I’d offer him $600, and tell him that he could do better selling it on a gun auction site. Now tell me where I’m wrong. And try to keep in mind that Pawn Stars is a TV show, and every transaction is arranged in advance. This all started with one throwaway remark I made suggesting that a pawn shop would be the last place I would try to sell a valuable firearm (or anything else), and the TV pawn shop on “Pawn Stars” would be the last pawn shop I would ever sell anything in. You seem to consider yourself an expert on Colt SAAs, I am not. I own 3, none of them older that the mid-70’s, a Cowboy, a 3rd Gen SAA, and a 2nd Gen New Frontier, the latter 2 NIB. The only gun I own made before 1900 is a Swiss Verletti rifle. My personal interests run toward WW1-WW2 military-type guns, but not being rich, I will never own a gun worth more than the $3500 I paid for my Ohio Ord. BAR. I have a CMP M1D that may be worth that someday, but I get nervous paying that kind of money for a gun.
And don’t ask me to pretend I’m Rick Harrison, I can’t do that. I can pretend to be a gun dealer, since I’ve worked for a couple of them in the past, but pawn shops prey on the desperate and stupid, even TV pawn shops.
And you tell me you are in BUSINESS? You are going to send your customer away? You are insane. Every person coming to you to sell you merchandise to keep your doors open could sell their items on eBay if they wanted to take the time to do it. You are delusional.
But your starting offer at the high end of where you should wind up shows you do not know how to bargain or negotiate. Donald Trump would eat your lunch. You've left yourself no bargain room to come up and if you do, no room for you to turn a profit. You've from shot yourself in the foot right from the beginning of the negotiation.
Frankly, Rick Harrison would wind up at between $500 to $700 on that firearm after negotiating with the seller and both would be happy with the transaction. . . but he certainly would not "cheat" the owner. He might even suggest trying to sell it privately if they could not come to an amicable agreement.
However, there are pitfalls and traps in doing so, including getting your firearm stolen, the payment turning out to be fraudulent (It happens about 10% to 30% of the time where there is no escrow system in place), and people have even been assaulted when trying to make the transaction. . . and you open yourself up to online scammers.
You are wrong if you think that "every transaction is arranged in advance" because YOU do not know what you are talking about. Many of these transactions are from people who came there just walking in the door to sell their items and were selected to be featured on the program. . . and were brought back for the filming.
If you need money RIGHT NOW, an auction house is the LAST PLACE you would put your firearm to sell and get money. The typical turn around for you to receive your money is several MONTHS to a YEAR LATER. The auction house schedules these auctions months in advance, prepares a catalog, advertises the auction, then has to HOLD ON TO THE MERCHANDISE you provide them for a minimum of 30 days before they can even start to put it in a catalog to assure it is not stolen. Remember this was my business for many years!
Pawn shops are the last resort of people who have no credit and no other place to turn to when they desperately need quick cash. Their other option are loan sharks who charge exorbitant rates on signature or handshake loans and break your legs if you don't pay up. At a pawn shop you can turn household goods into quick emergency cash like no other place.