Good Stuff Disappearing From The Thrifts?

Seller's market for vinyl today, buyer's market for CD's.

But to your point, those prices sound ridiculous. Even for 2019.

 

I've said for about 40 years that it is very expensive to be poor in america. It first hit me at a Pay 'n' Save Sidewalk Sale. They had a store in the suburb where I live, and also one near a chinese restaurant in a seedy part of the Seattle area by where I worked. I noticed a particular item that was $1.99 in the suburbs, but in the seedy neighborhood it was $2.99. Exact same item.

I also had an acquaintance that had a chain of "discount" grocery stores and he put one up in the "poor" neighborhood. He had to charge more for items there because shoplifting was so bad. In fact, he ended up having to close the store because of it. This hints at why there are "food deserts".

And if my checking account balance accidentally goes below zero, no problem. I have a several thousand dollar Personal Line of Credit backing it up. The needed money is merely "borrowed" at a very low interest rate and I electronically move the money back when I put more money in the account. But a poor person that needs money before they have it has to use a payday loan location and pay dearly to have the money just a few days before they get paid or whatever.

And then there is goodwill, etc...

 

If the title of this thread was true in 2017 (it was) then it is doubly true today. Even over the last year in my area I have seen another drop off in both quantity and quality of goods. As a result I have cycled back my thrifting considerably.

But as mentioned above, it does depend on what you are looking for... for instance my wife has scored many a clothing deals for herself, me and my boys - and we're not talking about used, old clothes --- I am talking new, unused (sometimes with tags) brand name stuff. We are clothing snobs and it is amazing what turns up there.

Then - things like cups for my coffee hobby (espresso, etc) and also things like glencairns for scotch -- find some pretty cool stuff.

Also jigsaw puzzles - I am big into high quality puzzles (like Ravensberger) - and I have scored probably 30-40 in the $2.99 range --- these are $30 - $40 puzzles new. And missing pieces? Of the 15 or so I have assembled in the 1000 -3000 piece range only TWO pieces have been missing. YOu can spot the good ones, especially when the owner took the time to bag up pieces, etc.

Then furniture -- I have cleaned up on really cool pieces -- being a woodworker and able to recognize quality and valuable pieces, I really have scored some high quality stuff.

Anyway, even though I stated some of the positives still out there, it has really gone down overall ---- what I found two years ago was much better overall.

Oh - and LP's -- can't complain there -- even though it has gotten tougher I have cleaned up heartily over the last couple of years - and LP's in VG++ to NM condition --- especially classical. I have built quite the impressive classical collection (probably 500 - 750 range) at Goodwill and Zia records. The rock / jazz are tougher to find but still have a couple hundred that were high value in NM condition. (I have shared some of these finds in the Long and winding threads - Listening on Vinyl)

 

Yeah. At that same thrift store, I got a couple of nice DG classical CDs - Boulez doing Mahler's Third for $2 a Bohm/Pollini program of Beethoven for $1.

There were a ton of good classical CDs that nobody else seemed to want.

 

The world has gone mad. Nothing is for free, unless you're Dire Straits!
As I see it, the candle is burned at both ends.
Junk and "non-working" is thought to be worth nearly as much as refurbished, and refurbished not as much value as it should.

Angry post to follow:

The problem with refurb, are all (most) of the techs who molest, instead of properly restore. How many times have we heard a tech say, "Oh look it's never been apart, this is an unmolested piece" .... then they proceed to molest it. They replace quality (good) filter caps with undersized ones, zip tie them in place. Fire hose switches and pots with "deoxit" with oily preserver, and wash out the bearing lube.. so the control loses its viscous, damped feel.

This type of hypocrisy, that it's not ok that another tech molests a chassis, but ok if the accuser does! This has me hating most technicians, barring those who are truly talented and knowledgeable. Half of them don't know how to solder the right way... cold solder and super messy sloppy work!

THIS is what devalues restored equipment! BAD work!!!! A typical Pioneer receiver, or Sansui, Yamaha, Marantz, restored to as new should bring 10x their original retail value, at the very least... but they don't.

