# Most unlikely thing you've found at a resale store **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 19, 2016, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-thing-youve-found-at-a-resale-store/749588 "2016-03-19T22:27:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-thing-youve-found-at-a-resale-store/749588/41 "2016-03-22T19:09:21Z")
A couple of days ago I bought a beautiful Paul Smith mod suit for $2.50. Perfect fit, single-breasted two button, dove grey with lavender pinstripes, looked unworn, retails for about $1500. Score! ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-thing-youve-found-at-a-resale-store/749588/42 "2016-03-23T03:33:10Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Black memorabilia are highly collectible. Yeah, I know. It still disgusts me though. Especially when stories are concocted about how it’s supposedly not racist, but pro-black instead. See the ridiculous meme going around about the black lawn jockey. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-thing-youve-found-at-a-resale-store/749588/43 "2016-03-23T03:37:28Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > What kind of people donate to this sale, anyway? 😃 I wish we got stuff that weird at the sales I’ve worked at (although I could do without the racist crap). > > Last weekend, my brother posted a picture on Facebook of a 1980s Casio keyboard that he purchased at Goodwill for $3.88 (price tag plainly visible) and it was pre-programmed to play “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go”. Back when those things were new, he wanted one but they were very expensive. Crazy folk, apparently. Actually, the place serves multiple counties and there’s lots of leftovers from yard sales and great aunt Maude’s passing. Some of the decor that comes in wasn’t in style when it could’ve been in style. No one needs that many ducks with dusty rose ribbons, bright colored XL macrame or plaques made out of clothespins / more macrame / pasta shells. It’s just scary sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-thing-youve-found-at-a-resale-store/749588/44 "2016-03-23T06:12:21Z")
A three-foot tall, wooden, totally nude male marionette. Not anatomically correct. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-thing-youve-found-at-a-resale-store/749588/45 "2016-03-23T19:43:10Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > A three-foot tall, wooden, totally nude male marionette. Not anatomically correct. Probably because that would have required an extra string. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-thing-youve-found-at-a-resale-store/749588/46 "2016-03-23T19:51:41Z")
> [@stillownedbysetters](#): > > We had family who lived in Palm Springs, CA, that we’d visit every other year. Whenever I was there, my cousin and I would make a beeline to Angel Charities which was a donation resale shop like Goodwill, only very very upper crust indeed. If you were lucky and hit it at change of seasons/closet clean-out time for the Palm Springs mavens, you could pick up designer clothing, often still tagged and unworn, for peanuts. For a while, I was one of the best dressed teenagers in the Midwest. My wife went with me to a meeting in Palm Springs a few years ago, and she found great stuff in that place. The Times did a piece on Palm Springs - maybe a 36 hours in column - and mentioned it also. I got a pants press for $50 at our thrift store, a good deal but not that weird. I also found a book of dirty crossword puzzles there. And a Puzz-3D puzzle of the Great Mosque in Mecca, which I have not seen in any catalog or ad. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-thing-youve-found-at-a-resale-store/749588/47 "2016-03-23T20:47:57Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Probably because that would have required an extra string. And when he lies, watch out. ---
**Author:** ![I.Dunno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9f8e36/32.png) [@I.Dunno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I.Dunno)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-thing-youve-found-at-a-resale-store/749588/48 "2016-03-23T21:12:48Z")
A couple of years back this happened to my brother in Salt Lake City. He was browsing his local GW when he saw a toddler in his mother’s shopping cart with a C. F. Martin (yeah, the famous guitar maker) soprano ukulele. The uke was being banged against the cart by the kid. My brother gave the mother such a look of abject OMG/give-it-to-me that she relinquished custody. He paid the 2 bucks that GW was asking and found it was worth 700-900 dollars. ---
**Author:** ![buckgully](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb9ed0/32.png) [@buckgully](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buckgully)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-thing-youve-found-at-a-resale-store/749588/49 "2016-03-23T21:41:00Z")
New in box adapter for a 1998-2003 VW headunit to Panasonic CD changer. Unlikely because I knew exactly what it was, having spent several weeks in 1999 looking for that exact thing. The VW cd changer was made by Panasonic, but it cost $1200 installed in the car. The same Panasonic unit was $150, and the installation consisted of two screws. However, they used different plugs. You needed this adapter to go from one to the other. The adapters were often hundreds of dollars, if you could find one. Other than that, I don’t go to my local Goodwill very often. There’s a Target down the street, and the Goodwill is basically where they dump all the returns and stuff too damaged to sell. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-thing-youve-found-at-a-resale-store/749588/50 "2016-03-23T22:31:35Z")
