Tales from the Thrift Store

[Durptastico]

More on the sex toys: one of the donation attendants today told me he once got a couple who donated a sex swing or whatever the hell it is called -- when he asked what it was, they told him with a straight face, apparently.

[Durptastico]

OMG!!! Did the dress come with used sex toys? Please tell me what was so special about that dress that she wanted to risk her health and pay tons of money to clean it. Come to think of it, how did she even see it?

Everytime I think I've seen it all, I come here and read that I'm wrong.

Merriweather I haven't seen that sort of thing here. Of course I will bow to your greater experience and will change my statement to "most thrift stores have great prices".

From what I understand she claimed it was her own blood. It happened while I was off for the day, but I did pick up the phone when she called, asked for a manager, and I handed it to my manager saying "this person doesn't sound very intelligent."

[depechemodefan]

EricKei,
I do animal rescue and a couple of the local thrift stores will save the torn and worn out blankets, pillows and towels for us. Puppies will chew and soil their bedding, so we are happy to get them.

I'm glad you can use them for the poor puppies!

When I was maybe 6, we were going to donate stuff to the thrift store. I got one of my ragged toys that I loved, put a bow on it, and donated it, thinking it would help the poor people. Obviously to an adult, it wasn't worth the effort, since it was in crappy condition, but as a child I didn't see that. But there are adults out there who don't see the obvious I guess. Used sex toys and used cat litter is fucking insane.

I know that thrift store Merriweather. I remember buying The Right Stuff (book) from them for $.99 back when the movie came out. There are items I see -mostly knick-knacks or picture frames- I see they are trying to sell at retail prices.

[Bella_Vixen]

You know, a D turns into a B so easily. You just got greedy.

The Simpsons for the win.

[Slave to the Phone]

We had somebody call multiple times complaining that we wouldn't let them buy a dress that had blood stains on it, so you're not quite correct.

OMG!!! Did the dress come with used sex toys? Please tell me what was so special about that dress that she wanted to risk her health and pay tons of money to clean it. Come to think of it, how did she even see it?

Everytime I think I've seen it all, I come here and read that I'm wrong.

Merriweather I haven't seen that sort of thing here. Of course I will bow to your greater experience and will change my statement to "most thrift stores have great prices".

[Durptastico]

Not always true (the great prices part). One big nation "chain" of thrift stores is getting really bad in a lot of places for really high (for thrift store) prices. Ours is one of them, they really, truly need a new manager who has a clue. I know everyone can't know the value of everything, but this place is ridiculous. Best examples I saw on my last visit - quite a few cute little figurines, the same ones you see all the time at the "everything's a dollar" shop - all marked at $1.99. And the ultimate - a box of sandwich bags, yep, the little ziploc sandwich bags, only not even ziploc, it was an off brand, and the box was all squished & torn - marked $2.99. I kid you not. And these are not isolated instances, everything is over priced.

Let me guess:

  o   |
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Hope that's recognizable... hard to do that with whitespace trimming and no monospace fonts.

[Durptastico]

Blood stained sheets aren't a big seller either.

We had somebody call multiple times complaining that we wouldn't let them buy a dress that had blood stains on it, so you're not quite correct.

[Merriweather]

I agree that people who try to cheat thrift stores are scum. The prices are already great AND its for charity.

Not always true (the great prices part). One big nation "chain" of thrift stores is getting really bad in a lot of places for really high (for thrift store) prices. Ours is one of them, they really, truly need a new manager who has a clue. I know everyone can't know the value of everything, but this place is ridiculous. Best examples I saw on my last visit - quite a few cute little figurines, the same ones you see all the time at the "everything's a dollar" shop - all marked at $1.99. And the ultimate - a box of sandwich bags, yep, the little ziploc sandwich bags, only not even ziploc, it was an off brand, and the box was all squished & torn - marked $2.99. I kid you not. And these are not isolated instances, everything is over priced.

[Slave to the Phone]

EricKei, your dad got an awesome deal! I'd brag about that too.

Durptastico I'm all at the idea of donating sex toys. ICKICKICK!!!

I do animal rescue and a couple of the local thrift stores will save the torn and worn out blankets, pillows and towels for us. Puppies will chew and soil their bedding, so we are happy to get them.

I don't understand why people give trash to thrift stores. Nobody is going to buy pillows with holes in them, nobody wants faded, stained, torn towels. Blood stained sheets aren't a big seller either.

I pick up a couple of times a month and every store has a couple of big garbage bags filled with them every time I visit.

[Mishi]

I was buying something that wouldn't scan and I said, "So...if it doesn't scan that means it's ten thousand dollars, right?"

Love it!
I had something refuse to scan the other night. The cashier told the barcode "Dammit, scan already!" to which I replied "NEVER!!"
We both got a laugh out of it.

[EricKei]

My Dad always loved deals like that lamp at the thrift store -- his thing was clothes, however. Any time he came home from a trip there with a nice jacket or something and a huge grin on his face, we knew what was coming. His crowning achievement (well, HE saw it that way) was a brand-new Brooks Brothers suit jacket -- meaning, "brand new" as in it still had the original store price tag and other dangly bits hanging from the sleeve -- Original price: something north of $800. He paid: eighteen dollars. ^_^

[KellyHabersham]

No, if it doesn't have a price tag it means it is $579.87 (increase if needed).

Hey Richard Simmons was perfect for one show - the one for toddlers and parents. My older daughter loved 'It's you and me Kid.' She was about 2 then

You mean that show that was on the Disney Channel in the 1980s? That wouldn't have been him.......the host's name was something like "Sonny Menendez" (can't remember exactly)

[Gizmo]

I was buying something that wouldn't scan and I said, "So...if it doesn't scan that means it's ten thousand dollars, right?"

I had something completely opposite at the local corner store. They had two packs of tissues and I picked up a pack. When she rang me up I knew the total price was missing those so I said "I'm not sure those rang up". She replied saying "nah, barcode isn't working, they are free" and gave them to me for free!

I was shocked... however I was tempted to say "be careful who you do that to.... they might take advantage!"

[Durptastico]

Another thing that I love is that customers don't actually check to see if the CD or DVD is inside the case.... theft is a problem, and I don't get what kind of idiot doesn't actually look at the merchandise they buy from a THRIFT store and then get shocked when there is no DVD inside the case.

Same goes for shoes and purses.... its like they impulse buy then want a return on something that isn't returnable because they didn't take 2 seconds to see if the zipper didn't work or whatever. So stupid. Stupid stupid stupid.

I remember one customer was SHOCKED that theft goes on in a thrift store. Like, they thought I was joking. Such a person must life a very sheltered life here in suburbia.

Also, there are two rare customers we have that come in very infrequently:

Cane lady: She has a cane, but doesn't use it. Her claim to fame is almost always coming in 5-10 minutes before closing, disregarding all store announcements and direct confrontation, and continue shopping. Me, being anti-retard, figured out that she'd respond to "register is closing in 30 seconds" on the intercom which of course was the only thing to get her to stop shopping 20 minutes after close.

She hates me because I make the store closing announcement every 5 minutes while she's in the store LOL.

****

Ned Flanders: This guy seriously looks like ned flanders, and his mannerisms are beyond hilarious. While not an SC, his over-the-top friendliness is kind of off-putting. He'll say thank you to ANYONE, even the donation attendant vacuuming the front lobby while he leaves. He came in one night right when the doors lock to search for N-Sync CDs (LOL). I let him in because he's nice and I wanted to troll my coworkers :P.

[PepperElf]

How about... "If there's no price tag then it's mine and you can't buy it."