entertaining? It is but what you are watching is not real time reality, much of it is set up and people have appointments, there wouldn't be much other way to do the show.

there's a difference betweenreal customer: "hey i have this guitar..."

rick: "can you come in wednedsday, the camera's will be here and we'll have you sign waivers and get this on the show"

real customer: "ok"

and

rick: "hey friend who owns a guitar shop, we need a guitar"

guitar shop dude: "ok, i'll send the employee over with one, you give him a fake price and tell him xxxxx and then he'll take it and you bring the guitar back here later."

rick: "sweet, i have another friend who will come in and pretend to take it in trade to get it back to you. Wanna hit the buffet at the Nugget afterward?"

guitar shop dude: "Sure, bring chumlee, i love watching him destroy a buffet..."

Awesome BD, can't disagree, are you saying the 2nd scenario is more likely? I was not under the impression the entire show was a total hoax. It's kind of like Antiques Roadshow for men.

well we have evidence of the second happening at least a few timesit calls the rest into question

 

[Jojo the circus boy]

Who the flip didn't know this show was staged? Did you honestly believe they stand there with the cameras rolling and hope people bring Civil War artifacts in off the street? From what I gathered, Rick does a lot of advertising and seeks out people with collections to bring in things they want to sell. I don't know if the negotiation part is totally staged but you gotta figure it's the most popular cable show, the budget for Rick at this point must be a fortune which is why he plunked down almost $100,000 for the Les Paul last week, in fact he should have ponied up $100k.

Is the show entertaining? It is but what you are watching is not real time reality, much of it is set up and people have appointments, there wouldn't be much other way to do the show.

there's a difference betweenreal customer: "hey i have this guitar..."

rick: "can you come in wednedsday, the camera's will be here and we'll have you sign waivers and get this on the show"

real customer: "ok"

and

rick: "hey friend who owns a guitar shop, we need a guitar"

guitar shop dude: "ok, i'll send the employee over with one, you give him a fake price and tell him xxxxx and then he'll take it and you bring the guitar back here later."

rick: "sweet, i have another friend who will come in and pretend to take it in trade to get it back to you. Wanna hit the buffet at the Nugget afterward?"

guitar shop dude: "Sure, bring chumlee, i love watching him destroy a buffet..."

We all knew the products were picked and the the staged expert and bartering took place, but at least we thought they were real people with real artifacts. Not actors with "props".

I hope to think that most of the people coming in are at least "real" and some stuff is fake to make "drama" like the lambourghini. I however am a bit down now that the curtain has been pulled back :(

Exactly, I realize some of the people come in just for the show to show off their products and the store owners have no intention of actually buying it (such as that Robot Dragon that eats cars). That doesnt bother me. Only thing that bothers me would be fake customers (such as actors or a store employee such as the guitar store), fake negotiations, fake restorations, etc.

Hadn't seen that one:
reverse negotiating shtick

 

[SmoovySmoov]

Who the flip didn't know this show was staged? Did you honestly believe they stand there with the cameras rolling and hope people bring Civil War artifacts in off the street? From what I gathered, Rick does a lot of advertising and seeks out people with collections to bring in things they want to sell. I don't know if the negotiation part is totally staged but you gotta figure it's the most popular cable show, the budget for Rick at this point must be a fortune which is why he plunked down almost $100,000 for the Les Paul last week, in fact he should have ponied up $100k.

Is the show entertaining? It is but what you are watching is not real time reality, much of it is set up and people have appointments, there wouldn't be much other way to do the show.

The bolded is not the issue numbnuts

My boys are alive and well thank you very much

Please don't use them.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Who the flip didn't know this show was staged? Did you honestly believe they stand there with the cameras rolling and hope people bring Civil War artifacts in off the street? From what I gathered, Rick does a lot of advertising and seeks out people with collections to bring in things they want to sell. I don't know if the negotiation part is totally staged but you gotta figure it's the most popular cable show, the budget for Rick at this point must be a fortune which is why he plunked down almost $100,000 for the Les Paul last week, in fact he should have ponied up $100k.

Is the show entertaining? It is but what you are watching is not real time reality, much of it is set up and people have appointments, there wouldn't be much other way to do the show.

The bolded is not the issue numbnuts

My boys are alive and well thank you very much

Please don't use them.

"They're out and I'm lovin' every minute of it."

 

[17seconds]

Can we pick a debate topic and have MoP and shadyridr go at it?

