Thrift Store Experience today and what I learned................

[Cut-Throat]

OK, I have read about the 'great finds' at thrift stores for a small
amount of dough. I had never been in a thrift store until today, but I
thought I'd go in and see if there was any good stuff there. I went
back to the electronics dept. and saw a bunch of 'white van' speakers
and receivers that were in very bad condition. They could have given me
everything there and I would not have taken it. In fact they would have
had to pay me 5 figures to haul the stuff away for them.

Kind of
what I expected, but I thought I'd look. I would guess that the few
lucky folks that find something truly of value have spent hundreds of
hours frequenting these places until they finally find a 'bargain'. And
if that is the thrill; 'The hunt - The Chase' then go for it!

If you
are like me; Sit down with a glass of wine and find what you want by
searching E-bay and then buy it. You'll probably pay a lot less for the
item you want on E-bay than you'll pay for your time and Gasoline
searching Thrift shops. And your basement and garage will stay a lot
cleaner too!

[NOSValves]

To each his own.............Some folks just love searching the thrift stores. Some stores are better then others by the way.

[Arky]

Cut: That's my experience also. I travel a couple days a week & back in the summer started stopping in pawn shops & Goodwills. I had never been in either before & I find it a waste of time. Maybe my timing is bad or it's Arkansas.

[synthfreek]

The beauty and appeal of thrift shops is that every one is different. There are some I continue to visit even though I never find anything there and there are a few that I constantly uncover treasures at. I found a little pair of KEF speakers a few months ago that had beat up cabinets but the drivers looked great. I got 'em for $7 and when I researched them a bit I discovered that these are very desirable because both drivers are used in LS3/5A speakers. I sold just the tweeters for over $100.

[mike stehr]

I doubt you could ever find a complete nice example of a Eico ST-70 with all the orginal tubes for 3 bucks off eBay.

I had about 15 minutes before work one friday, and stopped by St.Vinnies because it was about a mile away.

Some people are into it, some are not......

[G.Kennedy]

My one and only find .... and it was one in a million.

Snap On, 1/4" drive, metric and SAE, deep and short, one ratchet, a couple extensions ...$85

list for about $550.

Great find, but ya gotta figure it was stolen from a working mechanic along the line and hocked... so it may have some bad juju.

[fini]

It's a crap-shoot, for sure. You go there enough, you have success stories. For me, how about a Mac1900 for $3, a pair of Heresys (slightly beat, good users) FOR $30, A Yamaha P-22 piano for $450, and 30 POUNDS of sterling silver for 5 bucks (long-ish story for that one!)? Thrift shops in my neck o' the woods are getting more hip, for sure, but things still do show up (like 2 VG++ copies of The Broadway Bit).

Maybe try asking the manager to call you when they get something in that's incredibly underpriced?

[DrWho]

You just gotta hit the thrift shops located near the rich neighborhoods. I can't believe what some of these people consider "junk". The thrift shops in poorer towns and especially near campuses are always picked through (and more expensive too).

[DizRotus]

My experience is similar to Cut-Throat's.

The popularity of eBay and businesses set up to sell other people's "junk" on ebay makes it even less likely that nice stuff will get to thrift stores or stay long if it does. Timing is everything.This forum has witnessed many great thrift store, and even dump or roadside trash, finds, but that doesn't mean it's worth my time to haunt thrift stores, dumps or the like. I do confess to stopping to check out what the neighbors are throwing out, especially on "bulky pick-up" dates. So far, none of the speakers or electronics has been worth the effort to bend over to load it into the van.

My business makes regular donations to Detroit Habitat for Humanity which operates a "Re-Store" that sells donated items. I asked the director if they ever get speakers or other audio equipment as donations. He said they do occasionally. I volunteered to screen such items so that something of value could go to eBay or Craig's List rather than be "given away" at the Re-Store. So far it has not produced anything of value.

[Daddy Dee]

You just gotta hit the thrift shops located near the rich neighborhoods. I can't believe what some of these people consider "junk". The thrift shops in poorer towns and especially near campuses are always picked through (and more expensive too).

Mike,

You've nailed one of the most important issues. Any thrift store find is a long shot. A thrift store with poor folks, like Arkansans, being the donors makes it an impossibly long shot.

