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Thrift Stores Where Does All The Good Electronics go??
- Thread starter DJboutit
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BilboBaggins
Addicted Member
As has been said in other threads, make friends with the flippers. They are looking for a fast buck, but don't expect them to give it to you. Based on what I've paid in the past for any silver faced beauties I have found, $25 is the minimum I have paid for them, and I wouldn't go through the effort of finding the stuff only to give it away at cost. Expect to pay more, but if you buy a few items from the guy, he will likely give you a discount. Promise future business. He doesn't want to sit on his stuff for long due to space and money constraints.
kaplang
Works for me !
Yard sales, garage sales and the like are also running low on vintage equipment. Some does occasionally rear its head but not anywhere as often as it use too. Estate sales may still have some but it's always a crap shoot and first come first serve. When they do appar at estate sales it's usually for a higher price then it's value because they know a lot of people are looking.
sheltie dave
Addicted Member
Stopped by to. Visit my 83 yr old friend this weekend. He still has five Dynaco tube amps, four Mcintosh MC 75s, an MR 71, 65, two 80s, three ss mac amps, 14 HH Scott tube amps, 11 Fisher tube amps, 3 Lafayette tube amps, 8 Eico tube amps, about twenty tube tuners, three Marantz tube amps, another room full of ss gear, lots of AR, EV, and Legacy speakers, and a few full racks scattered here and there with gear.
Why people will visit thrift stores hundreds of times, and never try to get in touch with the knowledgable collectors in their area, is beyond me.
This thread is a great example. Met Roger a few years ago when he moved up here from Houston. his movers tossed fifteen or so cartridges in a box, ruining all of the styli. He had over $20k destroyed. Now he has moved back to Houston, where the OP is trolling the thrifts.
I know I'm a broken record, but you will get far more enjoyment making friends and buying gear from people who are living, than spending fruitless months and years dredging the thrifts. Scores are there, don't get me wrong, but unless you are economically limited, there are much better methods of buying great gear at a discount.
Why people will visit thrift stores hundreds of times, and never try to get in touch with the knowledgable collectors in their area, is beyond me.
This thread is a great example. Met Roger a few years ago when he moved up here from Houston. his movers tossed fifteen or so cartridges in a box, ruining all of the styli. He had over $20k destroyed. Now he has moved back to Houston, where the OP is trolling the thrifts.
I know I'm a broken record, but you will get far more enjoyment making friends and buying gear from people who are living, than spending fruitless months and years dredging the thrifts. Scores are there, don't get me wrong, but unless you are economically limited, there are much better methods of buying great gear at a discount.
icenine
Super Member
Be nice if you are a regular. At a military thrift one of the volunteers asked what I wanted and I said oh i'm just looking for an e-reader with a big screen.
She says I have something like that at home. Then the next week she let me buy a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 for $25. I got first dibs. I have been going there 7 years and a regular customer.
Thrifts are all luck. No use getting mad about stuff you can't change.
She says I have something like that at home. Then the next week she let me buy a Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 for $25. I got first dibs. I have been going there 7 years and a regular customer.
Thrifts are all luck. No use getting mad about stuff you can't change.
The internet has increased the efficiency of the secondhand market by an order of magnitude. That fact should ensure that truly valuable pieces have a better chance of surviving, but since value is in the eye of the beholder, many will still be lost to the landfill, and the market for even the nicer silver-faced receivers will eventually wane. The strategy of "Buy low, sell high" argues for selling one's excess holdings now, I think. Given the demographics, I'd say estate sales are now the places for buyers to look.
wrbear
A man of many talents...a master of none...
My take on it, it's all about perfect timing in some maybe many cases. I've been to stores only to be told I was the nth person in looking for "that". I picked up around 50 albums once only on to be stalked by two guys looking at what I found, before I paid. So employees, holding to what one has & not donating and competition is what kills the hunt today.
Speaking of stiff competition.....HELLO neighbor! snort.....
Speaking of stiff competition.....HELLO neighbor! snort.....
