Awesome thrift store pickup(s).

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Locut0s

Locut0s

Lifer
Nov 28, 2001
22,205
44
91
Used to hate going to thrift stores. Now I love it and actually drop by them whenever I get a chance. Today I was walking up the street to get a Sub and decided to pop in the local charity thrift store. All money goes to Vancouver general hospital in this case so it's not a for profit thrift store like most. Today they had a 50% off entire inventory sale going on. I didn't expect to find much as I've been in this store several times in the past and they don't tend to have much. As always I made a B-Line to their small electronics section in the back. There I see a box with an N64 in it. Well I already have an N64 that I got from a previous thrift store visit so I wasn't all that interested in it, but I noticed there were 3 games in the box. Mario Kart 64, Perfect Dark, and a Star Wars Ep1 pod racing game. The last of these I didn't care for but the first two are good games. Hmm... no price on these damn must be sold as a set with the system. Hmm.. no price on the system either. So I ask if it's possible to buy the games seperate and the lady goes in back to ask. She comes back out with another lady who points to a big ass ugly subwoofer and says it's a package deal with that and also another speaker. AS IS for $25. Only today it's 50% off day so $12.50! I ask if AS IS means it's broken, nope just never tested anything. Damn I think to myself if it's all working $12.50 is a killer deal for all this. The system alone I can get about $40 for if I resell it.

Just got done testing it. IT ALL WOKRS! Woot! Umm Actually I didn't test the subwoofer and the other speaker. I don't really care about these, not sure what I'll do with them.

6267700536_f14aee31b7_b.jpg


And yup it came with the 3 controllers. That 3rd one is some really awkward to use autofire controller, but it works too.

This is the best deal I've managed to snag so far but I've gotten a few good things in the past as well. I got a PS2 slim with controller and 1 game for $9.99, lol cause they barely even knew what the thing was. A few other things too. So what have you managed to pick up in the past?
 
SKORPI0

SKORPI0

Lifer
Jan 18, 2000
18,485
2,419
136
Nice. :thumbsup:

Haven't gone to a thrift store in a year and a half. Last time I went they didn't anything in the electronics store worth buying.
 
Schadenfreude

Schadenfreude

Lifer
Dec 28, 2001
11,391
3
0
As odd as it is to say, I typically go there for work-clothes, more specifically pants; I mostly wear khakis for work and I can find pairs from express/banana republic that fits for $5/pop.

Also, I picked up a copy of Cranuim for $2.
 
Locut0s

Locut0s

Lifer
Nov 28, 2001
22,205
44
91
SKORPI0 said:
Nice. :thumbsup:

Haven't gone to a thrift store in a year and a half. Last time I went they didn't anything in the electronics store worth buying.
Click to expand...

You have to go semi regularly. I find 8 times out of 10 they don't have anything. But then every once in a while you see something like this. I've been thinking of making a few extra bucks by regularly buying stuff and reselling it. I've seen lots of stuff that I myself don't give a shit about but know I could get more for on eBay than what they are selling the item for, sometimes I know I can get a lot more. Just never been bothered. :hmm:
 
Locut0s

Locut0s

Lifer
Nov 28, 2001
22,205
44
91
Schadenfreude said:
As odd as it is to say, I typically go there for work-clothes, more specifically pants; I mostly wear khakis for work and I can find pairs from express/banana republic that fits for $5/pop.

Also, I picked up a copy of Cranuim for $2.
Click to expand...

Not odd. My mother shops at them regularly for cloths. Not my thing at all but I get it. And yeah board games are another area you can get some very nice pickups. Only thing with them is you really have to know what came with the original game and triple check to see if anything is missing (usually something is).
 
S

ShawnD1

Lifer
May 24, 2003
15,987
2
81
value village is a good place for random power cables. If you need an ac adapter that puts out 12v, you will find it. They also have every charger for every phone in history.
 
Z

Zedtom

Platinum Member
Nov 23, 2001
2,146
0
0
If you have an older LCD monitor with an external power supply you can find these cheap at the thrift stores. I bought a $5 part and restored a 19" monitor without even opening the case.
 
lxskllr

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
60,182
10,648
126
Here's a few notable things I've gotten...