[Guest " "]

• 

  Cut-Throat

You have to also consider other factors at the thrift shop. Some thrift shops never have "sought after" gear on display, even if it's donated....don't know where it goes and how it gets there. I dontated some real good SAE gear (P101, D101, A501, C101, T101, etc) Hersey's, onkyo 5.1 reciveres, AKAI 747 decks, and never saw it on the shelf. I got my write off, but don't know if a customer actually bought the stuff or if it wound up on ebay via some other route.

So bottom line, if you never see "sought after" gear at your thrift shops that does not mean no one has donated any.

[Guest " "]

"So far it has not produced anything of value."

Maybe an arrangement already exist

[kentamcolin]

I've been in thrift stores where everything is junk, absolute junk. I've also found some good ones along the way. There was one a few years ago that had a bunch of LP's and they were all priced at $2 regardless of title or condition. Some were junk but I walked away with about 25 records in great condition, some almost unplayed, for $50. There were hundreds of titles and I spent a good hour or more looking thru it all but I was sure glad I stopped. If I'm out and about and find a thrift store I'll stop, run in and have a quick look and leave if I see nothing. Generally I'm only looking for records and they're pretty easy to find. I have about 500 records and at least half were bought second hand. I only buy records in great condition and I've built a nice music collection for not a lot of money by taking the time to scroung around.

[Klipschfoot]

It IS the thrill of the hunt. Nothing more. Some are luckier because they are probably ALWAYS in those stores. But when you get lucky, it is fun.

[hammertop]

Not to many in my area, but, at the right place, at the right time,,,,, one can never know?.... Got some really nice H IIs in my shop for 25 big ones. I feel bad.... (right)....sucks

Enjoy!

[HudsonValleyNoah]

...even dump or roadside trash, finds...

Did I post about my bulk trash day in Cornwall this year?

Ampeg Gemini I (Tube guitar amp)

Knight el84 stereo amp

Knight tube tuner

Bogen challenger 6l6 amp

All this easily fit in the backseat of my Nissan and took only a few (well, 6) hrs to find.

Next bulk pick-up day in Cornwall, you know where you can find me.

Funny, none of the neighbors seemed surprised... LOL

Noah

[garymd]

Once you know which stores to frequent, half the battle is over.

There is a public library that receives book and record donations on a daily basis. All records are a buck each. I guarantee that 90% of you vinyl junkies would walk out of there with at least 20 albums if you stopped by there today. I used to but have become much more picky over the past year or two. It's all in the timing. If you are there just as someone is dropping off a box of LPs and you are the first to go through them, you might get VERY lucky. Most thrift shop LPs have been picked through before they even hit the shelves. I rarely go to a Salvation Army, Goodwill or other thrift shop unless it's one where I've never been before.

Then there are the people who approach you in the thrift shops as you are looking at the LPs. The best deal I ever found was from an older gentleman who asked if I was interested in old jazz albums. I ended up buying about 500 LPs from him for 80 cents each, quite a few of them worth well over $100. His basement was wall-to-wall LPs. He wasn't even an axe murderer! Sometimes you just get lucky.

[rjrbass]

There is certainly a "thrill of the hunt factor". I found some albums in great condition, Jesus Christ Superstar, George Harrison - The Concert for Bangladesh, George Harrison - All Things Must Pass, all in their original boxes with the original books, all in good to great condition; price - cheap.

My best find was at a local used store. I was looking for VHS movies, advertised for $1 when I found a pair of 1993 La Scalas (LS Fin. Blk.), in good condition for $700 + tax. After negotiating, I got the La Scalas for $570 + tax (cash talks). This was only my second or third time visiting this particular store. It just so happened that I was searching Kijiji and E-Bay for La Scalas at the time. I missed an opportunity for stained birch La Scalas on Kijiji due to an e-mail malfunction. I saved hundreds by having my that e-mail crash.

Recently, I was looking to replace my bedroom cd player, as it skips. I found a dvd player on bulk day which works fine with cds. I did not test it with dvds.

Overall, I consider myself fortunate, and my time invested is enjoyable and the payoff is great!

[IndyKlipschFan]

I found my yamaha receiver for the garage 2 channel system at Goodwill.. 5 dollars... = good find.

[Klipschfoot]

Cut Throat, I wonder what your conclusion would have been if chance had been in your favor and you had found a gem on your first visit to the local thrift. Regardless, the more you dissuade from going to those stores, the better for us bottomfeeders. Thanks!