Buy-and-sells look out for ‘hot’ items
But if shops buy goods, they only have to hold them seven days
By Debbi Roberts
Of tti« Emerald
A distraught woman carries a
list of stolen items into a
Springfield "buy-and-sell''
store She looks desperate
Her house has recently been
broken into — she's checking all
the local buy-and-sell shops for
her television, stereo and her
husband s shop tools and chain
saw The police suggested she
check the shops on her own —
they have a backlog of burglary
cases and won't be able to get
to her case as quickly as she
wanted, she says
Barbara Campbell, owner of
AA Action store at 525 Main St.,
offers the woman a sympathetic
smile The store doesn’t have
any of the items, but Campbell
has witnessed the woman’s
anxiety before
"We once naa a man looking
for a stolen medallion his son
had taken and sold," Campbell
says "He was so worried He
checked every store and finally
found it in Reedsport ”
‘A man came in
looking for a
pocket watch
that had been
in his family for
years. He
thought his son
had stolen it.’
Sales clerk Doris Carter of
J.R.’s Buy and Sell Store, 1430
Willamette St., in Eugene
relates a similar experience
"A man came in looking for a
pocket watch that had been in
his family for years. He thought
r
his son had stolen it," Carter
says "If we had it, we would
have qiven it to him "
Most people mistakenly call
the buy-and-sell pawnshops,
but there are significant differ
ences between the two
“We don't lend money. We
just buy the item outright
Pawnbrokers need to follow
bank lending laws,” says J R
Stultz of J R.’s.
"Pawnshops need three
times the storage space as an
ordinary store," he explains
"They have to hold items for up
to a year before they can sell it
We just have to hold it for seven
days .”
Stultz's store — which he has
owned for five years — has a
wildly cluttered look Although
there are guitars, stereos, an
tique guns and old coins
jammed into one room, every
item is registered and held for a
week while police determine
whether it is stolen
"Pawn shops are being
phased out in Lane County,”
says Tom Hooker, a Eugene
Police Dept detective Because
of the length of holding time,
pawnshops aren't financially
feasible in a poor economy, he
says.
"People used to use pawn
shops as a place of storage for a
year and then rebuy their
items," Hooker says. "Buy-and
sell" stores are becoming viable
and are replacing pawn shops,
he says
"The nearest pawnbrokers
(now) are 90 miles south and 90
miles north of Eugene,” says
Harold Kunkler, a Springfield
Police Dept detective
"Buy and sell” owners and
employes must learn to be good
judges of character — otherwise
they can get stuck with "hot
items,” Campbell says If the
police discover an item has
been stolen, the owners lose the
item as well as what they paid
for it
J.R.S
SHOP
GUITARS
TOOLS
STEREO S RADIO S
C.B.s CAMERAS TV.5
AMPS
GUNS
Q|U) -V
Photo by Mark Pynes
Buy-and-sells may be "wildly cluttered," but every item is assiduously registered with the police.
Sellers, therefore, must pre
sent photo identification before
an owner will make a purchase
‘ As a rule, if they don't show
you any picture ID, they just
walk out the door with their
items,” Campbell says If she
gets “bristles” — senses an item
is stolen — she calls the police
to check out ID numbers
Some (stores) cooperate a
great deal with us," Kunkler
says "If they get a hot' item,
they’ll seize it and call us Peo
ple split then "
In July, nine stolen items were
recovered in Eugene at buy
and-sell stores "A rough
estimate of value would be
about $3,800,” says Hooker,
who credits the stores with
much of the credit for the
recoveries
"Most stores make an effort
not to buy stolen property
because they lose their money
and the item," he says
Although Hooker says he
believes the seven-day holding
period "isn't long enough,” he
believes the cooperation
between stores and police is an
effective way of recovering
stolen property “It's not un
common for people to go on
their own and contact stores to
(attempt to) recover their
property "
Police encourage people to
check out buy and sell stores to
recover their items, but "there's
no yardstick to determine the
success rate," Hooker says.
‘ There's not a very good
recovery rate of stolen items
because of poor descriptions by
victims of crimes," Kunkler
says. "Some people don't even
know the names of their stereos
We encourage people to check
out these stores, because it they
can see the items, they’ll know
they are theirs."
Hooker mourns the passing of
the pawnshop, and especially
misses the three glass balls
hanging out over the sidewalk
that distinguished the pawn
shops of his youth
"It was like a barber's pole
once meant a barbershop," he
says "How many of those
striped barber's poles do you
see nowadays?"
' Susan gets
blasted!
Randy Price sandblasts
away the rust and grime
that has built up around
Susan Campbell Hall to
prepare part of the building
for painting
I The University physical
plant hired Willamette Val
ley Sandblasting to strip the
fire escapes, metal work,
wood trim and some of the
brick on three halls at the
University. Some ivy was
removed which was in the
worker's way, but the focus
of the effort is peeling paint.
Hendricks and Friendly
Halls will also be worked on
* this week.
The sandblasting is part
of a budget-restricted effort
by the physical plant to
maintain the condition of
the University's older
buildings.
Photo by Elisabeth Podesta