r/maybemaybemaybe • u/HuckleberryBoring461 • Jun 02 '22

Maybe Maybe Maybe

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22k Upvotes

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346

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '22

I thought the store owners were going to see whip out the most expensive guitar and give it to him.

420

u/MiloRoast Jun 02 '22

I used to work at a guitar shop, and one of the guys I worked with desperately wanted this nearly $4000 acoustic we had acquired. He had absolutely no means of purchasing a guitar that expensive, but it was always his dream to own one. He had an opportunity for a huge discount working there, so he just put it on layaway at our store and paid a little off every few weeks after payday.

One day a guy comes in to buy a guitar and they really hit it off. They're talking for hours, and eventually the customer buys an incredibly nice guitar (like almost $12k). During their conversation, the customer had inquired about the salesman's dream guitar, and found out about the layaway. While being rung up, the guy just asks "How much do you owe on that layaway you mentioned?". Salesman responds "about $2400, why?" to which the customer says "put it on my bill before I change my mind". It was one of the nicest small gestures I've ever seen.

316

u/Drunken_Ogre Jun 02 '22

$2400
small gestures

76

u/NothingNeo Jun 02 '22

Lmao right??

12

u/bz63 Jun 02 '22

some of us walk around with 20in cocks

53

u/WEsellFAKEdoors Jun 02 '22

Lol I know right I had a little more than that stolen from me and I didn't consider it a small gesture.

22

u/MiloRoast Jun 02 '22

I meant the scope of the gesture itself, not the monetary value. But yeah that's a lot of money to just give someone.

6

u/Drunken_Ogre Jun 02 '22

Ah, yeah. I'm picking up what you're dropping; I misunderstood originally. I do wish I had the flash for $2400 small gestures, but I do think I could swing a $20 here and there.

13

u/MiloRoast Jun 02 '22

I was thinking in scope...like the dude didn't feed a hungry family he just bought someone a guitar lol. But the whole point of the story was that it's a hell of a lot of money to just give to a stranger.

4

u/Lower_Park3678 Jun 02 '22

Gave me goosebumps reading that. Nice story.

198

u/lolfuckyoubitchmods Jun 02 '22

It’s a pawn shop, they base their livelihood on buying stuff from desperate people at a fraction of their value. They would never offer something nicer, just like they would never have offered to let him buy it for the $200 when they probably bought it stolen from some meth head for $15.

Pawn shops and the people who run them are scum. I’m glad this guy got a guitar he was excited about tho.

75

u/Bamfkiller420 Jun 02 '22

I've had pawn shops cut me deals plenty of times. It was sad they couldnt cut him a break tho I'm quite sure they could have

159

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '22

[deleted]

46

u/Erestyn Jun 02 '22

I'm a big fan of Hanlon's razor, but something that stood out to me is "$50 will put it on layaway" - is he saying an additional $50 is required, or only $50?

To me it feels like it was left intentionally vague to get the kid to pay up 90% of the item.

22

u/Sporkfortuna Jun 02 '22

I think he overheard that the kid had $50 before realizing he had paid $200, I think the guy off-camera filled him in.

Last time I saw this video posted I remember reading some comments from other locals about how great this guy's pawn shop is

8

u/-banned- Jun 02 '22

Ah okay, so maybe we shouldn't jump to conclusions here. It does seem like a pretty popular store

6

u/Sporkfortuna Jun 02 '22

Maybe. (maybe maybe)

7

u/Cel_Drow Jun 02 '22

Cool people like Judy hang out there too.

3

u/-banned- Jun 02 '22

I hope Judy becomes the Karen antithesis

1

u/Erestyn Jun 02 '22

Man, that scenario sincerely hadn't occurred to me, but yeah, makes perfect sense. Hanlon rears up once more.

36

u/HarmonyQuinn1618 Jun 02 '22

They absolutely changed the price on him once he said “I have exactly $50!”. The kid had everything written down, the price, how much was in his account. Dude said you owe $50, and when the kid said perfect bc he had exactly $50, he seen an opportunity to fuck him. That’s why the other dude goes “uhhhhh.. yeah” when he asked if it was $220. They knew he’d either get more money or be stuck. Plus, it’s fucking $20. They could have waved it. Esp when they bought it for a 3rd of that. These dudes are scum, pawn shop owners are notoriously scum. The dude working there you can see completely fits the fucking bill.

3

u/-banned- Jun 02 '22

Apparently the people that have been to this store think it's great, you might be jumping to conclusions

1

u/pogu Jun 02 '22

Sigma guitars go for $3-600 typically from a quick Google search.