Something deeply personal that involves anecdotes from your own life to support the argument.

That would be some good entertainment right there.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Who the flip didn't know this show was staged? Did you honestly believe they stand there with the cameras rolling and hope people bring Civil War artifacts in off the street? From what I gathered, Rick does a lot of advertising and seeks out people with collections to bring in things they want to sell. I don't know if the negotiation part is totally staged but you gotta figure it's the most popular cable show, the budget for Rick at this point must be a fortune which is why he plunked down almost $100,000 for the Les Paul last week, in fact he should have ponied up $100k.

Is the show entertaining? It is but what you are watching is not real time reality, much of it is set up and people have appointments, there wouldn't be much other way to do the show.

there's a difference betweenreal customer: "hey i have this guitar..."

rick: "can you come in wednedsday, the camera's will be here and we'll have you sign waivers and get this on the show"

real customer: "ok"

and

rick: "hey friend who owns a guitar shop, we need a guitar"

guitar shop dude: "ok, i'll send the employee over with one, you give him a fake price and tell him xxxxx and then he'll take it and you bring the guitar back here later."

rick: "sweet, i have another friend who will come in and pretend to take it in trade to get it back to you. Wanna hit the buffet at the Nugget afterward?"

guitar shop dude: "Sure, bring chumlee, i love watching him destroy a buffet..."

Awesome BD, can't disagree, are you saying the 2nd scenario is more likely? I was not under the impression the entire show was a total hoax. It's kind of like Antiques Roadshow for men.

well we have evidence of the second happening at least a few timesit calls the rest into question

I watch it primarily because it comes on right after American Pickers and my wife likes the show so we can watch it together. I knew a bunch of it was for show or TV, didn't know the extent of the hoax until you all made a bigger point of it. I'll still watch but I'll try and ruin it for my wife by pointing out the hoaxes...she'll lose interest in a couple weeks.

 

[Sarnoff]

My dad found some old 1800 era pistols used by the texas rangers in a locked chest he bought at an auction. He is in contact with pawn stars to try and get on the show. I'd love to get some inside info that way.

I don't get why anyone would go to a pawn shop first. Get it appraised, do some research, don't go there as step 1.

I have to hope that the guy with the Mary Ford Les Paul didn't go to Rick right off the bat. I assume he did some research, subtracted the 30% in auction fees, and figured what he got out of the deal was good enough.

 

[OC Zed]

I would rather watch the show and plod along through a lot of boring segments than find out a lot of cool, sensational segments were fake.

I've never seen the show before, but a friend told me last night about an episode with Mary Ford's SG and I was like...huh? A guy took Mary Ford's SG to a pawn shop in Vegas? Doubt it.

that was recent and discussed in thread, if true the guy got ripped off, $90k.

There is a value to be placed on getting cash (quite a bit at that) immediately. And if you factor in what this guy would have had to pay to any auction house, the $90k really wasn't such a bad deal at all.

 

[OC Zed]

Who the flip didn't know this show was staged? Did you honestly believe they stand there with the cameras rolling and hope people bring Civil War artifacts in off the street? From what I gathered, Rick does a lot of advertising and seeks out people with collections to bring in things they want to sell. I don't know if the negotiation part is totally staged but you gotta figure it's the most popular cable show, the budget for Rick at this point must be a fortune which is why he plunked down almost $100,000 for the Les Paul last week, in fact he should have ponied up $100k.

Is the show entertaining? It is but what you are watching is not real time reality, much of it is set up and people have appointments, there wouldn't be much other way to do the show.

there's a difference betweenreal customer: "hey i have this guitar..."

rick: "can you come in wednedsday, the camera's will be here and we'll have you sign waivers and get this on the show"

real customer: "ok"

and

rick: "hey friend who owns a guitar shop, we need a guitar"

guitar shop dude: "ok, i'll send the employee over with one, you give him a fake price and tell him xxxxx and then he'll take it and you bring the guitar back here later."

rick: "sweet, i have another friend who will come in and pretend to take it in trade to get it back to you. Wanna hit the buffet at the Nugget afterward?"

guitar shop dude: "Sure, bring chumlee, i love watching him destroy a buffet..."

We all knew the products were picked and the the staged expert and bartering took place, but at least we thought they were real people with real artifacts. Not actors with "props".

I hope to think that most of the people coming in are at least "real" and some stuff is fake to make "drama" like the lambourghini. I however am a bit down now that the curtain has been pulled back :(

What about the idea that the "fake" scenes are really just reenactments of actual, prior transactions? Seems like a totally plausible notion to me...

