The great thrift store famine

[Andromeda Stardust]

Let them have their crap.

 

The way I see it, thrift stores cater to the lower denominator. Stuff frequently sold at thrift stores tend to be the type of merchandise where the supply exceeds demand. Rather than discard such goods forever, people donate said items which are then sold for pennies on the dollar. This business model is good for the have nots, people who buy secondhand because they are thrifty or simply cannot afford new things.

 

Here's where things break down on the collectible market. For a couple decades, the supply for used retro video games far exceeded the demand, thus it was quite common to find such items cheaply at great discount. Many of us old hat gamers got sucked into retrogaming originally because it was a cheap hobby. Now that new hat gamers are jumping in by the droves, the climate has changed. Demand now exceeds the finite supply, thus most people understand that games = money, and will attempt to flip rather than donate. Thus game stock is handed to store owners and resellers as opposed to thrift shops. Lastly, resellers who make it their profession to scout flea markets, pawn shops, and thrift stores for cheap deals ensure that any bargains for below market price will not be made available to the casual consumers.

 

It is what it is. The market dynamic has changed, and there's no going back to the "glory days" of cheap good games everywhere. Gamers must either accept that they must pay market price for goods, or do without them. As entertainment items, games are a luxury item, something most of us could manage without if it came to that. So perhaps "famine" isn't the best term. That word generally implies were are being denied something essential to survival or at least comfortable existence. Nobody owes us cheap games...

 

My $0.02

[BawesomeBurf]

 

I'm pretty sure half the pick-up videos on Youtube are full of shit. Not that there aren't people who regularly bring in new stuff through CL ads, game hunting, etc, but it wouldn't surprise me if a majority of those videos are eBay purchases passed off as thrift finds for views.

You're probably right. I'm sure a lot of people do that because saying they found it while game hunting sounds much more exciting than they bought it on eBay/Amazon.

 

I often complain about not being able to find stuff in thrift stores or at garage sales, but I have been fortunate enough to make some great friends on Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter that are willing to sell, trade, or sometimes give me some cool games. That definitely makes up for the lack of thrift store finds. I still go to thrift stores occasionally, but try not to get too upset when I find nothing.

[TPA5]

Wow, that's low man. It's one thing for resellers to bank on luxury items like video games, but stealing clothes from the poor to sell off to the rich is just messed up. There's a special place in Hyades for guys like that.

 

It's pretty disgusting, I don't know why they would have the policy that if you volunteer there you get first dibs. It just encourages that horrible behaviour. Definitely puts my minor grousing about not finding any good electronics in perspective, when there are people there who just want to put their kid in some decent clothes so they can be warm when they go to school. Like you said in your other post, we aren't 'owed' anything. The stuff we do is for entertainment, not basic survival!

[jhd]

 

Same thing here. Even on a smaller scale, I see tons of people saying casually things like "need a cheap CRT? Go to Goodwill." The thrift stores I've been to have stocked a grand total of zero CRTs, terrible ones included.

 

It must be a regional thing. One of the thrift shops (not Goodwill) back home had to stop taking CRT TVs as donations because they had so many piled-up that they could not sell! A rough estimate would be 10-12 of various sizes -- not counting whatever was still in the back storage area. (How many were in working order is a different question.)

Edited April 1, 2016 by jhd

[RodLightning]

Same thing here. Even on a smaller scale, I see tons of people saying casually things like "need a cheap CRT? Go to Goodwill." The thrift stores I've been to have stocked a grand total of zero CRTs, terrible ones included.

 

 

Around my area, Salvation Army Thrift has the best prices and selection of CRT televisions. Portables are commonly available from $7 to $10 usd. Prices for 19 inch and larger sizes vary, but rarely more than $20.

 

The trouble with my local Goodwill is that all the TVs and audio equipment are in a back room called the 'annex' where everything is sold as-is with no place to plug anything in to test. There's a sign on the wall that reads "choose carefully, all sales are final". That would be fine if there was an ac outlet anywhere on the floor. They have gone out of their way to remove all outlets in the customer area. Years ago, there was a single beat up outlet in a different department. Management must have gotten tired of customers dragging lamps, TVs and everything else half way across the store as there is now a metal plate on the outlet box. Yet another case of Good Will showing bad will towards their customers. That organization has been in dire need of a complete overhaul for years in my humble opinion.

 

Remembering all this makes me think I have been visiting thrift stores for too many years...

 

Anyway, I got a little 9 inch Panasonic CRT like the one pictured, not long ago from Salvation Army for $7 usd. It has on-screen display and full CATV tuner. It's a nice little display for table top classic gaming, although it lacks composite input...RF only.

