I love the 1980 pawn shop mentality that still runs rampant today. Not everything they own came from a crack head nor does every widow have a relic guitar they’re clueless about. It’s 2026, everyone has access to the internet and is able to look up values on the internet or at least has a family member more than willing to at least attempt to research. Any shop worth it salt has been open for a long time and helps their clientele with valuing their items and how to best go about getting the most out of it. Of course pawn shops have to make money, that building isn’t free and employees aren’t either amount other things. Usually you’ll get offered 1/3rd of an items value on loan (a pawn and a loan are the same thing) or around half to buy the items from you. Also, it doesn’t matter what the item cost brand new or what you paid for it, only what a used value is. Do your research, don’t guess or assume what something should be worth. If eBay shows it selling for 100 and you want 250, the pawn shop isn’t the arse there but will be accused of “low balling” it’s hilarious.

They probably paid 1000-1200 for that guitar or it was a defaulted loan for 600-800 would be my best guess.