2013 Thrift Store Thread

[quote name='The Acacia Strain']No problem at all. Anything to expose one of the more fake corporations in America, and to help out a fellow CAG. :bouncy:[/QUOTE]

Goodwill's prices are always terrible whenever i find something :bomb: They are a fake corporation :lol:
I'm gonna head there this Sunday though so here's hoping I find something half decent....lol
 
[quote name='highoffcoffee496']Goodwill's prices are always terrible whenever i find something :bomb: They are a fake corporation :lol:
I'm gonna head there this Sunday though so here's hoping I find something half decent....lol[/QUOTE]

I don't have many kind words to say about them. I did meet some great people though who worked there, and who came in the store. It was a fun job, minus all the bs and dumb policies. The prices are likely a result of lack of knowledge from management. We weren't allowed to look up prices at our store, the division people said it took too much time and wasted production.

Try it though! The worst thing that can happen is you come out empty handed and still have cash in your pocket. The people that practical camp there, are the ones that get the good stuff though. There were people at my store that would come in 3-4 times a day. Were I live in a small Kentucky town though, you know, many of them did it for just something to do, and others did it to resell.

The more you go, the more likely you are to find something. If you are looking for good deals too, I'd suggest the lowball auctions on here, and even staying up to date with your local craigslist, or online classifieds. A lot of areas have some sort of group on facebook for trading. You can haggle those people pretty easy. My favorite line is "(Insert your price here), and I will pick it up today". Usually gets them!

Best of luck with your Goodwill adventures though. Let us know how it goes!
 
[quote name='The Acacia Strain']Here are a few of my finds.

I'm not sure if you'd call this a thrift store find or not, but my coworker was hard up on cash and sold me all of these for $25.

539891_406927112675342_1985160567_n.jpg


Snagged this stuff over a span of time. The other workers put the GC games out at $0.50 each. I bought them because I didn't want them to go to a flea market, and it was simply too good of a deal to pass up. I actually have another copy of Paper Mario too, that I cannot seem to find. I was really hoping to find Luigi's Mansion that day. I also got the Jordan backpack there, fifty cents.

[/QUOTE]

Definitely jealous of this. I'm collecting pokemon games and don't even have any of my old copies since they're lost. I also have that pokedex but don't even know where that is also.


The only thing I got from goodwill was Street Fighter II for the SNES it was faded and it was 6 dollars but due to the sale I got it for 3 and was happy with that since I love SF.
 
[quote name='diazt350']Definitely jealous of this. I'm collecting pokemon games and don't even have any of my old copies since they're lost. I also have that pokedex but don't even know where that is also.


The only thing I got from goodwill was Street Fighter II for the SNES it was faded and it was 6 dollars but due to the sale I got it for 3 and was happy with that since I love SF.[/QUOTE]

I actually sold each game on eBay for $25 each. I have all of these games already from my childhood put up with my other keepsakes. My grandmother purchased them for me, so I value them dearly and want to keep my original copies from her. Plus you know, some day those will be worth some money. I did keep Pearl for myself though.

It was a good deal I felt bad about buying those games at that price, but my friend/coworker needed the gas money, and I wanted those games. I actually have an extra copy of Pokemon Silver if you are interested, PM me and we could work something out.
 
Hey all, not new to the boards, but new to this section!

A friend of mine had recently been posting his retro gaming finds on Facebook (lots of thriftshops especially), which inspired me to go "on the hunt" myself more actively. Today I picked up Goldeneye 007 for the N64 for $1.75 at a local Salvation Army thrift shop. Not too shabby.

Looking forward to reading about more of your finds and posting some of my own! :)
 
[quote name='DNukem170']The Pokedex could fetch $25 alone. Especially since it is the OG Pokedex. Does it still work?[/QUOTE]

Yeah, still works. When I was a kid, I couldn't figure out how to work it, so the battery is still good.

I forgot to mention that the Pokedex was mine.
 