I am not attempting to promote myself, because I am not restoring anything, no money in it because of them. Back in the 2000's, when I shipped a refurbed receiver, a turntable or amp, the controls felt like factory, and performed like factory. Switch contacts which do not clean with contact cleaner, are de-soldered, the switch taken apart, the contacts de-oxidized with micro-polish... no oily residue... clean and dry, just as they are SUPPOSED to be! My solder is factory. I have earned it through professional experience and talent. I would bet anything a tech could not tell my refurbed switches were ever removed from the faceplate, or PC board. Vintage turntables such as Dual, Garrard, Thorens, must be disassembled, cleaned, relubed, adjusted to spec per manual. Bearings should be cleaned in parts cleaner or doused in "brake-clean" blown dried with compressed air (important) Any tech who "wipes" a bearing clean should find another "hobby". The refurbished product should appear physically as never worked on. The refurbed product should provide trouble free service for as long as a brand new item would.

 

I have always felt a little uncomfortable shopping at thrift store. It feels like a place where people that are down on their luck and having a hard time making ends meet can shop. Going in there to get a good deal on electronics or score some records isn't my thing. What I'm taking away could have been a birthday present for a kid who's mom is working a couple jobs and cant afford to shop at walmart. I get it, they are also there to make money that can be invested in the mission of the organization through the sale of goods that are donated and everyone has the right to that inventory but you have to admit what I just said is also going on. Look around you while you are digging through unsorted, unorganized and undesirable LP's and CD's that you feel are not a good enough of a bargain, most people are not shopping there because they have a choice.

 

I left Seattle 8 years ago. In the year I was waiting to leave I lived in a condo and had nothing to do with my time when I wasn't working, so I hit a lot of estate sales. I got over 2,500 albums, quite a few turntables, some great true hi-fi gear, a couple of pairs of Bose 301's in great shape and a ton of cassettes and bricks of unopened blank cassettes. I got it all for pennies on the dollar and ended up either selling or giving away most of it, except for one turntable, 800 of the LP's (the ones I actually liked) and the cassettes. I gave away a couple turntables that now would be worth about $200 each, but at the time I got one free and one for $20 and just didn't have time to sell them.

But now, Pffffth. I have not hit a goodwill or estate sale in about five years. I just don't have the time, vs what I could find in that time. It was fun while it lasted, but all good (and bad) things come to an end. Those were the days, but those days are gone.

 

The GW/SA/thrifts are still good, excellent really... but NOT for electronics (that's over) or records (LPs). You have to get really lucky to find great records now-a-days.

Every once in a while you will find a M- great titled LP -- but is it really worth the work involved in the search. (??) It's pretty over.

Sometimes someone drops off a 'collection' (10 -15 LPs or so) but it rarely happens anymore, maybe 2x/yr. But we all still look anyway, don't we.

But...Top quality designer cloths are abundant for pennies on the dollar. All like new. Blows me totally away really. Why folks shop in stores for cloths is beyond me.

You have to find, and frequent, the 'hidden' thrifts (GW) in the richer neighborhoods. That's a MAJOR requirement for 'fantastic scores' on a frequent basis.

Happy hunting... something to do.

 

I always check the watches when I go to one of these places. While you may have a point as far a necessities go, I have no problem taking a luxury watch away from an indigent person who might otherwise have it himself. The employees at thrift stores often don't have the wherewithal regarding watches/jewelry to know what's what.

And who knows - if you're lucky, THIS can happen:

https://nypost.com/2015/02/19/bargain-buyer-hits-jackpot-with-rare-watch-at-goodwill-store/

 

I score plenty of records at Goodwill and Vincent St Paul that are in great condition. I just scored a slew of classical records at 65 cents per and a nice Lindsay-Buckingham LP this past Saturday. I also picked up a very old Lafayette Integrated for $3.00. Works but has some noisy switches which I just lubricated and cleaned and a blown fuse I need to replace that was undersized.

A few weeks ago I got a free Akai Receiver @ Vincent's from the early 70s but 1 one channel has a distortion issue I will investigate.

 

Don't knock to shoppers with their phones out while at the thrift store racks and think they are all flippers. I use my phone constantly to look at Discogs to see if I have specific pressings, to listen to samples via Apple Music, etc. I am confident I am not the only one doing that.

I still find lots of great scores at thrifts, and even though some prices are higher than regular bins, the things I purchase are worth it to me and are cheaper than I would find it at a used record store. If it isn't, I won't buy it. I am listening to my VG Led Zeppelin II RL Mo that I got for $10. It is too noisy to do a needle drop, but it is obvious that the previous owner(s) didn't baby it for that purpose...so I won't either. Still worth $10 to me, as I didn't own an RL pressing yet.