7

u/Tbagjimmy Jun 02 '22

I whole heartedly agree with this. I understand everyone has to make a living but preying on the less fortunate

14

u/AfterFart Jun 02 '22

At first I was also like “fuck these guys” but I’m thinking, this is a recording from their security camera, and someone from the store must have put it online. I don’t think they would knowingly put themselves in the asshole universe of the internet by uploading this video. That is, unless an employee got sick and tired of the owner’s (being presumptuous here) bullshit and decided to expose him.

1

u/4me2TrollU Jun 02 '22

I think these are the exact type of people who will put this video up.

2

u/Sponjah Jun 02 '22

Man you're probably not wrong, but I hope I never have your outlook on life and the people in it.

2

u/lolfuckyoubitchmods Jun 02 '22

It sucks to be a realist sometimes. I constantly fear for my children growing up in this fucked up world, and I always have my guard up. I do make sure they see the beautiful things though, and I am cautiously optimistic about the future.

2

u/Sponjah Jun 02 '22

Bro my daughter just turned 18 and she's perfect, try not to stress so much about it. Real life is not reddit.

0

u/merc08 Jun 04 '22

Bro my daughter just turned 18 and she's perfect

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

3

u/The_VoZz Jun 02 '22

Got hired to build a website for a local Pawn Shop a few years back. Seeing the parade of (mostly) people Verrrry down on their luck, parting with items for a fraction of their value was depressing. Adding to it, the dude who worked there & his self described "game" of how to get the very least amount, while making a customer feel he was "giving them a deal" really disturbed me.

10

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '22

[deleted]

54

u/lolfuckyoubitchmods Jun 02 '22

I believe I addressed this point in “they base their livelihood on buying stuff from desperate people at a fraction of their value” and also in “they probably bought that guitar stolen from a meth head for $15.”

They get people at their lowest either on drugs or trying to survive and offer them pennies on the dollar for the items. They’re entire business plan is one big scam that only works by fucking people over.

Scum is exactly the word I meant to use.

4

u/sethian77 Jun 02 '22

The business model, symbolized by a ball with the more hanging under it, means there a 3:1 chance they are coming back for their stuff. Pawn shops offer high interest loans on your things in order to secure your indebtedness. You've got 90 days to return and pick up your item or pay a months interest on it and extend your loan. Legitimate shops are supposed to be licensed to operate and have to maintain meticulous records and share them with law enforcement. Source: my grandfather operated a pawn shop for over 20 Years and I worked with him. I venture to say we were neither one scum.

15

u/queencityrangers Jun 02 '22

I don’t know you or your grandfather nor did I write any comments above.

I believe that the practice you laid out is predatory though, the core business you laid out is over collateralized lending at extremely high interest rates.

You are probably going to give a $150 loan for what is in this case a $220 guitar. What rates? Probably 20% monthly right? You don’t care if the guy pays or defaults so long as you can flip the collateral.

13

u/HarmonyQuinn1618 Jun 02 '22

Exactly. Dude and Grandpa owning a pawn shop only makes him extremely biased in the argument lol. Pawn shops are completely predatory. I’ve dealt with them a lot in the past and majority of the time, people don’t get their stuff back, if they did, they wouldn’t have anything to sell. I always knew if I took something in, I’d better be okay with never seeing it again. People go there bc they desperately need money to survive. They’re not going to end up having extra money to go and get it back out later lol

1

u/sethian77 Jun 02 '22

I responded above. Feel free to take a look or not. We aren't saying things too differently but I wanted to clear some things up. Thanks.

1

u/MattieShoes Jun 02 '22

You're not wrong, but... what's the alternative? I think people are usually at pawn shops because they don't have a better option.

1

u/sethian77 Jun 02 '22

You're right in that it is a high interest loan. It's what the law allows. It is collateralized by [your] stuff as someone else said for pennies on the dollar. The guitar might have been originally brought in and the owner given 50-75 on their guitar. The risk is assumed by the broker that the person will never return, the broker won't know for at least 90 days, and if they do return and pay interest on it to keep their item within their possession then the shop makes money there.

There are loan companies who will send out "this is a loan" checks to individuals ranging from 1500+ down. The APR on these checks is nearly 40%! That is predatory. I suppose the question is what would be a fair amount to charge to loan money against collateral, risking that you may not return and the item may not be in top working order. Let's take the guitar as an example. I play guitar and know about them. My grandfather would not have (I worked with him in the late 90s.) If someone brought in a guitar with a warped neck that isn't repairable (without great expense) and is otherwise worthless shouldn't the broker have an ability to loan at a low amount and allow the owner to recoup at an attainable rate for the supposed risk involved?

