The Cellar - View Single Post

Undertoad · 02-26-2013, 07:03 PM

As PTSD sets in, the beginning of the day becomes no fun. I wonder what shit will be thrown at me next.

This time it starts with the first phone call of the day. A woman asks if we take leather. I say no, that's not something the pawn shop deals with. She says, slowly and deliberately, sarcastically, in her bitchiest of old croney voices, "That's - not - what - your - advertisement - says !"

I say sorry, and hang up.

Except for the website, the shop does not do advertising of any kind.

~

At the end of the day a guy comes in with a tablet. What you need to know: the low-end market has been flooded with cheap 7" Android tablets. They suuuuck. The touchscreens are shitty, the plastic cases are flimsy, the displays are horrible. We call them "Shenzhen specials" -- because that's where they're all made, then sold at shitty dollar stores for low prices and people get suckered into buying them.

This guy has one of those, and we notice that this model has sold for under $50 on eBay. We have to wait 90 days to sell it, so we are probably not going to even get that. It's a risk. So we might buy it for $10, but not a dollar more, and it would be the least interesting deal of the day.

This reluctant offer freezes the guy. He's in some weird position now where he really REALLY wants to sell it, but claims to have bought it at $150 days earlier, and is trying to piece together how his situation has come to this. Is the pawn shop trying to rip him off? I try to explain how the risk comes into it for us, but it seems beyond his level of intelligence. Did he get ripped off when he bought it? Partly yes, and maybe he bought it on the street or from a person rather than a store.

"Can't I get 20 for it?" "It's not worth that to us." "Aw man can't I just get 15?" "Look, if I thought I could turn around and sell this for 50 I would be an idiot not to offer you 15. But I'm not offering you 15. That should tell you something about what it's worth."

We continue this retard dance of questions, befuddled reasoning, and "It is what it is" that goes on for 30 minutes. I do not exaggerate. It involves mostly me, but also Alan, who figures he should tag team me for a while so I get some relief. I should say that the guy made a five minute phone call to a friend, in the middle of this, trying vainly to understand it all and figure out what to do.

By the end of it, the guy seems to believe us when we say we are not in the business of ripping him off. But he still can't understand it all and doesn't know what to do. He morosely leaves the shop with his shit tablet, and we all high five that the guy has finally left us. We speculate on maybe just never buying in any Shenzhens if the people just don't understand that they are worth nothing.

But fifteen minutes later, and ten minutes before closing, THE GUY COMES BACK IN... and starts annoying us further with retard logic. Finally I point out that we are closing and what does he want to do? He wants to sell it. And we buy it. Ten bucks, deal done.

02-26-2013, 07:03 PM	#552
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	As PTSD sets in, the beginning of the day becomes no fun. I wonder what shit will be thrown at me next. This time it starts with the first phone call of the day. A woman asks if we take leather. I say no, that's not something the pawn shop deals with. She says, slowly and deliberately, sarcastically, in her bitchiest of old croney voices, "That's - not - what - your - advertisement - says !" I say sorry, and hang up. Except for the website, the shop does not do advertising of any kind. ~ At the end of the day a guy comes in with a tablet. What you need to know: the low-end market has been flooded with cheap 7" Android tablets. They suuuuck. The touchscreens are shitty, the plastic cases are flimsy, the displays are horrible. We call them "Shenzhen specials" -- because that's where they're all made, then sold at shitty dollar stores for low prices and people get suckered into buying them. This guy has one of those, and we notice that this model has sold for under $50 on eBay. We have to wait 90 days to sell it, so we are probably not going to even get that. It's a risk. So we might buy it for $10, but not a dollar more, and it would be the least interesting deal of the day. This reluctant offer freezes the guy. He's in some weird position now where he really REALLY wants to sell it, but claims to have bought it at $150 days earlier, and is trying to piece together how his situation has come to this. Is the pawn shop trying to rip him off? I try to explain how the risk comes into it for us, but it seems beyond his level of intelligence. Did he get ripped off when he bought it? Partly yes, and maybe he bought it on the street or from a person rather than a store. "Can't I get 20 for it?" "It's not worth that to us." "Aw man can't I just get 15?" "Look, if I thought I could turn around and sell this for 50 I would be an idiot not to offer you 15. But I'm not offering you 15. That should tell you something about what it's worth." We continue this retard dance of questions, befuddled reasoning, and "It is what it is" that goes on for 30 minutes. I do not exaggerate. It involves mostly me, but also Alan, who figures he should tag team me for a while so I get some relief. I should say that the guy made a five minute phone call to a friend, in the middle of this, trying vainly to understand it all and figure out what to do. By the end of it, the guy seems to believe us when we say we are not in the business of ripping him off. But he still can't understand it all and doesn't know what to do. He morosely leaves the shop with his shit tablet, and we all high five that the guy has finally left us. We speculate on maybe just never buying in any Shenzhens if the people just don't understand that they are worth nothing. But fifteen minutes later, and ten minutes before closing, THE GUY COMES BACK IN... and starts annoying us further with retard logic. Finally I point out that we are closing and what does he want to do? He wants to sell it. And we buy it. Ten bucks, deal done.