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Markoneswift
Quartz locked n ready to rock
This is precisely what's happened near me, and it's how I got in to the only supply of decent gear around here too. Several local thrifts have never had anything since I've been visiting them and even the biggest charity centre had nothing on the retail side. I asked the staff in the retail outlet the question - 'what happens to the donated electronics ?' and they told me to talk to their two volunteer techs who 'fix stuff'. I talked to the guys and found that most of the gear that gets donated, that isn't fit for sale almost immediately, gets thrown in a skip. We got talking and I saw they had a pile of laptops and old PCs that needed attention, so I offered my computer repair services in return for dibs on any hifi gear that isn't going out for sale. That arrangement has produced Pioneer SX-880, Acoustic Research AR90s, Technics SL-10, Aiwa AD-F640, Paradigm Monitor 5's, JBL LX44's and several other amps, CD players etc etc. It's mutually beneficial and it works for me
Besides making contacts and getting an 'in', I've found persistence does pay off. After weeks of beating a local SA branch and finding nothing, suddenly the had a pair of JVC-SK1000ii's in excellent condition, an old pair of Pioneer PAX coaxials in big cabs, a nice stereo valve console that I took the amp out of and a few other bits. Since that mad couple of weeks though, nothing else - furniture and mattresses have taken over again !
Nightwisher
Farer In The Goldilocks Zone
Thrifting certainly isn't as "easy" as it used to be. With the rise of smart phones, people can now search for the equipment they find in order to flip or to keep it. With the vinyl resurgence, vinyl and the associated equipment has become more desirable for more people. The whole "vintage stereo" movement has caused more demand for vintage equipment. And that's just in the stores. Before the items are even donated now, many are being put on EBay or Craigslist or similar if they're worth enough to bother with. A tax write-off is nice, but pure cash is even better.
Then there's the classic thrift store problems, like timing, employees trying to hide away things for themselves, flippers, etc. Just one other person looking for audio equipment can ruin what's left of the stock for you by the time you get there.
Another new problem is that Goodwill sells online now (shopgoodwill.com). A lot of good stuff ends up there and it's usually not bought by someone local. Goodwills and Salvation Army will also sell on EBay or CL. I try not to think about that too much (luckily I haven't noticed much from mine online).
There are some things (at least around me) that aren't in as high demand, primarily CD players, cassette decks, stereo cabinets, and large vintage speakers. Those tend to stick around longer than turntables, receivers/integrated amplifiers, subwoofers, and smaller speakers. In the case of the large speakers, brand recognition and foam condition really makes a difference in how fast they move out.
Really it's a crapshoot, but if you stay at it, something will come your way. Look for smaller thrift stores, because often that's where some of the nicer stuff ends up and often stays for long enough for you to find. Also, go to every thrift store in your area fairly regularly (at least once a week), not just one or two. I'm now a regular at 7 local thrift stores between my town and the greater city area (1 does not seem to take audio equipment and another hasn't had any yet). I find going on the same day every week helps me get a consistently good pick of stuff, but that may just be coincidence (I like to take the day of the week variable out at the very least).
With all that being said, I've found some great deals recently. I don't mean to rub them in the OP and anyone else's face, because most of it is a matter of luck. Someone else could have just as easily gotten these deals as me if I hadn't been in that exact store when I was. I've posted about them in my system thread in my signature if anyone is curious.
Then there's the classic thrift store problems, like timing, employees trying to hide away things for themselves, flippers, etc. Just one other person looking for audio equipment can ruin what's left of the stock for you by the time you get there.
Another new problem is that Goodwill sells online now (shopgoodwill.com). A lot of good stuff ends up there and it's usually not bought by someone local. Goodwills and Salvation Army will also sell on EBay or CL. I try not to think about that too much (luckily I haven't noticed much from mine online).
There are some things (at least around me) that aren't in as high demand, primarily CD players, cassette decks, stereo cabinets, and large vintage speakers. Those tend to stick around longer than turntables, receivers/integrated amplifiers, subwoofers, and smaller speakers. In the case of the large speakers, brand recognition and foam condition really makes a difference in how fast they move out.
Really it's a crapshoot, but if you stay at it, something will come your way. Look for smaller thrift stores, because often that's where some of the nicer stuff ends up and often stays for long enough for you to find. Also, go to every thrift store in your area fairly regularly (at least once a week), not just one or two. I'm now a regular at 7 local thrift stores between my town and the greater city area (1 does not seem to take audio equipment and another hasn't had any yet). I find going on the same day every week helps me get a consistently good pick of stuff, but that may just be coincidence (I like to take the day of the week variable out at the very least).
With all that being said, I've found some great deals recently. I don't mean to rub them in the OP and anyone else's face, because most of it is a matter of luck. Someone else could have just as easily gotten these deals as me if I hadn't been in that exact store when I was. I've posted about them in my system thread in my signature if anyone is curious.