Picked up :ps2: Resident Evil Outbreak for 2.92 and the Gamecube Power Block for 4.97. (For a Friend) at a local Thrift Store. My Bro also picked up a N-Strike Maverick. Finally glad to see a reasonably priced game, hopefully they have more. (They were trying to sell an Atari 2600 for 100+. Lol)

The other thrift stores was pretty much the same cept for a few things. One of them had a bare bones Gamecube for $20 and their games were priced at 5, but it was all shovelware. They also had 5 PS1s priced at 24.99 each, no wires. :lol: Another had a change in game inventory and pricing. All their games were priced at $6+ and they had a RetroN 3 Video Gaming System for $39.99. There is always a store wide 50% off but I didn't feel like biting.
 
[quote name='slowdive21']This is an awesome find! In the box?! :applause:[/QUOTE]
Yeah - I couldn't believe it. I have a few tabletop games in my collection, but this is my first boxed game. Hopefully I get the man cave set up this year so I can put everything on display - my collection is reaching epic proportions.
 
[quote name='highoffcoffee496']Goodwill's prices are always terrible whenever i find something :bomb: They are a fake corporation :lol:
I'm gonna head there this Sunday though so here's hoping I find something half decent....lol[/QUOTE]

If you're talking about the one by where the hi-way pizza used to be ( the shopping plazza off westerly parkway), it's terrible >.>
 
[quote name='detectiveconan16']Went to my local thrift store, which is owned by Orthodox Jewish people (I think), saw two NES controllers, the RF adapter, the power cable, four games. The games were Final Fantasy, Tengen Tetris and some Sesame Streets. I passed on all of them, since I couldn't find the freakin' console. I could've gotten a reasonable deal on all of them maybe $20, but I just didn't feel like it.[/QUOTE]

Bad move...
 
[quote name='Kovorkian']If you're talking about the one by where the hi-way pizza used to be ( the shopping plazza off westerly parkway), it's terrible >.>[/QUOTE]

Lol YUP!!! But there are no other Thrift Stores/Good Wills near State College so I'm kinda out of luck... :whistle2:(

Best I ever got from there was a few Mario gamecube games priced at $4 each. That was months ago :lol:

I've also noticed lately that every old game (regardless of if it's a sports title or some other crap) get's put behind the glass case as if it were valuable. I've been going to this Goodwill for a little over a year now and never even saw NES games. Just a couple months ago I finally found one (behind the glass case) and asked the price. $15 for the mario/duck hunt game... smh xD Have seen the same thing happen with old sports games...
 
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[quote name='highoffcoffee496']Lol YUP!!! But there are no other Thrift Stores/Good Wills near State College so I'm kinda out of luck... :whistle2:(

Best I ever got from there was a few Mario gamecube games priced at $4 each. That was months ago :lol:

I've also noticed lately that every old game (regardless of if it's a sports title or some other crap) get's put behind the glass case as if it were valuable. I've been going to this Goodwill for a little over a year now and never even saw NES games. Just a couple months ago I finally found one (behind the glass case) and asked the price. $15 for the mario/duck hunt game... smh xD Have seen the same thing happen with old sports games...[/QUOTE]

I was just there saturday, Wimbledon (genesis) and 2 umd only games were behind the case, whereas random game for gamecube, ps1, ps2, and old pc games were randomly in the dvd / cd area.

the one in Lewistown (I believe it is technically still Burnham) is much better, if you feel like braving the seven mountains. (taking 322).

I've found many good tings there, also the blockbuster right near the goodwill is going out of business good sales.
 
[quote name='Olengie']My Bro also picked up a N-Strike Maverick.[/QUOTE]


I see like 5 of these every time I go to a Good Will. I keep telling myself I'm going to get one and paint it like one of these, but I haven't done it yet.
 
[quote name='Kovorkian']I was just there saturday, Wimbledon (genesis) and 2 umd only games were behind the case, whereas random game for gamecube, ps1, ps2, and old pc games were randomly in the dvd / cd area.

the one in Lewistown (I believe it is technically still Burnham) is much better, if you feel like braving the seven mountains. (taking 322).

I've found many good tings there, also the blockbuster right near the goodwill is going out of business good sales.[/QUOTE]

I just map quested it; 40 min drive...ugg >_<
I'm on Spring Break after this week so maybe I'll take the drive up. Just not sure if it's worth the gas money if I come away with nothing :lol::whistle2:k

Thanks for the advice though :) I'll prob head up there eventually and if it pays off I'll go back occasionally

What have you found up there?
 
