Made the yard sale thread, so I figured I'd make this one while I was at it. Post your thriftin' finds here. As always, pictures are always welcome!

Previous Threads:
2011
2010

Carried over and quoted from the old thread:

Originally Posted by SaraAB My most expensive item found at a SA in my whole life was a Strawberry shortcake plush doll from the 80's in box that I sold for $80, I paid $2. This doll was not worth that much right away though, when I got home it was going for about $10 on ebay, I had to hold onto it for a whole year and constantly check up on it before I got the $80 for it so there was some work to it. A close second is a lot of Sailor Moon dolls I got that I paid 99 cents each for, I sold the dolls for $60 then I sold 1 single doll from the lot for about $25.

Best plush find I've ever had (and I'm still sitting on it, as the value fluctuates and is currently on a downswing) is an old 1979 Fisher Price bunny security blanket. Just like this one but in yellow, which is the true unisex version and typically goes for more. A yellow one sold a month ago for $120, and was pretty well worn, while the one I picked up (for $.90) is fluffy and like-new.

Funny enough, I've had one of these (in blue) since I was a baby, and I gave it to my daughter when she was born. She still sleeps with it sometimes (and she's 6 now).

I'll post the pictures of my interesting finds when I get home. I'd also ran out of time and am updating my little tips since they are at the end of the 2011 thread.

My Advice and info
-Go during the weekdays about an hour or two after opening. Gives them a chance to restock the shelves and you won't be competing with a bunch of other people on the weekends.
-Take clues from your finds, If you find a system go check the cd's/videos section for the matching games.
-Become friends with the employees, greet them, get some small chat going. I had one girl that would call me whenever any old games would come in. I also would learn about who I was competing with and when they would come in.
-Don't limit yourself to games, learn about other items, watch some pawn stars, american pickers, storage wars etc. yea a lot of it is hyped up for TV. But it helps you become more diverse. I flip jeans, books, toys, instruments, sunglasses, sports/motorcycle gear.
-Don't feel compelled to come home with something if its not your price.
-When you bargain give a reason and state it first, (don't bargain all the time)
-Small items add up, I usually do come home with a few things to flip and it pays for my time. My last trip I spent 2 dollars on a little people 1971 school house and 2 sunglasses cases, about 40 on ebay.
-Printers are a common ejunk item that you will see, often and the newer models, check the date you can pick up the inks dirt cheap and take them to office max/ staples for 3 in store credit.

For game distribution, area has some impact of course, but also cartridge games "are in" and get picked up quickly, for all the ones ive found ive also seen a good number in the hands of people on the way out.

Also disc based games may appear more common because the cases are often sitting around empty or with something else inside

Swung by a local thrift store on Friday and picked up Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart for the N64 at $5 each. Not great, but that's pretty cheap for my local thrift stores. I'm hoping they'll be more stuff coming into the Thrift Stores in the next few weeks, people cleaning out old stuff after X-Mas

Went into my local thrift one night last week and found Morrowind (minty complete with map) for $6.90, Mario Kart 64 for $1.90, Spyro (complete) for $.90, and Spyro: YoTD (disc only) for $.90.

Went into my local used bookstore and found some stuff that someone there priced way below market prices. Zelda:Wind Waker (minty complete) for $9, Zelda: TP (near mint complete) for $7, Super Smash n64 for $9, and .hack//mutation (near mint complete) for $9, which is not pictured here because I already flipped it. This store is interesting because most stuff is priced around market value, but someone must price stuff sometimes who doesn't know much about video games, which is why I keep coming back. I even use credit here from yard sale book lots that I trade in, so very little cash is expended. Kinda fun now and then to take a look.

Went thriftin' a few days ago with a friend and had a couple finds.

I nabbed a boxed and complete NES Robocop - $3 at a local thrift.

