Thrift Store shame

[memorymoog]

The following questions relate to those of you out there, who depend on thrift stores for their atari livelihood...

1. Has anyone ever stole games from thrift stores because its so easy to shoplift there?

2. Check out the store weekly, monthly or whenever, to see if they have any atari games?

[PackratVG]

I actually work in a thrift store, so I have the convenience of checking daily. As for other thrift stores in the local are, I check at least once weekly. Usually I make a day-long trip to visit all the thriftstores a little bit further away about once a month.

[StanJr]

I check from time to time, but there is hardly anything to find, and if there was, the ebay hoarders have already gotten to it.

 

Stealing is wrong.

[King Atari]

A thrift by me has a sign hanging in the window proclaming "No minors admitted without assistance of an adult" to prevent shoplifting. I seriously doubt anyone could shoplift anything out of there, since all they have is Crap with a capital C. They have a lot of Atari games, but they're all commons. They don't enforce the rule, anyways (not that I've tried to shoplift, mind you).

[Ridenmy65]

The thrift stores have not all been "hoarded". You just have to have some patience sometimes. I went to a thrift today and found 8 new games including label variations that I did not have.

 

Now if I only had 50 games that may not mean much, but I have over 250 unique 2600 games. Like I said earlier, you just have to keep looking and even if you have checked that thrift store 100 times and have found nothing, that 101st time there will be something that you are looking for. By the way, In my lot today I got Bermuda Triangle. So I was pretty happy with that one.

 

Just my two cents....

 

Angelo

[rpmxxipt]

Well, my favorite local thrift (for the sheer volume of their stuff, not their prices) has dealt with the theft issue by simply wrapping every boxed game about fifty times around with packing tape. This extends beyond video games - the time I got REALLY upset was when I saw some turn-of-the-century Parker Brothers boxed board game wrapped like some translucent mummy.. I sawed through the plastic with a bread knife to see what was inside and lo and behold, besides the game pieces, there was a 100-year old boxed deck of cards.. ALSO completely wrapped in packing tape! ARGGGHHH! I dumped the whole mess in front of the blank-eyed manager and informed her that this policy was every kind of stupid, but they persist with their label/box mutilations to this day.

 

I've been going once daily, but like Stan I'm growing increasingly cynical about the whole process.. ever see the line of sharks lining up for an estate sale at three in the morning the day of? These guys are jockeying for position like that just waiting for this thrift store to OPEN. Imagine! I saw two of the usual suspects fighting over a pair of PLATES today for goshsakes. If these guys are that meticulous where they're there eight hours a day, nosing under every damned dish for watermarks, there's not a high likelihood that I'm going to have anything good happen just shlepping in and out in five minutes.

 

Actually, the Atari stuff has been fairly constant.. they generally mark the 2600 and 5200 carts as cassette tapes at .49 ea and dump them into a common bin. The thrift is located in an area of town where the average consumer is far more likely to jump at a copy of Space Jam for the Genesis than look at Atari carts, so if I somehow luck into a fairly fresh re-stocking, I can usually pick up 10-20 commons a week for a relatively small investment. Or used to, anyhow.. I'm reserving my shelf space for MIDI stuff unless I luck onto something fantastic.. and I probably will, eventually.

 

-RPM-

[AtariKen64]

why steal when its practically fri go ocassionaly i dont think theres much competetion here cause i usually find stuff there. but they usually dont have much. i found genesis games, pc games and a beeshu zoomer still in box with styrofoam even. no atari though.

[Philflound]

I don't frequent thrift stores that often because most of them don't get video games, or if they do, someone buys them before I get there. I did find a ton of games once in Penn near Stroudsberg or in it, can't remember, last summer where every game was 59 cents and I wound up buying a few of the rarer titles. Not that I needed them, but they could always be good for a couple of bucks or possible trade.

 

As for people lining up at 3am. I've never heard of such a thing around here. Of course being near NYC, you'd probably get mugged hanging out that late or the cops might just run you in for loitering.

 

Phil

[CaliColts]

I have one thrift I hit up once a week, the rest in town I try to hit once a month or so. As far as theft, I'm usually so happy to see any Atari stuff I would guess it never comes to mind.

 

Stealing form thrift stores is getting pretty bad considering a good majority are part charity anyways.

[CaliColts]

there was a 100-year old boxed deck of cards.. ALSO completely wrapped in packing tape! ARGGGHHH! I dumped the whole mess in front of the blank-eyed manager and informed her that this policy was every kind of stupid, but they persist with their label/box mutilations to this day.

 

Yeah, the place I frequent uses red and yellow grease pencil to mark prices, its nearly impossible to get that off some things...

[goatdan]

Honestly, I always find it really funny when I hear about everyone going to thrift stores. That isn't because of anything against them, but because the thrift stores in the Milwaukee area are so bad that I can't even imagine a thrift store with decent prices.

 

The nearest thrift store here sells their games for the 2600 for $3.00 / apiece, and they've had the same 20 forever. NES games are $5.00 apiece for Super Mario Brothers / Duck Hunt, and $8.00 apiece for anything else. Et cetera down the line.

 

The next closest thrift store I've never seen with 2600 games, but they had some common sports-related Sega CDs selling for $20 apiece last time that I was there.

 

[atarimastermarty]

why steal when its practically fri go ocassionaly i dont think theres much competetion here cause i usually find stuff there. but they usually dont have much. i found genesis games, pc games and a beeshu zoomer still in box with styrofoam even. no atari though.

a what a zoomer?????????????

[iguana]

Philflound, Where in Stroudsburg did you go that you found games, I am from here and I never find games in a thrift store, Was it in town? do you know the name?

[ROCKINGROLL]

I have never stolen any Atari carts from the thrift stores, but when they are marked $5 each, I must say I've been tempted!