10 Best Reality Shows Like Pawn Stars

"Pawn Stars" is one of the most binge-worthy shows on TV, which is probably why it's been running for more than 15 years. By following all the excitement happening in Rick Harrison's pawn shop in Las Vegas, the show is able to appeal to a wide range of viewers. Do you love antiquing and learning about history? Do you like watching the "Pawn Stars" team getting ripped off while wheeling and dealing over the price of an item? Or are you more interested in seeing rare, old items spruced up and returned to their former glory?

Regardless of your interests, "Pawn Stars" probably has something that will keep you locked in for at least one half-hour episode. More than likely, you'll fall down the rabbit hole, binge the entire show, and end up with a much broader knowledge of trivia history and a serious craving for even more "Pawn Stars." Luckily, there's no shortage of other reality TV shows that tap into some of that magic.

There are plenty of shows that go back to basics by focusing on smaller businesses trying to make a buck, so if you love the thrill of finding a new item or you just want to see some neat collectibles, you have a lot of options at your fingertips. Whether you like the deal making aspect, the antique restorations, or the pure variety of "Pawn Stars" the most, we've got a list of similar shows that will help set you up for your next reality TV binge watch.

"American Pickers" is a great option for people who need a new show that features the same variety of old, mysterious, and just plain cool items often seen on "Pawn Stars." Like "Pawn Stars," the "American Pickers" guys have a real store that's located in Le Claire, Iowa, but the show takes them all around the country on the hunt for worthwhile antiques and collectibles, so there's a bit of a travel element here, too. The History series is primarily hosted by Mike Wolfe, the owner of Antique Archaeology. Mike is often joined by his friend Frank Fritz (who died in 2024 aged 60) on his long road trips, which usually take him through small towns and into rural areas. They pick their way through crowded garages, old farmhouses, and extensive personal collections while sharing tidbits about the history of the items they find and hearing stories from the people collecting them.

"American Pickers" is especially ideal for "Pawn Stars" fans who love the episodes where Rick hits the road or who binged every episode of the spin-off series "Pawn Stars Do America," in which Rick Harrison, his son Corey "Big Hoss" Harrison, and Corey's long-time friend Austin "Chumlee" Russell visited a number of cities for a series of events. Mike and Frank do their best to explore not just the history of the items they find but also of the places they're visiting. The show also follows whatever's happening back at Antique Archaeology where Danielle Colby acts a bit like a third host as she holds down the fort while Mike is on the road. The group dynamics of the team is as much a part of the appeal as the items that they help each other discover.

One of the most exciting things about an episode of "Pawn Stars" is that you never know what kind of items are going to show up in the shop. Since the show takes place in Las Vegas, people travel from all over the world to try and sell their rare items and collectibles. The sheer variety of items on display in "Pawn Stars" is a big part of the fun, but on that front the show can't hope to compete with "Antiques Roadshow."

The show's format helps it scoop up an incredible variety of interesting items. The PBS stalwart travels the country, and each season films in multiple cities across the United States. The show sets up massive events where local antique collectors, shop owners, and regular people can bring in their prized possessions for evaluation.

On "Pawn Stars," people come in looking for a good deal, but on "Antiques Roadshow" you often get to see everyday people get absolutely blown away when they discover a hand-me-down from their grandparents is actually worth many thousands of dollars. The show has been on the air since January 1997, so there's a near-endless supply of episodes that can help you get your antiquing fix when you run out of "Pawn Stars."

Like "Pawn Stars," "Oddities" focuses on a store that sells secondhand items, but this place isn't your typical pawn shop. Mike Zohn and Evan Michelson are the co-owners of Obscura Antiques & Oddities in Manhattan, and they specialize in sourcing all sorts of rare and grotesque items like old medical equipment, taxidermied animals, and the occasional shrunken head. Mike and Evan work with buyer Ryan Matthew Cohn, an antique specialist in his own right who runs a flea market business focused on eerie items. Together, the three men explore New York for all kinds of strange finds, and, more often than not, the most bizarre items are the ones customers bring in through the front door.

