Thrifting.
What to check in the aisle: marks, labels, condition, and the thrift finds that are worth carrying to the counter.
Thrift-store books worth picking up
Most thrift books are reading copies. First editions, book club copies, and children’s books follow different rules. How to check the copyright page.
Thrift-store records: what to check
A famous cover is not a pressing. How to read a label, a runout, and the scratches before you buy a thrift-bin LP or a 45.
Video games at the thrift store
Loose carts, dead save batteries, and fakes of the expensive titles. How to read a label and what “untested” has to mean in the listing.
Thrift-store tools worth buying
Hand tools with a readable mark, a plane that still has its iron, and the power tools to leave. What rust means, and what a missing battery means.
Goodwill outlet bins, without the frenzy
How outlet bins are priced, what is worth digging for, and the condition problems a pound price does not fix.
How to work an estate sale
A reseller’s estate-sale strategy: read the discount schedule, walk the house once, and buy the object, not the tag.