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Finding the Best So Cal Pawn Shops (A Guide)

Finding the Best So Cal Pawn Shops (A Guide)

by | Aug 16, 2022 | Blog

You need to find a pawn shop in Southern California, but where do you even start? If you’re not familiar with pawn shops in the slightest, it can feel hopeless trying to find a place that won’t rip you off by taking advantage of your lack of knowledge. Rather than biting the bullet and walking into just any store, learn what to look out for when choosing the right pawn shop to take your business.

Understanding How Pawn Shops Work

The first step in finding a decent pawn shop is knowing how they operate so you have a point of reference. If a place seems to fall out of line in accordance with proper store procedures, that’s your cue to walk out and keep looking.

The Pawning and Selling Process

Whether you’re aiming to pawn or sell your item, it should be properly appraised at the shop. This involves a close examination, sometimes weighing the material, and giving you a detailed reason behind their pricing. The broker should be able to tell you exactly what makes up the item in your possession and why it’s worth the price they’re offering you.

When pawning your item for a collateral loan, a legitimate broker will have no issues listing every minute detail regarding the terms of the loan so there are no misunderstandings after the transaction. A detailed loan agreement should have the following:

  • Loan period
  • Loan amount
  • Annual percentage rate (APR)
  • Total interest to be paid

If a pawn broker refuses to acknowledge any of these details, it should be taken as a red flag since there’s something that they seem to be hiding, like an ulterior motive that’ll work against you later.

How to Check the Value of Your Item

Before taking your item to a pawn shop, it is helpful to have a general idea of what your item is worth before you go to the store. That way if a broker tries to short you, you have a baseline to negotiate from. Going in blind is what shady salespeople count on to maximize their profits so doing some rough research will prevent you from being a victim.

A couple examples to go about your research involves looking up current prices and trends. If you’re wanting to get rid of some gold, there are live spot prices that you can check beforehand. For other collectibles and antiques, some pawn shops update their online inventory so you can compare the pricing of what you have to what they’re already selling.

Looking for a Reputable Pawn Shop

Now that you understand how pawn shops operate and know how to prepare yourself before you go, there are certain things to look out for in order to judge whether a shop is good or not. Are they legitimate? Are they fair? How is their process?

Confirm The Shop’s Legitimacy

A few ways to check a pawn shop’s legitimacy is to ask for their licensing and certification, find out how long they’ve been in the area, and look at existing reviews to use past customer experiences to gauge the service beforehand.

  1. Licensing and certification. An honest pawn shop will proudly show you their validity in operating in accordance with state and federal laws, rules, and guidelines so you can feel safe and at ease. One of the organizations that a good pawn shop will follow is the California Pawnbrokers Association.
  2. Amount of time at a single location. A reputable pawn shop will have been at the same establishment for the course of many years, whereas unsuccessful businesses will be gone in a matter of months as a result of poor or illegitimate practices.
  3. Number of positive reviews. In this day and age, perhaps the easiest way to decide whether or not a business is worth visiting is by glancing at their online reviews. Even though some businesses hire ghost writers to say great things about them, it’s difficult (and costly) to fake a larger number of reviews such as in the hundreds or thousands.

Are They Treating You Fairly?

By using your own researched pricing estimate, you can easily test the fairness of a business by seeing how far off their offer is from your existing knowledge. If what the broker offers is far below what you’ve seen online, chances are they weren’t looking to play fair from the beginning. If they continue to be stubborn after you open negotiations with your own offer, then you’re better off saving yourself time by moving on to the next place. If you would turn down a restaurant or retail store for poor service, then why wouldn’t you do the same for a pawn shop?

Take the Simple Route

Skilled pawn brokers have gone through the process enough times to handle each transaction with swiftness and confidence. Although you should still be careful about who you do business with, a typical transaction should have you in and out of the shop in a matter of minutes with minimal hassle. If a shop overcomplicates their steps and tries to keep you in the store longer than you need to, it could be a sign that they have something else up their sleeve.

The Best Pawn Shop in the Inland Empire

If you don’t want to risk getting swindled and want to skip the search for a decent pawn shop, your safest bet is Central Mega Pawn. Being in So Cal for over ten years and with over a thousand positive online reviews, Central Mega Pawn is the most reliable pawn shop for all of your needs. Sell or pawn your items for maximum cash and purchase from a wide and unique selection for the lowest prices!

Central Mega Pawn is open seven days a week for your convenience! Visit any time at 11031 South Central Avenue in Ontario, California or call (909) 627-9622 with any questions you may have. You’re guaranteed to love the clean, friendly atmosphere the moment you walk into the store!

Do Pawn Shops In Chino Hills Buy and Sell Designer Watches Like Patek Philippe?