"Oddities" is ideal for people interested in the occult, old medical practices, avant garde art, and anything else that might be classified as strange and unusual. In one episode you might be learning about the ins and outs of rearticulating a cat skeleton, and in the very next you'll be exploring old props from B-movie specialists Troma, best-known for 1984's "The Toxic Avenger." The "Oddities" team are just as interested in genuine antiques as they are in pop culture items with a spooky appeal, so there's really no way to predict what they'll stumble upon from one episode to the next. The only thing you know going in is that you're bound to see something delightfully weird.

"Storage Wars" is like "Pawn Stars" with a loot box mechanic. The premise of the show is pretty straightforward. Storage unit facilities frequently have people abandon their units, and when they do, those containers are put up for auction. An auctioneer will open the unit, and bidders get to look inside without moving anything around. They've got to make a snap second decision about whether or not they'll be able to turn a profit on the items they find inside the unit.

Each episode follows the people who try to make a living by finding antiques, collectibles, and other unique items inside abandoned storage units. Part of the fun is watching the cast members, many of whom rotate in and out as the show progresses, competing over an intense auction. Afterward, viewers get to take part in the experience of digging through the unit to find real treasures or, in some cases, absolutely nothing of value at all.

The best seasons of "Storage Wars" really highlight the highs and lows of making a living in a business where buyers never know what they'll find in a unit, and with 15 seasons (not including the multiple spin-offs) to binge, "Storage Wars" is a great option for fans of "Pawn Stars" looking for their next reality TV love. If the excitement of watching Rick or Chumlee negotiate a deal is what you love most about "Pawn Stars," then this show will be perfect for you.

If you've already watched "Storage Wars" and you enjoyed it, then you're almost certainly going to love "Container Wars." The premise is very similar, with each episode following several people who are bidding on containers full of potentially valuable items. As the name of the show implies, the twist here is that everything is scaled way up. Instead of storage units, the bidders are competing over massive shipping crates. The containers come from all over the world, and the items that you can see on "Container Wars" range from salvage legitimately pulled from shipwrecks to literal piles of cash.

Of course, with containers so big, the stakes are huge. A typical auction of "Storage Wars" might climb to several hundred dollars, but that's a low starting point for a "Container Wars" auction. Many of the items you'll encounter watching "Container Wars" wouldn't look out of place in an episode of "Pawn Stars," like pieces of signed sports memorabilia and classic motorcycles, but with containers coming from all over the world, the bidders have a chance to find some truly unique pieces. With so much money on the line, every container purchase is a big risk, which makes it a tense viewing experience. "Container Wars" wasn't a particularly long-lived show, so you'll be able to burn through all 31 episodes pretty quickly.

It shouldn't be too surprising that "Hardcore Pawn" is a great alternative for "Pawn Star" fans who've run out of new episodes to watch. This show follows Les Gold, the owner of multiple Michigan-based pawn stores, and his children who help run the shops with him. "Pawn Stars" aficionados will feel right at home as the show follows a similar format with Les and his kids wheeling and dealing for everything from gold chains to pricey antiques. Les' shop is in Detroit, but even without Las Vegas tourism to help out, his place ends up with some pretty spectacular items.

TruTV aired six seasons of "Hardcore Pawn" between 2009 and 2015, and over the show's run, it managed to carve out a distinct identity for itself. While big ticket items still get plenty of time in the spotlight, "Hardcore Pawn" shows off more of the daily drama of running a pawn shop. Some customers come in needing fast cash to settle debts, and sometimes people don't appreciate the offers Les and his kids make. The very first episode features an angry customer threatening the staff, and on more than one occasion, you'll witness people being asked to leave the store while the police are on their way to the scene. If you'd like a little less history and a little more dramatic action in your pawn shop series, this is the one for you.

"Auction Hunters" pairs the basic premise of "Storage Wars" with a presentation that's more like "American Pickers." The show is co-hosted by Allen Haff and Ton Jones, business partners who make a good portion of their living by flipping the items they find in auctioned-off storage units. Allen and Ton travel up and down southern California looking for lucrative deals, and even though they'd be the first to admit that most individual storage units don't end up turning a profit, they find all sorts of valuable items, from vintage arcade machines to antique weaponry.

