eBay

keziak · ‎10-11-2017

I drive past a Goodwill at least twice a day but haven't stopped in for, what, 15 years? (we donate from time to time). I decided to see what books they had. I was quite surprised. I immediately found some bowls I wanted and there was a lot of nice china but I know nothing about that (or clothes or collectibles).

The book and media sections were pretty good. I tend to use "thrift store" as shorthand for old and crummy books and this wasn't fair about this store. Quite a lot of nice things. As a Friend of the library I wish people would donate to us instead, though!

There was a problem with the high prices , especially since I'm used to the buck-a-book pricing libraries tend to use. For example I found some Game of Thrones paperbacks. I would have paid 50 cents for them but they were marked $1.50. There were some DVD sets but priced high. The hardcovers were kind of high. I hasten to add that as a charity they should try to get the best prices but I have no idea if their books just sit due to high prices. I plan to check back from time to time. They explained they have a color system in which every week some things are half off. I signed up to get email alerts.

keziak · ‎10-11-2017

@reallynicestamps wrote:
but haven't stopped in for, what, 15 years?

Prices on everything have risen in 15 years.
That was 2002, after all.

Game of Thrones are newish and were originally fairly pricey because George RR Martin may be a slooooooow writer, but he writes big books. So you are getting a $10-$15 paperback for your $1.50.

I asked myself that but I didn't use my scanner on them (I use a PDA and Amazon inventory database to check AZ prices). The vast majority of books are "penny" books and having this tool supplements experience and helped prevent buying books that aren't worth anything no matter how good they look.

Maybe I'll stop tomorrow and see about those GOT books.

The interesting thing about books and media is that in 15 years of selling there has been no inflation in prices realized. Of course one could restrict scouting to only high-price books and I may do that closer to retirement (and stop slinging 25-lb boxes around all day).

keziak · ‎10-11-2017

@mistwomandancing wrote:
Another here who loves *real* books. No Kindle here. Shelves on three walls of our den with the books I can't part with. Best garage sale I hit several years ago was another person like me, who was moving into a nursing home. Her kids didn't want her thousands of books so were just dumping them cheap at the garage sale. I hauled home so many in every nook and cranny of my car that it's tires were nearly flat under the weight and I had to just creep slowly home. Lots of great antique volumes that I now treasure too. Wonder what my own kids will do when my time comes...

At the library we get huge donations from people (apparently) cleaning out a loved one's home. VERY uncommonly there will be an excellent collection of books that will sell well online or in the library booksale. Other donations...not so much. Some are in appalling condition.

Last winter for several weeks none of the l ocal libraries were taking donations and since I had a lot I donated to the GW store and they REALLY didn't want them. But I guess they aren't authorized to say "no".

rolenboy01 · ‎10-11-2017

@retrose1 wrote:
@tunicaslot wrote:
But many people don't bother putting their ad in the local paper as one woman told me it cost her $30 to advertise her 2 day sale.
I hit church sales and one year I got a call at my B&M store from a church I always hit and they know who I am and what I did with the stuff I bought. They wanted to know if something happened to me since I didn't show up at their sale that morning. I said that I didn't know, they did not have their normal ad in the paper. The nice church lady said that the commitee decided to save the money on the ad since it costs $30.

I then asked her how much I usually spend on the first day and would come back on the second day for bag sale. She responded at least $50 on the first day. So this time, they are only getting bag sale money off me and most of the stuff I buy no one else wants so a lot of the stuff they could have gotten prime money from me, they are geting maybe a quarter a piece for it in the bag.

They always put an ad in the paper now. And I am counting on the ads now more than ever, the newspaper with the fundraising section in it has closed.

You should tell them to put an ad on CL all the churches do so where I live.

rolenboy01 · ‎10-11-2017

@reallynicestamps wrote:

Game of Thrones are newish and were originally fairly pricey because George RR Martin may be a slooooooow writer, but he writes big books. So you are getting a $10-$15 paperback for your $1.50.

That's all well and good for a big book but they try to blanket price things and it costs them sales which I find foolish, they need an easier way for a cashier to change prices they feel are more fair on the fly, I don't find 1.50 to be fair on a childrens book they may destroy or a book with only 20 pages or a magazine etc.

patd3283 · ‎10-11-2017

Goodwill of North Georgia has been upgrading their store locations and advertising on local stations and PBS.

They just hired a new president from a local mass transit company who made $500K in his last position. Wonder how much they are paying him? It would take a lot of books to make that amount!

gramophone-georg · ‎10-11-2017

@patd3283 wrote:
Goodwill of North Georgia has been upgrading their store locations and advertising on local stations and PBS.
They just hired a new president from a local mass transit company who made $500K in his last position. Wonder how much they are paying him? It would take a lot of books to make that amount!

Big corporate charity ain't charity- it's a scam. That's what Goodwill is all about.

Ever notice how the selection of clothes is always better at Goodwill than St. Vincent's? Do you know why that is?

It's because St. Vincent's diverts all the best clothing donated to give away directly to the homeless and others like battered women's shelters.

I don't know about you but I know who I'll donate to and patronize.

Chaos is NOT an "industry standard".

berserkerplanet · ‎10-12-2017

There was a problem with the high prices , especially since I'm used to the buck-a-book pricing libraries tend to use. For example I found some Game of Thrones paperbacks. I would have paid 50 cents for them but they were marked $1.50.

A lot of Goodwills around here (at least 4 I normally pass in my limited travels, and dozens in town) and yes, the prices are crazy high on a lot of things, and a steal on some others.

