Happy to report...

[Zumanity]

Hi guys and gals, just thought i'd let you know about a purchase a few months back of a Unimig 140amp inverter machine from a pawn broker. What a fantastic little unit! Great arc starting, dc tigs wonderfully (although i dont...Yet!) weighs in at around 7 kilos has a shoulder carry strap (the missus calls it my handbag welder) picked it up for 190 with both leads and retail at gasweld for 350. great find i think. IMO pawnbrokers and the like are great places to pickup welding bargains as they seem to have only a general idea of value/cost of machines etc and the ability to bargain the price is a good thing. Anyone else have any stories of great pawnbroker deals?

[KBs PensNmore]

Every time I go into Crime (Cash) Converters, they ask near new prices for crap. Wanting $490 for a s/h compressor picked up a NEW one $399
same size and make.
Kryn

[Karl Robbers]

I used to love second hand shops/pawn brokers, but refuse to even walk in to cash converters or the other private second hand shop we now have in Launceston, for exactly the same reason as you Kryn, they just rip you off unmercifully on both ends of the deal, both selling and buying.
Seems like you got a fair bargain with your UNIMIG 140 Zumanity.

[BobL]

I think you need persistence and luck to get good deals in pawn shops. My brother got a number of good deals on power tools in various pawn shops in the 90s and even though I was just as persistent I had none of his luck. The same thing happened with guitars. There is a pawn shop near a Bunnys that I often visit and occasionally I stop by for a butchers in the pawn ship but I can't remember the last time I actually purchased something in there anything with a bargain price seems to be on its last legs.

[Marc]

I must disagree. I shopped for decades in Cash Convertors and scored so many bargains I lost count.
Sure there is a mountain of rubbish, but you must know your stuff. Write down the model, ring up a tool shop and find out the replacement price. Anything less than half price is OK anything over is not. Take all your powertools to someone who can service them without ripping you off. If the cost of the service is excessive, return it.

[Burnsy]

I am an avid pawn shop sticky beaker and have scored a heap of good gear over the years, $799 Dewalt jack hammer unused with toolmart price tag still on it for $400 from memory, couldn't say no, my little makita circular saw, again unused for $60 and a heap of other bits and bobs along the way. My Dawn 8 inch wood vice came from a cash city for a steal as well. I always counter offer at Cash Converters and they usually agree.

You do need to be persistant and have a bit of luck though as prices are retail in may instances but you stumble across others that don't make sense. My latest was a 125mm dawn engineers vice for $50 that was sitting next to another that had a repair in it's casting that was $89 - go figure?

[Karl Robbers]

Glad that the other cash converters stores are more realistic than the ones down here. I too work on the 50% rule. Unfortunately they seem to think that 80% is more to their liking.
The best bargains I have seen of late have been on Gumtree.

[Marc]

My latest score at CC is a Fein 50Q listed new for $2600 in perfect nick yet lacking case, and coolant container for $300. A $2000 self leveling builders laser level for $250. Cost me $100 to service and the lab that did it offered me the original case for $40. A perfectly good acoustic mini piano for around hmm can't really remember but was cheap and even in relatively good tune. I bought my and my wife's bicycle at CC for a quarter of the price new. One, a Scott top of the range had been sold by the local ABC shop not 2 years ago (I took it there to check out) for $1500. I paid $400. I bought well over 10 different air nail guns, framers, coil, C, T, D, you name it, all top brands Senco, Hitachi, Duo Fast, Bostitch all for a fraction of their price new and all in good nick requiring sometimes a repair kit other nothing at all. I bought a full size brick saw on a stand with a petrol Honda motor for the price of 2 new blades (yet it had a half worn blade on it) etc etc.

I wouldn't buy a cordless tool from them nor a Paslode gas gun.

Having said all that, I must say that I tried to buy something from the smaller pawn shops that are all around here and their stock is very limited and absolute rubbish for ridiculous prices and their attitude towards the customer wanting to buy is appalling. Go figure!

CC is a franchise and the stock and attitude and pricing is directly related to the area they operate in. I bought most of my stuff from two of the mayor stores in Sydney. Some of the stores are better at buying and some are better at selling so sometimes they get loads of stuff from out their area. Keep an eye out bargains are plentiful.

[Tom Strange]

I was in the market for a small welder recently & had kept a keen eye out on gumtree as well as the local 2nd hand shops for a while. I realised that I wasn't comfortable spending a few hundred on something that was going to be difficult to test before buying. In the end I went to Camerons Welding in Ballarat & picked up a Unimig 130 MMA/Tig Inverter for $199. The peace of mind came with the 3yr warranty & a bonus 6 months after registering.