Posted by bloke on February 26, 2004 at 21:48:27:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Stolen Mirafones posted by pawn shop.. on February 26, 2004 at 20:41:35:
I can imagine that there is a way to run one of these businesses honestly, but maybe only through a great deal of ignorance of - or lack of interest in - details.
A pawn shop clerk doesn't "know" that stuff is stolen, but:
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- Why would a carpenter suddenly pawn all of his tools?
- Why would someone who has no idea how to play a tuba be the rightful owner of a professional model, and be willing to let it go for a few hundred dollars? (Pawn shops all have extensive encyclopedias of merchandise and its value.)
etc., etc...
...and what about the stuff that isn't stolen from strangers, but rather from members of the same household? No charges are ever pressed, but harm IS done, and drugs/lottery tickets/liquor/(whatever) are purchased just the same.
Yeah, some of us can brag about instruments that were purchased at 1/7th of their value from others who purchased them at 1/21st of their value at a pawn shop, but that means that someone SOLD it (or collateralized it) at a pawn shop for 1/50th of its value...
...and the legitimate original $1000 purchaser of an instrument would be interested in using it as collateral for a $20 loan??
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bloke "who believes that if he suddenly found his home to be in the middle of a triangle defined by a liquor store, a highway underpass, and a pawn shop, it would be time to move"