Salvation Army &Good Will: Lack of any tvs,vcrs or stereo components
 

I was just wondering if it's my area or all over.A few years ago I could go in the Salvation Army or Goodwill and there would be tons of electronics.Even some older tvs were to be had.Got my Magnavox console stereo at the Salvation Army.And a Hotpoint metal case tv from the 50's.But always a few tvs,vcrs,stereos,turntables.Even CED players.Still both have plenty of records.But I wonder if they are getting picky about taking the stuff or has the cheap Walmart price point convinced people the stuff is not worth donating and it's going straight to the trash.I know the Salvation Army in Rehobeth beach,Delaware never would take console tvs or stereos or appliances even.But the Salisbury,Maryland one would.All I saw the other day in Salisbury was a bunch of computer keyboards,printers and monitors,some crappy speakers and there was one POS suitcase record player which was all beat up so they must not be too picky.No tvs ,even modern ones.Haven't seen any in Good will in ages.Very few in Salvation Army.I know one smaller thrift shop that I used to see a lot of older stuff in the guy told me they no longer take any tvs older than 5 years and no console anything.Oh well there's still auctions and yard sales until it gets cold.Very seldom see anything in the trash around here.

Goodwill in my town has electronics, but rarely anything I'm interested in. I don't know if they are throwing stuff away, shipping it elsewhere, or just not getting the donations any more. It was much better before they moved from down town to the edge of town. I got my KLH 6's from GW.

My G'wills and SalArmies rarely ever have anything good, So I've all but given up on them. If I'm lucky I'll find an early '80s 19" Sears or Sylvania TV, but not much more.

The really good stuff comes from the off-thrifts like VIA and Family Thrift. Plenty of console TVs and stereos there, sometimes for real cheap prices. On the right day a late '60s Magnavox console stereo can go for as little as $1.91. The typical console TV goes for between $15 and $50, but I've seen prices as high as $100 for the newest and biggest sets. I truly don't get the rhyme and reason behind their pricing.

Goodwill here puts non-working sets on a pallet and you bid on the pallet.

Salvation Army trashes all non working electronics. I get to go see what they have before it gets trashed. I got a CTC22, Muntz rectangular color tube set and a zenith b/w combo from there.

I have two other secret haunts.


polaraman

Even after I've donated to the local SA and go back the next day to see how much they want for it, there's nothing there but answering machines, microwave ovens, or an occasional cordless phone. Other threads have said that the store managers keep the stuff that looks even halfway decent to give to friends in the know before it hits the sales floor. I believe it, because around here, even the vinyl is just tossed on the floor in loose piles! I don't even bother going anymore.

Tom

The best thrift stores are like colortrakker said, the independently owned ones. We have found many tube type TVsets, pianos and organs, and console radios, even some from the '40s at the Helping Hands store here, which is a local independent charity. There is no pre-screening of stuff...all of it that comes in gets put right on the sales floor.
I donated in some working '80s TV's that I got from the recycle days and they were sold within a few days.

Also I have heard people say that Helping Hands is the best as far as actually offering help to people who need it...a real class act toward helping the needy and running a thrift store the way it ought to be.

I don't even go to the Goodwill very often. Used to be able to get old Macs and other computers for good prices but now there are none.

The SA here often will have pianos..sometimes at at a good price and sometimes not. Electronics there though are more rare and pricy.

Things could be worse. My mother, who lives in England, said said that thrift stores there are completely boring with just clothes and dishes. Apparently they have overly cautions health and safety rules which either makes it illegal to sell used electronics in thrift stores, or makes it too much of a liability. If someone bought an old TV, or other piece of electronics and managed to kill himself trying to fix it the store would be held resposible. I think to sell any used electronics it has to be certified as safe by a qualified tech. This would obviously be too expensve for a thrift store. Also, anything that doesn't work, or doesn't meet the current safety standards wouldn't pass by default. It's a shame what well meaning laws can end up doing.

I have hit the thrift stores only rarely, since none are real convenient. The only decent find I ever got from the Salvation Army was at the store JC mentioned, and that was probably close to 15 years ago. (a 21" rectangular Motorola color table set for $5) The last time I was in they had put all the small stuff in a junk room which seemed promising at first but turned out to be just lots of, well, junk. Old toaster ovens, 12" bw sets, telephones missing the receivers, single speakers, etc. The nicest things in there were tired 19" color sets from the early 80s. I have got to think that some decent older stuff gets donated. The backroom piles are huge!

There is a small, independent shop in the next town (Seaford,DE) where they had a big Philco combo from probably '53 or so. They wanted a lot for it, though.