My friend beat me to the punch at Goodwill though - he found a minty complete copy of Fatal Fury Special for SNES amongst a bunch of VHS tapes. Fifty cents. We scoured the rest of the rack and the whole store for more games or a system - no dice. We reckon we probably got someone else's leftovers. Hey, at least they missed one.

Here's some recent finds for the last few weeks. Lots of gamecube stuff.



Not exactly thrift store but deals nonetheless. Picked these up at Newbury Comics. Grabbed 2 copies of Luigi's Mansion and flipped the players choice copy for about $25 online. Enough to cover buying these 2 at higher than usual prices for thrifty shopping.

Luigi's Mansion - 11.99 each
Pikmin - 5.99



3 or 4 bucks each at Savers. Both with manuals included.



NHL Hitz 2003 - $2.99 at Savers

The other 3 are from my Salvation Army that never fails. $1.99 each and they usually are $3.99 so that was nice. Best part was one had an official black memory card in it, and I was smart enough to open all the cases to reveal this inside of Blitz:



Sweet!



$3.99 each at Savers. Killer 7 has both discs and the manual.

****

Other finds recently not game related:

-Tron toy new in packaging for 2.99, attempting to flip
-Playmobil people new in box, also 2.99 and a flipping attempt.
-Boba fett toy, same as above
-Boston Bruins and old school LA kings hockey patches, 1.49. Not sure what to do with them but they look cool.
-Led Zeppelin IV vinyl. beat up but only $.49
-other misc records $.50/.99 each
-Kiwi Game Boy color I got with $10 in store credit from a game shop where I dropped off part of a lot I grabbed for $10 a while back for $32 in store credit. Just sold the game boy color for $34 online.

OUCH....11.99 for Luigi's Mansion?....at a thrift store no less....

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Originally Posted by Rollobobo OUCH....11.99 for Luigi's Mansion?....at a thrift store no less....

Actually Newbury Comics is not a thrift store. It's a an independent record store chain that also sells movies, video games, and other stuff. What I was trying to say is $12 is more than I would pay at a thrift store or yard sale but since I picked up 2 copies and sold one for about $25 I was happy with it, and thus included it in my post.

Originally Posted by GoldFly Actually Newbury Comics is not a thrift store. It's a an independent record store chain that also sells movies, video games, and other stuff. What I was trying to say is $12 is more than I would pay at a thrift store or yard sale but since I picked up 2 copies and sold one for about $25 I was happy with it, and thus included it in my post.

ah gotcha....I must have missed the story part...I just saw the price and I was a bit surprised. Hell, ya got $25.00 for the other one so maybe its a pretty solid deal.

In reference to the dollar store post, I used to do awesome at dollar stores when they were selling Pokemon figure packs, I had so many packs, probably 40 or more all sealed. Well those packs quickly rose in value especially sealed ones so I was able to make a nice buck on them. Of course dollar stores around here don't sell good toys anymore, just junk.

I have never seen Game Gear games at dollar stores, I have seen some nice PC games and VHS tapes at them, there was a store called Odd's N Ends here that had a great selection of .99 PC games.

Originally Posted by SaraAB In reference to the dollar store post, I used to do awesome at dollar stores when they were selling Pokemon figure packs, I had so many packs, probably 40 or more all sealed. Well those packs quickly rose in value especially sealed ones so I was able to make a nice buck on them. Of course dollar stores around here don't sell good toys anymore, just junk. I have never seen Game Gear games at dollar stores, I have seen some nice PC games and VHS tapes at them, there was a store called Odd's N Ends here that had a great selection of .99 PC games.

Mine were all chain dollar stores. "Deals" used to be $1 only and that is where I found the GG games.

I also got some video game figures at the dollar store. I know I bought some Maximo ones. The best figures I found though were dragon's Lair figures. I have a couple of these "singe" figures. I can't believe they were sitting there for $1 each.

http://www.amazon.com/Dragons-Lair-D...6081663&sr=1-1

Gamestop/EB games also had the Dragon's Lair figures in their dump bins many moons ago for about $2 each, I bought one (not Singe) but I just sold it off this Xmas with a bunch of other stuff. Though I think only certain Gamestop's had the dump bins, it definitely was not at every store.

