American pawnbrokers in Tacoma it's one of my favorite small businesses they have great merchandise and great deals. The staff is friendly and helpful, I'm never disappointed when I stop in. Keep up the good work guys, Mike, Matthew, Chuck, Chad & Junior... you make me want to come back and shop for all kinds of things bicycles, tools, antiques, jewelry, media players video game consoles, sewing machines, ladders, lawn equipment, TVs, notepads the list goes on love the new store too, super convenient, nice parking lot, SW corner of South 54th and Pacific Avenue. Highly recommended! read more

Hello, These guys are fair honest straight talking pawnbrokers offer fair prices. They dont try and low ball you and are polite and you can do law-away very easy no hassles. Plus you can pay your bills there. Good selection of stuff. read more

These guys are very professional. Whether you're dealing with Mike (the owner) or any of his capable and friendly staff (Eric, Ron, Hank and George), you know you're working with straight shooters who will offer you an honest price for your stuff. My only criticism is that some of the items on the floor are unrealistically overpriced (for example, a keyboard synthesizer that's worth less than $100 --the keys are not weighted and it's not even a complete 88-keyed instrument--is priced at over $1000). But that's where your discretion as a buyer comes in handy. read more

I never thought I'd ever use a pawn shop for a quick loan. These guys made the experience a good one. Got a fair amount. They made the best of a bad situation. read more

PSA American Pawnbrokers on Pacific Ave in Tacoma has been using a sexist practice of giving lower value loans to women, this is a predatory act. When people pawn stuff at lower prices this can put them in a worse situation, as they can fall farther behind, eliminating chances to recover the item, and essentially securing the item for the pawn shop at a lower price(no this does not work 100% of the time). I am posting this to let people know to be aware if conducting business with them. Multiple reviews on Google back this trend up.(including my wife and I experience) If local and needing to pawn, please visit pawn 1 or at least call and get an estimate, before completion of your loan at American Pawnbrokers on Pacific Ave in Tacoma. Be safe and be aware. read more

Lowest of the low... the guy that resembles a sweaty blob runs the place and was sitting on his butt at his desk when i walked in and instructed me to the check out counter. The other employees were very polite but they called him over to look at my bracelet which is a heavy solid gold band that my father got overseas in the military (he missed my bday one year but the band is far too small for me now) The blob said he didnt have enough money in the store to pay for it so he instructed me to another pawn shop. I then asked him what my other jewelry was worth. He claimed my tennis bracelet was only worth $40. For those of you that don't know what that is, its an intricate gold bracelet lined with diamonds all the way around. I laughed and said he was mistaken but thanked him anyway. He made a comment saying 'thanks for telling me how to run my shop' I said, now i can see why you dont have the best reviews, you lack customer service. He then got really loud, really fast and screamed 'i didnt want your crap anyway!' as i was walking out of the store. I reminded him he couldnt afford it as i walked out. That guy is disgusting and should not be in charge of anyone since he isnt even in charge of his own temper. (all you had to do was say no thanks buddy) cant believe he was still yelling at me as i tried walking out of the place in front of the other customers. The other employees looked really embarrassed so im sure that wasnt his first outburst. Needless to say i wouldnt recommend these sleezeballs to anyone. I honestly feel bad for the guy, must be hard not having a successful business but now we all know why! No stars! read more

The staff here is very professional, personable, and kind. The shop was also very clean and organized. This was only the second pawnshop I've experienced and will always recommend American Pawnbrokers to anyone. They are respectful, professional and truly are focused on helping others. They also have great items at even better prices. read more

To tell you the truth, my first impression is that Mike, the owner, can be a bit of a prick. Sorry, I mean dick. His customer skills are okay and he's the owner. YIKES!!!! His staff on the other hand are awesome. Very friendly and they're there to help you out right away. George stands out as a big plus for the store. Thank god Mike has George working for him. I went looking at an item the other day and if it wasn't for George I would have walked. I think George probably keeps that place in business and it would be in Mike's interest to give him a raise. Honestly, if you go there don't deal with Mike. Deal with his staff. Much more pleasant and they are able to make the deals happen. Mike needs to go on a holiday. read more

I haven't had to pawn anything since I was 18, (many moons ago). But one day I didn't have enough money for my prescription and couldn't get a hold of anyone, so I had to bring some things in to the pawn shop. My experience here was mixed. I have to say, I wasn't very happy with the amount of the loan they were willing to give. The items were brand new, and sell for $29.99 in the store. They were firearm related items, and going up in value since that kid shot all those people. They are now, (3 months later) selling for $59.99 in the stores. I had 8 of them. They only offered me $60.00 for brand new items, still in the package, that back then were worth $240 and have since gone up even more to $479 . The guy actually said, and I loosely quote, "firearm related items aren't very popular right now). This was just a few months after that shooting when everything related to a possible firearm ban,(which these were), was doubling in price, and flying off the shelves. Because of this, I had to tell the pharmacy to only give me half of my prescription. I was more than a little annoyed. I always knew pretty much all pawn brokers only give you about 20% of what a thing is worth, but these were brand spanking new, and in the package, and only going up in value because of the shooting. They couldn't lose on these things. All the retail stores were sold out. But then the time came for the loan to be due and of course I forgot all about it, because, like I said, I haven't been to a pawn shop in decades, and it just wasn't on my mind. I was shocked to receive a phone call telling me that my loan was due and I needed to come in and either pay it off, or pay the interest and extend the loan. So, while I didn't get the loan amount I wanted, they were honest enough to call me and remind me that the loan was due, so that greatly reduced my irritation about the small loan amount. So I'm left scratching my head on this one. It doesn't really make sense. Maybe the guy was worried that the items were stolen and didn't want to loan too much on them in case they turned out to be stolen? read more