What I did mention is a local independant got real picky.The ACTS church thrift shop near Bethany Beach,Delaware.They used to have lots of older suff.Some of the sets Bryan got from me came from there and several console stereos.Now they won't take any electronics that looks old.The Goodwill is good for records in my area though.Especially 45s.Find lots of clean 45s there for my jukeboxes.Lots of albums too.They've been pricy lately.This week I went and got a small stack of 45s and 3 LPs.The total was $14.50. :jawdrop: Went to Salvation Army which is dirt cheap for records but never as good or many.Got 3 LPs and 1 45.Grand total 45 cents.One is a still sealed copy of "The Best Of Nat King Cole" :D Salvation Army seems to have a lot more furniture than Goodwill.They both are pricy.I got a Lazyboy recliner(my Archie Bunker chair,no one sits in it but me...lol) that looked like new from the ACTs for $15 but a no name recliner in the SA is typically $50-$75.

Salvation Army trashes all non working electronics. I get to go see what they have before it gets trashed. I got a CTC22, Muntz rectangular color tube set and a zenith b/w combo from there.




polaraman[/QUOTE]

Now I know what happened to my Uncles 1968 Zenith combo.It worked but when you turned it on from a cold start it would have no vertical.But you could turn it off,wait til the spot appeared at the center of the screen and then immediately turn it back on.The vertical would pop right in then and it would play all day til it got cold again.They probably saw the line and threw it away.That is if half the tubes didn't fall out of their sockets when they turned this long beast on one side and tied it down so it didn't take as much room up in the truck.Probably was destroyed by the time they got it there.I know the record changer had records on it and nothing was tied down there.Too bad I didn't have my own place then.

The local GW or SA (can't remember which) won't accept any sets over 19"....in other words, they don't want to deal with any of the larger consoles...royal PITA to haul and move around, and they just don't seem to sell.

Here in Australia the charity shops officially don't sell ANY electrical equipment due to saftey issues. BUT I found an old russion radio in a SA store and asked the lady at the counter about this not selling electrical goods policy. She said they were not supposed to do it unless they cut the plugs off, but then people would need to pay for it to be repaired so it wasn't worth selling.

Off course I said no problem I don't care if its missing the plug, and she checkek out the back of the store for any goods there. She told me she worked at a different store for 2 years and they used to throw electrical goods into the trash! Not sure about elsewhere but in Australia we have large collection bins for some charities and people just drop goods into them, so a lot of electrical items are probably being chucked. the lady told me to ask at the counters of these shops because many would have things out the back. If you tell them you fix electrical items they are cool about selling it to you, so it is worth asking.

Edit: see my post below.

I really don't understand the hysteria about used electronics. I don't think I've ever even heard of someone being injured by a used piece of electronics.

Oh, I do - used electronics can be _extremely_ dangerous. Dropping a TV on your foot hurts a hell of a lot more than dropping a piece of clothing on your foot - making clothing much safer to sell than televisions. Also, have you ever smashed your fingers trying to finnagle a large console into a small car? Or burned your fingers on a hot tube? See - just think of all the injuries caused by electronics. They're dangerous, and must never be opened or resold. Why manufacturers still assemble things with screws rather than welding or sealing things shut is a mystery. We should sue them next.

</sarcasm>

Of course, they could have put the law into place for other reasons - like to prevent people like me from filling their houses with piles of accumulated TV's, stereo equipment, computers, and other electronics.

I'm actually more surprised that America doesn't have such a law, and other countries do. I thought that we were always the ones to invent stupid, back-asswards laws with the intent to protect people without enough sense to protect themselves. Charles Darwin would be ashamed.

-Ian

I take back part of what I said earlier. I went to a different SA store today and they have a big sign up in red letters saying they do not accept donations of or sell any electrical goods. I asked the guy and he said head office in Sydney has put out the orders, no electrical goods for saftey AND because people bring stuff back and complain when something breaks down. What is wrong with people, its cheap.

I will stick with the store where the nice lady keeps stuff for me though. That is part of the trick, getting to know the people in these places and getting them to hold things for you, I get them to hold vinyl too. Just go in buy a couple of LPs and give them a $5 tip for charity or round up the price for them, while you chat to them about the kind of stuff you are looking for, explain you are a tech type person and you fix that old type of stuff up. The older ladies in these places are great and will often put stuff aside for you if you are going to drop in say once a week and check it out.

im sure these places get a lot of whingers in thgem and the people in there are happy to have someone who knows what they want, are friendly and are not stingy when it comes to paying. You only need one bargain for this approach to pay for itself many times over. Got to grease the wheels ;)