Whitney point blanket
A couple model M keyboards
A .45 cannon kit
A set of Pfaltzgraff settings in a discontinued pattern
Numerous pairs of combat boots, and BDUs
Underwood typewriter
 
Locut0s

Locut0s

Lifer
Nov 28, 2001
22,205
44
91
ShawnD1 said:
value village is a good place for random power cables. If you need an ac adapter that puts out 12v, you will find it. They also have every charger for every phone in history.
Click to expand...

Indeed. However they tend to have these in random plastic sandwich bags with random prices. You have to dig through them all to find what you were looking for. They will have. no idea what any of it is. Which is fine by me.
 
C

ChaoZ

Diamond Member
Apr 5, 2000
8,906
1
0
I bought a used book at Goodwill, and inside were red envelopes with $20 worth of $2 bills.
 
B

blinblue

Senior member
Jul 7, 2006
889
0
76
I'm addicted to Goodwill. There are 4 stores within a 10 minute drive, so I get to feed my addiction with regularity.
My best finds so far
$4.99 book that I sold for $500
$2.99 book that I sold for $100
$6.99 brand new in clamshell packaging Palm Z22 that I sold for $125 (no idea they still go for that much)

Great place for clothes and random items for projects (power adapters, random bits of whatever).

I wonder how much more business thrift store are getting due to the economy right now. It seems like business is booming.
 
B

blinblue

Senior member
Jul 7, 2006
889
0
76
Nebbers said:
What the hell book was that? :)
Click to expand...

Actually made a thread about it a while back, though it mostly turned into a debate as to whether buying and reselling from Goodwill was stealing from the disabled, not sure how it got into that.

Anyway it was this book (and I just checked and I sold it for $550)


I do a decent amount of buying and reselling (from Goodwill and other places too) and I've calculated that on average I make $10 from each visit to Goodwill.
 
Nebbers

Nebbers

Senior member
Jan 18, 2011
649
0
0
I'd like to see that debate...

I know someone that makes a living buying and reselling antiques and such from thrift stores and garage sales. Hasn't had a conventional job for a decade. Apparently there's plenty to be made if you have the knowledge to do so.

Either way, it's definitely a better way to go than his prior job as a meth dealer.
 
B

blinblue

Senior member
Jul 7, 2006
889
0
76
Nebbers said:
I'd like to see that debate...

I know someone that makes a living buying and reselling antiques and such from thrift stores and garage sales. Hasn't had a conventional job for a decade. Apparently there's plenty to be made if you have the knowledge to do so.

Either way, it's definitely a better way to go than his prior job as a meth dealer.
Click to expand...
This is the thread

There really can be some decent money in thrift store reselling if you know your stuff.
I stick with what I know, electronics and photography equipment. Books are really easy and require little knowledge, just look up the ISBN and see what they go for on Amazon. I also sometimes find decent electronics (routers or DSL/Cable modems, decent joysticks, etc) but it's mostly books. I have found a few decent lenses that I've sold, but nothing amazing. I certainly don't make enough money from it to make a living. But the couple extra hundred a month is nice.
But if you know your antiques, collectibles, purses, jewelry, etc you could probably make some good money.

It is fun spotting the people who are looking to resell. I recall on guy with a cart absolutely filled with paperback books and he was scanning each and every book on the shelf. Not really sure how you can make enough money selling essentially worthless books (especially when Goodwill sells paperbacks for $1. The Salvation Armys around here typically sell them for like 25 cents), but I guess he must be able to do it somehow.
 
Locut0s

Locut0s

Lifer
Nov 28, 2001
22,205
44
91
Ohh next time I'm in value village I'll do the ISBN scanning thing. Thanks for that idea.
 
Ichinisan

Ichinisan

Lifer
Oct 9, 2002
28,298
1,235
136
I've scored much better N64 deals before. Does yours have the RAM Expansion Pak?

...I could kick your ass at Mario Kart 64.

This is a challenge, if you are ever in GA for some reason.
 
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