Would you pay $25 for a jadeite mixing bow? How about $80 for a fur coat? What about $150 for a fake antique rocking chair? Or $10 for a modern Mickey Mouse poncho for kids? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then I have the store for you!
I know most of the blogs I read have a story about an expensive thrift store and I thought I’d share mine. This is actually a community owned/run thrift store and in the past I got some great deals there. Once I found a couple early 80’s Cabbage Patch dolls, with the original clothes and shoes still on. I think I only paid $1 tops for each one and I actually think it was more like 50 cents. Yeah, no big deals found this time.
This is one of those thrift stores where everything is jumbled on shelves, but kind of organized, like housewares in one section, clothing in another, crafts, toys, tools, etc. In the cookware section I found a piece of Pyrex that I didn’t have. It still had the lid and it was taped shut (as in a set), but the lid was one price and the bottom another price. They actually had one of the old tray things too, but that was taped together with some cheap aluminum piece and priced at some insane price. I’m thinking it was $10!
The thing that pissed me off the most is that this “thrift store” has its own antique section! As if the prices on regular things weren’t enough. The BF found a trunk he loved, priced at $150. I found a great mid-century modern hutch/buffet, but the buffet was $250 and the hutch on top was another $250. A fake provincial couch was something like $200 too.
This is a store where anything and everything is thrown on the shelves. Half-empty cans of cleaning products and house paint mingled on shelves, like some bad yard sale. I also think someone is sitting in the back with an outdated price guide because that’s the only explanation I can think of for some of the pricing.
My dad’s been in the flea market business for years and I saw “collectible” glasses that flea markets can’t give away anymore, priced at $3-5. I’ve literally seen dealers marking these glasses down to 50 cents, just to get rid of them! Plus the BF saw a few camo pieces priced higher than the specialty stores sell them!
I did pick up a few kid books, including one featuring a Care Bear that I love (I think I’m obsessed with the one with a moon on his chest!). That’s when I ventured into the antiques section. This is where they take the old crafting/home improvement/decorating magazines that most sell for less than a dollar and price them up. I didn’t see a single one for less than $8. It’s also where the jadeite bowl was, plus a lot of other stuff that made me shake my head.
The thing that put me over the edge was when I saw an old 50’s formica and chrome table and chairs. I’ve wanted a set like this for years now and I think I actually gasped when I saw it. It was a darker color than I’d like and wasn’t in the best shape, but it was still pretty cool. The price tag read $250. Are you kidding me? That’s more than Craigslist sellers and antique stores are asking around here! I dropped the books on the table, found the BF and walked right out of the store.
Oh and on the way out, I noticed the “glass cases” up front. This is where they take old toys and mark the prices up higher than eBay. I saw one board game priced at $40 that another thrift store had for $3.50 a few days later. The odd thing is that this thrift store is close to at least three others, all with much cheaper prices. There were people in there and they were buying, but I just can’t justify spending that kind of money in a thrift store!
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