Pawn Stars show - are people broke?

If you have money you don't go to pawn shops. Why would I go to a place that will buy my stuff at a huge mark-down when I could either keep it, or sell it st a mark-up myself? And "pawn" ing is just the act of taking a loan with the item as collateral. If you can't pay the loan back, the pawn shop keeps your item. If you have money, you don't need a pawn shop for a loan. You can just get a loan. Pawn shops specifically target people who are down on their luck. It's where the whole "oh this is an ancient vase from the ming dynasty, worth millions of dollars. Best I can do is 3 bucks and a rubber chicken from the gift shop" came from. The people who visit Rick are desperate for money. They can't say no, even to a shit deal, and Rick knows it. It's why he can push for such bad offers on so many of these items. The people who can afford to walk away and find better offers do so. If you want a similar vibe to pawn Stars but with more compassionate hosts, American pickers is the way to go. I've seen so many times in that show where somebody doesn't know how valuable an item is, and then they try to sell it for like 20 bucks. And the hosts will actually stop them and say "man I can't take advantage of you like that, this thing is super valuable, I'm gunna make you this offer, which is fair for it's condition" and they'll end up paying more for the item than they could've bought it for. Plus, American pickers is more focused in the history of the item than the entertainment value of the hosts. It's a fun show.