I was pumped bc i saw marvel vs capcom ps1 for $3.00 at good will. Then i opened it and there was no disc. I asked the girl at checkout if i could have the case and she said no and the threw it in the garbage.
 
[quote name='blindinglights']I see like 5 of these every time I go to a Good Will. I keep telling myself I'm going to get one and paint it like one of these, but I haven't done it yet.[/QUOTE]

I have at least 2 of each of the N-Strike guns in storage, and now I want to do some modding thanks to that link. I already have no free time though.... :cry:
 
[quote name='highoffcoffee496']I just map quested it; 40 min drive...ugg >_<
I'm on Spring Break after this week so maybe I'll take the drive up. Just not sure if it's worth the gas money if I come away with nothing :lol::whistle2:k

Thanks for the advice though :) I'll prob head up there eventually and if it pays off I'll go back occasionally

What have you found up there?[/QUOTE]

CIB 3do long boxes for $5 each (which i left sit) >.>, 2 atari games for $3 ea, they have had several games that I was not interested in for $3, CIB such as animal crossing GCN, and several others, My sister has picked up several target salvaged items, I 've picked up several books, that were pretty much brand new as well.
 
[quote name='white3er']I was pumped bc i saw marvel vs capcom ps1 for $3.00 at good will. Then i opened it and there was no disc. I asked the girl at checkout if i could have the case and she said no and the threw it in the garbage.[/QUOTE]

What a bitch....
 
[quote name='lude21']What a bitch....[/QUOTE]

To be fair, for all she knew he could have been the person who stole the disc and went back for the case.
 
[quote name='white3er']I was pumped bc i saw marvel vs capcom ps1 for $3.00 at good will. Then i opened it and there was no disc. I asked the girl at checkout if i could have the case and she said no and the threw it in the garbage.[/QUOTE]

It's policy. My friend had a baby at his counter and he stuck a pin on the kid's shirt because he was crying. He got chewed out awful over that by the division workers. Goodwill does not believe in freebies. They would rather throw items away or crush them than having a free bin in the store.

She was just doing her job.
 
I did pretty good today on my day off goodwill finds. I got: Gameboy Printer Boxed complete (open but in good condition) $1.99
Suikoden $4.99 (I have this already just planing to sell it or to trade)
Alundra $4.99 (complete) (I had girlwood when I saw this)
Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt .99cents (Not Pictured)
picture.php
 
WTF is with all of the Gameboy Printers lately? And nice find on Suikoden; I've been hoping to find a copy in the wild out here, but no luck.
 
[quote name='The Acacia Strain']It's policy. My friend had a baby at his counter and he stuck a pin on the kid's shirt because he was crying. He got chewed out awful over that by the division workers. Goodwill does not believe in freebies. They would rather throw items away or crush them than having a free bin in the store.

She was just doing her job.[/QUOTE]

I've had mean old ladies throw away empty cases on me before as well, but for some reason if there's a cute black girl at the till they'll take my offer of 50 cents. Never underestimate the power of love :hot:
 
[quote name='Indigo_Streetlight']I've had mean old ladies throw away empty cases on me before as well, but for some reason if there's a cute black girl at the till they'll take my offer of 50 cents. Never underestimate the power of love :hot:[/QUOTE]

Hahaha, I don't know an old lady that works at Goodwill that isn't a grouch. I had one lady who worked there that treated me horribly. One time we had a store meeting, I ate a piece of candy and she told me it would make me fat in front of the whole store. Later, I caught her reaching for a doughnut and I said "That will make you fat". She didn't eat the doughnut. TENSION!

The girl at the register should have said "Let me ask my manager', if nobody was in her line. It's still against policy, but it would of gone over better than throwing something away in front of a customer, as opposed to giving it to them.. Simple as that. When things like that would happen to me, and there were no customers in my line, I'd walk to the back, throw something at my coworker over the pile of donations (mountain of garbage bags, he couldn't see me), then I would turn around and go back out and tell the customer that it is against policy, and I am very sorry on the behalf of our store. They would thank me for asking for them, and leave.

