I haven't frequented a pawn shop in a while, but I read some post a minute ago that referenced a pawn shop having copies of some DVDs. I guess it makes sense - I've seen VHS at some of them, why not DVDs?

Just wanted to get a sense of what others are seeing (or not seeing) before I start hunting around in pawn shops for bargains.....

Some people have posted finding awesome deals in pawn shops, but I've had no luck. Any that I've gone into is one of three things: No DVDs, DVDs that look like they've been run over a few times by the garbage truck, or decent DVDs at MSRP or higher.

I've seen a couple of DVDs in pawn shops, but they were very common titles at high prices.

-Videophile

Same here. Usually all they have is crap.

I've bought many used DVDs from various places, but I've had no luck in a couple of pawn shops that I checked. I have no plans on checking pawn shops in our city again.

I've seen a few DVDs at a lot of pawn shops. They all sold them for around 10.00, but the titles weren't too great.

Guess I was one of the lucky ones. About two years ago I was able to acquire copies of the Killer and Salo Criterions in different pawn shops in Indianapolis and Bloomington within a two month span. Got em for around 25 bucks apiece.

I found a copy of Criterion Salo on laserdisc awhile back at a pawnshop, for only seven bucks! Traded it for a handful of DVDs. I've picked up many DVDs and LDs at pawnshops, just check em out, can't hurt to look.

Some pawnshops are a great source for DVDs. Others are not. It's very common in the Northwest to find pawnshops selling all titles at the same price (usually $9.99 or $10.99) regardless of their quality/desirability.

The key is to find one or two near you and pay a quick visit to them regulary--once or twice a week.

The way pawnshops work is that they sell items that customers have received loans for but have never returned to pay off the loan. The pawnshop gains ownership and can sell the items after a certain amount of time (usually 90 days).

What that means is, potentially every day new titles will appear on the shelf. The best titles will be sold quickly, thus the need to make frequent visits.

If the pawnshop is picky about their merchandise they will only give loans on DVDs in good shape.

I've bought about a dozen DVDs from pawnshops in the last 3 months. All in perfect (used) condition for less than $10.00 each. Some of the titles are: To Kill a Mockingbird, The Last Metro, Hannibal, Deer Hunter, Cider House Rules, and The Exorcist.

Pawnshops are definitely worth visiting if you're trying to build your collection.

Some people seem to have great luck, but not me. But then I probably don't go to enough places often enough.

Usually nothing worth owning, and if something is decent the price is usually too high. Or maybe I'm too picky.

I've had varying luck with pawn shops. My hesitation is always a fear that I may be buying someone's stolen stuff. I was in one shop that was tiny, dirty, and cluttered. The owner was nice enough, but I reeked of cigarettes after being in there for only 3 or 4 minutes. I couldn't get myself to buy any titles there, even though they were only $8.00.

On the other hand, a much nicer, better organized place I went into had "Lawrence of Arabia" for $15.00, so I bought it. I had to sign 2 or 3 papers about the merchandise, and they're very careful to photograph everyone who comes into get rid of things. I felt much more comfortable buying things there.

Is that so they can come to your house and steal it all back later?

Seriously, though, I can't believe they made you fill out forms to buy stuff. That is really peculiar. I went to almost all the pawnshops around me after hearing of the incredible finds some people were claiming and in the few that actually had DVDs, all I found were wrestling videos and action movies all priced at $15.00. The funny thing is, they had them so far behind the counter, you would have thought they were made of solid gold. I could have got to the guns, cameras, and jewelry much more easily than the DVDs.

DVDs don't kill people, guns kill people. makes sense why they'd stash the DVDs away (well, not really)

I've gotten one or two good dvd's from pawn shops, but most of the time the selection seems so bad.

Seems the only reason "Killer" or "Salo" could end up in a pawn shop is because some punk stole it. The original owner, even if he fell on hard times would be aware of the value and would sell it accordingly. If you can handle the karma of profitting on what is most likely someone else's crime, I guess there's nothing wrong with it. But I've never seen good deals on DVDs in pawn shops myself, and I feel so "dirty" after going in one that I don't want to frequent them.

I'd like to be able to say "when my apartment was robbed, they stole all my VHS tapes and that's why i got into DVD" but they didn't actually steal any of the VHS tapes. but they did steal the VCR, computer, 300 CDs, jewelry, a 120 year old violin... etc etc and we subsequently got a DVD player.

even though the insurance covered our loss, at least on paper, it would be hard for me to go into a pawn shop and look for a bargain. they caught the couple who robbed our apartment and tried to track down our stuff (and the stuff of about 30 other apartments they had robbed), but the trail went a bit stale because they had various people sell everything to pawn shops over about 10 states.

Edit: if you're looking for insurance of any kind, however... state farm can't be beat :>