Thursday, July 11, 2013

Things I Didn't Buy at the Thrift Store: The Grooviest Scores You Never Saw

You'd never know from the size of of my thrift hauls that I actually hold back from buying wares on every excursion. With rising thrift store prices and a decent amount of items still waiting to be listed I have to be careful. It's hard when I know of so many thrifts could come home with a truck load of wares, but I resist. Here are some the grooviest scores I've held back on the past few months:


Oh, what a glorious combination of kitschy cheese this is to my tacky-art loving soul! The sunset's warm hues and galloping steed are blazing a hole through my heart. I'm amassing quite the collection of ostentatious thick yarn 1970s wall hangings but left this one due to a $10+ price tag.


Speaking of yarn art, I've encountered this exact piece second-hand at least four times this year. I love it, but each time it's $10+ and I have to leave it behind.


MOAR ART! Noticing a trend here? Again we have a piece $10+ that has to stay behind. Wall hangings are pieces that tend to sit on longer so I don't like to spend much on them. Also, I have two bullfighters on velvet I haven't been able to sell in my antique mall for over a year. (PS: Anyone want two bullfighter paintings on velvet, for you, special price! Yes, yes? E-mail me.)


These Conquistadors are glorious. In retrospect, I'm regretting leaving this duo behind. I probably decided against the risk because I didn't want to wait years for these to sell. Anyone in the market for Conquistador plaques in their home?! Now I'm curious.


And to go with the theme of exploration and future exploitation we have an appropriately very gold boat plaque. So beautiful, but again, left behind for the price tag.


And a gold sax plaque, I'll calls it the sexyphone. Not so inspiring behind the FILTHIEST FLASHLIGHT ALIVE but it would be resplendent in the right setting.


This lovely bit of big eye art was again, out of my budget! Damn you high prices, DAMN YOU!


How about a giant beer stein?! For $5.00 too much of an investment for my cheap self, but he's a beau.


And back to plaques, I loved this huge one. It would be a nice candidate for a spray paint job but I like the white and gold combo, too.


I LOVE the rope detailing on the top two drawers of this desk. I have a desk and had no reason to buy this one with so many dings but man, that rope detailing! Beautiful, I tell you!


I love these couches! I want their striped green goodness in my living room, darnit. Having non-matching couches is bumming me out. I'm pedantic like that, the way they're not a similar shape makes my eye twitch like a crazy person.


I'd take this lovely pair, too. I love the bold, simple shapes and they look comfortable as hell. Dammit, it's time to save up for a thrifted home furniture revamp!


And since I'm on a couch kick, the shape of this one is too traditional for my tastes but I do love the retro orange fabric.


I'm off to a thrift adventure with a fellow reselling pal, so I'll leave you with this gem. The typist's anger is palpable in this note. And you know I'm in DA SOUFF when you read DRESSIN [sic] ROOM YA'LL! I will, of course, photograph the things I want and the silly shit and report back with it! (By the way I retrieved the key for this RESTROOM and it was the stuff of nightmares. NIGHTMARES! I will pee before I thrift forevermore!)

What have you been leaving behind at the thrift stores lately? Still hating those thrift store prices? What would you have been unable to resist in this post?
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39 comments:

  1. Some wacky items there! When I was a kid, my aunt had a Mediterranean living room theme-- those conquistador plaques would have fit right in!
    I've been leaving a lot behind lately-- no vintage stuff.

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    1. I love the sound of that Mediterranean living room. The conquistadors are nostalgic for the retro look and all the reading I've done on family history.

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    2. I have those same Conquistador wall plaques in my Etsy shop (hey, shameless self promotion: https://www.etsy.com/listing/76958449/awesome-conquistador-wall-hanging-pair?ref=shop_home_active and I'll give you a coupon code if you convo me!) and they've been there for 2 years. So yeah, good call passing them up.

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  2. Wow! I guess you did leave some good things behind. The only thing I would have taken would have been the green daisy yarn art. Even for $10 it would have come home with me. Not for resale, but just for vintage love. Have fun thrifting.

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    1. I think it was over $10, boo. I hope luck brings another to me for less.

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  3. The high prices at "thrift" stores has me unmotivated to hunt for other people's unwanted used stuff these days... :(

    pj

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    1. There's always yard sales, flea markets, and the stuff they forget to mark up exorbitantly :D

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  4. I am still kicking myself for leaving behind a treasure I found last week. I have nightly nightmare about what a complete dumbass I was!! It was one of those really large mid century starburst wall clocks. It was $7 and it was clearly not in working order. So I thought about how many things that I have at home that I bought that are chipped or whatnot that I cannot sell, and are sitting there at home taking up space...so I (dumbass of the year) left it behind. Then later that day, I checked to see what those things are selling for and they are going for over $300! And then I realized that all I should have done is buy that damn clock and pay to have it repaired at a clock place in south tampa that I pass every day. It probabably would have cost $30 to repair. I don't know why that thought didn't even cross my mind when I picked up that clock at the thrift store!!! Im so pissed at my self....Hopefully, I have learned my lesson and will never make sure a big mistake again!

    Tara

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    1. It's happened to us all at least once Tara. Ugh, it hurts. I erase the item from the memory to stave off the insanity.