All my Pokemon finds were from the local Dollar Tree, and they had dump bins of the figures up front, so there was plenty to go around.

The best thing about where I live is that there are a TON of game developers here and I seem to have the best luck finding their old stuff at thrift stores. I just got a boatload of sealed EA games from a thrift today that all had "Purchased from the EA Experience" slapped on the cover - which is their corporate employee only store. Among the games (once again, all new and sealed) were pretty much every Sims 2 game, the Sims 1 Complete Collection, Battle for Middle Earth 1, 2(the collector's edition), and the expansion. Also: American McGee's Alice. Once again, all new and sealed - which is an amazing find. Oh, also should mention that were all $1.99 each.

On top of that, at the same thrift I found a P90X set (12 discs with books) for $34.99. Awesome.

Today I picked up Legend of Dragoon and Final Fantasy Tactics PS1 for $10. It looked like somebody dumped their whole collection off because there were lots of PS1 games.

Decided to try out some local stores I haven't really been to before. Swung by a little methodist thrift store and picked Crash Bandicoot, Final Fantasy VIII, Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil directors cut. All are complete and all except RE: DC is Black Label. Also picked up Blade Dancer: Lineage of Light Soundtrack. Paid $10 total for them all. Some of the discs are kinda rough, but I should be able to buff out any scratches.

GW1- N64 and ac adapter- $8.

GW2- (pic) Gameboy carrying case with system, light/magnifier, battery pack, original battery cover, Links Awakening, Top Rank Tennis, game cases, 10 booklets-$12.
Mario Kart 3DS- $25, complete (highest 3DS game Ive seen there)
Pacman and Galaga Dimensions 3DS- $5, has booklet. Dont know if there was any ads with this brand new?

GW3- Nuttin much. Passed on an N64 grey controller, another copy of Mario Kart 3DS, and some other Target games in the glasscase.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...6/IMAG0251.jpg

I haven't found anything good in a long time, but I did recently pick up a skinny media shelf for $7 that is now holding all of my handheld games.

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I gotta grab one of those book version rarity guides that I can keep on me at all times.

I bought the following today from a local Salvation Army(and most likely shouldn't have):

GTA IV(disc only and in horrid shape)-$4.99-friggin thing looks like someone sneezed on the bottom of it and then tried wiping it clean with some sandpaper. Oh well. I'll probably just give it to my buddies' nephew who just got a PS3 for Christmas, since Blu-Ray discs are fairly durable, so hopefully it'll still work. I was in a hurry or else I woulda fully checked the game before buying it.

Genesis-

*Mickey's Ultimate Challenge-$2.99(complete)
*Barbie Super Model-$2.99(complete)-borrowed the one workers iPhone to check prices on this, saw what looked like an auction with it at $35, but later realized it was a 'best offer' on eBay or wherever for $35
*Trampoline Terror-$2.99(complete)-this looked like an interesting lil title, so I figured why not

Between the Mickey and Trampoline game I have almost the full value of the three Genny titles, but once again being sans a phone(or a price guide) has bitten me in the ass.

This SA store had a TON of games in the case today, including at least 1-2 PS1 titles(Tony Hawk), a lone Gamecube title(Naruto something something anime whatever), a couple Xbox titles(Star Wars Battlefront, some other title) and a buncha other Genny titles(all sports).

If SW: Battlefront wasn't in bad shape I woulda grabbed that, but it had tons of lil scratches.

EDIT: Actually going by Digit Press' online rarity guide I didn't do too bad with picking up Trampoline Terror($15 value according to them), Mickey's Ultimate Challenge($8) and $5 for the Barbie game. Of course, good luck getting those values.