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Thrift stores, and the Salvation Army, used to sell stuff such as loudspeakers for $5 to $10. Suddenly, they've gotten greedy. They're supposed to be a thrift store, not a high margin, high markup reseller.
I happened by one of their stores the other day, out here in a Chicago suburb, so I thought I mosey on in. What a waste of time. All I got for my trouble was an unpleasant surprise, an apparent demonstration of greed, and a lot of junk store stench in my lungs.
They had 3 pairs of old speakers there. Two were from the 60s or early 70s. Of those, one was a pair of Scott and the other from Radio Shack. The third pair was a bashed up generic off-brand from an 80s rack system.
The Scott and Shack pairs were priced at $59.95. The smashed up rack system ones were 69.95!
None of those speakers were from companies known for their advancement of the art and science of loudspeakers. The Shacks was gouged, scratched, and had water stains from drinks or plant container having been placed on them. The Scotts were pretty beat up, too, and they weren't even from tha company's main line. Instead, they had shielded jacks as input on the back. That means that they were of the lowest quality product that Scott produced. Back in the 60's, component manufacturers produced systems known as "compacts", which were intended to be marketed to general consumers who weren't interested in high quality, high fidelity sound, but wanted something better, or something beyond the consoles and "portables" that ruled the market during that time period.
The rack system speakers were the usual horrible low-fidelity garbage, with paper thin cabinet construction [in this case all bashed in, because it was so thin] and the worst plastic drivers.
I noticed that all of their records were similarly overpriced. Every record was either $1.99 or $2.99. Every single classical record, no matter how worthless, was $3.99. Many of the $3.99 ones looked like some psychopath took a knife and went to town with it on the record. Many were moldy and water damaged and really stinky. I didn't even want to touch those with my hands for fear of contracting some disease, and from just instinctive disgust.
Follow Ups:
At my ex-favorite thrifts I was told a local comes in at 8:00 every morning and scoops up any electronics that came in. They then show up on EBay or CL.I don't bother with them any more. It isn't worth a 110 mile drive to try to beat the guy there.
Although lightning can strike. My son bought a Nacamichi cassette deck for me at a Goodwill outside of Minneapolis.
Edits: 11/23/15
If some of y'all weren't so greedy, you would make friends with people and pay market price to get gear you wanted. Just an observation.
...as shopping 2nd hand is more popular in this economy, but in their defense they are doing a good work and to get maximum dollars for their donations for the work of helping needy is good business.
Since I was a snot nosed kid, being aware they made money to support their programs through donations of goods.....I always thought the SA was also a place where lesser income people were able to buy clothing at a price they could afford. The same went for dishes, furniture, appliances, TVs. Why stereo gear exited list.....?
"I can't compete with the dead". (Buck W. 2010)
Are you a 'lesser income people' in need for a stereo?
There are no SA around me, but GWs electronic prices are cheaper than CL, at least in my area.
Clothing and appliances are still cheap in all of the thrift stores around me.
Dave
Scott, Fisher, KLH and other brand names got into this field and considering their intent, they turned out some pretty good sound, by anyone's standards.
Those big smashed up rack system speakers will be the first to sell! The general public loves those. Maybe it is the threshold of pain school of stereo reproduction. I have seen many pair go at prices like that. If the With regard to the Scott and the RatShack speakers, they don't know what they are. They just know that there are people who will pay for old speakers. If they are on their game, they will lower the price if they don't sell, but I wouldn't be surprised if they do sell at those prices.
Dave
It goes like this;
Salvation Army/thrift store manager has a brother in law that tells him they are getting big bucks for vintage tube stereo gear and speakers on ebay. Well, if we are talking McIntosh MC-60's or Altec Vott's then yeah. If the thrift store manager thinks he/she can get big $$$ for junk, go for it. Most stuff at thrift stores is shit plain and simple.
A lot of thrift store "finds" are regionally dependant. As an example, out here in the rural Midwest there are zero audio finds simply because the people here tend to be very conservative. Out here the money is spent on pickup trucks, deer rifles, atv's, boats/motors, and fishing poles/reels - never audio. Conversely, if someone walks into a New Jersey thrift store they are not likely to find any of the aforementioned items.
I personally would rather take my chances at a garage sale than waste my time at a thrift store wading through particle board furniture, stinky clothes, and rack stereo systems with pushed in woofer cones.
Meat; It's the right thing to do. Romans 14:2
After a long hiatus, I went into two thrift stores earlier this week. Big prices, poor quality. I remembered why I quit going to such places. There was a clue, though. As I passed down one wall of the worst of the two stores, I noticed a locked door that said "e-business employees only." It is possible they could make a mistake now and then, but the likelihood that they would let something good slip into the local store and leave a bargain is greatly reduced. Slim pickings for me and I won't be back. There are a few local thrifts that don't have an e-business and I might be tempted to go to them from time to time. They certainly get my donations.
Yard sales have always been my best hunting grounds. Yes, you wear out a lot of shoe leather, but, when you do find something worth having, you can generally negotiate a decent price.
Happy Hunting!
My wife was looking for a receiver for her studio and saw a Denon and a Sony for like $29 and $59. I told her to buy them both as they had HDMI inputs. She found out that she mis-read the prices and they were $299 and $599. Actually, for the Denon, it's wasn't an unreasonable price, a bit high.
I found her an older Denon stereo piece for $50 at Salvation Army and it didn't work. I thought they used to test this stuff. When I took it back, the guy told me that's why they have power in the back, so we could test it. I got my money back and bought a Kenwood which has performed wonderfully for $10 less.
-Rod
Salvation Army employees probably grab the good stuff and head to eBay or craigslist. Back in the day when most people thought the donated stuff was basically unwanted and not worth much, availability (and prices) were more agreeable.
I saw that...
-Karma
The Goodwill in my area has a policy that employees are not allowed to buy anything at the store.
Dave
...employees are allowed to shop at the stores, just not on the day they work.
I saw that...
-Karma
I will check the sign again. I usually swing by every weekend. They are near the grocery store I like to go to. I don't see much equipment these days, but they almost always have some great CD's and or DVDs, and of course there are lots of non-audio related items. The records have been so week that most of the time, I don't even bother to look. Of course, if they are like me, that last place you want to be on your day off is where you work!
Dave
...in my really humble opinion, SA and their kin are doing their job by trying to extract max $$ from the donations. FWIW, I understand that the "good stuff" goes to SA's website where you can place bids on it. Since they're working in a market environment, errors will eventually be corrected.
If you're looking for quality stuff at flippable prices, I think you're stuck with CL and sometimes flea mkts and estate sales.
The problems got worse when a lot of the thrift stores made deals with companies who do all the collecting and administrative work and give them a flat 10 or 15% of the profits. Not sure which ones do that, but some do. Suddenly you have a company trying to maximise profits and up go the prices and anything worth a #@%& goes to ebay. What's on the floor these days is mostly clothes. I gave up on them a couple of years ago.
So much for providing jobs for the handicapped, etc,etc.
Edits: 11/19/15 11/19/15
I actually just wanted to have a look and see. I understand what you're saying, but I still find price gouging to be appauling.
What's "CL"?
...if SA is really gouging, word will get around pretty fast. They'll either change their ways or stop selling (and accepting) the overpriced stuff because it's not moving......at least in theory.
Eli D.
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