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It really depends on the store, and the location. For example - Salvation Army stores. There is one right near where I live, and their prices are terribly high. A run of the mill 19" color set from the 80's will be priced at $40, for example. Last time I was in there, there was a 27" GE set from the mid 90's - one of the ones in the black plastic cabinet with the fake woodgrain sides and top. No A/V inputs, no remote. $79. You can buy a new one for about that. Every bit of electronics I've ever seen at that store is hideously overpriced.
But, another Salvation Army, in a neighboring town, has very reasonable prices on electronics. A run of the mill 19" TV is priced about $10 to $15, depending on condition, I've seen older ones priced at $7. I've purchased a couple pairs of older speakers there - priced at six dollars for the pair. I once bought a Sylvania tube type console stereo for $12.
The city mission also prices things to sell - last time I was there they had a perfectly working early 80's GE 19" television set, priced at $8.
I always thought that thrift stores existed to help sell used items to people that couldn't afford a lot, and to provide money to further help the needy. I know when I lived in Indiana, that's how they seemed to work. There was a little (church operated?) store in my old town called "Sans Souci" (Spanish for "Without Worry"). They would actually let you haggle a bit. Once I found a GE Port-A-Color there, I think it was priced at $20. I plugged it in, and it didn't work, only showing a horizontal line on the screen. I asked the person working there, and she agreed - yeah, that's broken, and really old, and she asked me if I would buy it for a dollar. Yes, I would - and I did. I also collect old computers, and once I found a PC/XT clone system there - I forget what it was priced at, but the lady agreed that she didn't know anything about computers, and I think I ended up buying it for something like two or three dollars. The people there were really nice, and would save broken and obsolete TV's and give them to me. They sold a lot of stuff, and got lots of things donated to the store. I remember buying tons of records at 25 cents apiece.
Around where I live now, it seems, most thrifts seem to be geared towards pricing things at a huge premium. Goodwill is much more expensive, in general, than most others. Many times, the thrifts seem to be even more expensive than retail stores. What I love is the fact that Goodwill seems to get all the defective and damaged/unsaleable merchandise from retail stores - and then turns around and prices it about for what it was supposed to sell for (and obviously didn't) in the retail store. Things like cell phone cases and chargers, still with Target "clearance" stickers on them, priced for more than they were when they were on clearance at Target... There is a mini-fridge there right now with big "SALVAGE" stickers on the side of it, priced at something like $80.
You gotta wonder what goes through some people's heads...
-Ian
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