 

[BawesomeBurf]

 

It must be a regional thing. One of the thrift shops (not Goodwill) back home had to stop taking CRT TVs as donations because they had so many piled-up that they could not sell! A rough estimate would be 10-12 of various sizes -- not counting whatever was still in the back storage area. (How many were in working order is a different question.)

I needed to pick up 3 CRTs for an upcoming event, and my Goodwill told me they do not stock any TVs at all. Luckily the Salvation Army had some. Finding CRTs is pretty tough in my area, but finding smaller ones is even tougher.

[HoshiChiri]

 

It's pretty disgusting, I don't know why they would have the policy that if you volunteer there you get first dibs. It just encourages that horrible behaviour. Definitely puts my minor grousing about not finding any good electronics in perspective, when there are people there who just want to put their kid in some decent clothes so they can be warm when they go to school. Like you said in your other post, we aren't 'owed' anything. The stuff we do is for entertainment, not basic survival!

 

Oh, you're NOT allowed to 'have dibs' if you volunteer. Of the people I've known who work/worked in thrift, that's a constant. If they're setting stuff aside while volunteering, they are breaking policy. The real question is, does immediate management know, or care? I've known a person or two who broke policy when no one was looking (not gonna lie, that's how I got my dreamcast keyboard way back when).

[TPA5]

 

Oh, you're NOT allowed to 'have dibs' if you volunteer. Of the people I've known who work/worked in thrift, that's a constant. If they're setting stuff aside while volunteering, they are breaking policy. The real question is, does immediate management know, or care? I've known a person or two who broke policy when no one was looking (not gonna lie, that's how I got my dreamcast keyboard way back when).

 

It's not a national thrift chain, so I'm guessing management does not care at all. Having talked to someone that volunteered there, apparently even the store manager has been known to grab stuff.

[Osgeld]

 

Same thing here. Even on a smaller scale, I see tons of people saying casually things like "need a cheap CRT? Go to Goodwill." The thrift stores I've been to have stocked a grand total of zero CRTs, terrible ones included.

Yep our good wills are stuffed with outdated overpriced clothes, low end gomick appliances and absolute garbage

 

I did find a ISA 3com network card box last week... Nothing inside it just the box 9.99$ goodwill sucks

[homerhomer]

Yep. Thrift stores kind of suck these days. I usually walk out empty handed. When I do find something, I imagine it's because some one messed up.

 

 

 

Sent from my XT1053 using Tapatalk

[tep392]

I checked out my local Goodwill yesterday to see if they had anything interesting. Saw a loose flashback 2 in the locked case. It had joysticks and power supply, but no box or manual. I was ready to buy it until I saw the $29 price tag.

 

But I did find a nice condition floppy disk storage unit for a buck.

[tep392]

double post

[TheClassyGamer]

I needed to pick up 3 CRTs for an upcoming event, and my Goodwill told me they do not stock any TVs at all. Luckily the Salvation Army had some. Finding CRTs is pretty tough in my area, but finding smaller ones is even tougher.

If you were close enough I would give you several. I've about a half dozen of various size I would like to see go to a good home.

[BawesomeBurf]

If you were close enough I would give you several. I've about a half dozen of various size I would like to see go to a good home.

That would have been great. Hope you're able to find a good home for those soon!

[madhatter667]

Man, I hit, what... 1 Value Village, and 2 Goodwills today. I was hoping to score a monitor to use with an ST computer I have coming in (using resources between here, another wiki page, and Best Electronics), and one store had only a handful of monitors, none of which were compatible, the other had several monitors (none compatible) that looked like someone had played a game of football with them, and the other store had none at all. Game stuff? The Value Village had an Arcadia 2001 priced at $20. If it were payday... maybe on sheer novelty factor, but that's about it. The other store had an old PSX, and the other had an original XBox (no cables, controllers or anything else for the latter two). Very slim pickings out there. Even some of the deals to be found on the old school stereo stuff is nonexistent these days. I couldn't reliably replace my tape deck or standalone CD player if they broke... we can forget about a decent turntable. I know everything dries up eventually. Last time I saw a TT at a thrift it was an incomplete (no headshell, counterweight, or mat), and abused, plastic shelled, I want to say Gemeni branded DJ table... not even a table made for listening, and it was priced at $99. Some really good dope was smoked the day that one was priced.

[Rik]

Yep, i noticed it, been like that for the past 4-5 years now. And, if at any time, although rare, anything cool in classic gaming comes in at any local thrift stores? ? it's immediately put in the display cases with eBay prices. I feel for the guys just starting out collecting.

Edited April 3, 2016 by Rik

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Several others have already said it in so many words, but the simple fact is that retro games have gotten popular and most people are now aware that their old games could be worth money. So, rather than give them away for free to thrift stores, people are selling their old games on eBay or to local game stores. At the same time, the increase in popularity of retro gaming has led to the majority of people who want to buy these old games becoming willing to pay more for the increasingly rare games they're looking for.

