Am I missing something?

[Harry O]

A hockshop nearby has had a 9mm Ruger revolver (made 20 or 25 years ago) in its display case for several years. I figured that was because it is priced over $2,000. I went into a different hockshop this weekend and saw two S&W 9mm revolvers. One was priced $2,200 and the other one $2,500.

Are they really worth that much? If so, why? From memory, they were offered a short time and did not sell, so were dropped from production rather quickly.

[pworley1]

There are 96 ruger 9mm revolvers on gunbroker and the highest bid is 485. I don't know why they would be priced so high.

[bhn22]

S&W 547s are pretty high, but even so, $2000.00 seems excessive. We have a local shop like that. No negotiating, and everything is high. The owner (seriously) is terribly wealthy, and now only wants the "thrill of the kill". If he can't make a killing on it, he'll keep it.

[bedbugbilly]

Pawnshops = buy low - sell high

As you point out - it's been in the display case "several years" - there's a reason for that - an unrealistic price

I've never had much luck with pawn shops - I'm willing to pay a "fair price" but not an "outlandish" price for what I'm looking for. I have no idea where some of them come up with their prices but it sure isn't what "current market prices" are - I've run into to this many times - not only guns but violins as well (which I used to collect and play).

I used to hit the pawn shops once in a while where we are in the SW - I never had any luck and most handguns were priced waaaaaay above value. I guess if you're a "gang banger" and are "legal enough" to purchase - you don't care what you pay for a hand gun?

[w5pv]

The only reason I go to pawn shops is to look for things that have been stolen from me.

[Tackleberry41]

I have never had much luck in pawn shops. They generally don't seem to understand you can't charge full retail for used merchandise. I guess the business plan is to make alot on the few items they do sell then to move more inventory at a more reasonable price. Guess they get by, taking things in on pawn, for very low prices, then sell it later.

I went looking a while back for some tools, my dad liked to go to pawn shops first. But $10 less for a sander than I can just walk into Lowes and buy is not a good deal, they didn't even bother to clean it. Was looking at a guitar, wondering why a used low end instrument would be priced higher than I could do a few clicks and have a new one with a warranty on it for. And I have yet to see a muzzle loader being offered that wasn't full of rust, really can't at least put a few moments effort into it to try to sell it?

[Petrol & Powder]

I've found some good deals in pawn shops but rarely on firearms. Sometimes you can find tools that are lightly used for considerably less than new but it is absolutely critical that you know the value of the item so that you can make an informed decision. Smartphones are a big help in that department. I will not buy a used tool for a few dollars less than a new one but I will buy one for 50% less than an overpriced new one. Some pawn shops are better than others at buying items. If they buy too high the advantage is gone. Craigslist is making a huge dent in pawnshop profits; some shops are learning and are competitive some are not changing with the times and going out of business.
As for stolen property, most pawn shops work very closely with the police. Electronic pawn shop data bases, requirements for photo id, cameras that record the seller and often their vehicle and mandatory storage time before the items are offered for sale; make pawning stolen property very risky for criminals. If you're the victim of a theft, make a timely report of the theft and you can accurately describe the stolen property; the best thing that can happen is for the thief to pawn your items.

[rintinglen]

The 9mm Ruger Service Sixes were made only for a few years and in small numbers, hence the desirability of such guns. IIRC, they came along shortly before the demise of the Security Six line of revolvers and were not hits. People who wanted revolvers wanted .357's while those who wanted 9mm wanted Wondernines, automatics with lots of cartridges on tap. Ruger halted the Security Six production in favor of the GP 100, and the 9mm variants fell victim to the march of progress.
By the by, I don't know what Gunbroker was visited that resulted in the 96 number count. I found only 4 when I searched Ruger 9mm Revolver, all current production LCR plastic uglies.