Thrift Store Stupidity!!

I think the idea of this thread is flawed. It should be stupidity in any form of local retail or thrift shop.

There are a chain of local used media outlets here that display stupidity quite often. Same with half price books. fuck that place.
 
[quote name='jer7583']I think the idea of this thread is flawed. It should be stupidity in any form of local retail or thrift shop.

There are a chain of local used media outlets here that display stupidity quite often. Same with half price books. fuck that place.[/QUOTE]

Not a bad idea...I can always change the title of the thread.

I just figured that a good fraction of the stupidity I've seen has come from thrift stores, so I pegged them first.

And while I agree with you on Half Price, I have had some luck there. Picked up the Orange Box (360) for $8. Once.
 
I actually like the SA here, however they are overpriced on clothing to some extent, but not nearly as bad as other thrifts I have been to. Their toy prices are pretty good and they charge 29 cents for stuffed animals, most toys and small electronic games are like a dollar. The only people that work there to my knowledge are a few ladies, who admit to knowing nothing about electronics or video games. I asked to see a video game controller that was in the case, it was a wireless one that went to some kind of TV system, I told them it was missing a part and they threw it in the garbage (not that it was at all useful). However they don't get donations of this stuff very often, otherwise it would be really good.
 
[quote name='juangrande386']Fatty PS2- filthy, vents caked with dust. no controllers or cables. $20
See through purple Gameboy Color- $8

This is the same GW I got a PS2 slim with cables for $5 and the Target edition GBA for $5[/QUOTE]
I honestly don't think either of those prices above are really that bad. PS2 controllers are easy to come by cheap as are cables. So for $30-40 you could have a fully functioning complete PS2. Yes. Stores are starting to clearance them out(even GS) and you could possibly buy a brand new one for $30-40.

But by the time I even cared to check the local GS stores after they converted the new slim PStwos to pre-owned they were all bought up. Besides which, I have a Toy Story 3 bundle PStwo from the Target clearance that I paid $50 for. I was totally happy with that price, since I got a brand new console for what is normally the lowest price they hit before all stores clear them out.

I can understand your viewpoint though based on your prior experiences with that same Goodwill store, but compared with the one pic someone posted(of a $79.99 fat PS2) a $20 gamble on a console only fat PS2 is a steal by comparison.
 
I bought a dust caked PS2 at a yard sale and honestly its still going, its worked fine for like 2 years and is still working. I just dusted it off before I started using it, the front vents were clogged but that stuff comes right off when you dust it, I was able to get a lot of it off the fan too with just a little dusting. I think pretty much every used PS2 is gonna be dust coated at this point.

The $20 price isn't too bad, but its not great either, I have seen them for $45 dust clogged and missing everything at yard sales.
 
[quote name='jer7583']I think the idea of this thread is flawed. It should be stupidity in any form of local retail or thrift shop.

There are a chain of local used media outlets here that display stupidity quite often. Same with half price books. fuck that place.[/QUOTE]

I don't suppose you would be refering to cd warehouse? cause there prices (around here at least) are retarded. EVERY game is either 10 or 15 dollars, with the exception of new stuf which is jacked up to gamestop prices.

half priced books is good when they have the 50% sale. but thats about it.
 
At a goodwill I stopped by on my way home from memphis they had some decent prices on some sega saturn games but saddly I don't have one. One thing that got me disiponted was that I saw a bunch of OG xbox controllers. I needed some since I got an xbox recently for cheap so I was going to buy 1(they had about 10 of them) but it was missing the controller hookup at the end of the controller. So I looked at the other ones and they had the same problem. I did end up getting a ps2 usb racing controller for $3 so I at least got something. They also had a fake n64 controller that played famicom games but I passed since I don't have any to test it out.
 
[quote name='detectiveconan16']It looks like somebody has been hacking the cords for XBMC.[/QUOTE]

No, I think he means the breakaway ends that have the actual plug that goes into the Xbox.
 
i skimmed through this thread and i just wanted to make a few quick points as a manager of a major chain thrift store. no, savers does not sell consoles that don't sell to 3rd world countries. they do that with clothes, but most children in those countries don't really care much about ps2 fat consoles since they can't eat or wear them. unfortunately if it doesn't sell within a certain amount of time, it is thrown away. we do try to price stuff to sell at a fair market price but with that in mind:
1. we carry almost everything that ever existed anywhere so we do make mistakes and try to learn by what sells as well as what doesn't sell
2. if we did not price games that are valuable as such, then most customers would never see them. at my store alone, we have 30-40 resellers that come by every monday thru friday with only one goal, to make a profit.
3. customers decide our prices, not us. if something does not sell at a specific price, we will not price it that way again when we get another one, which we always do.

i am willing to field any questions that anyone has, but remember that stores can be very different in their pricing and i can only offer my stores philosophy. please be respectful and i will do the same. i have to head to work but will check back within the next day or so to see if i can clear up any misconceptions questions
 
[quote name='toastapley']i skimmed through this thread and i just wanted to make a few quick points as a manager of a major chain thrift store. no, savers does not sell consoles that don't sell to 3rd world countries. they do that with clothes, but most children in those countries don't really care much about ps2 fat consoles since they can't eat or wear them. unfortunately if it doesn't sell within a certain amount of time, it is thrown away. we do try to price stuff to sell at a fair market price but with that in mind:
1. we carry almost everything that ever existed anywhere so we do make mistakes and try to learn by what sells as well as what doesn't sell
2. if we did not price games that are valuable as such, then most customers would never see them. at my store alone, we have 30-40 resellers that come by every monday thru friday with only one goal, to make a profit.
3. customers decide our prices, not us. if something does not sell at a specific price, we will not price it that way again when we get another one, which we always do.

i am willing to field any questions that anyone has, but remember that stores can be very different in their pricing and i can only offer my stores philosophy. please be respectful and i will do the same. i have to head to work but will check back within the next day or so to see if i can clear up any misconceptions questions[/QUOTE]
I assume that if the item(s) don't sell within a specific amount of time the price can be lowered until it does sell? If the price isn't lowered and the item is instead thrown away, that's just....insane. Some profit on something the chain gets donated to them is better than NO profit, right?