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blue72
Active Member
I have no opinion on how it may have been in the past, since I've only been actively thrifting for audio equipment around 1 year now. Most of the time I find BPC, lightweight all-in-one rack systems, plastic boomboxes, tiny computer speakers, miscellaneous remote controls, DVD players, small iPod docks and 'tower' speakers that aren't even 8" deep and look to be made of pressboard that's about 1/4" thick.
I keep going consistently though. 95% of the time there isn't anything of interest and I'm in & out in about 5-10 minutes. 4.5% of the time I find perhaps a couple of CDs, DVDs, records, tools, or other non audio-related stuff that I need/want for the house or my other hobbies. I stop in 2-3 times a week because of that 0.05% when I find something incredible. In one year I've picked up two silver faced monster receivers, 4-5 other good quality silver faced amps/receivers, 5-6 good quality turntables, a full stack of separates, 5 or so sets of quality, brand-name tower speakers, a few sets of brand-name bookshelves, some good home theatre speaker sets, working PA and professional sound reinforcement equipment, a number of working home theatre receivers, equalizers, sound shapers, accessories (remotes, speaker stands, speaker switches, name brand shielded RCA cables, speaker cable, wall plates and banana jacks still in their packaging), and more. Whenever we visit family, or are in another town, we stop in at the thrift stores there too. I've filled the trunk with some pretty decent stuff while on vacation.
I don't have a data plan on my smartphone, so I have developed an eye for the indicators of quality workmanship. There are simply too many esoteric brand names to try and memorize them all, or keep a list of every single desirable thing there is out there. I do agree that yard and estate sales are incredible resources as well. Within two or three weeks of each other I found a functioning tube powered extension cabinet at an estate sale, and then another from a different manufacturer in a thrift store. Haven't seen another one before, or since. You can not predict when incredible things will wind up sitting on the grass on a Saturday morning, any less than you can predict when they will hit the shelf at the thrift store, or the bottom of a dumpster. I've seen stuff disappear as soon as the doors open, and I've also found extremely desirable items by popping in at 5 minutes to closing time. It comes down to luck and consistency, at least that's been my experience since June of last year when I began this crazy ride.
Online classified ads are where my region is a major letdown. Other, larger areas than mine might have plenty of deals showing up frequently, but I basically never see anything within 200 miles of me. I saw no deals whatsoever while looking daily for 12 months, until my recent score of the year that is, and that was down to luck with timing I think. Geographic and socioeconomic factors probably play a decent part in what is available in each area, and which distribution channel produces more of the goodies.
I keep going consistently though. 95% of the time there isn't anything of interest and I'm in & out in about 5-10 minutes. 4.5% of the time I find perhaps a couple of CDs, DVDs, records, tools, or other non audio-related stuff that I need/want for the house or my other hobbies. I stop in 2-3 times a week because of that 0.05% when I find something incredible. In one year I've picked up two silver faced monster receivers, 4-5 other good quality silver faced amps/receivers, 5-6 good quality turntables, a full stack of separates, 5 or so sets of quality, brand-name tower speakers, a few sets of brand-name bookshelves, some good home theatre speaker sets, working PA and professional sound reinforcement equipment, a number of working home theatre receivers, equalizers, sound shapers, accessories (remotes, speaker stands, speaker switches, name brand shielded RCA cables, speaker cable, wall plates and banana jacks still in their packaging), and more. Whenever we visit family, or are in another town, we stop in at the thrift stores there too. I've filled the trunk with some pretty decent stuff while on vacation.
I don't have a data plan on my smartphone, so I have developed an eye for the indicators of quality workmanship. There are simply too many esoteric brand names to try and memorize them all, or keep a list of every single desirable thing there is out there. I do agree that yard and estate sales are incredible resources as well. Within two or three weeks of each other I found a functioning tube powered extension cabinet at an estate sale, and then another from a different manufacturer in a thrift store. Haven't seen another one before, or since. You can not predict when incredible things will wind up sitting on the grass on a Saturday morning, any less than you can predict when they will hit the shelf at the thrift store, or the bottom of a dumpster. I've seen stuff disappear as soon as the doors open, and I've also found extremely desirable items by popping in at 5 minutes to closing time. It comes down to luck and consistency, at least that's been my experience since June of last year when I began this crazy ride.