And I was one of the guys that customers would leave compliments for and send in feedback cards to the division and corporate offices. :bouncy:
 
[quote name='200STM']Suikoden $4.99 (I have this already just planing to sell it or to trade)[/QUOTE]
I'm so jealous that you always have much better finds than I do. Is there anything in particular that you're looking for? I might have something I can trade, but I have no idea what to offer. Ha ha.
 
[quote name='The Acacia Strain']Hahaha, I don't know an old lady that works at Goodwill that isn't a grouch. I had one lady who worked there that treated me horribly. One time we had a store meeting, I ate a piece of candy and she told me it would make me fat in front of the whole store. Later, I caught her reaching for a doughnut and I said "That will make you fat". She didn't eat the doughnut. TENSION!

The girl at the register should have said "Let me ask my manager', if nobody was in her line. It's still against policy, but it would of gone over better than throwing something away in front of a customer, as opposed to giving it to them.. Simple as that. When things like that would happen to me, and there were no customers in my line, I'd walk to the back, throw something at my coworker over the pile of donations (mountain of garbage bags, he couldn't see me), then I would turn around and go back out and tell the customer that it is against policy, and I am very sorry on the behalf of our store. They would thank me for asking for them, and leave.

And I was one of the guys that customers would leave compliments for and send in feedback cards to the division and corporate offices. :bouncy:[/QUOTE]

I hate how goodwill and their employees are such a hit or miss. It's something I don't really see at other stores. I mean yeah occasionally you'll get the asshole working at GameStop or the pissed of Wendy's drive through woman, but it seems like from my experiences and everyone's stories that goodwill hires an incredible amount of unhappy and unhelpful workers. Does working there really suck that much? -_-
 
I had a pretty good off-sale day at Goodwill, someone donated their PS2 lot, so I was able to get the following for $5 each (these certainly wouldn't of lasted until the 1/2 Saturday):

:ps2: Dark Cloud 2 (missing manual though)
:ps2: Star Ocean: Till the End of Time (complete black label copy)
:ps2: Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life SE (complete)
icongamecube.gif
Animal Crossing (complete except for the memory card)

I saw some others in the lot, but those were the ones I cherry picked from the selections. The others I'll see if they last until the 1/2 day.
 
[quote name='Billytwoshoes']I had a pretty good off-sale day at Goodwill, someone donated their PS2 lot, so I was able to get the following for $5 each (these certainly wouldn't of lasted until the 1/2 Saturday):

:ps2: Dark Cloud 2 (missing manual though)
:ps2: Star Ocean: Till the End of Time (complete black label copy)
:ps2: Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life SE (complete)
icongamecube.gif
Animal Crossing (complete except for the memory card)

I saw some others in the lot, but those were the ones I cherry picked from the selections. The others I'll see if they last until the 1/2 day.[/QUOTE]

Nice finds!

By the way, anyone else here in the southern CA area? If so, any recommended spots to check out?
 
[quote name='Eagle3ye']I hate how goodwill and their employees are such a hit or miss. It's something I don't really see at other stores. I mean yeah occasionally you'll get the asshole working at GameStop or the pissed of Wendy's drive through woman, but it seems like from my experiences and everyone's stories that goodwill hires an incredible amount of unhappy and unhelpful workers. Does working there really suck that much? -_-[/QUOTE]

Honestly man, it was a fun job. The only bad part is hanging clothes. Goodwill was my first job. The guys I worked with were awesome, and we all said this job sucks, so lets make the best of it. We had fun at work, and we were all positive. Management said we were the most productive shift and we sold a lot of stuff. You get pretty ripped working there too, with all the lifting and labor you do. Some of the workers there though man would suck the life out of you whenever they just entered the room.

Goodwill's mission though is to provide job opportunities for people of special needs. My previous boss was more worried about hiring eye candy women, to sell more items. He knew business well, but he dicked me over bad, and I left. Nobody in the store really had much to do with those of special needs. Then again much of the work force was in the back of the store. Anyways, there was a man with Down's syndrome who came in with his guardians, I would always do my best to make that guy happy because you could tell he was bummed out about not getting to look in the store. His family would just leave him in the store, while they walked around. I would bring him near my register and talk to him, and try to make him feel like he was a person. He would grab a wheel chair, I'd help him set it up and he would hang out. I have a lot of sympathy for people diagnosed with that condition.