While I can understand trying to keep the profit all for the store and lock out any resellers, you're also likely pricing many people who would be solely buying the items for their personal use out of the market for those items by putting higher than thrifty prices on it.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']I assume that if the item(s) don't sell within a specific amount of time the price can be lowered until it does sell? If the price isn't lowered and the item is instead thrown away, that's just....insane. Some profit on something the chain gets donated to them is better than NO profit, right?

While I can understand trying to keep the profit all for the store and lock out any resellers, you're also likely pricing many people who would be solely buying the items for their personal use out of the market for those items by putting higher than thrifty prices on it.[/QUOTE]

This probably depends on location and what the customer clientele is like. I would assume that being a thrift even if a reseller did come in and buy stuff, wouldn't that be good for the thrift because the stuff is moving? This assumes that the store's major goal is to make profit here, so this also assumes its a for profit, non charity thrift. Walmart or Target do not complain when someone cleans out their clearance section in order to put it all on ebay to sell it, in fact that is probably good for the store, as it means less has to go to salvage or less unsellable merchandise sitting around. I would assume that it doesn't matter who is buying the stuff, as long as its moving, since the store's goal is to make profit. Having stuff sitting around that is not moving would not be good for the thrift, or any store for that matter. There may also be resellers that are willing to pay more for stuff in your thrift when say, if there were absolutely no resellers visiting the thrift that stuff may not even sell, assuming people are only buying stuff for personal use, thus leaving you with unsellable merchandise that will not move at any price. This ultimately contributes to more sales and moving merchandise for the thrift. If those 30-40 resellers suddenly stopped coming to the store totally and never returned, and a new group of resellers did not take their place, then I am sure your business would be down.

How do you know if someone is a reseller for sure, if you go down to the fleamarket and see them at a booth then it is obvious, but for an ebay seller its virtually impossible to tell I would think, unless you specifically look for items on ebay that you have sold to people and can prove they came from your store and that the person selling them bought them there..I think this would be too much work for any thrift store owner to bother with. Sure a person might come in everyday and buy lots of things, but that might mean they are either a collector or a hoarder not necessarily that they are reselling things...people do weird things sometimes. I can attest that there are a lot of hoarders in my area, I actually know people first hand who go around to thrifts all the time and buy stuff, and they keep everything they buy and yes, some go every day. Its not always old people either. These people have no intention of ever reselling anything. So it wouldn't surprise me if an assumed reseller really turned out to be a hoarder.

Also if you have a problem with resellers, why not start up a little reselling business of your own, or make changes to the company so that it does what goodwill does, put the most profitable items on ebay then have the profits go to the chain. Its not hard to do at all, if you can't beat em, join em, since you are the manager you have the power to beat all the resellers. Heck everyone has a smartphone these days so why not just look up prices on the fly for obvious items and list them on ebay, it can be done super quick with a smartphone, heck you can even list items on ebay now with a smartphone. Barcoded Media can be quickly scanned and listed with a phone.

Also just because something sells really well online, doesn't mean that it is going to sell well in the exact location that the thrift is located in, the local market plays into it a lot. You aren't going to be able to pull $20-30 for random DVD's at a local thrift but you can on ebay if you sell to international buyers.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']I assume that if the item(s) don't sell within a specific amount of time the price can be lowered until it does sell? If the price isn't lowered and the item is instead thrown away, that's just....insane. Some profit on something the chain gets donated to them is better than NO profit, right?

While I can understand trying to keep the profit all for the store and lock out any resellers, you're also likely pricing many people who would be solely buying the items for their personal use out of the market for those items by putting higher than thrifty prices on it.[/QUOTE]

If an item doesn't sell, the customers have told us that for whatever reason that they didn't want it. Wether they didn't buy it because of the price, dirty, or even just didn't have the "right" customer come in, they still told us they didn't want it. If we lowered the price we would be encouraging customers to not purchase and just wait, but in a business where we put out 8000 pieces of product a day, and fresh product always sells the best, we can't afford to use that shelf space for something that hasn't sold. Have you ever been to a thrift store every other week and they had the same product? If you have you then waited a
Month to go back again. When I was training I had trouble understanding this philosophy right away but now It makes perfect sense.
 
They haven't told you they didn't want it, they told you they didn't want it at the price you had it at.

I see some stuff that has been at my thrift for a month. I still go back because they always have some new stuff.

I saw two Genesis games at a Goodwill this morning. Virtua Racing for 12.98 and Star Trek for 9.98. I would never consider those and I'm guessing most people won't. But if they were 3.00 each? I'd have bought them in a heartbeat. And if I were to go back next week and see them for 3.00, I would buy them in an instant. Does that encourage people to wait? Not really, if they wait someone else may buy it for the higher price. That encourages them to wait if its something they don't want that badly, but not if its something they really want. This stuff was donated, if you get 3.00 for it, at least you got 3.00 for it. Its better than nothing and putting it in the trash, that is insane logic.
 
[quote name='Bing147']They haven't told you they didn't want it, they told you they didn't want it at the price you had it at.

I see some stuff that has been at my thrift for a month. I still go back because they always have some new stuff.

I saw two Genesis games at a Goodwill this morning. Virtua Racing for 12.98 and Star Trek for 9.98. I would never consider those and I'm guessing most people won't. But if they were 3.00 each? I'd have bought them in a heartbeat. And if I were to go back next week and see them for 3.00, I would buy them in an instant. Does that encourage people to wait? Not really, if they wait someone else may buy it for the higher price. That encourages them to wait if its something they don't want that badly, but not if its something they really want. This stuff was donated, if you get 3.00 for it, at least you got 3.00 for it. Its better than nothing and putting it in the trash, that is insane logic.[/QUOTE]
I'm sorry that you don't agree with the logic but that's the only way that we can continue to put out 8000 pieces a day. According the vast reports that we use to study shopping habits, if an item is going to sell, then 75% of them sell in the first 2 weeks, the 3rd week 15%, and the 4th week it drops to 5, etc. it's entirely possible that an item can be priced too high but we learn from that and price cheaper next time. Like someone said earlier, if you don't like the price, don't buy it. We keep millions of tons from going to the landfill every year and it is not our intention of adding to it but that's the way it is.
 