I also recently picked up a bunch of cool CDs in various thrift stores:
an early pressing of Slayer - Reign In Blood for $3
a sealed remaster of Beatles - Past Masters for $5
Pink Floyd The Wall Live double CD for $10
Fleetwood Mac - Mirage (target) for $2
Zombies - Odyssey & Oracle (Big Beat remaster) for $2
the Church - Of Skins & Heart $2
Midnight Oil - Diesel & Dust (Austria pressing) $1
Genesis - Wind and Withering (Sanyo Japan) $2
Genesis - Selling England By the Pound (W. German Sonopress) $2
A stack of ex-library Blue Note RVG remasters and Connoisseur Series stuff. All for $2 each

There is one thrift in town where the guy tries to do Discogs research and even prints off the Discogs sheet from his inkjet printer in the back and includes it in the sleeve. I tried to help him understand dead wax so he can be more precise in his research and showed him the pricing histories of entries. It makes his job more fun for him, and that actually is more important to me than if I get a better deal on a thrashed copy of Jefferson Starship's Red Octopus.

 

I think you would have a better chance at winning the lottery. It seems they have a person dedicated to doing a google search on everything that could have some potential value and that inventory goes on their own auction site. And that auction site is shady AF. I'm specifically talking about goodwill and the goodwill auction site. I regularly see untested stereo equipment sell for much more than they go for on ebay. Like a pioneer SX 1280 for $3,800 and other such nonsense.

 

Not sure if your aversion has resulted in you not visiting thrift stores these days --- many of the patrons are not down on their luck, there are many there just like me -- looking for a deal. Or collectors or people who turn the stuff around for a profit. When I go to the Scottsdale AZ Goodwill stores (there are many) there are frequently Mercedes, BMW's, etc all over the parking lot. Hardly down on their luck, most people in there have a lot more money than I do!

So no problem here - and personally, not down on my luck at all -- but as a trained-since-youth consumer in a capitalist society I always search for a deal, and for my interests many have been found at thrift stores. It is fun for me actually......

Plus, the money you give actually helps those "down on their luck" people you refer to. If you're feeling guilty, you could always make a cash donation at the register.

 

Yup

 

Having participated on a few Goodwill / thrift threads between the Audio / Off Topic forum --- it depends where you live. I converse with and travel all over the country in my job, and see it first hand. All my Cali buddies lament the lack of LP's --- where I have CLEANED UP here in AZ. It has been amazing the last couple of years. Even though it is tougher than it was, I have no problem making constant "scores". Again, I have shared some of those on other forums here.

LIke everything "it depends". LIke you, I have a day job, busy too --- but my wife and I find time due to the cool stuff we find! She loves going on the hunt, me too, it gives us something to do together which we enjoy --- and those of us that have stayed married to the same person for a long time KNOW how important that is!

 

I had never thought about it that way, that I might be buying something that a person poorer then myself would like... I have always thought the money earned was put to good use and it was an opportunity for someone with limited experience to learn retail clerking ect.

 

I agree with the location angle. I used to travel a lot in my job and noticed the same thing. Also, an odd revelation came to me when I left Seattle for rural Kentucky. In Seattle, used stuff is harder to sell, so it is not unusual to find a $20 item at a garage sale, in perfect or near perfect condition, for $5 or less. My wife and I figured that out and found ourselves rubbing shoulders with a lot of Spanish speaking families (who also figured this out) to buy the cheap stuff for everyday use.

Then we moved to rural Kentucky, where the income levels are substantially lower as is the cost of housing, etc., yet new items cost the same amount they do in Seattle. What this means is there is a huge market for used stuff. We quit wasting our time at Garage sales because that same item that would have been $20 new was being sold for $15 or more, used. Not worth it.

That being said, my daughter moved to Louisville and we did a garage sale there. I got a like new pair of white, Radio Shack minimus 7's for $5.

 

Go over to the ones in Mesa or certain sections of Phoenix and report back. When I was in college in Tempe I bought furniture and many household items at goodwill because that was all I could afford and buying even that meant skipping some meals or doing without. To think all that inventory that I needed to make a home could have been snatched up by a guy from Scottsdale driving a Mercedes, feels a bit rough. I guess if you haven't been broke its harder to empathize with those that are. What might be a good deal for one person is the only option for another. I could also go down to the soup kitchen for lunch or spend the night in a shelter instead of getting a hotel but those places weren't set up give people a deal, they help people in need.