To stay on topic though, when I would sort donations, when I found one game, I would typically find more games. Nobody really donates, just one single game, since they could just throw it away. At Goodwill when you see one thing gaming related, there is usually going to be more, if you're not too late. You can always ask a worker if any related items was put out, to try and get some idea. It's against policy for workers to tell you what is in the back of the store though, which is one thing to try to avoid asking them.

The nicer you are to the workers, the nicer they will be to you. Everybody has their favorite customers. I had mine. I organized a guy I liked talking to who was a regular a Tomb Raider set. All original playstation copies and the Lara Croft memory card. I sold him everything for $20. My friend sold the same guy every season of Dragon Ball Z for $70, there was a $120 price on it. Price changing is also against policy.

I hope I'm some sort of help to you guys. As I said before, any questions just ask me.
 
I dropped by one of my local GWs yesterday and found a nice little pile of games:

Wind waker
luigi's mansion
mario sunshine
kotor II
CoD: MW3 (for vgfive)
F1 championship edition
Myst for Saturn

While I was checking out the cashier started commenting "oh, that's a fun game", etc, about the nintendo games. She then went on to tell me that her favorite game ever was Conker's Bad Fur Day. I was shocked!
 
[quote name='yourlefthand']I dropped by one of my local GWs yesterday and found a nice little pile of games:

Wind waker
luigi's mansion
mario sunshine
kotor II
CoD: MW3 (for vgfive)
F1 championship edition
Myst for Saturn

While I was checking out the cashier started commenting "oh, that's a fun game", etc, about the nintendo games. She then went on to tell me that her favorite game ever was Conker's Bad Fur Day. I was shocked![/QUOTE]

She also smokes 3 packs of cigarettes a day, and drinks vodka by the gallon
 
[quote name='Kovorkian']She also smokes 3 packs of cigarettes a day, and drinks vodka by the gallon[/QUOTE]

That's entirely possible. She could be anywhere from 50 to 65.

[quote name='exceed19']^^ Conker was not a bad game :) Good score too lefthand.[/QUOTE]

I wasn't shocked that she thought Conker was good, I was just shocked that she had played it. I was pretty happy when I walked out. The nintendo stuff was gorgeous and minty, too!
 
Went back to the thrift store and got Tengen Tetris for a neat price. I was surprised to see that it was left alone, and the two NES controllers and Final Fantasy were sold. Oh well...
 
[quote name='detectiveconan16']Went back to the thrift store and got Tengen Tetris for a neat price. I was surprised to see that it was left alone, and the two NES controllers and Final Fantasy were sold. Oh well...[/QUOTE]

Whomever got FF and the two controllers probably didn't realize the history behind the Tengen version of Tetris and how valuable it is. I actually remember a gas station in my area that used to rent NES games back in the day. They actually had a copy of the Tengen Tetris for rent until someone "rented" it out and never returned it. Sad since to me that version is far superior to the one Nintendo put out.
 
Haven't picked up anything Video Game related this week yet but I found some sweet toys :D
imag02941.jpg

Paid $6 bucks total. Been watching alot of Dragonball Z on tv lately so this was a nice surprise.
imag02951.jpg

Gohan joins Marcus, Connor, Futurama, and some pokemon I found. I did see an OG Xbox with all the wires and 2 controllers for $20 today. I was thinking of biting but I realized I forgot my wallet. Did I miss out on a great deal here? Might go back for it.
 
Did a run through a few thrifts today but only came up with:

Savers
Rune Factory Frontier (no booklet) - Wii - $5

GW
Dino Crisis Prima strategy guide - 50¢
Hotel Dusk: Room 215 (CIB) - DS - 50¢

Don't have any flavor of DS console or a Wii. Hopefully one will show up for cheap on a thrift run.
 
[quote name='trollape74']I did see an OG Xbox with all the wires and 2 controllers for $20 today. I was thinking of biting but I realized I forgot my wallet. Did I miss out on a great deal here? Might go back for it.[/QUOTE]


Depends on the DVD drive. If it was a Samsung drive, it would have been a great deal, otherwise, lukewarm.
 
