Good Stuff Disappearing From The Thrifts?

I saw Sgt. Pepper once, but it was trashed (and someone still appeared to have bought it).

 

Last Beatles LP was a nice copy of Magical Mystery Tour about three years ago.The 90s was when I wish I would have started thrifting.First vintage score was a pair of Klipsch Heresy about 2003.$24.99

 

Some people buy the most trashed lps that I wouldn't give a second thought.I can only imagine what it sounded like.

 

The local Goodwill here is the place to go for discontinued clothing, clearance items, store returns from Target and other retail stores. A $60.00 pair of Levis can be purchased for $7.99 NWT. Some people are grabbing these to resell, new shoes, ladies purses, leather gloves and leather jackets. During the 2000's this same Goodwill was prolific with stereo gear. Nice turntables were put out, everything priced $19.99, mattered not if it was a Crosley or a Garrard 401. All of that has dried up, except of course the Crosleys that keep coming in.

 

Nothing good here in Denver either. All the good stuff goes on fleaBay I suspect. Even the price of CDs and DVDs seem to have doubled. CDs used to be 0.99 and now they want $2 and $4 for DVDs. Better off scowering local Craigslist for audio gear at decent priced.

 

Picked up a non forum favorite for 30 bucks yesterday, couldn't pass on it as it was in beautiful (working/cosmetic) condition
A Marantz 6100 with a surprisingly working U-Mount AT 98E, zero hum or noise. My Technics/Lounge will remain at my PC for transfers.
This will work good for casual listening

 

The good old days are gone for records, but CDs are still good at most the thrifts i shop at. As for audio, I found better luck by going to ones in more affluent areas and being prescient about it. Teac, NAD, nakamichi , denon gear all for under $20

 

the thrift shop waters are infested with sharks...they eat everything up with their phones in hand scanning anything of value...it's disgusting.

 

the sharks show up even before the sale opens...really tough to beat 'em...

 

Darn. It will now be harder to find the rare Mantovani records I covet.

 

The thing is that thrift stores have been selling on eBay for many years now. They earn more money due to a larger audience and they are able turn over their inventory faster.

 

Well done. Nice table, I found mine for $25 with Shure M91ED at a garage sale 10 or so years ago. Served me well for 5 or so years then sold it on Craigslist. Enjoy that great score!

 

I can get you boat loads...

 

Huh...so maybe it’s you that’s been taking all the good stuff from the Goodwill! Probably all the West Side Story soundtracks, Belafonte Christmas albums, plus the Barbra Streisands.

 

: ) guilty!
and my #1...

 

I had to find a thread to post a vent about how terrible my thrift shop visits over the last year have been. Housing Works in NYC appears to have become aware of the vinyl revival and is keen on trying to make some money off it. I was there recently and I've never before seen double-digit asking prices for LPs at a thrift store before, but I encountered it last weekend. An (at best) G+ 1981 US budget repress of Son of Schmilsson was on offer for... $10. For that price, you could get one in NM on Discogs.

A sad copy of Allman Brothers Eat a Peach - seams split so badly that the vinyl was falling out of the gatefold and the records in probably G/G+ condition - had a sticker price of $12.

I have no idea what is going on here.

 

Same thing in Belgium! Beat up, scratched, filthy as hell records priced in thrift stores as highly as mint ones on discogs....I guess they just think that vinyl=vinyl no matter the condition !

 

There is always ebay.

 

Any respectable thrift store should have the entire Zamfir collection along with a good selection of Roger Whittaker LPs
At 50 cents a pop. ;-)

 

Every secondary selling site ever created starts out full of bargains and as time goes by and greed takes over, becomes full of junk at top shelf prices.

 

the ship has sailed! i check out a local thrift during my work lunch break every now and then. everybodys a flipper now, cell phones in hand (most dont act like they are on their lunch break either)....

 

To quote Miller from Repo Man, 'you find one in every ___."

 

Thrift store finds have gotten more difficult for me to find the items I collect, but the opposite has happened for my wife. She has collected vaseline/uranium glass for over 40 years. This stuff is usually old and looks like clear glass, but when placed underneath an ultraviolet/black-light it typically glows a deep green color because the chemical makeup in the silica... Anyway, lots of this stuff has been showing up in thrift stores compared to decades past. She believes that the older people who owned it are passing away and the younger generation have no desire to keep it.

 

Records, save for absolute garbage, have almost completely disappeared in my area. CDs still come in in waves. I used to occasionally luck into vintage gear (even got my Edison diamond disc player at a thrift), but now, if you find a mid-fi cassette deck you're lucky. Mostly just broken multichangers and rack jobs.

 

My grandmother went into a nursing home last year. I don't think any of us grandkids have room for even a portion of the glass she collected. I already have my own hutch that I inherited from my other grandparents over 25 years ago filled with Depression glass that I collected.