I saw a Harvard bumper sticker for sale in a thrift store in Alabama. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-thing-youve-found-at-a-resale-store/749588/51 "2016-03-23T23:13:47Z")
I am a huge fan of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musicals. I got a 2 foot x 3 foot wood mounted blow up of the Newsweek magazine with the cover story “CATS pounces on Broadway” for $25!!! I danced walking home with it. ---
**Author:** ![HeXen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@HeXen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeXen)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2016, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-thing-youve-found-at-a-resale-store/749588/52 "2016-03-23T23:39:08Z")
I didn’t realize there could be unlikely things at a consignment shop? They are full of everything and anything. ---
**Author:** ![jsquire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@jsquire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsquire)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-thing-youve-found-at-a-resale-store/749588/53 "2016-03-24T00:42:15Z")
I am a huge fan of track and field and road running, and I collect memorabilia and books related to it. Fortunately that’s a cheap hobby because almost no one else wants these things. The coffee shop/used bookstore in the nearby college town has given up a shocking number of rare, out of print books. Time and time again I’ve walked away with stuff that goes for $40-$100 on eBay, paid for with nothing but $3-4 of trade-in credit. The one I’m kicking myself for not picking up was the Jogger’s Catalog, an true early 70s timepiece in the same style as the [Whole Earth Catalog](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_Earth_Catalog). ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-thing-youve-found-at-a-resale-store/749588/54 "2016-03-24T01:18:20Z")
> [@HeXen](#): > > I didn’t realize there could be unlikely things at a consignment shop? They are full of everything and anything. I don’t see this. For example a very common item in households are tools–ranging from a hammer to an electric drill. Lots of thrift shops don’t stock them. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-thing-youve-found-at-a-resale-store/749588/55 "2016-03-24T01:33:00Z")
Free-weights, a set of Good crystal cognac glasses, A set of electrical cut records of Vivaldi (La Mer) from the 1930s, and just once… an electric guitar. (…ok, I lied… they were at garage sales… but man I won’t top those…) ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-thing-youve-found-at-a-resale-store/749588/56 "2016-03-24T09:47:49Z")
I found one of those old pre-popup toasters, kind with the two side wings that open, and you have to monitor the progress of the toast and turn it over when ready. My mom had one. The one I found in a thrift shop in Falls City, Nebraska, was clean and new-looking, barely used if ever. I burned lots of toast in it. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2016, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-thing-youve-found-at-a-resale-store/749588/57 "2016-03-24T12:11:12Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > I don’t see this. For example a very common item in households are tools–ranging from a hammer to an electric drill. Lots of thrift shops don’t stock them. The one I work at does. It’s a daily occurrence when I’m shelving goods to pick up an object and have no idea what it is. Sometimes, a co-worker knows. Other times, a customer does. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-thing-youve-found-at-a-resale-store/749588/58 "2024-09-19T22:18:08Z")
Reviving a zombie thread that I started: Today, I found what looked like some divorce papers that had been used as a bookmark. They were in an envelope with the lawyer’s letterhead, so I’m going to drop them in tomorrow’s mail. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-thing-youve-found-at-a-resale-store/749588/59 "2024-09-19T22:22:16Z")
8 years later, we STILL get more copies of that at the library than anyone would want to read, in addition to “The Da Vinci Code” (and other Dan Brown books) and Tom Brokaw’s “The Greatest Generation.” We do occasionally get copies of “Where the Crawdads Sing” but not in massive numbers, and they do sell. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2024, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-thing-youve-found-at-a-resale-store/749588/60 "2024-09-19T23:01:36Z")
A Hitachi Magic Wand. Nope didn’t buy it. I had no achy muscles to massage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-thing-youve-found-at-a-resale-store/749588.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-unlikely-thing-youve-found-at-a-resale-store/749588.md?page=4)