Pawn Stars is a reality show on the History Channel. It chronicles the working day of the family-owned Gold and Silver Pawnshop in Las Vegas. Rick Harrison runs it with his father Richard ("The Old Man") and his son Corey ("Big Hoss"), assisted by Corey's childhood friend Austin "Chumlee" Russell.

Now, you might dismiss the whole thing as staged and gimmicky, but there is undeniable value in the education and entertainment --edutainment?-- you can get from the show. Anyone who wants to see marketing psychology in action can learn a lot from watching it. Think of a "Pawn Stars" episode as a 30-minute lesson on customer relations, pricing, risk management, working with family and  running a business -- without the big words they use in business school.

Respect the bottom-line.
If Rick feels he won't make a profit on a possible sale, he turns it down. No matter how excited he gets initially, he decides if buying an item would mean missing the bottom line, he won't buy. "Will buying this thing make money? Can I make a profit reselling it?" If the answer's no, he tells the customer why, and walks away. "We're not here to break even, we're here to make money."

Pricing psychology ( or "Everything has a story...and a price.")
People tend to place a higher value on the stuff they have than the stuff they don't have yet. Sellers with an emotional attachment to the items they bring tend to hold out for an inflated idea of what they believe their item is worth, and while Rick may be interested, many times he has to prick their bubble because their asking price was out of the question. Clients who just want to get rid of "stuff" (and hopefully make money off the sale) are more practical about how much they were willing to accept for the item in question.

This phenomenon is born out by the cliche "one man's trash is another man's treasure." The price depends on where you are on the side of the fence; is it a buyer's market or a seller's market? I.e Your price (seller) versus their price (buyer). The sweet spot lies in the middle. When the buyer and seller hit the sweet spot, they shake hands and seal the deal, Rick ending the exchange with "Let's do some paperwork."

Customer relations.
Everyone in the show has their own style. The Old Man is acerbic and dead-pan, while Rick is diplomatic and friendly right off the bat. Corey-and-Chum have their own riff, playing off each other in their Bad-Cop/Dumb-Cop routine. In the end, they all aim to end their transactions on a good note, whether they make a deal or not. Even if a customer feels insulted at the counter-offer, or is informed his item isn't authentic and gets angry, the guys still keep their cool.

One incident showcasing inflated expectations was when a customer came in with a 1940's Superman ring, a collectible item. While it was undeniably authentic, it was in terrible condition, and watching Rick diplomatically turn down the owner's asking price without injuring his pride was a very vivid lesson in managing expectations.

Ask the experts.
Even with his years of experience in the business, Rick still sometimes gets the short end of the bargain. One time he bought an antique gun that turned out to be worth less than he thought it would sell for because its owner had removed the gun's authentic patina through improper cleaning, reducing its value. That's why the store has a network of experts they rely on to give them good information on the items that come in.

The element of risk.
One method the guys use to help control the bargaining process is the mention of time-constraints. A customer walked in the day before his wedding hoping to sell something and get his future wife some nice jewelry. The bargaining process was held up as the customer seemed reluctant to sell at Rick's asking price, until Rick paused to remind him that his wedding was the next day, implying that if the customer agreed, he'd has money in hand in time to go shop for some nice earrings. The customer fell in line, and left the pawnshop happy with the deal.

Another tactics that was used in the show was gambling (Hey, it's Vegas.) where Rick determined the worth of an antique gun by a test. If it still worked, he'd pay the seller his asking price. If it didn't, he'd pay $50 less. They went to a shooting range, and the gun worked. Another transaction was decided by a coin-toss.

"Cash money, man."
Immediate cash in the hand is a much more appealing "bargain" to the seller. This plays on our bias towards immediate rewards. Remember the marshmallow test? That's the bias in action. One  marshmallow now-right-NOW is ever so much more seductive than two marshmallow "some time later."

All in the family.
Working with other people can be hard enough without having to factor in family ties, but somehow the Pawn Stars manage to do so without killing each other. Sure, they have their bad days where the bulk of their conversations get bleeped out as tempers run hot, but eventually they cool down and then focus on fixing what went wrong.