Where pawn shops look up prices, and what they should check first
There is no single website pawn shops use to determine value. A counter checks several places, and the one that matters most is not public: the shop’s own record of what the same thing sold for. Here is each source and what it is good for.
The short answer
FirstCash, the largest U.S. pawn operator, describes the order of work in its annual report: its point-of-sale system recalls recent selling prices of similar merchandise in its own stores, and it also looks at metal spot prices, catalogs, blue books, online marketplaces and auction sites.
| Source | What it shows | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| The shop’s own sales history | What your customers paid for the same item, and how many days it took | Everything you have sold before |
| eBay Product Research (Terapeak) | Up to three years of eBay sold prices, with average sold price and sell-through | Tools, electronics, collectibles |
| GunBroker completed items | What auctions for the same firearm closed at | Used guns |
| Blue Book of Gun Values | A reference price by make, model and condition | Guns you have not sold before |
| Metal spot prices | The day’s price of gold and silver | Jewelry and anything you could scrap |
Check your own sales first
An online sold price is what a buyer somewhere paid, shipped, to a seller with feedback. Your counter is a different market: a walk-in customer, in your town, who can hold the item. What the same drill or the same ring sold for in your shop, and how long it sat first, is the closest evidence there is.
It is also the evidence most shops cannot get at. The sales are in the POS, but few systems put “what did this model sell for here, and in how many days” in front of the person writing the ticket.
Then the outside sources
Use sold prices, never active listings: an asking price is only what someone hopes to get. eBay’s Product Research is in Seller Hub at no additional charge; see how it sits beside your own sales. For firearms, see how to price used guns and what the Blue Book is for.
Spot price sets the floor under anything made of gold or silver: whatever else happens, the piece is worth its metal.
Where PawnCounter fits
PawnCounter reads the sales and inventory reports your POS already exports and answers the first question in the table: what the same item sold for in your shop, how long it took, and what that makes a fair offer. It does not replace the outside sources; it puts your own history beside them.
Our stake is plain: PawnCounter is what we sell. The free Profit X-Ray shows what it finds in your files before you pay anything.
Sources
See these numbers for your own shop.
Upload a sales or inventory export from the POS you already run. The Profit X-Ray is free, needs no card, and is ready in minutes.