With the Pawn Stars spinoff series, Pawn Stars Do America, newly premiered November 9th, fans were excited to see what this new entry to the reality franchise will bring to the table. Pawn Stars has become an international sensation and follows the lives of a group of employees and partners working at a popular pawn shop.
Fans get to see some interesting negotiations, items, and deals go down on the hit series, but not everything is as real as it seems. These are just a few of the fakest things on the show.
Sellers Are Pre-Vetted
While it seems on the show that potential sellers simply walk into the store and start pitching their items, it is far from the truth. The reality is that sellers are often first vetted by the producers before they can appear in front of the cast.
The vetting process involves finding whether the items are interesting enough to appear on the show and if the people appearing in front of the cameras are interesting enough or not.
The Store Is More Of A Tourist Attraction
Although a large part of the reality TV show is shot in the store, it operates more like a tourist destination now. Fans can be seen lining up outside of the store just to get a chance at taking a few photos and meeting some of the Pawn Stars cast that they see on television.
Although the store does operate as a pawn shop, it is quite unrecognizable from what viewers see on the show. It even has a gift section where fans can buy all sorts of show merchandise.
Items Are Pre-Screened
Fans and viewers of the show have noticed through the seasons that most of the items appearing on the show are either unique, valuable, or beautiful. Apparently, this isn't just a coincidence.
Producers of the show first check every item before deciding if it should be featured on the show or not. Even if the item is not real, it is made sure that it has an interesting back story. This is why even some odd items are allowed on Pawn Stars, to make it more entertaining.
Negotiations Are Also Done Beforehand
Producers and showrunners go through a lot of vetting before a potential seller appears in front of the camera. One of the most entertaining aspects of the show is watching the sellers and pawn stars negotiate and go back and forth while deciding on a price.
But apparently, even this is pre-decided and producers negotiate a potential price with the sellers beforehand. One of the reasons why this is done is because real-life negotiations can take a lot of time and boring back and forth. Covering all of this might not be as entertaining for the reality show. Although, one thing to note is that it is not decided whether the staff will end up buying the item or not.
Interactions Are Scripted
One of the reasons for the reality show's popularity is the fun of watching different sellers interact with the cast members when reaching the final price point. But other than the price being pre-negotiated, it seems like even the interactions are heavily influenced. It's one of the rules that sellers on Pawn Stars have to follow.
To make sure the show is entertaining, some of the interactions between the seller and the cast members are apparently scripted, especially the different talking points. This is also done so that people don't freeze up in front of the camera.
Cast Members Are Rarely Behind The Counter
Although at the beginning of the show, cast members actually were behind the counter and took part in the negotiation process, this has changed over the years.
During normal working hours, people will rarely find the cast members behind the counter. Over the years, they have set up numerous other businesses and only get behind the counter during filming hours. The normal day-to-day work is overseen by the other employees at Gold & Silver Pawn.
Gold & Silver Pawn Sells Other Items
Even in the more recent seasons of Pawn Stars, it is shown that the store mostly sells other pawned items and operates like a normal pawn shop, but the reality of this has changed over the years.
Through the years, the popularity of the show has increased around the world. This means that a lot of fans come to just visit the store. This is why the cast members decided to set up a shop to sell merchandise, as well, so that fans can get some memorabilia.
Some Sellers Are Planted
Even though sellers and their items are pre-vetted by the producers, it is not always certain that they will find the right people or the right items to make the show entertaining.
Sometimes even friends, family, or known associates of the cast members will appear on the show with just the right product that makes for good television. A lot of times, the people are not actually looking to sell the items they bring, just merely show it for entertainment.
Some Are Hired Actors
Even with all the vetting of sellers and even calling on some friends to star in the show, sometimes it might be difficult for producers to find enough people with enough interesting items to fill an entire season.
To solve this problem, the showrunners sometimes hire people and plant them with stories and items to pitch on the show. There are also even stories of the experts being planted by the producers. That's why some viewers think that Pawn Stars is one of the fakest reality TV shows out there.
Product Placement Is Huge
Most people can't enjoy the same food every single day of their working lives. But it seems on the show that the cast members are huge fans of Subway, as they can be seen eating it at almost every meeting.
In one of the episodes, the cast members even used Subway to explain how an auction works. It's clear from this that Pawn Stars is sponsored by Subway, and they are, apparently, their biggest sponsor.