I have seen this logic at yard sales too, people will say, I would rather throw it away than take X for it. Well that doesn't make any sense in that environment either, because its your private sale, by putting it out for sale you have already decided that you did not want the item. No one would try to sell something they want to keep. By not taking a lower price in this case, you may end up with an item that does not sell, every item that does not sell is money you have lost, so you would definitely be better off taking a lower price for the item rather than throwing it out. Some people are just stubborn or stupid.

I can see how it would make sense, if you are a large thrift store getting tons of donations each day, but I don't think this logic would apply to all thrift stores. Some stores that don't get donations that frequently might be better off lowering prices and keeping what they have on the shelves. If they didn't do that, then their shelves might be empty if they try to throw out stuff that is not moving. I can attest to the fact that some thrift stores here do lower prices, especially on large items, if they are not moving. I can't say I have seen the same inventory twice at a thrift though. I think it would be safe to lower prices after a month or 3 weeks, because I don't think anyone is going to wait that long just to get a $3 discount on an item, that will likely not be there the next time they go in the store,and if the item is still there after 3 weeks, then it probably deserves to have its price lowered. The real trick would be to keep it non-consistent so customers can't figure out the pattern of your price drops, this way they are still encouraged to buy what they want when they come into the store. If you are lowering prices twice a week in a consistent manner, then you encourage people to wait until the next price drop and people will figure out the pattern quickly.

I know Gamestop seems to do new price drops on Thursday, so if I want to buy a used game, I will wait till Thursday to see if it drops in price. I also suspect that most of us know the clearance schedules of our local stores.
 
Of course most items that sell sell quickly. If something is priced well it isn't going to last. But if an item's price is changed, its effectively a new item. There's a big difference between a 10 dollar game and a dollar game. Mark stuff that doesn't sell to a dollar. I guarantee you its gone in a day. If a game is put out super cheap, it will go quickly. If its way overpriced, its going to sit there. If you never change your prices then of course most of your stuff that sells sells quickly, if its priced high enough that no one wants it week one, why would they want it in week four? Its the same price they passed on in week one.

Stores run sales, and they sell a lot of items in those sales. The fact that sales are a thing proves that your logic is insane. A lower price encourages people to buy it. They don't know its new unless they're a regular, they just know if its worth it at the price it currently is.

Goodwills around here have a good way of doing things. Everything is on a four week rotation. Every item has a color sticker and they always have a color of the week. They have yellow, green, blue and red. This week items going our get green stickers, next week they have yellow, then blue, then red. This week the color of the week is yellow and everything that is yellow is 50% off. Basically, if something makes it to the fourth week, its 50% off. Game wise, not much makes it to week four, a few sports games here and there is about it. But by this point in the week, its almost impossible to find a yellow sticker on anything. At 50% off, almost everything sells, thus, almost nothing is wasted.
 
My experience with Savers is that everything is either a great bargain or a huge rip off, very rarely do I see any items where I can say that it's priced correctly, it's either the $3 copy of Final Fantasy 7 or the $60 OG X-Box with no cords, cotrollers or games. I do understand the logic behind not lowering prices, although the best way to avoid doing this is to set prices accurately in the first place. You say that Savers learns about pricing based on what sells and what doesn't, but why is it that I always see the same stuff get placed on the shelf for the same ludicrous prices that no one would pay? I also understand wanting to combat resellers, but at the end of the day, shouldn't the goal be to enaure that the item sells, regardless of who it goes to?

I am far more tolerant of Savers higher prices than I am of Goodwill's because Savers' isn't a charity and doesn't pretend to be one, but for a company as large as they are, you'd think there would be a uniform pricing policy. I don't go to thrift stores expecting to sees prices competing with the Amazon Marketplace or eBay, if that's the case I'd just as soon stay home and shop online. I go hoping to find items at fair prices, which doesn't necessarily mean dirt cheap either. However I don't feel I get this very often anymore from either Savers or Goodwill. Want to avoid throwing shit away? Price that OG X-Box or PS1 at $10 where it would maybe sell, and if it's filthy or doesn't have cables or controllers, don't put it on the shelf until it does.
 
[quote name='toastapley']If an item doesn't sell, the customers have told us that for whatever reason that they didn't want it. Wether they didn't buy it because of the price, dirty, or even just didn't have the "right" customer come in, they still told us they didn't want it. If we lowered the price we would be encouraging customers to not purchase and just wait, but in a business where we put out 8000 pieces of product a day, and fresh product always sells the best, we can't afford to use that shelf space for something that hasn't sold. Have you ever been to a thrift store every other week and they had the same product?[/quote]
I've been to multiple thrift stores where stuff sits unsold for a long time. Several of the Salvation Army stores in the area will actually accept a lower amount if an item has been in their case for a while. They figure that some profit is better than nothing. The thrift stores here also have sale days with different color stickers on sale each day and Wednesday being 'Family Day' where there's a bigger discount. Those type of discounts are what drive me to shop on those particular days.

People go to thrift stores to find CHEAP deals. They don't go there to pay retail store type prices without the generous return policies some stores have in place. Hell. Even at Gamestop they give you 7 days to return something you bought pre-owned. At a thrift store, you're SOL unless you completely test something at the store before buying it. Unfortunately that's not always able to happen since some game consoles get donated without cables and many times even if they do get donated complete there may not be a new enough TV on the sales floor to plug it into.

At $1-3 I'm willing to take a 50/50 gamble on a prior gen game or CD that comes in. But it has to meet my criteria before I'll consider buying it. Nine times out of ten I leave games behind because they're mangled or incomplete and the store still wants $5 for them.:roll:

But to throw stuff out after pricing the items outside of the normal thrift store range solely to try eliminating resellers from the picture and then to refuse to lower those prices when it doesn't sell is asinine at best. I'm willing to bet that more than a few times those higher prices discouraged regular customers(i.e. not resellers) from buying them. Many people have the same mindset as I do, where a cheap price on something that may or may not work 100% will influence them to impulse buy. But putting a higher price on something with no way to fully test it 90-95% of the time just drives customers away.
If you have you then waited a
Month to go back again. When I was training I had trouble understanding this philosophy right away but now It makes perfect sense.
Click to expand...
I've largely stopped going to many of the local thrift stores for a number of reasons, the main one right now being that I don't want to buy anything more to add to my collection since I'll never get around to playing them all.:whistle2:# But many times I've avoided some stores for a while hoping that they get more reasonable with their pricing. Like I said above, I go to a thrift store for a CHEAP deal.

