Too good to be true?


I have a pawn shop a few miles from my home. It is just a dingy old place. They have recently aquired some REALLY high end audio equipment, $6-7000 worth of speakers and amps. This guy doesn't know a woofer from his elbow. Is there a place I can go and run the serial #'s somewhere and find out if this stuff has been stolen from someone? For that matter, buying on a site like e-bay? How do you know what your getting isn't someone elses loss?
sirsnapalot

Showing 7 responses by eldartford

Here is something to think about...Theft, and the fencing and sale of stolen goods is actually good for the economy.

A brand new $400 TV is stolen from you. It is fenced for $100, and resold for $150. The person who buys it could not afford to buy it at $400. The stolen goods price structure constitutes a deep, deep, discount, which broadens the market for the product. The manufacturer builds another TV set for you, which is paid for by your insurance company. Since the manufacturer is now building more TV sets, because some have been sold at the deep discount price, his costs per set goes down, and he can lower the price to $350. This sells more sets to honest people.

The above is not just a made up story, but is something I learned by reading a doctoral thesis regarding the role of the fence in society.
Maineiac...Yes, this fascinating doctoral thesis by an economics student considered everything. It was published in two volumes, one with the discussion, analysis and conclusions, suitable for layman readership, and a second volume with all the data and calculations. I will check out the library where I read this book some time ago, and try to post the title.

Another interesting fact is the very cozy relationship that usually exists between the police and the fence. The fence has one foot in the legal business world and the other in crime. He serves as a valuable bridge for the police. An example given is what happens if a thief makes the mistake of stealing the Mayor's wife's diamond ring. This particular ring WILL be recovered, although the crime may remain unsolved.
Elizabeth...I will be sad for a few hours. Then I will cheerfully upgrade everything under my insurance policy, just as I did with TV sets, VCRs, Microwaves, etc. when my house suffered a lighting strike. In that instance the audio equipment was (who knows why) not damaged. Shucks!
Elizabeth and other skeptics...I can understand your doubts. The overall positive effect of the fence on the economy (and social fabric)is entirely unexpected, and only becomes evident through objective in depth research and analysis. As I said I will try to post the name of the book. Although it was a scholarly thesis, volume 1 rose quite high in nonfiction book sales. Read it before you discount the conclusions.
Fatparrot...Perhaps the prices I quoted were a bit off, but the general idea should be clear. The professional fence has accounting techniques to keep his "inventory" looking clean. Incidentally, the fence's and thief's universally agreed reference standard for pricing items at the time the research was done was the Sears catalog, and the fence's payment was a standard percentage of the retail price of the comparable item in the catalog. Of course there is no Sears catalog anymore, so they must have come up with another method.
Dougmc...It's not "Eldartford's proposition" but rather an interesting idea that I submit for consideration. It is interesting precisely because it is so counterintuitive. The whole business of the fence goes far beyond his economic role...the Mayor's wife's ring example just scratches the surface.

To get an accurate assessment of the economic impact very precise metrics are essential, such as those on which the thesis was based. The guy who did this study was taken into confidence by a long established fence near Boston (and it was no little pawn shop) who set forth the complete business plan for the profession in a way that would make Harvard Business School proud. (For people who live in the Boston area, it's easy to speculate as to who the fence might be, but nothing has been proven. Or even charged, which, in itself is interesting).

The "broken window" analogy is not relevant. The window is broken, not stolen and put to use by someone who otherwise could not have a window.

I searched the library but could not find the book. Not yet anyway.
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OK I found the book.

The Professional Fence
by Carl B Klockars
Published by New York Free Press (1974)
Originally presented as the author's thesis, University of Pennsylvania.

A very interesting read, even if you can't stomach the conclusions.
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