Peter Kozysa aka Craigslist hunter runs a resale shop in Crystal Lake, IL and films himself wheeling and dealing with customers. His videos remind me a more realistic Pawn Stars, as you see a lot more of what people actually bring into pawn shops/resale shops: electronics, hunting gear, power tools, musical instruments, man cave items, and common collectibles. Unlike Pawn Stars, which is 100% staged, I believe the transactions here are real. That’s just the impression I get, however. I honestly have no proof one way or the other.
One thing I am curious about is if you can just film customers like this in your store and post it to Youtube without permission or if you have to get permission from each customer. I mean, he posts videos of scammers, so I would think they wouldn’t give consent. Maybe if you have a sign posted that filming is in progress it covers you? Or maybe Illinois law is just covers anything filmed in public?
Anyway, Paul isn’t running a pawn shop, as he doesn’t give out loans. Instead he buys, sells, and trades. The items people bring into him are very similar to what a pawn shop gets though, although the prices he pays seem way more fair than what you would get at most pawn shops.
He tries to buy at around 50% of what he thinks he can sell items for, which is similar to what the guys on Pawn Stars do. Unlike Pawn Stars, which is fantasy, in the real world there are no experts to call to authenticate items and tell you values. You have to check Ebay or other online markets to see what similar items sold for in the recent past. You also have to be on the lookout for scams and counterfeit items.
Personally, I think paying 50% of retail is a bit too generous and most pawn shops won’t pay that much except on items that are very high in demand. Overhead in retail is huge and you’re lucky to break even after adding overhead into a 50% profit margin. I personally pay about 10% to 50% of what I think I can sell items for, depending on how long it will take me to sell them. If I have to hold them for years, it’s going to be a no purchase or 10% purchase. If I can sell them within a couple weeks, I’ll pay more. Storing items is also expensive.
Getting back to the videos, Paul and his employees seem like standup guys, although they obviously aren’t going to post videos that make themselves look bad. They seem to know their stuff, at least for items they deal in regularly, but still make mistakes like when Paul bought a counterfeit Hank Aaron baseball card. The videos are entertaining as you get to see the normal things stores like this deal with, such as scammers, people that just want too much for their items, people that don’t seem to care what price they get, and people that want to drive a hard bargain and love to haggle.
One bonus to these videos is that Paul’s fluffy kitty, Honey, pops up in almost every video, as well as his parrot. Personally, I want to make the four hour drive to his shop just to meet Honey, as she seems like such a sweet little floofer.
Check out his videos for yourself here.