A $5 game or CD, even if complete, is still a $5 gamble if it's at all scratched. Even clothing has become a bit ridiculously priced around here at the thrift stores. Some stores want $5 each for someones' pre-owned, shrunken, faded shirts when I could go to WalMart and get a brand new one for $5.

I understand these stores have rent/lease payments and employee wages to pay and all and they do expect to be able to make something over those amounts to be able to either fund their programs they run or make a profit. But what I'm basically trying to say with everything above is that when people can go to a normal retail store and buy the same item for the same price or possibly even cheaper, then why should they buy someones' used items with no return policy in place if something is wrong with it?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']People go to thrift stores to find CHEAP deals. They don't go there to pay retail store type prices without the generous return policies some stores have in place. Hell. Even at Gamestop they give you 7 days to return something you bought pre-owned. At a thrift store, you're SOL unless you completely test something at the store before buying it. Unfortunately that's not always able to happen since some game consoles get donated without cables and many times even if they do get donated complete there may not be a new enough TV on the sales floor to plug it into.
[/QUOTE]

This is what I don't think thrift stores and pawn shops seem to understand.

If I want to buy a PS2 system at full retail price, I'll go to Gamestop or jump on eBay. I will not hit thrift stores until I come across one for the same price and buy it without a warranty.
 
[quote name='SaraAB']This probably depends on location and what the customer clientele is like. I would assume that being a thrift even if a reseller did come in and buy stuff, wouldn't that be good for the thrift because the stuff is moving? This assumes that the store's major goal is to make profit here, so this also assumes its a for profit, non charity thrift. Walmart or Target do not complain when someone cleans out their clearance section in order to put it all on ebay to sell it, in fact that is probably good for the store, as it means less has to go to salvage or less unsellable merchandise sitting around. I would assume that it doesn't matter who is buying the stuff, as long as its moving, since the store's goal is to make profit. Having stuff sitting around that is not moving would not be good for the thrift, or any store for that matter. There may also be resellers that are willing to pay more for stuff in your thrift when say, if there were absolutely no resellers visiting the thrift that stuff may not even sell, assuming people are only buying stuff for personal use, thus leaving you with unsellable merchandise that will not move at any price. This ultimately contributes to more sales and moving merchandise for the thrift. If those 30-40 resellers suddenly stopped coming to the store totally and never returned, and a new group of resellers did not take their place, then I am sure your business would be down.

How do you know if someone is a reseller for sure, if you go down to the fleamarket and see them at a booth then it is obvious, but for an ebay seller its virtually impossible to tell I would think, unless you specifically look for items on ebay that you have sold to people and can prove they came from your store and that the person selling them bought them there..I think this would be too much work for any thrift store owner to bother with. Sure a person might come in everyday and buy lots of things, but that might mean they are either a collector or a hoarder not necessarily that they are reselling things...people do weird things sometimes. I can attest that there are a lot of hoarders in my area, I actually know people first hand who go around to thrifts all the time and buy stuff, and they keep everything they buy and yes, some go every day. Its not always old people either. These people have no intention of ever reselling anything. So it wouldn't surprise me if an assumed reseller really turned out to be a hoarder.

Also if you have a problem with resellers, why not start up a little reselling business of your own, or make changes to the company so that it does what goodwill does, put the most profitable items on ebay then have the profits go to the chain. Its not hard to do at all, if you can't beat em, join em, since you are the manager you have the power to beat all the resellers. Heck everyone has a smartphone these days so why not just look up prices on the fly for obvious items and list them on ebay, it can be done super quick with a smartphone, heck you can even list items on ebay now with a smartphone. Barcoded Media can be quickly scanned and listed with a phone.

Also just because something sells really well online, doesn't mean that it is going to sell well in the exact location that the thrift is located in, the local market plays into it a lot. You aren't going to be able to pull $20-30 for random DVD's at a local thrift but you can on ebay if you sell to international buyers.[/QUOTE]

it's not that we don't want resellers to shop with us, we just also want the casual consumer. if the casual consumer doesn't ever see the "great deals" then they shop less, which is bad for our business in the long run. resellers are obvious by their shopping habits and they usually try to make friends with us and learn our names. they always shop the housewares, toys then jewelry. when shopping jewelry they always have a kit that includes magnets/scales and magnifying glasses. they also come in at specific times and only monday through friday
 
[quote name='SaraAB']I have seen this logic at yard sales too, people will say, I would rather throw it away than take X for it. Well that doesn't make any sense in that environment either, because its your private sale, by putting it out for sale you have already decided that you did not want the item. No one would try to sell something they want to keep. By not taking a lower price in this case, you may end up with an item that does not sell, every item that does not sell is money you have lost, so you would definitely be better off taking a lower price for the item rather than throwing it out. Some people are just stubborn or stupid.

I can see how it would make sense, if you are a large thrift store getting tons of donations each day, but I don't think this logic would apply to all thrift stores. Some stores that don't get donations that frequently might be better off lowering prices and keeping what they have on the shelves. If they didn't do that, then their shelves might be empty if they try to throw out stuff that is not moving. I can attest to the fact that some thrift stores here do lower prices, especially on large items, if they are not moving. I can't say I have seen the same inventory twice at a thrift though. I think it would be safe to lower prices after a month or 3 weeks, because I don't think anyone is going to wait that long just to get a $3 discount on an item, that will likely not be there the next time they go in the store,and if the item is still there after 3 weeks, then it probably deserves to have its price lowered. The real trick would be to keep it non-consistent so customers can't figure out the pattern of your price drops, this way they are still encouraged to buy what they want when they come into the store. If you are lowering prices twice a week in a consistent manner, then you encourage people to wait until the next price drop and people will figure out the pattern quickly.