There are five seasons of "Auction Hunters," but the fourth has a special surprise for "Pawn Stars" fans: After season three, Allen and Hoff decided to start a new business and opened a pawn shop together. The entire fourth season follows them trying to make the store a success, and it explores the ups and downs of a fledgling business. It's still an interesting look at the inner workings of a pawn shop that even "Pawn Stars" doesn't really offer. If the occasional road trip on "Pawn Stars," or the co-hosting format of "American Pickers," really appeals to you, then "Auction Hunters" might just be your next favorite show. 

Often the antiques that come into the shop on "Pawn Stars" are resold as-is, but some of the show's most interesting episodes highlight the process of restoring antiques. The gang has had everything from classic cars to vintage Coke machines spruced back up to their original states, and Rick gets just as excited about the restoration process as his viewers do. Restoration, when done right, can massively increase the value of a rare antique, but it takes a special set of skills to get the job done.

When a "Pawn Stars" episode calls for a restoration, Rick needs to outsource the work, but "American Restoration" is like stretching any one of those episodes out into an entire show. A different Rick, Rick Dale, is the star of "American Restoration," which follows the ins and outs of his shop Rick's Restorations in Las Vegas. Rick runs the store with a handful of employees and his teenage son, and they've got the skills to take just about any vintage item and bring it back to its former glory.

Over the course of six seasons (and a seventh following a different family with a chain of restoration shops around the country), you'll get to see gas pumps, motorcycles, streetlights, and so much more transformed from rusty old junk into display-worthy prizes. And, being located in Las Vegas, Rick's shop gets the occasional celebrity guest, and from time to time that includes our beloved stars from "Pawn Stars."

In recent years, Netflix has been getting into the reality TV game with shows like "Love Island," and "King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch" is the streaming giant's attempt at appealing to fans of shows like "Pawn Stars." The series follows Ken Goldin, owner of Goldin Auctions, who comes into contact with plenty of eye-catching items in the day to day work of running his business. Goldin Auctions specializes in rare and extremely collectible items, and some of the episodes might have you kicking yourself for throwing out an old box of childhood toys that you assumed were worthless.

Whereas the "Pawn Star" guys only rarely send someone (usually Chumlee) to check out trading cards, Goldin and his employees are practically swimming in them. You'll see plenty of rare baseball cards throughout the show, but you'll also quickly learn that the real money is in another type of collectable cards — "Pokémon" collections have become the bread and butter of this business. Some go for eye-watering sums (in 2022, influencer Logan Paul paid $5,275,000 for the rare 1998 Illustrator CoroCoro Comics Promo, aka the Pikachu Illustrator card).

"King of Collectibles" also contains some shout-outs to your favorite collectibles of yesteryear, like Beanie Babies, and no shortage of sports memorabilia. Basically, if pop culture collectibles are your favorite things to check out on "Pawn Stars," you'll be glued to the screen for every episode in both seasons of "King of Collectibles." Just try your best to resist the urge to invest in Beanie Babies when you've finished watching. 

"Salvage Kings" combines the fun of antiquing with the chaos of a large-scale demolition sight. This is a perfect choice for "Pawn Star" fans who love when that show really digs into the history of an item but also like a little more action (and a few more explosions) on their screen. Ted Finch is the business owner at the heart of "Salvage Kings." He and his team are brought into everything from construction zones to wreckage sites to ensure that nothing of value gets destroyed in the process of a demolition.

The people on the "Salvage Kings" team are just as focused on the actual salvage work as they are on re-selling their most valuable finds, so this show really digs into the process of saving a precious antique from a dangerous situation. While tearing down an old mall, the team might need to rescue a vault that was built into the structure itself. Occasionally they might stumble into an unexpected treasure trove while demolishing an old house, and sometimes they even find something worthwhile on a wrecked boat. "Salvage Kings" has all the surprises and variety you'd expect from a show like "Pawn Stars," but it sprinkles in some real-world adventure that makes it even more entertaining to watch.