HOCK TALK
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INTERVIEW BY MAXI MEISSNER
PHOTOS BY ABEL MINNEE
We were disappointed when the pawnshop we visited in Amsterdam wasn’t some seedy box in the red-light district with a mean old coot slouching behind his desk and patting the shotgun on his lap. Instead it consisted of a neatly tiled room with a long glass counter. It looked like a high-security investment firm. The place is called the Stadsbank van Lening, and it is run by the government. We cornered the manager, Rob Larsen, and bugged him about his job for a few minutes.
Vice: Let’s talk jewelry.
Rob Larsen: Well, 90 percent of what we take in is jewelry, but we also take in electronics and tools that retain their value for a longer time.
How much do you usually pay out?
On average, each customer turns in about $500 worth of goods.
Is there anything you are turning down?
Computers and laptops—they age too soon and lose value way too quickly. We’d also be breaking some privacy laws by reselling computers that contain personal information. We mostly take in jewelry, but besides that we pawn a lot of iPods, cameras, and musical instruments—mostly guitars.
What’s the weirdest thing anyone’s ever brought in?
People bring weird stuff all the time: used frying pans, baby carriages, ghetto blasters with cockroaches crawling out of them, really expensive watches. One time, a man tried to get rid of a dick ring.
What’d it look like?
It had the diameter of my pinkie finger and was quite heavy. A big fat guy tried to hock it.
Have you noticed more diverse groups of people selling their shit since the financial sector overdosed on lies?
No, not really. Our annual income has grown slightly, by about 10 percent. The only difference is that it takes longer for people to reclaim their stuff.
What percentage of people actually retrieve their goods?
About 93 percent of the stuff people hock gets bought back again.
Besides leather daddies with Prince Alberts, what other types of customers come here?
We get them from all walks of life, although we have some regular customers—sex addicts—who come here once a month when they need money to get laid. |
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INTERVIEW BY ULRIKE GRABLER
PHOTOS COURTESY OF DOROTHEUM
Everybody’s sad when Grandma dies. But it’s easier to mourn if she was sweet enough to bequeath you her gem collection in the middle of a cash crunch. If you live in Vienna, you take these heirlooms and you run straight to the Dorotheum, a famous pawnshop where people wear ties and act like they are at Sotheby’s. There the manager, Mr. Wedening, will happily pay cash in hand for everything Gran was stupid enough to entrust to you.
Vice: Are more people pawning these days?
Mr. Wedenig: No, it’s the opposite. More people come to buy! We’re pretty much sold out of everything.
You’re having inventory issues now?
Yes, especially our gold coins. People know they won’t lose investing in gold. They buy our reserves to secure the value of their estates. They are hoarding gold instead of money, which is decreasing in value.
Are most of your loans short-term?
Taking credit in the form of pawn is something some of our customers do when they’re confronted with a temporary shortage. I like to think of pawning as “credit for optimists.”
What is usually pawned?
More than 90 percent of it is jewelry. Everyone’s got their great-aunt’s ring or some kind of family treasure. The stuff stays with us for a maximum of three months with six weeks of grace. Then we auction the things off or simply sell them.
Are people humiliated when they come in?
Some say they’ve come for someone else, and others admit that the situation is really embarrassing.
Any scabby junkies dropping by?
Hardly ever. People who come to this place have something to offer. The junkies usually don’t.
How much does something have to be worth for you to consider buying it?
It has to be worth at least $45 to me. I’d say the average payout is about $400. Upward, there’s no limit. Someone recently brought in an extraordinarily valuable painting worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Have you ever had anyone try to sell a person? An annoying wife, maybe?
Well, someone once tried to pawn his horse. Occasionally someone will ask if he can pawn his wife, but I suppose those inquiries are not serious. |
CONTINUED:
A PAWNSHOP IN... New York | Mexico City & Brussels | Amsterdam & Vienna | Paris & Milan | Berlin & São Paulo | Helsinki & Barcelona | Melbourne & Tokyo | Vancouver & Aukland | Stockholm & London |
See all articles by this contributor Anonymous, on Jul 6, 2009 wrote:
what is going on with people trying to pawn horses | | Anonymous, on Jul 6, 2009 wrote:
amsterdam turns down laptops?? that is like the number one pawned thing! that and ipods (all stolen, of course) | |
| enstigator, on Jul 2, 2009 wrote:
amsterdam would have to be the best place to run a pawnshop. all the late night crazies and pot tourist that run out of money have to have some crazy shit they try to hock. | |
| joe bananas, on Jul 2, 2009 wrote:
how is it in vienna that they have sold everything? is it that people are hit by the recession but not as badly, so instead of spending in the more expensive shops they try to get deals down the hock shop? | | Anonymous, on Jul 2, 2009 wrote:
i wonder if the amsterdam shop ever gets people trying to hock their bongs? im sure that there must be some incredible ones over there. | |
| donaghy, on Jul 2, 2009 wrote:
i thought the kind of people that were into sitars weren’t the kind into needing money. they seem more like they’d meditate until the hard times passed them over. i guess everyone needs drug money. | | Anonymous, on Jun 30, 2009 wrote:
I always imagined pawnshop owners to be dumb people that didn’t have any issues with taking advantage of others’ troubles but now I realize there is a lot of work involved and more importantly, you really need to have some appraisal skills.
For instance, how did he know the painting was valuable? Everyone coming in is going to try to say their stuff is really valuable but you have to really know your shit to make sure you don’t get conned. | | Anonymous, on Jun 22, 2009 wrote:
if you are an open for suggestions type shopper pawn shops are the way to go. if you’re looking for something specific don’t worry about going. it’s a smorgasborg of sorrow. | | Anonymous, on Jun 22, 2009 wrote:
why are you gonna lie to the pawn shop guy? like he hasn’t seen a million people worse off than you are. don’t try to trick the man. he knows the drill. | | Anonymous, on Jun 22, 2009 wrote:
i didn’t know you could find sitars at pawn shops. i thought it was all squier stratocasters and crate amps. my opinion on pawn shops has escalated exponentially. | | |
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