Shadez, no. Goodwill and Salvation Army stores are PARTIALLY there to provide poor people with a way to buy things inexpensively, but most of the way they work is by selling things to anybody who wants them, and using the profits from that to help poor people get things that aren’t crap other people threw out.
I thought of another bargain. Once at a shoe store in the mall, I looked at their clearance rack and found a pair of awesome brown leather boots (they’re styled like military jump boots, but they’re a different leather and a lovely chocolate color). The original price tag was $89.99, but a succession of percentage-off stickers littered the box, and I ended up buying them for $5.
Years ago when I lived in Iowa, I was searching for some books on Napoleon, and found little that had the information I wanted. Lo and behold, a very small, hidden-away used book store not only had a book that had most of the information I sought, it had TWO similar books that probably were sold to them by the same family. One was published in 1885; the other has no publication date, but has a hand-written inscription in the front from the man who gave it to his dear wife for Christmas, 1882. The price? $6 for both.
I’m getting married in March, and I decided I wanted a faux pearl choker to wear for the big day. Couldn’t find anything under $100-$200 here at the stores, and nothing that I really liked anyway. So I tried eBay. Found the PERFECT choker and matching earrings. Price: 99 cents. Still had the store’s tag attached, and I got a VERY good deal.
nod. I guess that makes more sense 
thanks
/Shadez
PS: [sup]For anyone[/sup] what does IIRC mean ? 
IIRC = If I Remember Correctly.
Shadez, IIRC == If I Recall Correctly.
As for the best bargains I ever came across: my two dogs. Mitch was free, as his father (my dad’s dog) sired the litter. Katie was free as she belonged to friends who were moving house and she needed a good home.
Best money I never spent
Max
36 boxes of “Skulls n Bones” SweeTarts for $0.10 each…3 months worth of sugar buzzes for under 4 bucks! (at Garden Ridge the day after Halloween)
The Bebe outlet here has some outrageous deals. I once got a red velvet sheath dress there that was on the clearance rack marked down to $40 (from an original $250) and when I went to pay for it it ended up being half off that day, so $20. I don’t think I ever ended up wearing it anywhere (although I did wear it to take my first SDMB picture, lol) so instead of being a great bargain it ended up being a waste of $20. (I’m just not really built for Bebe, if you know what I mean.)
voguevixen that’s not a waste of $20 at all. Did you resell it? I have a few things in my closet I’ve never worn, but I get satisfaction out of just having them there, and I know if the occasion ever arises, I’ll be ready.
I bought a beautiful floor-length creme formal dress with wheat stalks embroidered across the front in gold thread, with beaded seeds. I’ve never worn it, but I think I’ve gotten my money’s worth out of it, because it give me loads of satisfaction, and I’d be kicking myself forever if I hadn’t bought it (it was a decent deal, for those playing at home. $250 dress half off, then I talked the sales lady into giving me 2 more 15% deductions because it had a spot on it).
You folks should check out the FatWallet forums, the definitive source for online bargains (at least for computer stuff). Thanks to them, I got a $1000 Dell PC for $70 after rebates this Thanksgiving.
Lessee, how about a bulleted list, in no particular order:[ul][]We bought our 1930s dining room suite at auction for $125. Comparable antique store price would be about $500, so not incredible percentage-wise, but a nice savings.[]Same auction (!) we bought a Paul Jacoulet wood block print that has been mislabelled as a “Japanese watercolor.” Fair market value = $700 or so; we paid $35. It’s hanging over our mantelpiece.[]I’ve gotten some pretty good thrift store deals on records, paying 50 cents - $1.00 for things like an Elvis 78, Rock and Roll with the Robins LP (R&B group; pretty beat up album, unfortunately, but very rare), and early rock & roll 45s.[]We bought six turn-of-the-century wall sconces at the thrift store for $3.00 a piece (probably twenty times that in an antique store).[]My wife has found like three or four amber necklaces for sale at local thrift shops, for prices ranging from $1.50 - $5.00. []She also found a big box of hand-made Italian glass Christmas ornaments (say, 35 in all) that were all different figures with different arms, legs, paint jobs, glued on hair and accoutrements, etc. From the 50s, perhaps? Anyway, $20 for the box; I’m reasonably certain they sell for at least that apiece. She also bought a beautifully crafted sterling Art Nouveau locket at a country auction for $5.00. We later found a Web catalog from a jewelery auction with the same locket. Selling price was an even $1000. Gotta love buying something for 1/2% of the fair market value.[/ul]Just to add, I’ve seen some awesome bargains that other people have gotten at auctions. Examples: Nearly new electric pottery kiln for $30. Box of artist’s oil paints (50-100 half-used, but still usable, big tubes) for $20. Box of junk (containing solid gold pocket watch) for $2.00. Very Deco, mint-condition waterfall bedroom suite for $150. Cedar chests (multiple times) for under $50. And contemporary furniture, multiple times, for a dollar or two per piece.
I got a $1000 Sony Trinitron 36" TV for $100.
My old roomie’s friend was selling the tv, as he was moving and couldn’t take it with him. He asked $350, I said cool. So he helped my roomie bring it to my house, and cart it up a flight and a half of stairs. I gave him $100, with a promise to pay the remainder on Friday.
We plugged it in, and found out that the tuner in it was shot. A call to the tv repair shop confirmed that it would be cheaper to buy a smaller, new tv. So it sat on my entertainment center for 2 months, and I never paid the other $250.
Well, the guy felt bad, but he kept the $100. (I guess he didn’t feel too terrible about it, since he had to carry that thing up the steps.) I’m not very electronically-gifted, and one day my friend came over and showed me that I could still use the TV, since it has A/V plugs. So, I ran it through the VCR, and it worked just fine.