I know Gamestop seems to do new price drops on Thursday, so if I want to buy a used game, I will wait till Thursday to see if it drops in price. I also suspect that most of us know the clearance schedules of our local stores.[/QUOTE]

if we lower prices on items, it also limits the number of items that are put on the floor. the 2 things that influence sales the most are fresh product and shopability. if the floor is too crowded then sales decrease
 
[quote name='Bing147']Of course most items that sell sell quickly. If something is priced well it isn't going to last. But if an item's price is changed, its effectively a new item. There's a big difference between a 10 dollar game and a dollar game. Mark stuff that doesn't sell to a dollar. I guarantee you its gone in a day. If a game is put out super cheap, it will go quickly. If its way overpriced, its going to sit there. If you never change your prices then of course most of your stuff that sells sells quickly, if its priced high enough that no one wants it week one, why would they want it in week four? Its the same price they passed on in week one.

Stores run sales, and they sell a lot of items in those sales. The fact that sales are a thing proves that your logic is insane. A lower price encourages people to buy it. They don't know its new unless they're a regular, they just know if its worth it at the price it currently is.

Goodwills around here have a good way of doing things. Everything is on a four week rotation. Every item has a color sticker and they always have a color of the week. They have yellow, green, blue and red. This week items going our get green stickers, next week they have yellow, then blue, then red. This week the color of the week is yellow and everything that is yellow is 50% off. Basically, if something makes it to the fourth week, its 50% off. Game wise, not much makes it to week four, a few sports games here and there is about it. But by this point in the week, its almost impossible to find a yellow sticker on anything. At 50% off, almost everything sells, thus, almost nothing is wasted.[/QUOTE]

goodwills color system is a way to clearance out the oldest product. it is not a sale, it is a clearance to get rid of old product. since we put out 8000 pieces a day we decide to put out items that will sell at full price instead of half price. why take up valuable real estate to sell a $3 item when you can use the same space to make $6. i'm sorry that you think my logic is insane, but i have many reports that actually prove (much more than your statement) that it is a successful business model.
 
[quote name='spmahn']My experience with Savers is that everything is either a great bargain or a huge rip off, very rarely do I see any items where I can say that it's priced correctly, it's either the $3 copy of Final Fantasy 7 or the $60 OG X-Box with no cords, cotrollers or games. I do understand the logic behind not lowering prices, although the best way to avoid doing this is to set prices accurately in the first place. You say that Savers learns about pricing based on what sells and what doesn't, but why is it that I always see the same stuff get placed on the shelf for the same ludicrous prices that no one would pay? I also understand wanting to combat resellers, but at the end of the day, shouldn't the goal be to enaure that the item sells, regardless of who it goes to?

I am far more tolerant of Savers higher prices than I am of Goodwill's because Savers' isn't a charity and doesn't pretend to be one, but for a company as large as they are, you'd think there would be a uniform pricing policy. I don't go to thrift stores expecting to sees prices competing with the Amazon Marketplace or eBay, if that's the case I'd just as soon stay home and shop online. I go hoping to find items at fair prices, which doesn't necessarily mean dirt cheap either. However I don't feel I get this very often anymore from either Savers or Goodwill. Want to avoid throwing shit away? Price that OG X-Box or PS1 at $10 where it would maybe sell, and if it's filthy or doesn't have cables or controllers, don't put it on the shelf until it does.[/QUOTE]

i agree that some stores do vary an insane amount in their pricing of games. this comes from a lack of training and also having different employees pricing the same product. i actually do all the video game pricing at my location so that the pricing is consistant and usually close to accurate. i don't charge ebay prices and no where near retail video game prices. i worked for funcoland then gamestop for 9 years and i have a very good sense of pricing and very rarely have to get rid of product. i know what sells in my area and the stuff that doesn't gets marked much cheaper the next time i get it. i do price consoles that don't have controllers or cables but i price it pretty low unless it's a neo geo or something rare. because of the rate that our product needs moved to the floor, we don't backstock video games or consoles due to room
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']I've been to multiple thrift stores where stuff sits unsold for a long time. Several of the Salvation Army stores in the area will actually accept a lower amount if an item has been in their case for a while. They figure that some profit is better than nothing. The thrift stores here also have sale days with different color stickers on sale each day and Wednesday being 'Family Day' where there's a bigger discount. Those type of discounts are what drive me to shop on those particular days.

People go to thrift stores to find CHEAP deals. They don't go there to pay retail store type prices without the generous return policies some stores have in place. Hell. Even at Gamestop they give you 7 days to return something you bought pre-owned. At a thrift store, you're SOL unless you completely test something at the store before buying it. Unfortunately that's not always able to happen since some game consoles get donated without cables and many times even if they do get donated complete there may not be a new enough TV on the sales floor to plug it into.

At $1-3 I'm willing to take a 50/50 gamble on a prior gen game or CD that comes in. But it has to meet my criteria before I'll consider buying it. Nine times out of ten I leave games behind because they're mangled or incomplete and the store still wants $5 for them.:roll:

But to throw stuff out after pricing the items outside of the normal thrift store range solely to try eliminating resellers from the picture and then to refuse to lower those prices when it doesn't sell is asinine at best. I'm willing to bet that more than a few times those higher prices discouraged regular customers(i.e. not resellers) from buying them. Many people have the same mindset as I do, where a cheap price on something that may or may not work 100% will influence them to impulse buy. But putting a higher price on something with no way to fully test it 90-95% of the time just drives customers away.

I've largely stopped going to many of the local thrift stores for a number of reasons, the main one right now being that I don't want to buy anything more to add to my collection since I'll never get around to playing them all.:whistle2:# But many times I've avoided some stores for a while hoping that they get more reasonable with their pricing. Like I said above, I go to a thrift store for a CHEAP deal.

A $5 game or CD, even if complete, is still a $5 gamble if it's at all scratched. Even clothing has become a bit ridiculously priced around here at the thrift stores. Some stores want $5 each for someones' pre-owned, shrunken, faded shirts when I could go to WalMart and get a brand new one for $5.