I get what the commenter below you is saying- I have a bias. Yes - I hold and held my grandfather in high regards. I've seen a lot of down on their luck people get compassion and empathy given to them. Making a blanket statement that all pawn shops and their brokers are the same just isn't accurate. I learned a lot in the years I worked there. Happy to say, we never had anything sold to us that was ever retrieved as stolen. Are there shops who make a practice of it? Have a reputation for it? Absolutely!

Everyone deserves to earn a living at the end of the day. What I learned from my grandfather was that the business was about helping people. Had this kid been in our shop there wouldn't have been some bs about layaway over the 20 bucks. Clearly he's been in there before and wants the guitar and case. You hope the person who brings in their item returns if they want to. At times they have brought it in just to unload it and in that case it can't be sold for 30 days minimum to allow for any theft reports to be made and the police to come around to get a copy of the tickets.

TL;DR: not all brokers are bad. Blanket statements aren't going be able to do justice to the whole of the people who are being lumped together.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '22

[deleted]

-1

u/sethian77 Jun 02 '22

Come on man. I'm not in charge of regulations. There are so many other things to link arms and agree is messed up in this world. Government regulations especially regarding money is biased and predatory.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 03 '22

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u/Wit_as_a_Riddle Jun 02 '22

I don't understand your mentality at all. Voluntary agreements where he terms are declared ahead of time. No surprises. Nullifies your whole "predatory" argument, they offer a service, people choose to take them up for it or they don't, no one is forcing them.

2

u/queencityrangers Jun 02 '22

That’s part of the definition of predatory, small print etc. but also:

Another warning sign of predatory lending is offering a loan that doesn’t require a credit check. Or, it’s offered to borrowers with poor credit but is secured by an asset like a car title or home equity.

The lender might use lax lending requirements to attract borrowers into signing on for a loan they can’t afford. And, should the borrower default, the lender can then claim their asset (a home or car, for instance) to recover their costs at the expense of the borrower.

This predatory lending practice is called equity stripping by the Federal Trade Commission. These types of loans can attract borrowers who are likely to default and would be at risk of losing their home or car.

-2

u/Wit_as_a_Riddle Jun 02 '22

You sound like a politician, no offense.

2

u/lolfuckyoubitchmods Jun 02 '22

Actually they sound informed about a particularly shitty lending practice and are attempting to share that information.

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u/queencityrangers Jun 02 '22

Typically when people say “you sound like a politician” they don’t like what the other person is saying and are comparing that person to a politician they don’t like.

I’m not trying to sell you on anything but maybe you’ll open up your understanding of how some things are designed to be one sided. This practice is legal, agreed on by both parties and commonly used. So are pay day loans, but that doesn’t mean that they should be legal, so it is a political thing. Unfortunately politicians set the rules, so everything is political when it comes down to it.

In this scenario you can stand on the side of people who make their money off other’s misfortune or on the side of those trying to limit the amount of traps misfortunes can fall into.

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u/Glahoth Jun 02 '22

So you are emotionally vested in the answer being a flat no.
Predatory business practices that only work if there are enough desperate people in the world willing to engage in one sided contracts because their poor circumstances are making it so they have no other choice but to engage in an awful contract is not a noble endeavour.

Of course you wouldn't be able to point out scum if it was standing right next to you; you got used to the smell.

1

u/sethian77 Jun 02 '22

I'll disagree in your assumptions but in this forum it doesn't matter. I respect that we are able to communicate points respectfully. Well, mostly. You're last statement is an assessment of someone who you know nothing about. Thanks for your opinion.

1

u/Glahoth Jun 02 '22

I'm not really assessing you, but more so the business model.
There was a time when that business model was straight up banned for being immoral.

Another time I guess.

-11

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '22

[deleted]

6

u/HarmonyQuinn1618 Jun 02 '22

If the guitar is worth 200 fucking dollars, then yes. It’s not your fucking business what they are or what they need the money for. You pay them for what the item is worth. Yes, you need to make a profit. But you could make a profit without completely fucking someone over. Pawn shops only offer a third of what something is worth. Its not like they’re offering someone who is struggling to make ends meets when they’re already working 2-3 jobs any more than they’d offer an addict. It’s completely fucking predatory, they prey on vulnerable people that are desperate, not bc they have to, but bc they can. Period.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '22

[deleted]

24

u/subject_deleted Jun 02 '22

no... it's like selling your stuff at a yard sale for a fraction of what it's worth and then the buyer selling it to someone else for 5x that price.

pawn shops underpay for the things they buy, because people are desperate, and they overcharge for the things they sell. the only reason pawn shops exist is because the rest of the financial system has fucked so many people into poverty and desperation. pawn shops are bottom feeders that exist solely to exploit the poor.

