Myers Depot Metal Detectors

Thrift store hunting?

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garretman

Junior Member
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May 16, 2010
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Who here hunts at thrift stores for precious metals, and other good stuff? I read that they normally have some silver or gold that is passed as costume jewelry. I went to one of the many stores near me, and bought a 14k mens chain for 1$ I am now hooked!
 
sounds like a great idea.. I know my uncles does that, he also goes around to St. vinceints and finds paintings and china(porcelain) if it is somehting good he will hide it until he has a chance to come back.. strange as it may be but he enjoys himself and finds good stuff a lot.
 
I wish to heck they had a Goodwill store somewhere around here. There are a few curio and antique shops in town, but the owners are sharp and they know exactly what they are selling.......

Dusty
 
I used to do it a lot but need to show more self restraint to get back into it. I couldn't pass up deals on other "stuff" that I eventually sold at garage sales for a loss or gave back to thrift stores. I never did get use to that diaper taste that thrift stores seem to leave in your mouth... But with precious metals where they are now, maybe I will buy some gum!
 
I do - but the precious metals are sparce. My biggest find was a Nikon SB-700 flash that a found a few months back. It was in the general electronics section of Goodwill...not in a display case or nothing. I bought it for 3.99! I felt like I was stealing when I bought it :lol: I ended up selling it for $250 the next week on a sale/buy forum we have at work.
 
Wow nice margin on that investment!

Makes me want to hit the stores on the way home!

But..I want to MD on the way home too!..
Decisions decisions....MD'ing wins it is beautiful outside..will hit the thrifty stores on the rain days ;)

Happy Hunting ..MD and TS!



geodawn said:
I do - but the precious metals are sparce. My biggest find was a Nikon SB-700 flash that a found a few months back. It was in the general electronics section of Goodwill...not in a display case or nothing. I bought it for 3.99! I felt like I was stealing when I bought it :lol: I ended up selling it for $250 the next week on a sale/buy forum we have at work.
Click to expand...
 
I hit 4 different stores yesterday; 2 GoodWill, 1 ARC, and 1 Savers but, didn't find anything worthy.:(
 
Sounds bad but I paid off my last car in 6 months 4700. bucks by buying & resealing stuff that I purchased from those places, I was out around 500. or so of my own money... MY secret is to find a couple things & learn them inside & out, if you go buying everything half of it will be worthless even most of the older stuff that looks valuable isn't worth much, lucky for me I learned that fairly quick.. My main money maker was wristwatches, I learned the good names & what to look for & almost never spent more then a couple bucks for one, the best one I sold I paid .50 cents for..
 
Light you are right, don't buy just because it looks valuable or looks cool. Only buy what you know, and the Pm's are sparce but thur there.
 
I'm able to pay my college nursing tuition and mortgage with the items I find at the thrift store. Most valuable find so far was 3,000 grams of sterling flatware/silverware set for $20. To mention a few items I've found in the last 6 months...les paul guitar, solid 14k mens watch, authentic nazi knife, violin made in 1910, huge vintage box of machinist tools, carl zeiss binoculars, several pounds of silver (not including the full sterling silverware set), and so on. It began last summer as a hobby while off in the summer from nursing school. Make usually $400 a week, some weeks as much as a thousand. You'd be surprised how many people do this at every thrift store. Usually at least 10-20 people per store do the same...if not more. I've seen fights and arguments over items. Its a hobby for me that pays...but to some people it's their career.
 
I actually buy and sell items from my local thrift stores. You can get awesome deals on stuff. I don't do it as much as I used to. Thrift stores have become very popular in recent years with the economy in such bad shape. My local stores have apparently wised up on jewelry and the good stuff. One even has a bidding system in place now. This pretty much eliminates most of the "good" deals. Some have even started charging near retail prices, only knocking off enough to make a deal merely OK. I once bought a small laundry basket full of real silverware. I even bought a mid 50's stainless steel circular saw in mint condition with steel case and new blades and more for $20 and sold it to a guy for $400. It even had the original sales receipt. It was a thing of beauty. They don't make good stuff anymore and thrift stores end up with lots of it. I could go on all day about the deals I've found at thrift stores.
 
thrifty treasure

Hmmm interesting. I guess I need to brush up on markings and such for valueable metals. We don't have a lot of thrift stores here, but there are a few. Never hurts to be prepared.

What about the stuff that's unmarked? Or is it best to just avoid anything unmarked?
 
I hit up the local Goodwill & St Vinny and Salvation Army and GW and SV in other towns...I have about 25-30 bags of stuff in the basement inventoried and selling. Between liquidating storage units and items for clients and the stuff I have selling, we do anywhere from 1500 to 4k a month.
 
For the unmarked stuff, bring a magnet, makeup powder the kind people put on their face, and a acid kit if you have one. What the makup does is you put it on your arm, and rub the unmarked gold or silver on to it, if the makup turns black, its gold.
 
Took your advice and went to a few garage sales today, I scored a 14k gold chain that was broken at the clasp for $10.00, weighed it when I got home at 17 grams! Tossed it in my melt pile! Not sure where gold is at, but I'm willing to bet there will be quite a profit for me.
 
and gold is at 1600.00 per OUNCE about 50$ per gram = you scored around 700$ Ruffly.
 
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