I understand these stores have rent/lease payments and employee wages to pay and all and they do expect to be able to make something over those amounts to be able to either fund their programs they run or make a profit. But what I'm basically trying to say with everything above is that when people can go to a normal retail store and buy the same item for the same price or possibly even cheaper, then why should they buy someones' used items with no return policy in place if something is wrong with it?[/QUOTE]

i would say that not buying items from thrift stores because you can't read or understand return policies is as you say, "asinine" at best. goodwill and savers both do exchanges on their items within 7 days if it doesn't work. even if the item says "no exchange" on it, they are still instructed to do the exchange. we would much rather keep a customer over a defect that they cannot realisticly test in the store than stick to a policy. so your "gamble" theory isn't valid when it comes to thrift store purchases. we also do not put out faded or shrunken shirts, those are recycled. it sounds to me like maybe thrift store shopping just isn't something that you will enjoy and i encourage you to go to walmart for all of your gaming and clothing needs.
 
[quote name='toastapley']i would say that not buying items from thrift stores because you can't read or understand return policies is as you say, "asinine" at best. goodwill and savers both do exchanges on their items within 7 days if it doesn't work. even if the item says "no exchange" on it, they are still instructed to do the exchange. we would much rather keep a customer over a defect that they cannot realisticly test in the store than stick to a policy. so your "gamble" theory isn't valid when it comes to thrift store purchases. we also do not put out faded or shrunken shirts, those are recycled. it sounds to me like maybe thrift store shopping just isn't something that you will enjoy and i encourage you to go to walmart for all of your gaming and clothing needs.[/QUOTE]
Since I don't shop at Goodwill(and we don't have Saver's stores here) very often, I don't really know their return policies that well. But the Salvation Army and little independent thrift stores here practically require you to beg/plead for even an exchange. Most times they'll just point at the sign that mentions their policy and say 'sorry as-is, no returns or exchanges'.

As for the faded/shrunken shirts, the Salvation Army and even the lil indy thrift stores DO sell some of them sometimes. Not all the time, but they do sometimes. Actually the one indy store even tried selling shit stained used underwear at one point.:puke: So while your store you work at may not do these things, the ones I've been to have and do at times.

As to the tone of this response to me, I just gotta laugh. The way you responded, you'd think I slapped or otherwise denigrated a member of your family.:lol::whistle2:#

I go to thrift stores for CHEAP deals, not to pay market price for games or game systems they get in for FREE via donations. If it means I have to wait 2 weeks or more and then ask for a price reduction, then so be it. But even if I can test the system somehow, unless it works and works good, I have a set limit for price on them.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']Since I don't shop at Goodwill(and we don't have Saver's stores here) very often, I don't really know their return policies that well. But the Salvation Army and little independent thrift stores here practically require you to beg/plead for even an exchange. Most times they'll just point at the sign that mentions their policy and say 'sorry as-is, no returns or exchanges'.

As for the faded/shrunken shirts, the Salvation Army and even the lil indy thrift stores DO sell some of them sometimes. Not all the time, but they do sometimes. Actually the one indy store even tried selling shit stained used underwear at one point.:puke: So while your store you work at may not do these things, the ones I've been to have and do at times.

As to the tone of this response to me, I just gotta laugh. The way you responded, you'd think I slapped or otherwise denigrated a member of your family.:lol::whistle2:#[/QUOTE]

Yeah Salvation Army says "All Sales Are Final" but I bought a N64 game there the other day for $2.50 and it wouldn't work. I tried every way to get it to start and it wouldn't I called and they said they could just give me store credit. I was about to go to return it today and decided to try it one more time and behold it worked, so didn't have to go find out how flexible they are on that return policy. Now I understand $2.50 is dirt cheap but I at least expect an item to work or at least mention there is a chance they don't work not to mention the cartridge was dirty as hell and they placed the price tag right on the front cover art which damaged it even more, which I didn't mind for the price but it should at least work
 
[quote name='Tsel']I'm 99% sure my Goodwill prices video games based on size and it really pisses me off. A slim PS2 is $9.99, while a fat one is $29.99. Single disc PS1 games are $3.99, but 2 or more discs and it's $7.99. Same goes for movies, as well. The smaller the item, the cheaper it is. It's good for some occasions, but most of the time, it doesn't work out in your favor.[/QUOTE]

My Salvation Army was reverse that for years. They wanted a lot of smaller stuff and so bigger/heavier stuff was usually cheap as they wanted it out of there. It also probably helped that they had to move two times in 6 years and have gotten smaller and smaller places. It also makes sense since a lot of their business in walk-in and there's always a ton of people moving in and moving out.

Anyway, I've snagged a ton of really good bigger stuff due to the prices. An HP Laserjet 4 for $5.75 (which is an f'n workhorse), a 16" bike in great shape for $4.75, a worn handled office chair that lasted me a few years for $2.50 and a few of the newer but still CRT monitors including a 19" for $1.50-$3.75. My dad even got a nice wine rack with like 3 shelves for $9.75 that looks great since he replaced all the wood and resprayed the black metal.

But the rest of their prices in general are good. NES/SNES/GB games are never over $2. Genesis Games with cases go for under $3, under $2 for out. Probably the worst is for the past two or three years all their Original XBox games are $5.75 which are pretty much solely NFL/ESPN games. I bought a copy of THPS4 there for $1.75 once and after that every XBox game was $5.75 including a copy of Halo 2 that didn't have a case, was setting shiny side down on a carpeted table and was covered with surface scratches.

Goodwill on the other hand is a complete crapshoot. I've seen countless furniture sets in boxes missing pieces for $20-$60. My dad and grandfather used to get those for next to nothing and fix them, but for that price it's a joke especially since you can find basically all that stuff in the newspaper, craigslist or yard sales for cheaper or even the same price but complete.

I saw a flat screen 19" CRT TV which was marked $75 (I thought at first it was $15 and was ready to jump). It did apparently sell, but Jesus... there's a Wal-Mart nearby where you can get a flat screen LCD for like $99. I've seen DS games for under $2 and yet a pink Gameboy Color with no games (just a case) was going for $25. The one in my old area used to sell old PS Ones with nothing but the system for $20 and still do occassionally (although my bro did get a small one for $10 with a controller and all the cords).
 