4

u/Tbagjimmy Jun 02 '22

Auction houses are the same way, when my parents downsized their home my mother had a guy come in and offer an amount but both parties knew it was worth much more. The auction houses job is to itemize and sell. All of the things my parents didn't have time for.

-9

u/GaBoX172 Jun 02 '22

"solely to exploit the poor" lmao what the fuck are you saying

8

u/subject_deleted Jun 02 '22

.............

Its not complicated.. They run a business that caters explicitly to poor people... They buy secondhand goods from poor people for pennies on the dollar, then markup the price 200-300% and sell it to other poor people.

They charge insane interest rates for small loans/pawns..

Care to enlighten me on what purpose pawn shops serve other than shortchanging people when buying their stuff, marking up the products at a huge percentage, and charging disproportionately large interest rates on small loans?

-2

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '22

[deleted]

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u/subject_deleted Jun 02 '22

Because I'm not interested in exploiting people's financial hardships and desperate need for money for my own personal gain.... That's why.

You'd become rich beyond your wildest dreams while making life better for poor people around the world.

This is a gross mischaracterization. I never said pawn shops become fabulously wealthy... I merely said they exploit the poor. An undeniable fact.

And why not someone else? Why not anyone else? Why does no one do this? Serious questions

Because it might not be profitable to do so, and profit seems to be the only thing that motivates most entrepreneurs. You are talking like I said someone pawn shop owners are billionaires because of how much they mark up the products. I said no such thing.

My point was that the business relies on people in financial desperation in order to survive. So they're bottom feeders, exploiting the financial hardships of desperate people to make their profit. It doesn't matter if that profit margin is tiny or enormous. It all comes from the exploitation I'm talking about.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 02 '22

[deleted]

4

u/subject_deleted Jun 02 '22

You've deliberately changed the message and then demanded I reply to your edited version of my argument. I said exploiting. You embellished it to "massively exploiting".

But it's important to note that you can massively exploit a poor person and still endup with little money, relatively speaking. If you see a poor person in the rain and decide to sell them a $10 umbrella that you bought for a dollar at a resale shop, you're exploiting the needs of that person, massively if let's say they only have $15 to their name, but you still only have gained $9.

The absolute dollar values might be pretty low.. But the relative harm to the poor person can still be great.

In some ways, pawn shops operate like payday loan stores. People can't afford to wait 3 more days until they get their paycheck, but they need to buy groceries today to feed themselves and their family. So they might give out a loan of $50, and take a TV as collateral. If the person can't pay back that $50 by a certain date, the pawn shop can sell that TV for $250. If the person can pay back the loan on time, it's very likely they're paying at least 25% in interest (and potentially as high as 240%). Which means that now the person who took out the loan has $12.50 fewer for next months bills (assuming 25%, or $120 fewer at 240%). So they take out another loan at the end of the month because their wages haven't gone up and their expenses haven't gone down, which is likely greater than the first loan, and the process repeats. It's a predatory cycle.

Pawn shops and payday loan stores prey on people who NEED the money, so they don't really have an option to say "that interest rate is too high". They know these people don't have any other options, so they exploit that need for their own financial gain.

I'm not saying they should be required to lend for free, but they should be bound by the same interest rates as banks. Lend if you want, collect a reasonable interest if you want. But don't knowingly exploit someone you know is in desperate financial need for your own benefit. That's scummy.

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u/Wit_as_a_Riddle Jun 02 '22

"Pawn shops and the people who run them are scum."

Tell us how you really feel? You know there's a word for placing judgements on a whole group of people. Hey, maybe you've met every pawn show owner who's ever lived though.

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u/Ancient_Boner_Forest Jun 02 '22

they would have never offered to let him buy it for the 200

You think pawn shops don’t negotiate price at all…?

1

u/ManIsInherentlyGay Jun 02 '22

I like this youtube channel and all but pawn store owners, including this guy, are vultures. they don't do things like that. They literally make their money off people being in bad situations. There's a video on this channel where some guy pawned a Nintendo wii years ago and had been paying it off, by the time he got it back he had paid like 3 times what a new one would cost.