Around here, non-romance novel paperbacks are $1.99 - you have it easy. But still much less than the $10 +/- for a new copy at a bookstore.

lemarcheaupuces · ‎10-12-2017

@keziak wrote:
I drive past a Goodwill at least twice a day but haven't stopped in for, what, 15 years? (we donate from time to time). I decided to see what books they had. I was quite surprised. I immediately found some bowls I wanted and there was a lot of nice china but I know nothing about that (or clothes or collectibles).

The book and media sections were pretty good. I tend to use "thrift store" as shorthand for old and crummy books and this wasn't fair about this store. Quite a lot of nice things. As a Friend of the library I wish people would donate to us instead, though!

There was a problem with the high prices , especially since I'm used to the buck-a-book pricing libraries tend to use. For example I found some Game of Thrones paperbacks. I would have paid 50 cents for them but they were marked $1.50. There were some DVD sets but priced high. The hardcovers were kind of high. I hasten to add that as a charity they should try to get the best prices but I have no idea if their books just sit due to high prices. I plan to check back from time to time. They explained they have a color system in which every week some things are half off. I signed up to get email alerts.

most thrifts in my area here and in south west Florida are overpriced.

once in a while i score a good item that was overlooked.

the competition is also restless.

these days, the economy, seem to have created hundreds of competitors.

i find better stuff and prices at Antiques Malls these days.

thrifts are plagued with internal theft.

the best yardsales i have even been too were run by thrift shop managers.

can't be a coincidence.

last city i lived in Fl (full time)?

during a period of 5 years the whole staff was fired 3 times.

the reason was theft.

seems to me the best business venture would be to open a thrift shop.

a huge one in the style of GW or Savers.

i know one that i will not name, it is huge.

people don't realize but it has no major "good" cause like the GW.

the store is always packed with customers, the shelves full to the rim.

1 has to look at their jewelry cases.

1 is always full of gold and silver.

all items are donated.

this shop is busier any time of the day than the GW, a 10mns drive away.

have been saying this for the last year.

moving across the Atlantic soon or later.

once there and settled will look into opening such a Thrift Shop.

i bet that 1 could make a killing with just the jewelry that is being donated.

letoulousain

moondogblues · ‎10-12-2017

Where I am I never buy books from the GW...we have book exchanges where the books are free, and the GW wants 3.99 and up for a hardback. Nope, not going there. In fact, I won't go there probably ever again (been twice)...I crochet and make rugs and JoAnn's is cheaper for yarn. Ross is cheaper for NEW clothes. As are flea markets (used) and garage sales.

Like the winner right now on Jeopardy, thrift and used are the way to go.

moondogblues · ‎10-12-2017

" The "going rate" is $0.50 for paperback and $1.00 for hard cover (and sometimes only $0.50 there, too)."

Here it's 25 cents for paper and a buck for HB, but at the local Flea, I do 10 cents and 50 cents, then they start to sell. I find that a lot of people don't read at all and never have, and some (not most) have gone to electronic. And also, books take up a LOT of room, I have about 4000 so I know. They are everywhere, and cause a lot of clutter.

moondogblues · ‎10-12-2017

"Another here who loves *real* books. No Kindle here. Shelves on three walls of our den with the books I can't part with. Best garage sale I hit several years ago was another person like me, who was moving into a nursing home. Her kids didn't want her thousands of books so were just dumping them cheap at the garage sale. I hauled home so many in every nook and cranny of my car that it's tires were nearly flat under the weight and I had to just creep slowly home. Lots of great antique volumes that I now treasure too. Wonder what my own kids will do when my time comes"

Great story!!! I ran into a similar buy at a Flea down in CA when I lived down there. The sellers were just wanting to unload a HUGE bunch of sci fi at 25 cents (I kid you not) for hard back FIRST editions. I used to write and I even found the anthology my first story was in, and they had me sign it and kept it. But I bought SO many of those books, and still have them. Luckily I had a truck!

moondogblues · ‎10-12-2017

For those who want to get books to read, try the local American Legion, most have a sizable book exchange, as well as a local Senior Center. For those who wish to donate, local hospitals, and hospices are also good candidates. I haven't tried yet, but perhaps schools also. Day care centers, for children's books.

lemarcheaupuces · ‎10-12-2017

@moondogblues wrote:
Where I am I never buy books from the GW...we have book exchanges where the books are free, and the GW wants 3.99 and up for a hardback. Nope, not going there. In fact, I won't go there probably ever again (been twice)...I crochet and make rugs and JoAnn's is cheaper for yarn. Ross is cheaper for NEW clothes. As are flea markets (used) and garage sales.

Like the winner right now on Jeopardy, thrift and used are the way to go.

i so agree with you...

i can find cheaper clothing even at Walmart.

1 should see the price of books at Savers (unbelievable).

i ship a lot of small items.

most fit in a jewelry box with cotton then in a bubble mailer.

i buy most of them on ebay in bulk.

the Dollar tree store has 3 odd sizes that i don't buy in bulk; $1 for the 3.

not along ago savers was selling a bunch of them for $2.99 per pack.

i don't care what many are saying on this thread.

don't care what "good" cause some thrifts are supporting.

i refuse to pay more that what i would on ebay or in regular retail shops.

most thrift shops have become a complete joke these days...

letoulousain

tunicaslot · ‎10-12-2017

That's too bad Rose! Sales around here have been pretty bad - there's not the amount of people out and about garage saling like there used to be. Could be many sellers want Ebay prices - or the younger folks aren't into it. I catch a few sales from the paper - but most have already utilized Clist, gsalr, and yardsalesearch.

I actually went to 2 Church rummage sales last week, one of which I've been to before and walked out with nothing - that's rare for me but neither had clothes and any collectibles or vintage were priced way too high. The Knights of Columbus had a huge clothing sale for back to school - the prices were outrageous! $25 for a used JCP puffer jacket that will be on sale at JCP in a few weeks new for $15 for Black Friday - people were just walking in and walking out.