# Confessions of a Consignment Store Clerk **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 12, 2005, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confessions-of-a-consignment-store-clerk/325827 "2005-10-12T01:05:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confessions-of-a-consignment-store-clerk/325827/41 "2005-10-14T17:50:33Z")
> [@js\_africanus](#): > > If you ever do wear 18 \* 33’s creations, he’s a stickler about his name. He always screams, in a thick German accent, “Mine name is not ‘Ecks’! You make mine name mit the ‘by’ sign! The times sign!” So I always us alt+215 to get \*. He’s a great designer, but he’s really tempermental. At least he had the good sense to use numerals. Otherwise he’d be Achtzehn bei Drei und Dreizig. ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confessions-of-a-consignment-store-clerk/325827/42 "2005-10-14T20:39:54Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#): > > At least he had the good sense to use numerals. Otherwise he’d be Achtzehn bei Drei und Dreizig. Just a nitpick: numbers are all one word, so it’d be Dreiunddreißig (not sure if the spelling reforms change the ß to ss, though). ---
**Author:** ![aamco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@aamco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aamco)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confessions-of-a-consignment-store-clerk/325827/43 "2005-10-14T21:03:43Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#): > > I hope you found somewhere where they were happy to have and use the TV, even if it was only some random stranger at a curbside. I actually tried to donate it to various organizations (my church, a homeless shelter, a battered women’s shelter) before I tried Salvation Army / Goodwill. Apparently enough people get rid of nice VCR-TV combos that nobody wants “just a TV”. I forced Goodwill to take it because I called in advance and some schmuck on the phone said they’d take it without asking all the proper questions; I ended up making a special trip out to a Goodwill in an adjacent town (the one in my town didn’t take electronics), and told them _like hell_ I’m hauling this thing all the way back to my apartment because of _their_ mistake (I live on the 3rd floor of an apartment complex with no elevator … moving the TV down was non-trivial) ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confessions-of-a-consignment-store-clerk/325827/44 "2005-10-14T21:12:54Z")
> [@Obsidian](#): > > my boyfriend and his roommate (both cops) have 2 cats that they aquired because someone had tossed three very tiny kittens in a plastic bag into a dumpster. They were unweaned, and my boyfriend was on duty when someone found them. So he takes them home and he and his roommate bottle fed the two that survived. (Let me say that a big, gruff, tattoed man and a very tiny kitten are about the funniest picture you ever will see. It’s also the first story about him I told my mother) Marry him. Men who openly like cats and will work to take care of the cats are the best. I’m reminded of how much I love Mr. Neville every time I see him petting, playing with, or talking to our kitties. ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confessions-of-a-consignment-store-clerk/325827/45 "2005-10-14T23:12:59Z")
This is what Freecycle is for, stuff like that that you don’t have any use for, but someone might. Check it out on Yahoo and see if there is one in your area - very handy for getting rid of unwanted stuff. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confessions-of-a-consignment-store-clerk/325827/46 "2005-10-14T23:19:11Z")
Here we just set the thing down in the alley with a sign saying “Free. Works.” It’s never there for more than a day. We’ve gotten rid of a high chair, a microwave and dehumidfier that way. ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confessions-of-a-consignment-store-clerk/325827/47 "2005-10-15T00:10:43Z")
> [@aamco](#): > > P.S. Goodwill around here has started screening out crap that people donate. They refused to take a working color TV from me because it did not have a remote control. Realistically, I have to say I’ve seen things sitting at thrift stores like that for ages. Like any other retail business floor space costs money. And most TVs have a large “footprint.” Things without remotes don’t really sell quickly these days. I see, further down, you got them to take it after all, but I can’t really fault them for trying to screen things. (I lurk the VOA thrift shop looking for new, cheap, bar stools. I go through the silly things like they’re going out of style. I bought an excellent, resturant-quality one, last year. It lasted about 9 months. Now I go for disposable ones. I weigh almost 400 lbs, and have my computer set up on the breakfast bar in my apartment - it’s where I work **and** play, so…) ---
**Author:** ![look\_ninjas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b2d939/32.png) [@look\_ninjas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/look_ninjas)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confessions-of-a-consignment-store-clerk/325827/48 "2005-10-15T01:47:59Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#): > > That sounds like store policy: only take what will sell, and sell fast. Which is pretty much the only way for a resale shop to survive. Granted, we don’t pay for our merchandise, which lowers costs, but we still have to pay rent, pay utilities, pay employees… And it’s not like people are going to pay full price for something at a resale shop, even if it’s got tags on and has never been used. And in my experience, Goodwill and other charity shops always have more coming in than they could ever hope to sell. So you screen, screen, screen before you take anything. It’s the only way to get product out the door. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2005, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confessions-of-a-consignment-store-clerk/325827/49 "2005-10-15T15:48:05Z")
Would it be possible to get a cheapie universal remote, program it for the TV, and donate them both? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/confessions-of-a-consignment-store-clerk/325827.md?page=2)