Royal Pawn Shop

I had been here twice before and had a decent experience, until the LAST time I went in (unfortunately on my birthday) January 7^th, 2015. This happened MONTHS ago, but this experience is UNFORGETTABLE. I bring in two sentimental pieces of jewelry, a white gold bracelet with pink sapphires and diamonds, given to me by my spouse and a white gold ring with some small diamonds, which both came from Kay’s. It broke my heart to even CONSIDER pawning it, but I had visited Royal before so I figured I was safe. I’m familiar that the markup on jewelry is insane, but at the $ 1900 price at that store, I thought I could get a decent amount.
I enter the store, go up to the window and show the girl my items and I tell her I’d like a LOAN if possible. She asks how much and I say $ 900. As it left my mouth, you would think I insulted HER with the face she made. It got worse from there. She says, quite rudely, «Uh, really? We’re NOWHERE near the same page.» She says this as she’s snobbishly eyeballing my jewelry. So I say, «Alright. What would you guys say then?» Still looking, she replies, «Well it’s 10k gold and the diamonds are tiny, so mayyybe $ 80.»
SERIOUSLY?! If you’re going to lowball me, do you HAVE to be rude too? Jesus.
Before I could reply, she says she’s going to ask her Dad, Randy, who was at the case in the front of the store whom I had a nice experience with previously). I wait at the window but I can turn to my right and see and HEAR what they’re both saying. She shows it to him and he looks at it with the magnifier.
He asks, «what does she want for it?»
She says, in the same condescending tone, «$ 900.»
He says, (sarcastically) «Oh, that’s all?» (chuckle)
She says, «yeah, I thought the same thing.» He hands it back to her and scoffs at $ 80.
She then returns to me and repeats that ridiculous offer, where I politely asked for my things back. She said, rather insincerely, «sorry» as she’s walking away from me — when I say walks away, I mean I was still standing there and watched her return to the back, and this is in a matter of seconds. Wow.
Let me just say to the owners: I understand that people probably try to scam you on a daily basis, and bring in things that probably aren’t worth much, BUT, there are also sincere and honest people who just fall on hard times and come to you guys for help. I don’t expect you, as jewelers to love an item the way I do, but I DO expect to be RESPECTED as a customer and an individual. After this experience, I will NEVER return. The rudeness and dismissive attitudes are uncalled for. Completely unprofessional and insensitive.

Just like everyone else is saying-​this place is a total scam. Not only that, one of the guys takes the time to flirt his way through the whole process making me feel so uncomfortable. At least I thought I was going to get my moneys worth. He offered me a terrible price. Like I guess they think people have no brains or something like that. Don’t go to this horrible place. Go anywhere else

I came by here to sell some high end watches. They offered to let me pawn them for what I was hoping to sell them for. Great deal. Im picking them back up today. They could have easily just bought them, but were considerate enough to make me a fairer offer.
If you have never been to a pawn shop before– ANY pawn shop might seem mistrustful. You need to understand the business before judging one. Royal Pawn will loan you money and hold your property as collateral. Check around before complaining. Compare interest rates. But what most impressed me was that they only charge interest rates monthly. If you were to go to most other shops and you return to pick up your items in less that a month, you still will have to pay 2 – 3 months of interests on your loan. Not here. Just 30 days of interest. Shop around compare, then complain. If you expect to be coddled and babied in the loan process, try borrowing the money from your mother instead.
Also just because you PAID $ 1000 for a piece of jewelry at a mall, doesn’t mean its worth even $ 100. Whatever you buy, wherever you buy it– be a smart shopper. Know the true value of what you are paying for. Be smart. Dont blame a business for your previous poor decisions.
I’m a real customer. I pawn, sell, but mainly buy high end watches from pawn shops. Based on my transaction with them and the great service they provided, I’m going to be a loyal customer and am certain they will help me find the right Rolex at the right price.
Seriously, this is Chicago, not San Francisco. You need to understand the culture, personalities abd sense of humor of the people here. Its a great city and this is a great shop. They are straight up and honest. You’ll get your money’s worth here. Oh and I moved here from California. Went in wearing shorts, a t-​shirt and sandals– they still treated me like a Boss. Was well worth the drive from Aurora.

What an experience. I watch A&E and saw this pawn shop on tv. They claim to purchase anything so I call them and ask if they buy listed artist art work. I have a painting that I paid 1,400 for at Leslie Hindman. Reputable art auction house. Had the listing in the catalog from the auction house. I take the painting into Royal pawn to see about selling it, the guy takes his hand across the 78 yr old painting and says how do I know it’s real. I’m like you claim to buy art work and don’t even have a brain enough to know an oil painting when you see it. He’s like without knowing if it’s a real painting I can’t buy it. I’m like so you really are as dumb as you act on tv and left. Nightmare and waste of time.

great

All I have to say is the young lady who works there and is related to the owners is very, very pretty. If I lived in Chicago, I’d ask her out.

I’m not sure how you review a pawn shop — after all, they are SUPPOSE to rip you off. They prey on those who are in desperate need of some cash, and cater to those who have stolen goods to get ride of. But in any case, I went here many years ago to make statement of sort — by selling my wedding ring for 15 bucks — certainly showed how pathetic the relationship had become. And how glad I was to part ways with it quickly.
Now the guys that work here, OMG. Where do these critters come from?

Went into this pawn shop recently to look for high end watches. The people there were not very nice. I went into the shop wearing tshirt and short, and they probably thought i don’t have money or something. All the stuff they had looked crappy. I would recommend going in there with at least a friend or two.

I have been here once with a friend of mine who was looking for a video camera. This place was pretty sketchy and I honestly didn’t feel very safe. The selection on merchandise inside was also not that great. A lot of their items were old and beat up.

Too many brightly colored signs and odd location across the street from the prison. It feels rather sleazy but what pawn shop doesn’t? I pawned a watch here for $ 40.