Pawn shops can get screwed sometimes, too. Was looking at a Bose speaker setup once a local pawn shop had playing music through. Asked how much and was told not for sale as they weren't real Bose speakers just the box was real Bose, the internals were some other no-name stuff. Said they took in on pawn believing to be real Bose, too.
I've actually made a few pretty good buys on firearms from pawn shops back in pre-internet days -- Ruger in 25/06 with 12X Leupold and TC Renegade in .54 cal package deal for as I recall around $350 - $400 total out the door -- Early Savage 1899 in 250/3000 for a little over $400.
Literally mind-blowing how much never redeemed / unsold items established pawn shops can have warehoused for years which amounts to many, many dollars tied up for no telling how long.
Don't know if annual inventory tax applies to pawnshops the same as it does for regular retail businesses, but if it does, there's that..