The guy moved away about 3 weeks after I bought the TV, and I had no way to get in touch with him, so there wasn’t too much I could do about it.
I think this is a good deal - I checked out my Amazon Gold Box the other night, and they were offering a Calphalon pan for $17.99 that was normally $85. I’ve never had a Calphalon pan, but I’ve heard they’re fantastic, so I’m pretty pleased.
With the plethora of strange rebate deals you can get nowadays, I managed to get my brand new Nokia 8290 from Voicestream (now T-Mobile) a few months back for -50 dollars. That’s right, I got money back. Obviously that doesn’t include service but it was still a deal.
I popped into Marshall’s for shoes (mistake), and ended up coming out with a bag holding the following:
Fit-Tigues silk cashmere hoodie to wear over my tank top at the gym
Fit-Tigues thermal jammie bottoms (this stuff retails for about $80 per item)
DKNY capri exercise pants
DKNY white tailored shirt that’s actually long enough in the sleeves, and not huge in the waist
2 pair Max Studio low-rise cords, 1 khaki, 1 black (retail $160 each)
LeCrueset utensil holder in flame, to match my kettle
M. London black leather tote bag (I’d estimate $200 retail for that)
9-West lambswool sleeveless turtleneck sweater
All this set me back $152 with tax, for about a thousand worth of goods.
Well, there is the fishtank, a 25 gallon hexagonal tank with all the fixings, stand, filter and everything, that I got for $10.
Or the new Fender acoustic with built-in pickup which I got for $50.
But one bargain outshines them all. It was back in '92, and I’d just gotten back from Bath, England, then driven out to Arizona from New Jersey, and had spent a while doing a construction project out in the desert, while living in a little tent on the nearby campgrounds. I knew I would be spending the rest of the year travelling around, so I thought I’d get myself a better tent setup. This involved a new tent, a few Rubbermaid containers to set a bed up on, and a mattress.
So, I wandered around and got the tent, and the tubs, and finally hit a little second-hand shop that I’d seen but never visited before. It was dark inside, dismal, with stuff stacked all over. I nodded to the proprietress behind the counter, and went off into the dark stacks of stuff to see what I could find.
Around a corner, I came across a bunch of children, all maybe five or six years old. They were playing with a tiny little puppy. He was black and tan, maybe six weeks old, scrawny, but with the big belly that indicated that he was severely malnourished. The kids were hauling him around by one leg, throwing him from one couch to another.
Now, some dogs communicate. They look at you, and you know exactly what they’re trying to tell you. They have a sort of voice, a way of making you understand, a bridge that allows them to get things across to humans. It’s separate from dog-language, all the gestures and expressions that dogs use to communicate with each other. It’s more like hearing their voice in your head, in a way.
This was the only time I ever heard this particular dog talk like that. I looked at him, he looked up, and a voice in my mind said “Help.”
The owner of the store had followed me back there. I asked her about the dog. As it turns out, they’d found him out in the desert the day before. He and the rest of his litter had been abandoned, in a plastic bag. He was the only puppy who survived.
I left the store with a mattress, a tennis ball, and a puppy. Best ten bucks I ever spent.
Bones was an ugly puppy; he had none of the cute qualities that puppies have. He was skinny, and afraid. It took me two weeks to get him to stop shaking. I fed him by hand. It took one day to housetrain him. Tent-train, more accurately.
Eleven years later, he’s a grizzled veteran of years on the road, and more recently of years of urban luxury living. He’s a tremendous fetch dog; ever since I got him, he’s always had a thing for tennis balls. He’s a staunch, loyal, brave companion, defender of hearth and home.
He’s been trying to talk ever since that day we met. He squeaks, grunts, groans, moans, and yowls, especially when being scratched vigorously behind the ears. He’s obviously intent on learning human speech, and I encourage him to keep trying. But he said all he had to say, eleven years ago.
And now, it’s time for walkies.
Amazon just shipped me a 20-pack of Sound Blaster Live cards. Normal price is $800, I paid $32.
They don’t normally honor such price mistakes, but for whatever reason, this one went through. Read all about it on FatWallet.
I love thrift stores, flea markets, and any other place where deals are to be had. (These are Canadian prices too).
My new Eddie Bauer sweater that retails for about 80.00 cost me twenty five cents at a church sale. I got a pair of new Levis Dockers for another quarter.
My Harris tweed overcoat that usually sells for a few hundred dollars cost me $10.00 at a second hand shop.
I sell fountain pens so am always happy to find old pens selling for a few dollars at flea markets and second hand stores. Often they are only worth a few dollars or only good for parts but there are days when I find treasures… like my 1930 Waterman Skywriter that I got for $10.00 (worth 75.00) and the 1938 Esterbrook (sans cap) which cost me 2.00… I found a cap online and paid $4.00 for it. My 6.00 pen is now worth about 100.00 Cdn.
But the best deal ever was Lola… all I had to do was give her my heart.
Just the other day I bought a glass that has Ann B. Davis on it (Alice from The Brady Bunch). It says, “Ann B. Davis [then has her face] stars in ‘Arsenic and Old Lace’”. I’m assuming it was for the New Dinner Theater here in Kansas City, where a lot of ‘also starring’ actors on old TV shows go like Jamie Farr or Don Knotts. I got it for a dollar. How many people do you know who can boast having an Ann B. Davis glass. Not many! It’s so weird that I love it. 
When working at Media Play as a ship/rec mgr, I was always the first to see the new clearance/markdown prices are they were sent to our printer by corporate. Rarely did we put electronics on sale, so it caught my eye when a Sony 6-cd changer/tape deck/portable stereo which retailed for over $300 went on clearance for $1.88! Ah the benefits of management. Sweeeeeeeeeeet