If you’re still thinking that anything that’s a part of reality TV is real, then you’ve likely been watching it for too long without being aware that it’s been debunked as being ‘real’ quite a while ago. Pawn Stars, one of the top reality shows, has been on the air for a while and has made some seriously big transactions. But the problem with this is that they’re all staged since one can imagine that having a camera in the place during business hours would not only drive away a lot of business, but it might upset a lot of people as well since there are plenty of folks that don’t want to be on camera when they’re trying to pawn something. The fact is that everything that’s going on during the show is as staged as it can be since the regular customers are kicked out and the star customer that has the ‘big item’ to pawn is coached well before the episode, and the dialogue if you couldn’t tell, is canned and pretty cheesy. But there’s one thing that a lot of people might not know about the show that’s pretty interesting since it leans heavily into the legal side of things. The police actually have to be notified during a transaction. It’s likely that this notification is brushed off or filed away most likely for various items that don’t really warrant their attention, but high-priced items and very specific items might pop up on their radar if there have been thefts in the area.
The guys have to take down the appearance of the seller, a description of the item, and after paying money for it they have to hope that whatever the item was isn’t missing from someone’s private residence. Working with the police keeps the guys from going to jail since they’re not in the business of peddling stolen goods, but it’s hard to know what’s stolen, what’s inherited, and what belongs to one person or another. Working with the police in this manner allows them to keep from getting in trouble, but it doesn’t get them the money back apparently since it sounds as though this is the price of doing business. That’s kind of a downer to think that they might lose thousands of dollars simply because someone brought them merchandise that turned out to be stolen, they bought it and then reported it at the same time, only to get the shaft since they can’t get their money back. Seriously, that sounds like a messed-up deal for anyone to have to endure. But it does beat going to jail for peddling stolen items since that can carry a prison sentence if the crime is serious enough.
Pawnshops are usually subjected to several stiff rules that are to be abided by if they want to keep their operation running since the sad fact is that a lot of criminals do tend to use pawn shops as a way to unload anything they’ve stolen to get a few bucks in their pocket. The thing is that pawnshop owners and employees have to be particularly skilled in trying to find out just where an item came from, what it’s worth, and even ask why the person is getting rid of it. There are a few different tricks to trip up a thief that many people who work in pawnshops tend to know since there are very simple questions that can be asked. If a person stutters and stumbles about when it comes to the item it’s fair to say that they don’t know much about it, but that’s one a one hundred percent guarantee that they stole it since for all the employees know the person could have inherited something they didn’t understand, or found it in a junk sale and thought it might be worth a few bucks. But anything that might be a high-priced item, or is vaguely suspicious, needs to be checked out. For instance, a person bringing in a power washer might not appear to be suspect, but if they have no idea how it works, or where the ON switch even is, then it’s something that needs to be checked out. If someone brings in an antique that could be worth quite a bit, but they know nothing about it, then the item needs to be checked out. Heck, if the person appears strung out or in any nervous or anxious, depending on the item it might need to be checked out.
There are a lot of ways to determine if a person is on the level or not when it comes to pawn shops, but the fact is that each and every time the guys make a transaction they need to alert the cops, especially if it’s something big or highly suspicious, or both.
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