Bargaining and Power in “Pawn Stars”
Pawn Stars is a popular television show that depicts transactions that are performed in a Las Vegas pawnshop. In this show, the pawnshop owners purchase items from potential sellers who often enter the pawnshop with valuable items. Pawn Stars shows many exchanges, which involve the negotiation of a mutually agreeable price. In a typical transaction, the seller’s strategy is to offer a higher price than the value that they want for the item, but not high enough to be considered unreasonable. This is a dominant strategy because the seller knows that the buyer will counter-offer a lower price. The dominant strategy for the buyer (pawnshop owner) is to offer a lower price than what they value the item as, so that they can later make a profit off of the item. The buyer knows that the seller most likely will not accept his counter-offer, so he will offer a lower price. A back and forth negotiation continues until a mutually agreeable price is reached and the transaction is completed.
So, now we are well-versed in how a typical negotiation scenario occurs on the show. Knowing this, what are some strategies that will help the seller participate in a transaction that results in a desired outcome? Here are a few negotiation tactics that the pawnshop owners themselves mention in Stark’s article.
When selling an item to a pawnshop owner, one important tactic is to research the desired price range of the item being sold. Doing research and gaining background information on the antique item being sold is beneficial to the seller. This avoids the seller from accepting an offer to purchase the item at an unreasonably low price. Thus, the seller may increase their chance of receiving their true value for the item within a reasonable range.
Another important tactic for a seller is to negotiate the price of the item. On Pawn Stars, the seller often is at a disadvantage because the seller usually offers the price first. In this case, the pawnshop owner gains an advantage. Therefore, to decrease the chances of accepting an undesirable offer, the seller should be willing to negotiate. Also, the seller should know that if the pawn shop owner is not willing to offer a reasonable price, then they should not complete the transaction since they are not obtaining their preferred value.
By following these tactics, one will be able to negotiate their way to obtain a desired outcome on Pawn Stars.
Source: http://www.peterstark.com/6-negotiation-lessons-from-pawn-stars/