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

[garymd]

HA!!! Just got back from my favorite thrift shop, the local library I mentioned above. As the year draws to an end, lots of folks are cashing in on their charitable contributions. Like I said, timing is everything.

Somebody dropped off about 5 bags of LPs, maybe 100 in all. They were still cold from sitting in the car. Nobody else was there looking through LPs today. Very rare. I had the place to myself. The first thing I noticed was the rice sleeves. You just know there will be nice LPs when someone went to the trouble to replace the paper sleeves with rice sleeves. The first bag had about 5 original mono Beatles LPs. The covers were nice but the LPs were beat. Bummer. The next bag has a NM Parlophone Sgt Pepper picture disc. Cover printed in England, Disc pressed in West Germany. It was well protected in a plastic cover. I have no idea of the value. The other really good find was a nearly perfect original pressing of Pink Floyd's Umma Gumma. I already have one but this was so nice I had to grab it. I only left with 9 LPs. I just have no use for Metallica, Judas Priest, Black Sabbath, etc. Nor do I need second copies of old Paul Simon albums, Dylan's Greatest Hits or Blood Sweat & Tears. Most were in really great shape and 3 years ago I would have jumped on them. I'm just happy with the 9 I left with.

The pickins should improve between now and the end of the year. Good luck to all the hunters out there.

[Cut-Throat]

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!

I asked myself the same question. I was pondering what was the best thing I could find at a Thrift Store at any price even $5. And I could not think of anything I really wanted. I need another pair of amps and/or speakers like I need a hole in the head. I need to sell some stuff this winter

But when I do think of something that might be nice to have, I usually search E-bay for it. I am just probably not the 'right' personality to go looking for stuff that I don't need. This does help to keep my Basement and Garage clean.

So, I will not interfere with all of you bottomfeeders anymore!

[TNRabbit]

Here's what you do~ Make up some business cards (card stock is cheap at WalMart) with your name/number on one side, and the names of the merchandise you are interested in on the other side. Chat up the owner & leave your card letting them know you would like first pick at those items & be willing to pay a fair price. I know a guy who picked up a Sunfire Theater Grand I processor for practically nothing doing this. Another friend happened to look in the dumpster one day when he was dropping his trash & saw a pair of Heresy's in great condition (somebody's ex must've had a cleaning day!). He took them home & refinished them; they sound fantastic! You never know what gem you might find...

[Klipschfoot]

I'm not trying to pound your post into the ground, but if you came home with one of these, you'd be humming a different tune. In the DC metro area, there are quite a few thrifts and one close to my office yielded this thing some call a receiver. It's more like an amp/pre/tuner because it must weigh about 50 pounds—the sum of all three as separates. And there's something about listening to an oldies station on one of these that I cannot put into words. I now understand the mid-century decor with STEREO craze a little better. I have been told by others that their areas just don't have the demographics to support donations like this. I completely understand because I have seen a few of those first hand. So that may be your case, CT. It can be a fun hobby/diversion/whatever-you-call-it. I never would have bought one of these off Ebay for this price and that just makes it fun for me. Same is true for others here as well, I assume.

[Cut-Throat]

Hey, I was not saying that this was not great sport for you or anybody else. I just said it was not for me.

While I'm sure you got a great price for your Kenwood receiver, The fact of the matter is I don't want one. If I bought it for $5 at a Thrift shop, I'd have to store it in my basement. I don't want to store one either. So, I could sell it on E-bay. E-bay would probably bring around $100 - give or take. Then I'd I have to Box it up and ship it. And I would have made around $95 for time and effort. This is not worth it for me. Not even close!

Last night I was surfing the net for a Fisher Tube Receiver because I want one. I need another receiver like I need another hole in my head. (I already own 3 Pioneer and 3 Marantz vintage receivers.) I did it from the comfort of my chair, listening to music and a glass of wine. I'll probably pay around $500 for it. - But I want one!

You clearly enjoy the 'sport' of a thrift shop. I do not. - That is all I learned. I am not knocking you for enjoying the thrift shop hunt. I do things that I'm sure you would not enjoy also.

[Clipped and Shorn]

If you want what you want when you want it, then thrift stores aren't very satisfying. If it means waiting for years in order to hear the music you are looking for....then there are better options.

On the other hand, I have built my empire, so to speak, through thrift stores, flea markets, and the county dump recycling center. I just wait for fini to give me cell phone call saying "get over here" before its gone.....

You collect and stockpile (pack rat), then later when you need something, "shop" in your own store before going to Home Depot. Fish through that bucket of "farmer's mix" (aka hardware store floor sweepings) until you find the right sized nail.