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  5. I walked away from a 1950s Merrythought poodle at the car boot sale yesterday, much as I adore a poodle there's no way I'd pay £40 for one (even if they do sell for double that on eBay!) x

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    1. If I can't at least triple what I paid I walk away. Unless it's something REALLY special.

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  6. Oh man, I LOVE that horse yarn piece! Also, you probably already know this, but many (not all) of those vintage couches with the skirting have cool mod legs underneath! I've seen some cool before/afters of people removing the skirting for a more mod feel. I always get frisky and pull up the couch skirts to check out their stems! ;)

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    1. I didn't know this! You'd better believe I'll be molesting some couches from here on out.

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  7. The sign would have been ten times better if restroom and dressin room had been exchanged. My thrift store manager friend has horror stories about that one :P

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    1. Every retail setting I've worked in has horror to exchange on that one. That's way more common than it should be.

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  8. Shopping at Goodwill Outlet recently, I came across a penis pump...dear lord, NO!

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    1. Lawd have mercy, no! I've yet to encounter wex toys while hunting.

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  9. When my older son was little, he found conquistador bookends at a garage sale and just had to have them. They were a bit beat up, so I spray painted them gold. He's 20 now, and they're still on the shelf in his bedroom.

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  10. Aw, that's awesome! I still have many random bits my mom thrifted for me as a child, too.

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  11. Wow I have three faves from your post the yarn art of daisies, I old make a nice home for that. The Big Eyed girl, because they're lovely and I love the orange retro armchair the fabrics way cool.

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    1. Many a groovy score I have to leave behind ;)

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  12. I left four giant plastic freezer mugs in assorted colors that looked brand new this week. It was not because of the price $1.00 each but because I have no where to store them and certainly do not have room in my current freezer. You know the type that have a layer of water around the mug that expands into ice .....so sad they were beautiful colors and I am still regretting it.

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    1. I hate that feeling ; p today I bought it all! No regrets. Though I gotta sell my ass off now.

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  13. God, I didn't read all the comments, but they need to replace that washroom sign. I am sure they an afford it. But I guess it's kind of a warning of what's to come! We have to escort people to the washroom & open it for them at my work. I always feel so awkward, but we were having so many problems (sex, poop on the floor, poop on the wall, poop in bags on the floor, poop in bags in the toilet, tampons, blood, you name it) .. that's what it came to. I saw the cutest large eyed boy velvet painting today! $3.99. Didn't come home with me. I don't know anything abut them. That flower one is really nice, though.

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    1. $3.99 is cheap for those these days, I just foolishly paid $10 for a large velvet painting yesterday, d'oh! Having paid my dues to the retail gods I've heard all the same excrement horror stories. What. is. wrong with people!? And dressing rooms used as restrooms is all too common, too.

      And finally, hell yeah with the prices they charge they can change the restrooms sign. I'll pretend they're being extra cheap so every cent goes to a charity...

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    2. Are the peeps leaving their excrement behind doing it to piss the staff off?? Or have they not been properly toilet-trained??

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    3. Every retail place I've worked in, some jerk has left excrement in the fitting room. Animals, I tell you!

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  14. Oh, I would have had to take the daisies. :) I love them. And the green couches are pretty sweet. I passed up some chairs last week that could have used just a little facelift and they would have been cool in my living room. They were $40 each and I had 30% off. Should have done it. Oh, well...until next time.

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    1. I've been the same about pieces needing facelifts. I don't have the materials or space for them and try my best to avoid the temptation and leave 'em behind.

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  15. I just bought two velvet bull fighter paintings for $4.99 each.I think they're awesome,but my husband implied that I was high when I purchased them.Oh well,maybe I'll wrap them up and save them for the White Elephant swap we have with family every Christmas.

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    1. Good price on those! If worse came to worse you might be able to sell them on Craigslist at least.

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  16. I love that latch hook rug!

    Lisa @ Happy Girl Thrift
    http://www.happygirlthrift.com/

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  17. I would have gone for a lot of those items, but not at those prices.

    Consider it a blessing in disguise when you have to leave things behind because you already have a lot of unlisted inventory. One of the biggest traps resellers get into is buying and hoarding way too much stuff. If you tie up your money in unlisted merchandise, you'll end up with a cash flow problem and not enough profit.

    I've been reacquainting myself with the flea market the last 2 months. Hadn't gone in years, but finally decided to give it another go. I've actually been quite surprised at how reasonable some of the prices have been, esp compared to the local thrift stores and estate sales. And this flea market was a serious vintage one with a lot of quality items. Thankfully, there are still places to purchase good quality items for resale at down to earth prices!

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    1. That's where I try to go most of the time, that and indie thrift stores. Feels so good to bring home a carload of items for the cost of one item at a regular thrift store!

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  18. I passed up on a set of about 8-10 adorable bar glasses. They were clear glass with a pair of cute gold owls on each one. But at $2 a glass, they were just too much for me. I didn't think I could make any profit on them, so I left them behind. And of course, I immediately regretted it, and went back the next day wanting to get them for my home. And of course (again), they were gone.

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    1. $20 for a glass set is pretty ridiculous though, doesn't leave much meat to the bone for you as a reseller.

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