Found a tube Zenith console at the "bargain" store today (rant)

[Chad Hauris]

Whatever happened to trying to treat people as they would like to be treated??? I don't get people like at that thrift store you went to. Around here places can almost cannot give away good working TV's let alone old TV's so they should have been glad they found someone with any interest.

Around here I think the Goodwills are mainly selling clothes. You used to be able to get a lot of old computer stuff there like AppleII's, Mac Plus and Imagewriters etc. for very cheap plus pianos and organs, some old TV's etc. It seems like they pretty much stopped taking electronics/appliances...I did find a Lakewood 1960's box fan there recently but that was rare.

In the year of 2008 so far I have found very very few old Tv's. The only ones I have seen and got were two 12" Zenith 4 tube hybrid b/w sets and two 13" System 3 portables. Have found lots of organs, pianos, and a jukebox though. There is still a thrift store here which will take literally anything donated to it and prices to sell..this is where I have found most of my tube type TV finds in the recent years.

[bgadow]

Originally Posted by RetroHacker

Legally, I don't know if they can force you to roll the coins, or, for that matter, refuse to take them. Money is money, and quarters are legal tender. Quarters are even really easy to count too.

-Ian

A business can set its own rules, like how McDonalds won't take $100 bills. With coins it works both ways-my bank won't take rolled coins, you must bring them in loose. They don't charge for counting them, though.

[vintagecollect]

...

[ablethevoice]

radiotvnut, I'm not sure where you are, but the thrift store in your 1st post sounds suspiciously like the one in my town. Those folks have mostly clothing, but the "electronics" they try to pass on to unsuspecting boobs have preposterously high prices and it all looks so bad even the local dump wouldn't take it...for that matter, everything in the store besides clothing bears a startling resemblance to garbage-beds, kitchen items, books (such as the selection is), kid's toys ...everything! I have to stifle my laughter when I go in there and see some POS boombox with no CD player, the cassette deck whose door won't stay closed, missing the battery case cover, looks like it was drop-kicked off a 5 story building, no remote and has a $60 price tag on it. Sheesh! Oh, and when I walk in, I get a *look* from all the employees which amounts to "WTF does THIS guy want??"


Now, pawn shops are a different story. Not too long ago, I selected several items at a pawn shop (a B&D recip saw, a Stihl 024 chain saw with a 20" bar and a 12K BTU AC unit) which totalled $200. I told the guy I'd give him $100. He said no. I said, "OK, I guess you don't want to make any money today," and turned towards the door. He stopped me and said, "$100 plus tax?" I said, "Now, you're talking!" and got all three items for $107.76. I've bought a lot of good stuff from pawn shops and I've NEVER paid sticker price. I'll hardnose the piss out of a pawnshop because I know no matter what I end up paying, it's WAY more than he paid the poor sap who sold it. My Ensoniq Halo was another hardnose pawn deal. They were asking $300. I offered 100 and got it for 135 plus tax.

[radiotvnut]

Originally Posted by ablethevoice

radiotvnut, I'm not sure where you are, but the thrift store in your 1st post sounds suspiciously like the one in my town. Those folks have mostly clothing, but the "electronics" they try to pass on to unsuspecting boobs have preposterously high prices and it all looks so bad even the local dump wouldn't take it...for that matter, everything in the store besides clothing bears a startling resemblance to garbage-beds, kitchen items, books (such as the selection is), kid's toys ...everything! I have to stifle my laughter when I go in there and see some POS boombox with no CD player, the cassette deck whose door won't stay closed, missing the battery case cover, looks like it was drop-kicked off a 5 story building, no remote and has a $60 price tag on it. Sheesh! Oh, and when I walk in, I get a *look* from all the employees which amounts to "WTF does THIS guy want??"


Now, pawn shops are a different story. Not too long ago, I selected several items at a pawn shop (a B&D recip saw, a Stihl 024 chain saw with a 20" bar and a 12K BTU AC unit) which totalled $200. I told the guy I'd give him $100. He said no. I said, "OK, I guess you don't want to make any money today," and turned towards the door. He stopped me and said, "$100 plus tax?" I said, "Now, you're talking!" and got all three items for $107.76. I've bought a lot of good stuff from pawn shops and I've NEVER paid sticker price. I'll hardnose the piss out of a pawnshop because I know no matter what I end up paying, it's WAY more than he paid the poor sap who sold it. My Ensoniq Halo was another hardnose pawn deal. They were asking $300. I offered 100 and got it for 135 plus tax.

Now, that sounds like a pawn shop owner with some smarts. I'm located in MS; and, I can assure you that you got a much better deal on that stuff than you would from anywhere in my area. These thrift stores would really do better if they would price the stuff to move quickly and then move in new merchandise. That would generate more customers and probably make the store more money. They could do this since everything is GIVEN to them. Nothing's worse than going in a thrift store and seeing the same thing month after month!

Let's see, those types of boomboxes that you describe sold new for as little as $15 not that many years ago. I bought a dual cassette one in '95 for $40 (new) and used it for several years.

I found out that the guy I got the TV from list stuff on ebay. The main things I see him offering are books, records, trinkets, etc. His LP's start at $0.99 + $5 S/H. Most of the albums are common as dirt and didn't sell, according to his completed listings. He currently has an early '50's GE electric stove on there for $365, I think. It's been on there before and it does not look like it's going to sell this time, either. I'm not an expert on vintage stoves; so, $365 may be fair or it may be way off base. From the number of items I see that don't sell, this guy is losing money on ebay, considering what their listing fees are now. He is also a "PayPal only" seller which means paypal gets a cut as well as ebay when something sells. Even if he sold an LP record for $0.99, there won't be anything left after paypal and ebay get through with him.

[Thyratron]

At least the stores you guys go to even put out old TVs. Here, I think they go by the rule, "if it has knobs, it goes in the trash." I haven't seen a pre-mid '80s TV in a thrift store in months, and the last '60s one I saw was probably three years ago (a small, rounded Curtis Mathes, which I unfortunately didn't grab because the store was about to close and I didn't have time to look it over). But if you have $25 to spend on a '90s Daewoo with a cracked cabinet, there are plenty of those to go around!

[mr_fixer]

That is so sneaky, Doug!