 

[shader]

My dad found some old 1800 era pistols used by the texas rangers in a locked chest he bought at an auction. He is in contact with pawn stars to try and get on the show. I'd love to get some inside info that way.

I don't get why anyone would go to a pawn shop first. Get it appraised, do some research, don't go there as step 1.

I have to hope that the guy with the Mary Ford Les Paul didn't go to Rick right off the bat. I assume he did some research, subtracted the 30% in auction fees, and figured what he got out of the deal was good enough.

He has, he just wants to get the exposure of getting it on tv.

 

[chet]

If anyone thought the show wasn't staged, this link should settle the argument.

Not that I think it really matters.

 

[Jojo the circus boy]

If anyone thought the show wasn't staged, this link should settle the argument.

Not that I think it really matters.

I think we knew a lot of the products weren't from people that happened to be in Vegas and brought it into the store but rather set up an appointment.There's a difference between that and hiring actors to bring in products that they do not own and to totally make up the "reality TV" content.

 

[shadyridr]

If anyone thought the show wasn't staged, this link should settle the argument.

Not that I think it really matters.

I think we knew a lot of the products weren't from people that happened to be in Vegas and brought it into the store but rather set up an appointment.There's a difference between that and hiring actors to bring in products that they do not own and to totally make up the "reality TV" content.

Exactly

 

[Sarnoff]

It's not supposed to be different than Antiques Roadshow. In fact, the pitch the network bought when they decided to make the show was "Antiques Roadshow as if it was hosted by the family from American Chopper"

 

[shadyridr]

If anyone thought the show wasn't staged, this link should settle the argument.

Not that I think it really matters.

I think we knew a lot of the products weren't from people that happened to be in Vegas and brought it into the store but rather set up an appointment.There's a difference between that and hiring actors to bring in products that they do not own and to totally make up the "reality TV" content.

Exactly

Sure there is a difference, but we do know that they have had people bring in stuff that they don't own. And in one case they traded an item that the pawn shop didn't even own.Since they are advertising for people to bring stuff in, what makes it that much different than Antique's Roadshow?

Understood. Nobody's disputing that. But chet linking to there own website like he uncovered some big conspiracy was irrelevant to your complaint.

 

[falguy]

Still love the show and actually read Rick's book recently. In the book he discusses why they are rarely seen in the store. According to the book it has to do with the fact that all the main guys are celebrities and people want to take their picture. But, a "pawn" is a a private transaction and for legal reasons can't be shown, or recorded. If Rick is dealing with a person who wants to pawn something and someone takes his picture it's against the law.

This also partly explains why it's almost 100% "I want to sell it" when they do the show.

He also said they come out for pictures at certain times of the day.

Whether this is truth or not, is up to you, but that's the reasoning he provides in the book.

 

[skillz]

Still love the show and actually read Rick's book recently. In the book he discusses why they are rarely seen in the store. According to the book it has to do with the fact that all the main guys are celebrities and people want to take their picture. But, a "pawn" is a a private transaction and for legal reasons can't be shown, or recorded. If Rick is dealing with a person who wants to pawn something and someone takes his picture it's against the law. This also partly explains why it's almost 100% "I want to sell it" when they do the show.He also said they come out for pictures at certain times of the day.Whether this is truth or not, is up to you, but that's the reasoning he provides in the book.

Strange because in the early episodes they showed people pawning items. Maybe they stopped due to legal issues but you'd think History Channel and the pawn shop would have covered that issue before filming. I always just thought people were embarrassed to be pawning an item on TV so they didn't consent to the filming.I take it Sean - the antique arms and armor guy -- isn't on the show any longer. Strange because he was a good guy. Seems like the only experts they have on now are Mark from the museum (he's on like every episode now it seems), Drew the autograph guy, and the guy from Kount's Kustoms.

 

[Ministry of Pain]

Who the flip didn't know this show was staged? Did you honestly believe they stand there with the cameras rolling and hope people bring Civil War artifacts in off the street? From what I gathered, Rick does a lot of advertising and seeks out people with collections to bring in things they want to sell. I don't know if the negotiation part is totally staged but you gotta figure it's the most popular cable show, the budget for Rick at this point must be a fortune which is why he plunked down almost $100,000 for the Les Paul last week, in fact he should have ponied up $100k.

