Toronto Photography Meetup Group

The one with the crotchedy old man and the lovely neglected, dust covered beauties (Hasselblads and Arca Swiss 4x5s that are in the window and on the shelf, you know the place that smells like cigarettes and lost dreams.

Has anyone ever had any success at buying something there?
Does that guy kick everyone out empty handed, or is this something that only happens to females?

Which one? http://g.co/maps/udm62, or one around the corner on Church?

Those pawn shops have in general indicated they don't know the first thing about the street price of the camera equipment, and it seemed in my experience they don't actually care to be told otherwise.

I've had similar experience at the camera shows that used to be at the Thornhill Community Centre, and now at the Don Valley Hotel. There are a few characters there, like the guy who dressed like he just stepped out of the Vietnam War... can't talk sense him that the camera remote is worth 10 bucks, and in the condition of the specimen at hand, 10 bucks a generous offer.

I am pretty sure they think this amount of dust adds to the value

Oh man! My parent's basement has millions of dollars in it then!

you'll have to get that 'crotchedy old man' in there then

I take partial exception to "old" .

Being a crotchedy old man I can say it's not just females. I've been in the store a few times out of curiosity so far I never seen them actually doing any pawn business. But the last time I had a rolleiflex around my neck and he offered to buy it at a price just slightly lower then market value and then he did a high pressure sales job on trying to sell a slightly over priced hasselblad. The cameras in the front window are not the good ones, they can be found on the back shelf. They do know their old cameras but don't really seem that interested in selling them.

I'm talking about the pawn shop directly across the street from Henry's with the black and yellow sign.

I'm not talking about them trying to get more than the camera is worth, I'm just talking about the fact the guy there had no interest at all in dealing with me.

When I asked him about a Hasselblad he give me a really hard time and wouldn't discuss price telling me that that camera is for professionals and not little girls. He kicked me out once I gave up on that and turned my attention to the arca swiss on the shelf behind him. I was flabbergasted, really.

Professionals and not little girls ... wow, I don't blame you for being peeved. That would turn me off for sure.

Well, I am little.

Little or not, that's still not a cool attitude. I won't start a debate here about 'the old boys club' but I doubt a place like that will change it's tune. Shame since a sale is a sale, little girl or not.

I haven't been in the place myself but have seen a few mom and pop camera stores (Merkle in Scarborough & Burlington Camera in, well, Burlington) that seem to have nice little collections and are far more willing to chat about gear.

if you were a big girl, you'd tell the man what Ashley's saying here. However, I understand your side, I'd probably do the same thing you did, well maybe after dropping a sarcastic reply of some sort....

Don't get me wrong I got upset and all but he literally yelled at me telling me to get out of his store. Never in my life have I experienced such a thing, some other friends have gone in with similar results so I thought I would ask if this is just his way of doing business or not.

My guess is he doesn't sell much of anything and something else pays the bills.

There are a couple of "characters" in that area. One told me if I want to test the camera he was going to take out the battery and I would have to provide my own. This was for a Bronica 645. Another time I was told I had to put a deposit on a Mamiya RB67 just to hold it.
Better off dealing with a reputable camera shop. Besides the asking prices at the pawn shops were not good to start with and the chance of bargaining after their comments well......

Tim

Perhaps their business model is just to buy cheap off desperate folks and sell on ebay so they shoo off walk in buyers. Or in your case, demean and tick you off so you don't walk in again.

I've only gone in there once and didn't get the impression that he wanted my business. The aforementioned dust and cigarette smoke didn't give me a very good feeling about the place either.... sorry you had such a horrible experience there! There is NO excuse for such awful customer service.

On the other hand, one of the largest pawn brokers around the corner on Church st usually has some stuff on hand. I bought a Hasselblad lens there for roughly half of what Vistek was asking for the same lens in the same condition... they were willing to negotiate and dropped the price by a few hundred when I said the shutter needed service.

Coolest part of this particular store was that they packed the cash and sales receipt into a little brass tube and stuck it into the (still operational) pneumatic tube system they have going on.... felt like I stepped into a time warp.

I got my 4x5 holders there.

Go before he's drunk...long before noon.

money laundering?
drug dealing?
day trading?
oil painting portraiture?

sorry you had a bad experience! no excuse for treating you like that.

I don't see them as oil painters or day traders

It would be funny if this lead to some investigation and arrest.

There must be hundreds of laundering/drug ops in this city.
Places with gear like this, fur "dealers" and "leather" designers that seem content NEVER selling anything, and yet year after year they are in "business".

Not sure about that store but I do remember reading that Pawn shops make the majority of their money on the interest from loans - the items are at the store as security for the loan and most people go back to reclaim their stuff when they repay their loan + the interest.

Of course the interest rate is not the same as what you would get at the local bank...

I went in once to speak with the drunk Russian (I don't actually know if he is Russian, but man he was loaded). Wanted to buy one of the 4x5 cameras he had on a top shelf and he flat out said that he wouldn't sell it to me because I wasn't good enough. Touché.

maybe i should go give it a shot in that case then

dmitri he's gonna shut you down hard, and i'd love to be there to see it

He only sells to people who have ample images of the Leuty guard house.

YES, this is the same place. Probably the same camera I had a look at in 2009....gathering dust..

Oh yes, the one that opens late and is closed way too early. Looked in the window and saw the dust on the gear and kept on walking,

That guy is jackass. I ask him about hasselblad we looked at me and say - You cant afford it hehehe