I haven’t been to one before.

Trust their merchandise? No.

Trust they're at least maintaining a fig leaf of ethical business practices? Also no.

Ño.

heck no..

last time I walked into a pawnshop, I saw MY tools that were stolen from me for sale. my name and number was written all over every part. they even confirmed by calling the number and hearing my phone ring. they agreed I was not the one who sold it to them.

zero reason why I had to get police involved

Slightly more than I would a prawn shop. ☝🏼

I've bought a decent number of things from them. The ones that have a guarantee on their merchandise are ok. I've bought 4 or 5 laptops from pawnshops over the last few years, some were for friends who wouldn't know how to pick a good one.