Of course the best one was when fini called and I got my 30 POUNDS of sterling silver. That, and a nice bicycle.

[DoubleJ]

You clearly enjoy the 'sport' of a thrift shop. I do not. - That is all I learned. I am not knocking you for enjoying the thrift shop hunt. I do things that I'm sure you would not enjoy also.

I'd rather go "Thrift Shopping" ,than lets say...Fly Fishing. []

That's the trouble with Thrift Stores, you end up buying more than you need..and before you know it..You have YOUR own Thrift Store in your basement/garage.

JJ

[Cut-Throat]

I'd rather go "Thrift Shopping" ,than lets say...Fly Fishing.

That's the trouble with Thrift Stores, you end up buying more than you need..and before you know it..You have YOUR own Thrift Store in your basement/garage.

JJ

And I'm really glad that all those people I saw in the Thrift Store are not out on my local trout Stream![]

[Lonelobo]

The trick to thrift stores is finding the sincerest ones (like the sincerest pumpkin patch, Linus)and then waiting for the right time to be there. I have several that I know are going to pay off sooner or later. It's kind of like the old ladies in Vegas at the slot machines.

But I must say that even my most successful finds are due to patience and consistent hunting. Almost all of them come from estate sales. Here's my 2 cents worth from my experience. Estate sales in areas with a lot of military vets yeilds the best vintage audio finds. Neighborhoods around military bases are the best, as a lot of G.I.'s got into hi-fi during and after WWII/Korea/Nam. Estate sales are where lots of consignment store merchandise comes from, so why not cut out the middle man? Estate sales also feed flea markets and Ebay. That being said, there are some problems with consistently making it to the most promising sales. In my area of North Texas, the professionally run estate sales start on Thursday and Friday mornings and the odds of you finding well known components are greater the earlier you are there. And there are multiple sales starting each day, usually within an hour of each other and usually scattered all over the place. However, I have found many items on the last day (usually 3rd day) of the sale that just made my day. Included in these last day finds are my $20 Cornwalls, my $5 Dynaco SCA-35, $6 Eico, and huge piles of vinyl for chumpchange.

My first day estate finds include $175 Heresy's, $50 Marantz Model 5 Monoblocks (ea) and $3 Dynaco MK III's (ea). I have slacked off lately as most of my time at estate sales occurred the year after 9/11 when my business tanked and I had a lot of time on my hands. Lately, business has been too good to make many of my usual rounds. Try some estate sales and you'll be surprised what you can find. But do the math and you'll realize that time is running out to make these finds. Already, most estate sales are full of mass produced and horrible sounding junk that you must just ignore. A lot of times the junk is in the house and the treasures are in the garage where they were stored after being replaced by "Modern Solid State" cr&)!! Good luck!!!!

[Klipschfoot]

But I want one!

You nailed it right there. You know what you want and you hunt from the comfort of your chair. With agile dexterity, you lock in your bid with the same passion of a hunter who has his prey in his scope who, with elevated heartbeat, squeezes the trigger, taking down his target. The hunt is over for today and now you wait to find out how the meat will taste. No matter if it is choice or bland, it will not compare to the exhilaration of the hunt itself. You have won and that is all that matters. The story around the coffee klatch will make you the mench. While in their caffeine-heightened state, others will be mesmerized by your tale of man vs cybermachine. They want to see/hear about the takedown. Cost is not the issue. YOU were willing. I say, "Way to go!" I knew you had it in you. Next time, you won't be as timid, as reserved, as analytical. Now you can measure what you see in your scope with experience. You are now a prototype for others to emulate but those "others" will never equal the experimental one who took risk on the chin and weighed reward to the risk, defying sensitivities to passivity and humanness.

[Cut-Throat]

But I want one!

You nailed it right there. You know what you want and you hunt from the comfort of your chair. With agile dexterity, you lock in your bid with the same passion of a hunter who has his prey in his scope who, with elevated heartbeat, squeezes the trigger, taking down his target. The hunt is over for today and now you wait to find out how the meat will taste. No matter if it is choice or bland, it will not compare to the exhilaration of the hunt itself. You have won and that is all that matters. The story around the coffee klatch will make you the mench. While in their caffeine-heightened state, others will be mesmerized by your tale of man vs cybermachine. They want to see/hear about the takedown. Cost is not the issue. YOU were willing. I say, "Way to go!" I knew you had it in you. Next time, you won't be as timid, as reserved, as analytical. Now you can measure what you see in your scope with experience. You are now a prototype for others to emulate but those "others" will never equal the experimental one who took risk on the chin and weighed reward to the risk, defying sensitivities to passivity and humanness.

WOW!

Ernest Hemingway could not have said it any better!