Do Pawn Shops In Chino Hills Buy and Sell Designer Watches Like Patek Philippe?

by | Aug 2, 2022 | Blog

Patek Philippe is such an exclusive brand that’s sought after by those who appreciate its beauty and craftsmanship. But where can you hope to find a place that deals Patek Philippe in Chino Hills? Whether you’re looking to buy or sell, there are some tips and tricks to getting the best prices with trustworthy service.

The Prestige of Patek Philippe

Every designer watch brand has a principle, vision, or style that they proudly stick by. Their unique characteristic is what made them famous and earned them their recognition. However, Patek Philippe is in a class of its own with much more distinct features than meets the eye.

Attention to Detail

Patek Philippe is all about the amount of delicate work behind their intricate movements and incredible designs. Because quality is a major priority with the brand, it can take anywhere from nine months to a couple years to craft a single watch. It takes their skilled engineers roughly four to six years to design just the movements, let alone fit it into a complete watch. When you wear a Patek Philippe, you know you’re in possession of something special.

A Rare Brand

The amount of time it takes to create a watch is already enough of a reason for this brand to be considered rare on any market. However, their limited production also plays into the brand’s overall rarity. According to Forbes, Patek Philippe produces around 50,000 watches a year which is miniscule in comparison to other designer watch brands like Rolex that push out around 700,000 a year. Considering all of these factors, being able to own a Patek Philippe watch is quite an impressive feat in the grand scale of things which makes it a fantastic investment piece.

The Heart of Patek Philippe

When designing a new watch, The Manufacture keeps the brand’s vision in the forefront of their minds in order to effectively project the heart of Patek Philippe into each and every piece. No matter how new or recent the watch is, you can bet that the pattern will reflect the company’s roots.

“The last independent, family-owned Genevan manufacture.”
– Patek Philippe

The brand stays true to its ten core values in everything that they do to ensure that their emotions are conveyed through their art.

  1. Independence
  2. Tradition
  3. Innovation
  4. Quality and fine workmanship
  5. Rarity
  6. Value
  7. Aesthetics
  8. Service
  9. Emotion
  10. Heritage

With as much soul, effort, and intent that goes into every watch, it’s no wonder that Patek Philippe made one of the top ten best selling watch brands of 2021!

Dealing at a Pawn Shop

Considering what makes a Patek Philippe watch so unique and special, it’s no surprise that a brand new one straight from the retailer can run anywhere from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. How can you even hope to afford such an impressive item when it costs as much as a car or a house? In times like this, you can look to the accessibility of pawn shops. There are amazing pawn shops that serve Chino Hills if you know where to look.

Buying Patek Philippe

Because everything you see at a pawn shop is technically used, you can find what you’re looking for at a much lower price. A good pawn shop with skilled and experienced jewelry appraisers are able to identify and fix any flaws with any items that they acquire. With proper quality control, any pre-owned watch that you decide to purchase will typically look and feel almost brand new!

The trick to finding a near-perfect item at a pawn shop is to go to a place that has staff that’s qualified to deal in designer watches by being knowledgeable of the product in order to give accurate appraisals and a fair price. If you want to test an appraiser’s expertise, you can ask them about any of these parts on a watch:

  • Bezel
  • Pusher
  • Crown
  • Crystal
  • Hand
  • Case
  • Dial
  • Subdial
  • Hour marker
  • Lug

Anyone who knows anything about watches will be able to tell you what each of these components are, what they do, and the condition of that part on the watch being appraised.

Selling Patek Philippe

If you already own a Patek Philippe watch, you can make a significant profit from it. Even if you’re looking to use it as a collateral loan, it could give you enough allowance to use as a hefty down payment for a vehicle or your next home. There are a few easy things you can do to up the value by a small percentage, and every little bit counts!

The first thing you should do is to thoroughly clean it so it appears shiny and close to new. It’s a fairly simple process and requires little to no tools or materials. If you’re still hanging onto the original packaging or any extra pieces or accessories that came with it, those will also come in handy.

Cleaning Your Watch
Wipe it down with a damp and soapy cloth
Remove the band and use a soft toothbrush to get into the small crevices
Use a safe leather cleaner for leather bands

Finding the right buyer also makes a big difference in how much you end up getting for your watch. By taking it to a trusted pawn shop where the brokers are experts in appraising jewelry, you’re more likely to get a fair price. On the contrary, posting a listing online is guaranteed to get you the worst deal because online shoppers naturally want the best deal for themselves with no regard to the seller.

The Best Pawn Shop in Chino Hills

Central Mega Pawn is the most reputable pawn shop in Chino Hills for handling designer watches and jewelry. The seasoned appraisers are guaranteed to give you a fair price whether you’re looking to buy or sell a Patek Philippe watch with over ten years of serving customers in the area and satisfied results. If you have any questions regarding Patek Philippe watches, you can call (909) 627-9622 or check the frequently-updating online inventory.