A Selection Unnatural

After observing and learning for a couple of months I figured it was time to hit up the local thrift store and see if I could do what so many others have done.

Armed with my smartphone, ebay app and amazon app I felt like I could take on the thrifting world. Boy, was I wrong. As I said in the previous post, expect to make errors. My first attempt was nothing but errors. Luckily my brother found one item that made it all worth it, but more on that later.

Entering the store with my little brother (who immediately wants to run to the toy section) I came up with a simple game plan. Start at one corner, work around the perimeter of the store while going up and down any aisles that were not clothing or books. End the visit with the glass display cases of  'rare' items. In the beginning I decided to stay away from books and clothing simply because there is too much information you must know to profit from them. Yes, I could scan every single book and type in every single clothing brand with one of my apps but time is money and the hour or two spent in those sections would be used more productively elsewhere.

I also skipped over the bags of miscellaneous housewares and electronics believing that their low cost meant that they were all crap items. This would be error #1.

Obliging my brother, I headed to the toy section where he found a couple of nerf guns that he wanted to take home. I skipped over toys believing they were broken and dirty. This would be error #2.

I also skipped the board games, believing that they surely could not have all the pieces. This would be error #3.

Instead, I got absorbed in the stuffed animal section. I never read or learned anything about stuffed animals, I believed I may of stumbled into a secret world of plush wealth. Searching a couple on ebay showed that they sold for much higher than the 4.99 price tags. I bought a bunch. This would be error #4

At the time I thought I struck gold, 6 months later and I still have half of that first haul. Lesson learned.

Above I mentioned how my brother found one item that made the trip worth it, lucky little brat found a TI-83 graphing calculator, brand new in package. Store was wanting 12 bucks, I sold it for 75 within 2 days. That calculator covered the whole bill of 64 dollars that day and I believe if it were not for that one calculator, I would of thrown in the towel and ripped the stupid plush animals to pieces.

Never past one of these by!