I'm really not trying to troll, just saying the charity shop is the only option for many people. I do make donations, in fact I went there yesterday and dropped of a dresser, two end tables and a headboard. I could have sold them for a $400 myself but I donated them in hopes they would help someone that is less fortunate put together a bedroom. The idea of someone simply buying that and selling for the profit I chose not to, feels a little less than altruistic.

 

You completely missed the point of his post... Your capitalistic training is in full swing. The point was that simply because you saw a bunch of other rich people in there coping deals along with you, that doesn't mean you're not taking an item that could have truly helped or made a more needy persons life somewhat better. Very few people take the time to think past their own personal wants and desires, and I commend Dennis for mentioning it.

It's simply a case of awareness that everything isn't always about you. Your whole post is a collection of "Me" and "I" statements. Typical stuff.

I've bought stuff from my local church thrift, but I always make sure I pay it forward by donating something worth having, so someone else can have an opportunity at some cool (at least in my mind) items.

 

I understand how you feel. However the Goodwill super store in my area is frequented by rich people too. I once felt a little put off, reluctant to admit I bought records and electronics at the Goodwill and Salvation Army. On one hand, the poor have opportunity to own vintage high quality stuff, however (in vintage electronics) the stuff seldom operates to spec, if at all. So I felt I was doing the community a service by offering quality refurbished vintage electronics. I also felt the value of (properly) restored equipment isn't fair, not at all, far undervalued.

People from all walks of life shop at my local Goodwill. I have made many friends there, from custodians, lawyers, real estate gurus, many collectors, and resellers. I am located not far from NYC, and other affluent communities. So, nice things show up.. but far fewer than before. Retail stores donate discontinued clothing items, Target, and I believe Kohls. You can buy a brand new pair of Levis for $7.00. The more affluent look for good deals like everyone else.

 

I just have a problem with people who just constantly and gleefully take, and never give back anything... This is EXACTLY why the thread is true in the first place and the whole planet is full of those. You can't change people, but you don't have to like them either.

Would it really hurt to give away a few records or components that were not really beat up or junk. Most people here have way more stuff than they can possibly use in 3 lifetimes. I've been doing this for awhile and not long ago, I was rewarded with a huge haul of Reggae records from the 70's. It's just karma.

If you want to turn the trend around, this is where is starts. That guy right in the mirror.

 

I do. I live in Tempe, they have more Goodwills than anywhere by per capita. There are literally 6 in a 5 mile radius. Also, right next door to Mesa. I actually spend much more time in the Tempe / Mesa stores than the Scottsdale because they are so close.

Sure, Mesa may have more folks of lower income frequenting, but there is still a large contingent like me... just more diversity than Scottsdale.

I guess my point is I don't feel uncomfortable at all, that was the premise of our exchange -- it is a fairly common behavior among middle class folks like me these days (as threads like this testify to).

I already pay enough of my tax dollars that are indirectly funding the less fortunate --- I don't feel like I am taking something away from the less fortunate when I find an LP or Ravensberger puzzle for a good price at Goodwill. Plus I don't think the Goodwill upper management minds at all folks who are not destitute shopping there --- it means more $$ to help fund the less fortunate.

Cheer.

 

No, you completely missed the point of my post. I understood and addressed his point - but you obviously have an issue with my point.

As far as your "me" and "I" points --- I can only speak for myself --- I am not one of those righteous people who thinks there opinion represents the masses. Your opinions here are worded in a righteous way, as if they represent how we all should behave.

It's clear you have larger concerns than people shopping at thrift stores. You are blowing this out of proportion.

Plus I drop off truck loads of stuff at Goodwill that I could have tried to sell - so again I don't have the slightest guilty feeling nor share your viewpoint on this.

 

Geez, guess I shouldn't shop in the thrift store any more. I might buy something someone less fortunate would like to buy. I just thought by buying there I was helping the hospice which owns it in its mission to assist and comfort the dying and their families.

 

You are supporting the hospice........... just like my donations of stuff I drop off and the money I spend at Goodwill is helping the less fortunate.

I am not sure where this line of thinking came in...... but like anything there are those that like to find some angle that paints we are doing something wrong.