[quote name='yourlefthand']I dropped by one of my local GWs yesterday and found a nice little pile of games:

Wind waker
luigi's mansion
mario sunshine
kotor II
CoD: MW3 (for vgfive)
F1 championship edition
Myst for Saturn

While I was checking out the cashier started commenting "oh, that's a fun game", etc, about the nintendo games. She then went on to tell me that her favorite game ever was Conker's Bad Fur Day. I was shocked![/QUOTE]

I need Luigi's Mansion!
 
[quote name='highoffcoffee496']^ Lucky!!!! I want that Gohan :bomb:
Nice find :)[/QUOTE]
That's my favorite find I've had in a thrift shop. I'm glad it was in the locked case too otherwise some kid would've gotten to it before me.
[quote name='blindinglights']Depends on the DVD drive. If it was a Samsung drive, it would have been a great deal, otherwise, lukewarm.[/QUOTE]
Thanks! I'll be show to check that next time I see one.
 
So far this year its been pretty slow around here. A new Savers opened up in the last week but its a little out of my way on one of my normal routes.

Forgot to add I'm really jealous of the DBZ figure! I found a Piccolo a few weeks ago but didn't bother to put it in my pictures...too lazy right now.

January
102_0792_zpsf5d37adb.jpg

My first game gear find, I've seen a number of games but never a system.
$3 a piece for the disc games, $1.50 a piece for the Nintendo stuff , and $6 for the game gear games.

February
102_0862_zpsa36d19ee.jpg

102_0863_zpsc3400c0e.jpg

Been seeing lots of Pokemon movies recently $4 each. Twisted Metal 2 was $1 and SMB/Duck Hunt was only $.30! Both of those came from the new Savers. All the manga was $.70 a piece i believe.
 
Found these below at various thrift stores this past week. NES games were $1, Atari & N64 games were $2, disc-based games were $3.50
1q4vo7.jpg


Some guy responded to my craigslist ad for the NES games.. $5 for all of them. The rest are from a goodwill I normally don't go to, but looks like I need to go more often.. All games were $4 each
2194bnq.jpg


Got these at a gamers exchange at eStarland. Paid $40 for everything from various vendors.. Pretty happy with Zoda's Revenge--CIB
2nqg75.jpg
 
[quote name='evuong']Found these below at various thrift stores this past week. NES games were $1, Atari & N64 games were $2, disc-based games were $3.50

Got these at a gamers exchange at eStarland. Paid $40 for everything from various vendors.. Pretty happy with Zoda's Revenge--CIB [/QUOTE]

Does the Excitebike have 3 or 5 screws on the back?
 
[quote name='stiner']So far this year its been pretty slow around here. A new Savers opened up in the last week but its a little out of my way on one of my normal routes.

Forgot to add I'm really jealous of the DBZ figure! I found a Piccolo a few weeks ago but didn't bother to put it in my pictures...too lazy right now.

January
102_0792_zpsf5d37adb.jpg

My first game gear find, I've seen a number of games but never a system.
$3 a piece for the disc games, $1.50 a piece for the Nintendo stuff , and $6 for the game gear games.

February
102_0862_zpsa36d19ee.jpg

102_0863_zpsc3400c0e.jpg

Been seeing lots of Pokemon movies recently $4 each. Twisted Metal 2 was $1 and SMB/Duck Hunt was only $.30! Both of those came from the new Savers. All the manga was $.70 a piece i believe.
[/QUOTE]

Nice find on the Pokemon Movies. They cost a hefty penny online. :lol: Especially for the 3 Movie Set.
 
Yeah, I've been hunting for the first movie for months now and all of a sudden I get 4 in the course of a month.
 
[quote name='my2k2zx2']Does the Excitebike have 3 or 5 screws on the back?[/QUOTE]

It has 5 screws, which I believe to be the more common one for this game?
 
[quote name='evuong']It has 5 screws, which I believe to be the more common one for this game?[/QUOTE]

5 screw has a chance there is a 60 to 72 pin Famicom adapter. I think if they are flathead screws instead of security screws the chance is higher.
 
Goodwill near me had some good old PC games, got Star Wars dark forces, tie fighter collectors edition on cd, and xwing on cd. 99 cents each.
 
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