Could this be a scam?
January 12, 2016 2:09 PM Subscribe
Found a used guitar on Craigslist for a good price, contacted owner, he states it is now at a pawnshop for a significantly larger price but that he will sell me his pawn ticket for a middle price.
Is this a thing?
Sounds like a scam. Unless he goes to the pawn shop with you before money changes hands, how do you know the ticket is real?
posted by ottereroticist at 2:13 PM on January 12, 2016 [19 favorites]
posted by ottereroticist at 2:13 PM on January 12, 2016 [19 favorites]
The pawn shop already gave him money for his guitar. If he sells you the pawn ticket, you will be paying for the pawn ticket AND paying the pawn shop back (possibly plus interest) in order to get the guitar -- IF the guy is actually the holder of a legitimate pawn ticket, and IF the pawn shop allows transfers.
Pawning an item is basically a loan from the pawn shop. Is he trying to sell you the right to pay back his loan?
posted by erst at 2:14 PM on January 12, 2016 [27 favorites]
Pawning an item is basically a loan from the pawn shop. Is he trying to sell you the right to pay back his loan?
posted by erst at 2:14 PM on January 12, 2016 [27 favorites]
Anybody who pulls this kind of bait and switch nonsense on craigslist is either 1) up to no good or 2) a complete fucking idiot. You don't want to get involved with either of them because that way lies only pain.
posted by phunniemee at 2:15 PM on January 12, 2016 [43 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 2:15 PM on January 12, 2016 [43 favorites]
I don't know if it's a known scam, but my inner street-smart New Yorker is thinking that a pawn ticket is not a guitar.
If you want to buy a guitar that is currently in a pawn shop, go to a pawn shop and buy a guitar. They are usually not very expensive and are a better deal than buying a new guitar from a musical instrument shop.
If you're looking for a deal so good that it's cheaper than what you would otherwise get for a secondhand guitar (which are usually fairly inexpensive already), this might be a case of "you can't cheat an honest man". Some deals are just too good to be true.
I'm also failing to understand why a person would pawn their guitar and then sell the ticket rather than just selling their guitar.
posted by Sara C. at 2:15 PM on January 12, 2016 [6 favorites]
If you want to buy a guitar that is currently in a pawn shop, go to a pawn shop and buy a guitar. They are usually not very expensive and are a better deal than buying a new guitar from a musical instrument shop.
If you're looking for a deal so good that it's cheaper than what you would otherwise get for a secondhand guitar (which are usually fairly inexpensive already), this might be a case of "you can't cheat an honest man". Some deals are just too good to be true.
I'm also failing to understand why a person would pawn their guitar and then sell the ticket rather than just selling their guitar.
posted by Sara C. at 2:15 PM on January 12, 2016 [6 favorites]
Response by poster: Yup, comments are in line with my feeling, I'll go check it out in store.
posted by Cosine at 2:22 PM on January 12, 2016
posted by Cosine at 2:22 PM on January 12, 2016
Sounds like you're on the right track here, but I just want to echo that any time anyone on craigslist proposes anything other than a "you give me cash I give you [$thing]" transaction, I walk immediately.
posted by craven_morhead at 2:42 PM on January 12, 2016 [12 favorites]
posted by craven_morhead at 2:42 PM on January 12, 2016 [12 favorites]
There are so many good used guitars available these days, you probably have no idea. If you know what you want, poke around a bit on the following sites and see if you can find a similar guitar on any of them. I have purchased gear from each and have found each to be trustworthy.
I am a bit of a gear hound, and I can tell you from hanging out on and participating in several gear forums (link is to my favorite, but there are many good ones), the current market for used gear is very much a buyer's market, especially post-Christmas. You can visit the above link if you want to see what prices actual guitarists are asking other guitarists for various real used guitars (and used amps, and used pedals, speakers, etc.), or you could check out Reverb.com (the most prominent guitar-related used gear site that isn't eBay or CL), guitarcenter.com's used gear, or musicgoround.com, for "street" prices.
Good luck, and happy hunting!
posted by mosk at 2:54 PM on January 12, 2016 [7 favorites]
I am a bit of a gear hound, and I can tell you from hanging out on and participating in several gear forums (link is to my favorite, but there are many good ones), the current market for used gear is very much a buyer's market, especially post-Christmas. You can visit the above link if you want to see what prices actual guitarists are asking other guitarists for various real used guitars (and used amps, and used pedals, speakers, etc.), or you could check out Reverb.com (the most prominent guitar-related used gear site that isn't eBay or CL), guitarcenter.com's used gear, or musicgoround.com, for "street" prices.
Good luck, and happy hunting!
posted by mosk at 2:54 PM on January 12, 2016 [7 favorites]
If the guitar is already actually for sale at the pawn shop it means he's defaulted on the loan and his pawn ticket doesn't mean anything, at least I think that's how pawn shops work. They lend you money and keep it in the back as long as you keep the loan current or you pay them and they give it back. If it's for sale, then it belongs to the pawn shop, not the guy on Craigslist.
posted by Grumpy old geek at 3:09 PM on January 12, 2016 [11 favorites]
posted by Grumpy old geek at 3:09 PM on January 12, 2016 [11 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Carillon at 2:10 PM on January 12, 2016 [5 favorites]