Is the show entertaining? It is but what you are watching is not real time reality, much of it is set up and people have appointments, there wouldn't be much other way to do the show.

there's a difference betweenreal customer: "hey i have this guitar..."

rick: "can you come in wednedsday, the camera's will be here and we'll have you sign waivers and get this on the show"

real customer: "ok"

and

rick: "hey friend who owns a guitar shop, we need a guitar"

guitar shop dude: "ok, i'll send the employee over with one, you give him a fake price and tell him xxxxx and then he'll take it and you bring the guitar back here later."

rick: "sweet, i have another friend who will come in and pretend to take it in trade to get it back to you. Wanna hit the buffet at the Nugget afterward?"

guitar shop dude: "Sure, bring chumlee, i love watching him destroy a buffet..."

Awesome BD, can't disagree, are you saying the 2nd scenario is more likely? I was not under the impression the entire show was a total hoax. It's kind of like Antiques Roadshow for men.

well we have evidence of the second happening at least a few timesit calls the rest into question

I watch it primarily because it comes on right after American Pickers and my wife likes the show so we can watch it together. I knew a bunch of it was for show or TV, didn't know the extent of the hoax until you all made a bigger point of it. I'll still watch but I'll try and ruin it for my wife by pointing out the hoaxes...she'll lose interest in a couple weeks.

Out of the DVR que finally.

 

[LittleLarry]

Still love the show and actually read Rick's book recently. In the book he discusses why they are rarely seen in the store. According to the book it has to do with the fact that all the main guys are celebrities and people want to take their picture. But, a "pawn" is a a private transaction and for legal reasons can't be shown, or recorded. If Rick is dealing with a person who wants to pawn something and someone takes his picture it's against the law. This also partly explains why it's almost 100% "I want to sell it" when they do the show.He also said they come out for pictures at certain times of the day.Whether this is truth or not, is up to you, but that's the reasoning he provides in the book.

Strange because in the early episodes they showed people pawning items.

Yeah I seem to remember a guy pawned his semi for something like $20K. The semi was worth nearly $100K.

 

[Sarnoff]

If anyone thought the show wasn't staged, this link should settle the argument.

Not that I think it really matters.

I think we knew a lot of the products weren't from people that happened to be in Vegas and brought it into the store but rather set up an appointment.There's a difference between that and hiring actors to bring in products that they do not own and to totally make up the "reality TV" content.

Exactly

Sure there is a difference, but we do know that they have had people bring in stuff that they don't own. And in one case they traded an item that the pawn shop didn't even own.Since they are advertising for people to bring stuff in, what makes it that much different than Antique's Roadshow?

Understood. Nobody's disputing that. But chet linking to there own website like he uncovered some big conspiracy was irrelevant to your complaint.

I kinda don't get what people expect a reality show to be. I mean, some people seem to think that it shouldn't be much more than a live feed from a security camera, just capturing whatever happens to happen without any kind of editing or selection of interesting stories or, in the case of Pawn Stars, any kind of effort on the show's part to get interesting things in front of their cameras. Just because there's some effort going into making it interesting doesn't mean the whole thing is a scripted hoax. People scream about reality shows being fake like someone's perpetrating a fraud on the scale of faking the moon landing or the zapruder film or something.

 

[Mile High]

What was the point of the dog and pony show for hiring the new girl? Is she even on?

 

[HughHoney]

What was the point of the dog and pony show for hiring the new girl? Is she even on?

Investigations by some of the super sleuths at Footballguys determined that the entire interview process was not shown to the viewers watching at home, therefore she had to be fired immediately.

 

[belljr]

If anyone thought the show wasn't staged, this link should settle the argument.

Not that I think it really matters.

I think we knew a lot of the products weren't from people that happened to be in Vegas and brought it into the store but rather set up an appointment.There's a difference between that and hiring actors to bring in products that they do not own and to totally make up the "reality TV" content.

Exactly

Sure there is a difference, but we do know that they have had people bring in stuff that they don't own. And in one case they traded an item that the pawn shop didn't even own.Since they are advertising for people to bring stuff in, what makes it that much different than Antique's Roadshow?

Understood. Nobody's disputing that. But chet linking to there own website like he uncovered some big conspiracy was irrelevant to your complaint.

I kinda don't get what people expect a reality show to be. I mean, some people seem to think that it shouldn't be much more than a live feed from a security camera, just capturing whatever happens to happen without any kind of editing or selection of interesting stories or, in the case of Pawn Stars, any kind of effort on the show's part to get interesting things in front of their cameras. Just because there's some effort going into making it interesting doesn't mean the whole thing is a scripted hoax. People scream about reality shows being fake like someone's perpetrating a fraud on the scale of faking the moon landing or the zapruder film or something.

