Goodwill/SA/Thrift Store Discussions & Finds

Went to Savers as I usually do on my way home from work Saturday. They had put out a pretty large collection of prog/art rock. There was tons of Kansas, Alan Parsons, Supertramp, Jethro Tull, Peter Gabriel, Genesis, ELO, etc. It was all really clean and mint. Those bands aren't my thing, but I would have grabbed more if they didn't charge $4 a record. :no:

I was talking to another guy there and he was just like me. He passed on most of them and only grabbed one or two. Just not worth taking a chance on something at that price.

Anyway, I settled on these three. The yellow record is a private label release from 1983. The music is decent power pop/glam/hair metal. Evidently there's private label collectors out there and this one is pretty desirable.

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Went to Savers as I usually do on my way home from work Saturday. They had put out a pretty large collection of prog/art rock. There was tons of Kansas, Alan Parsons, Supertramp, Jethro Tull, Peter Gabriel, Genesis, ELO, etc. It was all really clean and mint. Those bands aren't my thing, but I would have grabbed more if they didn't charge $4 a record. :no:

I was talking to another guy there and he was just like me. He passed on most of them and only grabbed one or two. Just not worth taking a chance on something at that price.

Anyway, I settled on these three. The yellow record is a private label release from 1983. The music is decent power pop/glam/hair metal. Evidently there's private label collectors out there and this one is pretty desirable.

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When you get opportunities like that, you have to know what to buy, even if the music is not to your taste. It sounds like mostly common US pressings of commercial prog, but if there is any highly collectible serious stuff, you have to be able to recognize it. Gazing at Discogs on your phone while experienced guys grab records is not going to cut it.
 
Got lucky at Philly Aids Thrift yesterday. Pristine pair of Klipsch Synergy B3. Price out the door $10. They sounded far better than they had any business sounding. Already moving them on to help fund my Fisher project. 20180819_182846.jpg 20180819_182834.jpg 20180819_182857.jpg
 
When you get opportunities like that, you have to know what to buy, even if the music is not to your taste. It sounds like mostly common US pressings of commercial prog, but if there is any highly collectible serious stuff, you have to be able to recognize it. Gazing at Discogs on your phone while experienced guys grab records is not going to cut it.

The strategy there is put everything you might have interest in in your cart then go to a different area and do the research then put back what you don't want. This is essential buy the pound strategy where competition is high and casually screening each item will get you very little.
 
My strategy at the Pound is to just basically grab everything and then sort once the switch is done, unless it's very obviously garbage. Otherwise, people will just grab it from right in front of you. That place brings out the inner savage in just about everyone. Sociology classes should hold field trips and sit with notebooks observing.
 
The strategy there is put everything you might have interest in in your cart then go to a different area and do the research then put back what you don't want. This is essential buy the pound strategy where competition is high and casually screening each item will get you very little.

This is a strategy I wouldn't mind people using so much... if the majority of people (at my GW Clearance Center at least) didn't just hoard things for hours in multiple covered carts and sort them when they are about to leave. At least give others who don't have the time to stay all day a chance at your unwanted ones.
 
This is a strategy I wouldn't mind people using so much... if the majority of people (at my GW Clearance Center at least) didn't just hoard things for hours in multiple covered carts and sort them when they are about to leave. At least give others who don't have the time to stay all day a chance at your unwanted ones.

At buy the pound after I have perused all the carts and before they swap them I research and sort out what to keep. I usually do multiple sessions within the two hours Bob and I are usually there and I don't wait until the end. This is crucial especially for CDs and LPs where condition is important. It's very frustrating to arrive home and realize you brought home an empty jewel case or an LP that looks like someone skated on it.
 
I can only speak to what I see at mine. Multiple sessions over two hours would not bother me at all, and I would appreciate the courtesy.
 
I have developed an eye for interesting records over the last few years, and scored on things I never heard of. I do as Dublin Trader said and grab everything interesting and sort them sitting in the furniture section. The thing is, I won't pay their ask if it's more than discogs average, most of the record stores price using that.
 
My strategy at the Pound is to just basically grab everything and then sort once the switch is done, unless it's very obviously garbage. Otherwise, people will just grab it from right in front of you. That place brings out the inner savage in just about everyone. Sociology classes should hold field trips and sit with notebooks observing.

My GW Clearance is not like that. We have the carts but folks around here don't hoard and sort. I usually stay long enough for the bins to be renewed once, then go to lunch and return for round two. Luckily for me, the patrons do not buy what I like so I get decent stuff pretty much on every visit. The bins are mostly fresh donations, which means the electronics work. Interestingly, I do much better at the Clearance than at my favorite thrift where there are resident flippers who sit all day long for the privilege of over-paying. I rarely spend more than $10 per visit at the Clearance.
 
At buy the pound after I have perused all the carts and before they swap them I research and sort out what to keep. I usually do multiple sessions within the two hours Bob and I are usually there and I don't wait until the end. This is crucial especially for CDs and LPs where condition is important. It's very frustrating to arrive home and realize you brought home an empty jewel case or an LP that looks like someone skated on it.

I could have had an awesome country music collection the other day. There were dozens of CD's. Just couldn't pull the trigger on stuff I don't listen to. They would have been cheap enough to take to a CD store. Hmmm...
 
Those of you that get stuff at recyclers/dumps, how do you broach the subject with them? Every place I've called in NJ has stated in no uncertain terms that they are prohibited on a federal level from selling items that are given to be recycled, regardless of the value. I just wonder if this is a local thing, or if some are more open to it on the side. Or is it mostly town dumps vs recycling facilities? I'd like to break into this, but it's starting to look like it just straight up isn't possible around here. Thanks!
I have the same issue. Used to deal with a guy at my local recycle place that let me take stuff. He is no longer there and the guys are afraid of losing their job if someone takes stuff. If someone brings it in while you are there they can give it to you. It is amazing how much good stuff ends up being in those containers. I think some of the stuff is taken by the guys who work there. they would let me take a sunfire jr subwoofer that someone tossed, but disappeared the next day. i used to get stuff off the street until they made people bring it to the town and then they started not letting you take stuff. We had a country recycle day on this past saturday and you should see what people had brought in. recycle should be let someone else use it not some company pick it up and sell the good stuff.
 
Walked into the thrift during my lunchbreak. The lady behind the counter saw me coming and said "I think these loudspeakers over there might interest you." Gonna ask her to marry me. It were 4 Dynaudio 17w75 woofers and one 15w75.

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I found 26 mint copies of the DJ promo of this: 5 of a Kind-Back in Circulation

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And 18 mint copies of this: Jan Bradley ‎– Back In Circulation

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(Images from Discogs)


I don't know what I'm going to do with them, but I couldn't leave them to get mutilated on the thrift store shelves.

I found a stack of Sidra 45s awhile back, and they were worth a fortune. But the label was a different color and different groups. They were Ronnie and Robin and The Embraceables. All of them sold to Britons overseas.. just fyi
 
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