Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Pawn Shop Employees Divulge The Most Illegal Things People Have Brought In

To be in the business of buying and selling, one must be nimble. Head on a swivel, a pawn shop owner hunts for value in the items that others gloss over.

But no matter how good you are at crunching the numbers, a stolen military weapon is simply off the table.


The pawn shop owners and employees of Reddit are full of wild examples of stolen items coming through the front door.

Some of these stories end with a shopkeeper surprised to receive a call from the cops. In this case, the item was so strange that assessing its legality was the least of concerns.

But the far more popular experience is turning down an item so obviously stolen that the seller is clearly a loose cannon, and therefore needs to be chucked form the store as soon as possible.

Manas_Das24 asked, "Pawn shop owners, what was the most illegal thing a customer had brought to your shop?"

Jig's Up

"Worked at a gun shop and a shady looking guy brought in a few pairs of night vision googles, like high end military grade PVS-14 night vision googles."

"Ask him why he was selling them. 'Oh, I just don't need them anymore.' Cool man, do you mind if I call the company real quick and run the numbers? Sometimes this stuff is stolen property."

"And as soon as I said that he jumped across the counter, grabbed the googles and bolted for the door."

-- atomiccheesegod

Re-Gifted Laptops

"A guy brought in a stack of like 15 laptops that all said property of city Public School right on the top of each one."

"He then threatened to shoot me when I told him to get out." -- 3leftturn

"Not an owner, but I got a call from a pawn shop saying that one of my at-home employees tried to sell her work computer."

"It has my company's logo and contact info right on it plain as day. How stupid can some people be?" -- VeeKam

The Least Secure Security Deposit

"A man brought in a bag of cocaine and asked if I would buy it then resell it back to him in a couple of days." -- Moist_mop

"Mind if I call in a buddy? He's an expert in cocaine." -- RickGrimesLol

"That guy was so high he got the formula backward. You're supposed to get the pawn money to buy the drugs, not pawn the drugs to get the money." -- ProfessorZhirinovsky

Local Militia Would've Paid a Pretty Penny for it

"A guy literally brought in an RPG."

"He was doing yard work for this old lady whose husband had passed. She gave it to him for doing some yard work not realizing it was live and active."

"The guy was career military and after the bomb squad came and disabled it, they went to her house and found a trove of similarly very illegal military-grade weapons."

-- bisk0ot

Too Good to be True

"We had a couple come in to pawn their backhoe over the weekend (happens a lot) and brought their bill of sale. They wanted a simple $1k loan which wasn't bad considering how much it was worth."

"No more than 30 minutes later cops are there with the owner. Apparently they worked for him and went and pawned all of his industrial equipment."

-- SupriseRape

But I Don't Want It Anymore!

"A friend of mine owns a pawn shop, and one day a dude walks in with a cardboard box filled to the top with his own shit. He claims that it's magic and my friend cuts him off right there and kicks him out."

"As he is walking out he drops the box on accident, gets all of his shit on the floor, sees the mess he's made, stares at the horrid pile of shit for a couple of seconds, and runs out of the shop."

"My friend never got his name, and never saw him again. The smell would proceed to linger in the shop for a good month after it was cleaned up."

-- CanadaMan01

Cultural Differences

"Literally had a customer come in and say, 'Hi, I've just stolen this phone off my sister, how much will you give me for it?' "

"Had another customer bring in a gun and a crossbow, that was weird (I'm in the UK, this is not a normal thing)." -- ashcymru84

"This might sound ridiculous, but can you guys not just buy a gun at a supermarket?" -- dandydiehl

"911 What is your Return Policy?"

"Buddy of mine worked at a pawn shop for a few years, they had a guy try to sell them a police walkie talkie, like straight stolen from a car but with the battery taken out."

"They told him to get f*cked and called the cops. I believe they picked the guy up a few hours later."

-- _leetster

Gold is Gold

"I don't know if it's necessarily illegal but one time I guy brought me a handful of human teeth with bloody roots and gold filings. He wanted me to extract the gold. I said no thanks bro." -- sickofmasshysteria

"Definitely not his teeth." -- Ballsforbrains

Think of the Power

"A locksmith machine, the one that makes key copies. We didn't know it was illegal until we try to put it out for sale." -- carlosdekansas


Do you have something to confess to George? Text "Secrets" or "🤐" to +1 (310) 299-9390 to talk him about it.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Woman crying
Photo by Fa Barboza on Unsplash

People Share The Wildest Thing Someone Said To Them When They Were In A Bad Place Emotionally

Content Warning: Depression, Grief, Miscarriage, Late Loved Ones, Child Abuse, Medical Negligence

Life is full of ups and downs, and sometimes, we'll be in very dark places, mentally or emotionally, and the last thing we need is to have someone figuratively rub salt in the wound.

Keep ReadingShow less

The Creepiest Unexplainable Things People Have Seen With Their Own Eyes

As much as we might not want to admit it, there are some things in life that are hard, if not impossible, to explain.

That's all the harder to swallow when the unexplainable is also horrifyingly creepy.

Keep ReadingShow less
Gavin Newsom; Screenshot of JD Vance from AI-generated video
Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images; @GovPressOffice/X

Gavin Newsom Just Epically Trolled JD Vance Over Tariffs With An AI Video About Couches

California Governor Gavin Newsom mocked Vice President JD Vance—and his love of couches—with an AI-generated video to troll him over the rising costs of goods due to President Donald Trump's retaliatory tariffs.

Earlier this week, Trump announced new tariffs: 10% on softwood timber and lumber, and 25% on “certain upholstered wooden products,” set to take effect October 14. The move follows Trump’s announcement last week of additional tariffs on kitchen cabinets, vanities, and other upholstered products, which will take effect October 1.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots of Kelly Clarkson's conversation with bus drivers from Texas flood
The Kelly Clarkson Show/YouTube

Kelly Clarkson Honors Texas Flood Heroes In Emotional Return To Her Talk Show Following Ex's Death

In July 2025, homes, businesses, Camp Mystic, and more were swept away when central Texas was devastated with severe flooding. At Camp Mystic alone, 27 campers and staff members, including the camp's director, died during the initial flood.

Many people were caught off guard by the flooding and were left stranded mid-flood, getting to the highest ground they could find while they waited and hoped for help to come.

Keep ReadingShow less
Walton Goggins; Pete Davidson
Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images; Michael Loccisano/WireImage

Walton Goggins Speaks Out After Pete Davidson Predicts Fans Will 'Turn On' Him Like They Did Pedro Pascal

Pete Davidson went viral recently for calling out the weird online backlash to actor Pedro Pascal's unstoppable career trajectory in recent years.

And he thinks White Lotus star Walton Goggins is next.

Keep ReadingShow less