If it sold once, Dave Schlick says, chances are it will sell again.

Need some antlers? Schlick has that. How about a meteorite found in Russia? He’s got that, too. Looking for an original Nintendo Entertainment System, a fancy pocket watch, or a new-to-you diamond ring?

If so, you’ve come to the right place. And this may be you’re lucky day. Schlick and sons are looking to do business.

It’s just after 10:30 a.m. on a Wednesday morning when Schlick’s elder son, Josh, flips the sign on the door, officially opening Dave’s Pawn for business.

Within moments, the shop has filled with customers. One man dressed in flannel fingers through the DVDs. Another in a cowboy hat searches for tools. Later this morning, he’ll forgo the sockets and wrenches for a shiny used watch.

“The best stuff is the first thing to go,” Schlick says, offering a crash course in Pawnshop 101. “If we’re getting all our bids for pawns, then we’re bidding too high. It’s just another measure of business in that, if you’re doing 100 percent of anything, then there must be something wrong with your pricing.”

Schlick, a former cabinet maker, turns 60 this year. He has worn his long, white beard since the early 1970s. He has also been around the block enough times to see honesty — or the lack thereof — in the eyes of his customers.

In fact, Schlick may be a formidable judge for human integrity, and his business may be an economic bellwether. The shop does better when the economy is down, he chuckles, and worse when the economy is good.

But only after placing a call to the newspaper to confirm this reporter’s identity (and asking for ID to boot) does Schlick really explain the trials and tribulations of running a downtown pawn shop.

Used prices are searched on eBay. New prices are searched on Google. Gold and guns go in the safe at night. Diamonds are selling well. Gold could hit an all-time high. You have to carry a certain number of cowboy hats to sell even one.

“First of all, our customers aren’t the Fortune 500 type, but there’s a lot of forgiveness in that,” Schlick says. “It’s what we do, and to be successful, you need to have a service. That’s where all this stuff comes from — people either wanted to get rid of it, or they couldn’t afford to keep it anymore.”

Whatever the cause, Schlick’s shop is stuffed with odds and ends, some of it useful, some of it not. A customer could make use of the tools — the drills and saws and sanders. The diamond rings and gold jewelry might turn a particular eye, along with the guns and ivory knives.

But it can’t be easy selling a plastic dragon, a mounted rattlesnake, or a back-to-back championship football ring from Carroll College. Used stuffed animals, movies on VHS, samurai swords and the Playboy rabbit hanging by the window take a particular sort of shopper.

That’s where guys like Peter Hamborg come in. Looking to kill a Wednesday morning, Hamborg moves around the store in hat and Western wear. Shopping at Dave’s Pawn is akin to an adventure.

“I’m just kind of wandering around,” Hamborg begins. “I stop down here once a week or so to see what’s new, and to see what’s going on. It’s a convenient way to shop.”

Hamborg has spent the last 30 minutes opening tool boxes and examining the power equipment. These things come in handy when rebuilding a 1988 Chevy Blazer.

Last week, Hamborg broke his watch fixing that 20-year old truck. Today, the watches gleam in the morning sun under a locked glass case. Like “color” in the streams, the watches catch his eye.

He asks Schlick to see one.

“It’s kind of like the old saying that one man’s junk is another man’s treasure,” Hamborg says, waiting for the case to open. “I don’t see for any use in buying new most of the time. I find the stuff just as good of quality here.”

Ensuring quality is something Schlick does his best to do. Gold jewelry can’t always be tested as pure gold, and some electronics make Schlick nervous.

But it’s good to have sons, younger sons who know things Schlick does not know. His oldest son, Josh, deals with computers, monitors and pool cues — the things he likes to do. His youngest son, Matt, does car stereos and speakers, again, staying within his interests.

“I do computers and laptops and my brother does car amps,” says Josh. “In that field, I’d be the specialist. I know a little bit about it — it’s just something I care about.”

It doesn’t hurt that his dad pays pretty well, or that Josh has an inherent interest in the business. As he says, it’s different every day, and there’s always something new to do.

He learns the human nature part from his dad, who knows how to play the game, treating people with both courtesy and suspicion.

“I ask the three-pointed questions and usually they’ll start digging a hole,” Schlick said. “It all has to follow through. They can get kind of overbearing because they want the money.”

“Sure,” he grins in conclusion. “We get a lot of strange things.”

Reporter Martin Kidston: 447-4086 or mkidston@helenair.com