 

Unless retro gaming is currently in a bubble that one day pops, the days of finding good games for cheap at thrift stores are over, done, and not coming back. You may still get lucky and find a cheap deal on rare occasion, but at this point in time you should expect to pay the prices listed on http://videogames.pricecharting.com for any game you might want. For better or worse, that's just what the games are worth now.

Edited April 3, 2016 by Jin

[+frankodragon]

I went to a couple of non-Goodwill thrift stores today and it's pretty much the same thing: PS2 and Xbox sports titles, maybe one or two PS3 titles and a Hanna-Montana shovel-ware game for the DS. Personally, those HM games should be buried in a landfill.

[madhatter667]

Went to a big thrift today. Still monitor hunting. Still struck out. At least there was some neat stereo gear. Though most of it was over priced as well. I blame hipsters. Lol. Some decent tape decks, one TT that had promise (but was missing parts, some more expensive than others). There were a couple XBoxes, and a handful of grey PSXs, but that was about it. No games worth a damn, and they were as above all sports oriented. Sad times. I don't know how much I like the moniker of retro gaming... it's just gaming, at least in my own head. Lol.

[thadsilverfox]

I honestly believe that retro gaming is in a bubble. Eventually my generation that grew up playing these consoles, games, star wars toys, G1 Transformers, etc. will die off. Once that happens I believe the bubble will burst. I have friends who have tweens that collect NES, SNES, SEGA, etc. only because of the YouTube videos making it cool to collect. I have never once seen these kids play any of the older stuff. All I ever see them on is Xbox 360, PS4, Xbox One, and so on. Its like pulling teeth to get my kids to sit down with me and play a game on the older systems. They all want the latest and greatest games, so at this point I am inclined to say that the current fad has helped to create the retro bubble and the famine. Just my two cents.

[Atari_Bill]

I honestly believe that retro gaming is in a bubble. Eventually my generation that grew up playing these consoles, games, star wars toys, G1 Transformers, etc. will die off. Once that happens I believe the bubble will burst. I have friends who have tweens that collect NES, SNES, SEGA, etc. only because of the YouTube videos making it cool to collect. I have never once seen these kids play any of the older stuff. All I ever see them on is Xbox 360, PS4, Xbox One, and so on. Its like pulling teeth to get my kids to sit down with me and play a game on the older systems. They all want the latest and greatest games, so at this point I am inclined to say that the current fad has helped to create the retro bubble and the famine. Just my two cents.

I've been saying this for years. That's why it's rediculous to pay huge sums for things that will end up likely being mostly worthless in our lifetime. My opinion which many definitely don't share.

[thadsilverfox]

I've been saying this for years. That's why it's rediculous to pay huge sums for things that will end up likely being mostly worthless in our lifetime. My opinion which many definitely don't share.

 

I have a feeling that a lot of us won't keep this stuff around for the grand kids to play when we are seniors. I just don't see many grand kids being interested in outdated technology just from personal experience.

[Keatah]

None of the younger kids I know of are interested in the computing part. Maybe a little bit of some videogames. But computers, no.

 

Just like we have zero interest in the tube and discrete transistor mainframes of the 50's and 60's.

[Zookeeper]

Mostly crummy games at thrift stores it seems. I guess everyone's wise and dumps the good stuff online. I suppose this may be a mean thing to say, but I half wish the bubble would go pfft so I can just collect and enjoy myself. Seems like this happens to most collecting hobbies; everybody smells money, floods in and runs up the prices.

Edited April 5, 2016 by Zookeeper

[Skippy B. Coyote]

Mostly crummy games at thrift stores it seems. I guess everyone's wise and dumps the good stuff online. I suppose this may be a mean thing to say, but I half wish the bubble would go pfft so I can just collect and enjoy myself. Seems like this happens to most collecting hobbies; everybody smells money, floods in and runs up the prices.

I don't think that's mean at all, and it's probably a sentiment that most collectors who don't have a ton of disposable income share. There's a lot of great games for just about every system anyone might be interested in that have become unobtainably expensive due to the rise in popularity of retro game collecting, and the overall rise in prices across the board have made the hobby nowhere near as cheap as it used to be. We'd all love to be able to pick up good games for $0.50 or $1 again rather than the $10 or $20 premium that a lot of popular games have risen to these days. It might be different if the games had always costed that much, but many collectors can remember a time not all that long ago when you could get good games for $1.

 

So don't feel too bad about it, you're certainly not the only one who would like to see that bubble go pop.

Edited April 5, 2016 by Jin