By the way, Ozzy, What you said you'd do would have been unethical in an employee. Had you been working in my gun shop and told a customer who wanted us to buy his gun to try and sell it on a gun auction site instead of accepting our offer, I would have fired YOU as soon as I heard that. That is taking the money out of your employer's pocket.
You make an honest offer. Explain it is a wholesale offer and that you will be selling it for more. If he wants to put it on consignment with you, you can make that arrangement for a different amount, but you never send him elsewhere. That is under mining your employer's business. It is OK to tell him to try and sell it himself, but NOT to tell him where.
If the customer mentions another option such as the auction, you are free to discuss the pros and cons of such an option, but you are not to suggest it as an option. That is unethical to your employer.
No small business is in the business of turning customers to other places to do business. . . unless the item is not something they do not do business with. None.
And I told you before that pawn shops do not "prey on the weak and stupid'. They are the last refuge of people who have no other resources to get quick cash. It's a safety net. Where does someone go when they cannot go anywhere else to get what they need? Banks require collateral. Check cashing and quick loan places require the borrower to have a job to garnishee or bank checking account to write a post-dated check on.
Where does the guy go when all he needs is a couple hundred dollars to tide him over until he can get a job? He pawns something, some jewelry, tools, a bicycle, etc. paying a reasonable interest rate set by the state, for a set period of time, and he can redeem his property by paying back the money plus the interest. If he pays neither, he cedes his ownership to the pawn shop to sell. He usually, depending on the state, can extend the period of pawn by paying a small fee. The average pawn is for less than one month and for less than $150. Statistics show that over 85% of all items pawned are redeemed by their owners.
It also might surprise you to learn that wealthy people use Pawn Shops as an inexpensive place to store very valuable items when they go on vacation. Furs, Firearms, etc. can be pawned cheaper than they can be stored in secure vaults. High end pawn shops are far more secure and the low pawn rates are lower than the insurance and storage rates at the secure vaults and the high end pawn shops have secure vaults for high end pawn items. So these wealthy people merely pawn these high end items before the take off, and redeem them when they return!
In California the pawn loan rates set by the legislature range from 3% up to 9% for 3 months plus a small per month storage charge, also set by the state, that increases according to the size of the item. If you need to borrow money, your other option is a signature loan where the rates are 29%. Good luck on that, Ozzy.
Wow. Even as I was typing, you became an even bigger gasbag. And how dare you even posit that I would ever work for a blathering tool like you. Your egomania was amusing, but I’m tired of it now. I know you’ll make another speech, because know-it-all gasbags like you always have to think they got the last word, but I won’t be reading it. Save your lectures on how to cheat customers for somebody else.