Talking about stupidity, why do some thrift stores put cartridge games in a small basket inside of a case so you can't see the titles or prices so you have to either stand in line to get the cashier to walk over and pull them out and watch you as you look through them or have to chase down an employee with the key to open it. Feels like I'm wasting their time and mine especially if I don't buy anything and am done looking at the cartridges in like 5 seconds, other day spent about 5 minutes in line at the Salvation Army just to get the cashier to show me the cartridges, looked at them for about 3 seconds (all old football games) and was done.

/rant
 
[quote name='toastapley']goodwills color system is a way to clearance out the oldest product. it is not a sale, it is a clearance to get rid of old product. since we put out 8000 pieces a day we decide to put out items that will sell at full price instead of half price. why take up valuable real estate to sell a $3 item when you can use the same space to make $6. i'm sorry that you think my logic is insane, but i have many reports that actually prove (much more than your statement) that it is a successful business model.[/QUOTE]

I never said Goodwill's color system was a sale. But to a customer there's no effective difference between a sale and a clearance, the item is cheaper, that's what matters. As many have said, people don't shop at thrifts to get items, they shop to get cheap items. An item at two different prices is effectively two different items. You don't have to choose between the $3 item and the $6 item, you can have both.
 
[quote name='Dark Lord Greg']Talking about stupidity, why do some thrift stores put cartridge games in a small basket inside of a case so you can't see the titles or prices so you have to either stand in line to get the cashier to walk over and pull them out and watch you as you look through them or have to chase down an employee with the key to open it. Feels like I'm wasting their time and mine especially if I don't buy anything and am done looking at the cartridges in like 5 seconds, other day spent about 5 minutes in line at the Salvation Army just to get the cashier to show me the cartridges, looked at them for about 3 seconds (all old football games) and was done.

/rant[/QUOTE]

I agree, but on the flip side they're trying to curb theft. As idiotic as it sounds, there are people who steal from these stores. I picked up T2 and The Incredible Hulk on the Genesis at a Goodwill that were in the back with the VHS and other stuff. They were plastic taped, but I noticed the Hulk case was a bit light. I took them up front and the woman cut and opened the T2 and then noticed the Hulk was a bit light herself (and I commented I noticed it to.) She pulled it apart so the tape had been cut and there was no cart. She said it seemed like they'd have to start putting them in the display case again.

When I got home I priced the game and it was valued on vgchartz at like $6-7 and was priced in store for $3. So someone decided to apparently steal just the cart rather than paying a measily $3 for the cart and instructions as well.

Most of my stores here still don't bother with older games. Most stores stick anything in DVD cases in the display or else just current gen. Although it seems to depend on what room they have as some do auctions and others like my old Goodwill had more display cases as they got the Nintendo case when K-Mart remodeled (my friend has the matching Playstation branded display case, btw.)

My Salvation Army is a bit weird, though. Gameboy/GBC games are almost always in the toy section. SNES or Genesis carts only are near the front on a table by the cassettes and CDs. PS1/DC are mixed in randomly with the CDs themselves. Genesis-es in the case are in with the DVDs. XBox, PS2, GC are always in the display case. And the one time they had Game Gear games, they were in the display case as well. I've never seen any current gen games there.
 
Salvation army here is all sales final here, all appliances have an as-is tag on them and they won't do returns of any sort. They won't haggle either on prices as there are signs up saying that any item that is not priced may not be sold. I have never seen a thrift store in my area that has a return policy. However most thrift stores do provide a test outlet, but they certainly don't provide a TV and cables to hook up everything. I also have to assume that people don't donate this stuff to the SA unless it is broken, so I just assume most of their stuff is broken. We have enough accessable pawn shops here where anyone can take working stuff and get a few bucks for it.
 
[quote name='Dark Lord Greg']Talking about stupidity, why do some thrift stores put cartridge games in a small basket inside of a case so you can't see the titles or prices so you have to either stand in line to get the cashier to walk over and pull them out and watch you as you look through them or have to chase down an employee with the key to open it. Feels like I'm wasting their time and mine especially if I don't buy anything and am done looking at the cartridges in like 5 seconds, other day spent about 5 minutes in line at the Salvation Army just to get the cashier to show me the cartridges, looked at them for about 3 seconds (all old football games) and was done.

/rant[/QUOTE]

i 100% agree. i can't stand when any store puts stuff in a glass case but you can't actually shop it. the games are easy enough to fan out so that you can see all the titles of cartridge games
 
Well, had another rant-worthy GW experience this weekend.

Get a little excited after seeing a few Nintendo 64s and Gamecubes, along with a handful of games and a cool collectible Gamecube tote bag. I ask the lady if I could take a look at some of the items in the case.

First I see two copies of Goldeneye and one copy of Diddy Kong Racing. All three were cart only and marked $15. NO THANKS.

I then peek inside the tote bag and sure enough there's a GC with two controllers...nothing special. Before I even looked inside, the lady says "That's $49.99."

$49.99. For an indigo GC and a carrying case. I know there's overhead to consider, but these people are idiots if they think that will sell.

The only thing that saved the experience was finding a 64 with cables and no controllers for $15. I picked it up, since I've got plenty of spare controllers.
 
The thrift store we go to is usually OK but sometimes they have some ROFL pricing.

One time they were trying to sell generic Wavebird knockoffs for like $30 each. The kicker? The "wireless receivers" were N64 Rumble Paks.

Another time they had one of those Hoverround-type elderly gokart things that had obviously been used for years and was far past prime condition. $500

The last time we were there they had a little sound system setup thing from like 30-40 years ago...tape deck, tuntable, radio, receiver, and speakers. They were all a little dinged up and it looked like some of the parts were missing. The price? SIX THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND NINTETY NINE DOLLARS. I literally laughed out loud at that one...it's a running joke between me and my wife.
 
[quote name='KanYozakura']The last time we were there they had a little sound system setup thing from like 30-40 years ago...tape deck, tuntable, radio, receiver, and speakers. They were all a little dinged up and it looked like some of the parts were missing. The price? SIX THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED AND NINTETY NINE DOLLARS. I literally laughed out loud at that one...it's a running joke between me and my wife.[/QUOTE]

What brand was it?
 
