Katie Couric gets a great deal on 'Pawn Stars' item as Rick Harrison knew he had to 'keep her happy'
"Pawn Stars" has made Rick Harrison's store in Las Vegas the most famous pawn shop in America, hence it's not surprising when famous faces show up there. While many legends have come on the show to verify memorabilia related to them, celebrity buyers like presenter Katie Couric also approach Harrison for deals. The journalist and talk show host wanted to buy an item signed by the author, Mark Twain. While she made a great deal with Harrison, she had some staffing advice to share first.
Couric ran into Corey Harrison on the show, and asked, "I was wondering if I might look at that Mark Twain signature piece?" pointing at the item on display. While Corey showed her the piece, he wasn't sure who he was dealing with. "Katie Holmes? Winslet? Kate Winslet?" he asked.
To save the situation, Rick Harrison jumped in, saying, "I got this, Corey. Katie Couric, how's it going?" Couric, who was glad that someone finally recognized her, made a complaint to the pawn shop boss. "They need to do some employee training around here, because I'm usually not mistaken for Katy Perry or Katie Holmes, unfortunately," she said in her interview.
Coming back to the item she was looking for, Couric asked Harrison to tell her more about it. "This is a Mark Twain signature. He used to give these out. He'd scratch little things on a card, sign it, and this one's even dated January 1900," he explained. Couric then noted that the card read, "We ought never do wrong when anyone is looking."
She shared that she read a lot of Mark Twain in college and that she absolutely loved his work. "I love his wry sense of humor. He's one of the greatest writers in American history," Couric noted. She then asked Harrison for the price, and he told Couric that it was selling for $20,000. The sharp pawn shop boss later revealed in his interview that he originally bought the item for $8,500, and marked up the price as he hadn't received any solid offers for it.
"Oof, that's a little more than I wanted to spend," she said in response. Couric also played hardball in the negotiations and countered with $12,000. "Is that really low-balling you?" she asked. Harrison, knowing that he would still make a handsome profit, accepted the deal in the blink of an eye. "It's not every day we get Katie Couric in here. We have a deal," he said.
In the end, Couric said that she felt that Harrison threw her a bit of a bone in the deal. On the other hand, Harrison admitted that he rarely took so much off an item, but it was worth it. "Katie Couric has a talk show with millions of viewers. I got to keep her happy," he said.
More on Market Realist:
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Steve Carell once showed up on 'Pawn Stars'. He was easily the worst negotiator on the show ever.
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