I think everybody is on board with the staging, camera , editing, even advertising for stuff,etc.Just don't hire actors to bring in items from your friends shop.

 

[OC Zed]

Still love the show and actually read Rick's book recently. In the book he discusses why they are rarely seen in the store. According to the book it has to do with the fact that all the main guys are celebrities and people want to take their picture. But, a "pawn" is a a private transaction and for legal reasons can't be shown, or recorded. If Rick is dealing with a person who wants to pawn something and someone takes his picture it's against the law. This also partly explains why it's almost 100% "I want to sell it" when they do the show.He also said they come out for pictures at certain times of the day.Whether this is truth or not, is up to you, but that's the reasoning he provides in the book.

Strange because in the early episodes they showed people pawning items. Maybe they stopped due to legal issues but you'd think History Channel and the pawn shop would have covered that issue before filming. I always just thought people were embarrassed to be pawning an item on TV so they didn't consent to the filming.

The sale or pawn of items would both be considered a legal transaction. And this is why the TV camera never follows them "while they do the paperwork." But Rick, Old Man and Big Hoss would still have this problem inside the store when the TV cameras aren't because customers could be photographing them (at least based on Rick's account as conveyed above).I suspect why we never see pawns on the show is because (i) most people who have rare or interesting items that would be TV-worthy aren't looking for a loan, and (ii) the valuation isn't really ever an issue because someone pawning an item may often not want to get a loan for the full value because they'll be charged interest on that amount (hence, less need for experts to come in for the appraisals).

 

[shadyridr]

But we have seen some pawns on the show

 

[Jojo the circus boy]

Rick really tried to fleece the guy with the Houdini jacket for $25k. I'm glad the guy selling it did not take the offer. You have to think when they get these "specialists" to give a price on an item, the retail price is already discounted and then Rick of course discounts it from there. I put specialists in "quotes", not to belittle their expertise, but because of their bias which is often pretty obvious. On this episode while they were Rick was negotiating, Corey pulled a pretty strong move to end the negotiations IMO by extending his hand to thank the guy for coming when he rejected Rick's top offer of $25k which probably cost them a lot of money. Even if Rick came all the way up to the "specialist's" quote of $40k it would still be a steal.

Looks like the item was not sold on Ebay for $150k but I wouldn't be surprised if he got the $100k he was originally looking for.

 

[KGB]

Rick really tried to fleece the guy with the Houdini jacket for $25k. I'm glad the guy selling it did not take the offer. You have to think when they get these "specialists" to give a price on an item, the retail price is already discounted and then Rick of course discounts it from there. I put specialists in "quotes", not to belittle their expertise, but because of their bias which is often pretty obvious. On this episode while they were Rick was negotiating, Corey pulled a pretty strong move to end the negotiations IMO by extending his hand to thank the guy for coming when he rejected Rick's top offer of $25k which probably cost them a lot of money. Even if Rick came all the way up to the "specialist's" quote of $40k it would still be a steal.

Looks like the item was not sold on Ebay for $150k but I wouldn't be surprised if he got the $100k he was originally looking for.

In addition, three months ago we were invited to be on an episode of Pawn Stars

 

[Raider Nation]

Rick asks every customer "Okay, what did you want to do with this?"

Not once have I heard a customer say "I want to pawn it." As a matter of fact, I don't even think they pawn anything anymore.

 

[GoFishTN]

Rick asks every customer "Okay, what did you want to do with this?"Not once have I heard a customer say "I want to pawn it." As a matter of fact, I don't even think they pawn anything anymore.

I have seen episodes where people pawn stuff instead of selling it, but this has been discussed multiple times. Most people that pawn items don't want to be seen on TV.

 

[Raider Nation]

Rick asks every customer "Okay, what did you want to do with this?"Not once have I heard a customer say "I want to pawn it." As a matter of fact, I don't even think they pawn anything anymore.

I have seen episodes where people pawn stuff instead of selling it, but this has been discussed multiple times. Most people that pawn items don't want to be seen on TV.

I'm sure it's been discussed (not gonna go thru 8 pages), but it's barely a pawn shop anymore. 3/4 of the store is T-shirts capitalizing off the show, and Rick is only around when they are filming.