Online classified ads are where my region is a major letdown. Other, larger areas than mine might have plenty of deals showing up frequently, but I basically never see anything within 200 miles of me. I saw no deals whatsoever while looking daily for 12 months, until my recent score of the year that is, and that was down to luck with timing I think. Geographic and socioeconomic factors probably play a decent part in what is available in each area, and which distribution channel produces more of the goodies.
Lesterbest
Super Member
With a shrinking audiophile base, fewer components are purchased. Ergo, less gear for thrift shops & browsers. Most thrift shop employees are working for minimum wage or slightly above, so it's hard to fault them supplementing meager wages.
50nstillhifi
Super Member
I certainly hope this does not include me......
However since the "thrift world" is now exposed as the collector's dream of easily obtainable and recycled stuff.... lots of it is just in the hands of another.
Many folk are opting to auction really good "vintage" gear or pass it along to serious collectors. The leftover and shelved stuff, now in most thrifts, are really goods that have been overlooked or too pricey to repair.
I would not be discouraged though.... there is an element to timing, and there is still plenty of working electronics to be had. My suggestion is you speak with the "labeling crew" at your local thrift, they usually break around 12 to 1 pm. Most will gladly clue you in to the times for receiving and shelving the electronics.
Also another well kept secret are the "bulk" distribution outlets for many larger locations (G-Will... and similar). Some items, mostly working units, will be bundled and placed in bins for sale in mass. If you can intercept a pull from the shelf... you may yet recover a good find.
Yes..... even "picking" is work
!
Bassblaster
Super Member
my thrift shops are worthless for electronics, they dont have anything, not even VHS players, nothing. they have mostly clothes. the one in the middle of my town got so many clothes they had to expand the building. must get a lot of damn pants.
DJboutit
Well-Known Member
All the Goodwill and Value Village here are like 80% clothes there are a few local thrift stores here that only have like 10% to 15% clothes but no electronics.
Bassblaster
Super Member
mine are 93% clothes and 7% baby toys and DVD's
PAGS
Super Member
And they don't smell as bad as thrift stores...generally.
DJboutit
Well-Known Member
Today I did come a cross
36" or 40" Sony or Sanyo flat screen tv bet it come with no remote and somthing wrong with picture still watchable for $25
Sony 100w per channel receiver like this one for $38 http://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/sony/str-k840p.shtml best receiver I have seen at a thrift store
36" pair of speakers no idea brand guessing 40w to 60w each $10 for the pair
I saw the electronic items at 2 local thrift stores
Thrift stores are string to price speakers individually wtf so a pair of decent boom box speakers are $20 each when they are really worth $20 to $25 S M H
36" or 40" Sony or Sanyo flat screen tv bet it come with no remote and somthing wrong with picture still watchable for $25
Sony 100w per channel receiver like this one for $38 http://www.hifiengine.com/manual_library/sony/str-k840p.shtml best receiver I have seen at a thrift store
36" pair of speakers no idea brand guessing 40w to 60w each $10 for the pair
I saw the electronic items at 2 local thrift stores
Thrift stores are string to price speakers individually wtf so a pair of decent boom box speakers are $20 each when they are really worth $20 to $25 S M H
mgosdin
Super Member
I've had a variety of experiences with thrifts here in the Orlando metro area. Like others have said the trick, if there is one, is to be consistent. I go weekly to all the stores in my area, keep my expectations in check and have a number of things that I'm looking for in addition to audio related items. Sometimes I draw a blank, other times I get something off the "other" list, almost always I can find a CD or two worth buying and then there is the good day when something nice shows up that I can use. All in all it's entertaining and fun.
Mark Gosdin
Mark Gosdin
50nstillhifi
Super Member
That's an accurate comment...
!I have watched the handlers (shelving and pricing), they generally wear gloves and don't place objects against their person. This is important to note... as when you (picker) are moving these items about and turning over to validate their "vintageness" (new word)
?... You are also picking up all the remnants of prior people and places.True this... When I bring an item home, it is stored/cleaned in the garage. If suspect for pests.. I inspect it and spray if needed. Before testing or trial, I wipe surfaces down with a minimum dose of window cleaner (contains ammonias and smells good) it also cleans pretty well . If serious internal work .. like a speaker, its vacuumed and wiped down.
Needless to say, if I bring home something that breeches the "Security of the Misses".... my picker days are done!
Once I brought home a "lightly" mildewed speaker cabinet.... I still hear recounts of that salvage...
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