Oh man, my local Salvation army has a steady supply of material for this thread. The guy who manages the store is a total egomaniac who prices almost everything way too high. One time I saw him chewing out one of the younger employees for marking some mediocre leather loveseat at "only" $400.

This week, they had this ugly old brown couch; it was in two pieces, but not a sectional and not exactly what I'd call luxurious. Attached to it with a paper clip was a paper reading "Couch: $40". It was clearly an unsold item from a yard sale that had been donated (not an uncommon sight at this store.) Across from that, however, was the standard Salvation Army price tag. Their asking price? $700. Jesus, I should have taken a picture. I literally laughed out loud when I saw it.

On the other hand, I can appreciate the fact that they don't charge more than $3 for video games.
 
We have these places called Pawn America over here. They have gotten much more consistent over the last few years but man, they used to have the most random ass prices. A game sequel would be cheaper than the first inferior title, two of the same game would have a $10 price difference. Sometimes you struck gold, other times they were trying to rob you blind. I have no idea how they were coming up with these prices.
 
The glass cases are annoying but people will steal if they have a good opportunity. I always have a back pack on me and I have been asked to take it off multiple times at my thrift store.

Speaking of stealing, one of the craziest robbery jobs I have seen was dealing with games. I was probably about 13. I was in Kmart and they used to carry their SNES/Sega/N64 cartridge games in these long glass columns. You could move the columns left and right and look at the games front and back covers.

Anyway, one day I was walking into K-mart and this guy had somehow taken an entire column. He had it under his arm and he was booking big time. Some security guy was chasing him but the thief was looking like an Olympic runner. He probably got away with 12 $70 N64 games at the time. As a kid I found it kind of funny and I was envious that that guy had all those games stolen or not lol.
 
[quote name='Tsel']I'm 99% sure my Goodwill prices video games based on size and it really pisses me off. A slim PS2 is $9.99, while a fat one is $29.99. Single disc PS1 games are $3.99, but 2 or more discs and it's $7.99. Same goes for movies, as well. The smaller the item, the cheaper it is. It's good for some occasions, but most of the time, it doesn't work out in your favor.[/QUOTE]

i did community service at goodwill and priced stuff and NO that is not how they price they just come up with what they think is the price or ask the manager if there not shure theres no ryme or reason one person could price something at $30 another would price the same thing at $5... they wanna make the most profit of any item but dont wanna charge to high plus not to low because they have a half off sale every other week... ive seen them over price so much junk made me sick..
 
Lesse...a somewhat beat up Teal Gameboy Color system for 20 bucks...how about no? I swear that thing has been sitting there for months. Oh and something really rich, a used Xbox 360 Arcade system for 225 bucks! The box it was in was also a bit beatup but STILL.
 
[quote name='Calinks']The glass cases are annoying but people will steal if they have a good opportunity. I always have a back pack on me and I have been asked to take it off multiple times at my thrift store.

Speaking of stealing, one of the craziest robbery jobs I have seen was dealing with games. I was probably about 13. I was in Kmart and they used to carry their SNES/Sega/N64 cartridge games in these long glass columns. You could move the columns left and right and look at the games front and back covers.

Anyway, one day I was walking into K-mart and this guy had somehow taken an entire column. He had it under his arm and he was booking big time. Some security guy was chasing him but the thief was looking like an Olympic runner. He probably got away with 12 $70 N64 games at the time. As a kid I found it kind of funny and I was envious that that guy had all those games stolen or not lol.[/QUOTE]
That reminds me of the one regular Kmart employee at my closest store telling me about someone trying to shoplift a big plastic bin loaded up with clearance games a few years. Apparently the guy grabbed it off the counter and started sprinting up toward the front doors with it, with games falling out all over the place.

I would've loved to see that, if only so I coulda tripped the guy and laughed when he face planted.;)
 
ok I got one for you:

I see Chip n Dale 2 for NES with instruction manual, so naturally I freak out because its like a $100 game and I think I'm gonna get a good deal. Of course there is no price tag so I ask how much it is. The clerk then proceeds to go on ebay, search for the game, sort by "highest price first" and then tells me "uh....I guess its $100 since thats what it is on ebay", so I just tell him forget it I'll buy it on ebay then. A few days later my friend is in the same store and calls me and says "they have chip n dale 2 marked for $20 now" but she said it didn't have the manual anymore. I told her to ask him where is the manual because I was in there a few days ago and they had it. He said "oh, we sold that copy". As if this place really had TWO copies of Chip n Dale 2 on hand??? Give me a break! Anyway, the store went out of business and now that idiot clerk works at the mall selling those stupid remote control airplanes.
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']As long as it works and has at least one controller and all cables for it I see no problem with $40 for an original Xbox.[/QUOTE]

Really the original Xbox still has value? Whats the point of buying one if you can play almost any Xbox game on the 360. Well besides for collecting purposes it seems pointless.
 
[quote name='Calinks']We have these places called Pawn America over here. They have gotten much more consistent over the last few years but man, they used to have the most random ass prices. A game sequel would be cheaper than the first inferior title, two of the same game would have a $10 price difference. Sometimes you struck gold, other times they were trying to rob you blind. I have no idea how they were coming up with these prices.[/QUOTE]
There's a Pawn America near me, too, and I've noticed the same phenomenon of very different prices for the same item. There are some very good deals there if you're willing to dig.

I had to pawn a friend's stuff there to bail him out of jail once :)-s), so I can shed some light on the exact process they use for pricing things. You bring your items up to a dude who sits there with a computer, and he googles the going prices of each item (presumably incorporating eBay), one by one. I couldn't see the screen, but it was extremely obvious that that was what he was doing. In my experience, the dude took a solid two or three minutes on each item.. took forever. It seems they don't (or didn't) have any real record of their own as to what prices to use for specific items.
 
[quote name='Dark Lord Greg']Really the original Xbox still has value? Whats the point of buying one if you can play almost any Xbox game on the 360. Well besides for collecting purposes it seems pointless.[/QUOTE]
Google Xbox Media Center.'Nuff said.;)
 
Went to a couple of Thrift Stores today. A lot of varying prices but some of them were appalling.
Small PS 1 - 59.97
Xbox - 80!
Sega Genesis w/o wires - 20

Found another Xbox and PS2 for around there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top