Ultimate Bargain Hunter Thread

[Todd Anderson]

This is where dumpster divers can post pictures and images of their trophy finds wether it be from a garage sale or Goodwill.

What have you found lately??

 

[Sonnie Parker]

My wife keeps her eyes open for gear at estate sales... but nothing as of late. Of course we get offerings all the time here at the pawn shop... but it is always junk and not worth 10 bucks.

 

[Tonto]

I've always wondered why there is not a flood of used AVR's & the like littering pawn shops.

 

[Todd Anderson]

They're in Goodwill... people dump them there all of the time.

So, Sonnie, years ago I decided to hit an estate sale that had a pinball I wanted. I could only see a semi-blurred picture of it on the estate sale website, so I new the game title, but not the price.

I'd never been to an estate sale and read that you have to arrive early (wee-hours of the morning early) if there's something you want.

So, on the day of the sale I got to the house at 4am. No one was there yet. I parked and waited. And waited. Fell asleep... and was awakened by a neighbor banging on my truck and threatening to call the police. They thought I was some kind of vagrant. ;-) After explaining what I was up to they left me alone... fast forward roughly 4 hours and the first rep from the sale company shows. She takes my name and says I can be first in line... so left to get some caffeine.

When I got back it was a mob scene. Could barely find parking on the street. BUT, they honored the list and gave me access to the house first.

There were roughly 10 other collectors there - angry as all get out that I arrive and bypassed everyone in the line. When I got in basement and saw the machine, my heart sank. It was blown out and in need of serious work, with a huge price tag on it. I don't mind restoring (in fact I enjoy it) but not when the price is equivalent to something in great condition.

Instantly the other collectors surrounded it and I told them back off: I was buying it. They chided me and said I was getting ripped off... got a little nasty...but they all left. Total gamesmanship going on, but I stuck to my guns.

So there I was, alone with the game, and that's when I started negotiating. The estate sales rep said no negotiating... but I poured it on and gave some good reasoning. She ended up calling the owner and I walked out of there paying about half of the sale price.

The game restored great... but... I am NEVER going to put myself through that experience ever again.

What a nightmare!

 

[Sonnie Parker]

lol... maybe in the big city. It's not that bad around these parts, but we rarely see much that is any good. I mainly look for used guns, coins, gold, etc. Stuff we can sell at the pawn shop. If I got out and really worked them, I could probably find some good stuff occasionally. I can't remember ever seeing much that was good in the AV market.

 

[Tony V.]

Todd, I would love to get an old arcade machine like Pack Man or the likes. I found an old Apple IIGS not long ago at a garage sale for $50 so I grabbed it. I have a couple Amiga computers already that Ive fully maintained and wanted to get a classic Apple so this filled that void. I love playing the retro 8 and 16 bit games of that aria. My kids even enjoy them.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Arcades are tad bit out side of my collecting interest, but I do know you could easily find a cabinet, super cheap, on craigslist (or similar). Just be careful NOT to mess around with those old tube monitors (unless you know what you're doing). They have caps that have to be discharge... if you don't properly discharge prior to handling you could electrocute yourself (in a very bad way... not just a little shock).

You could, fairly easily, install a new LCD monitor, controls, and a system form Phoenix Arcade... you'd have a multi-cade up and running (somewhere in the neighborhood of 60 to 100 games). There's plenty of help files and communities on the web that could get you going in the right direction. Just know: collectors of those machines don't like to see them cannibalized or converted into multi-cades. They try to restore and preserve. So, tread lightly.

 

[Will S]

I think I've stumbled on a gold mine, but I haven't found a way to really tap into it. When I was coaching my son's baseball team, one of the parents mentioned that he owned a home theater business and had some left over equipment from upgrading a system. He was going to discard, but would give to me if I could handle the install/setup on my own. I never actually got the equipment, we had a baby a week or two later and things got hectic, but I imagine that this happens all the time where there is a lot of used, but fully functional equipment just waiting to go to waste.

I'm trying to get my kids to love music and high quality sound as much as I do - we frequently analyze the difference between HD and analog radio in the car on the way to school. I'm just hoping that I can find a network of people similar to my connection above where people on a budget can still put together a quality system so we can pass along the appreciation for sound. Any ideas on ways to connect people like this, are there any folks on this group that fit the bill?

I'm trying to slowly wire my house with sonos compatible products so the kids can operate with ease, and we can easily control the volume from anywhere, but ultimately I'll take anything I can get to keep the dance parties moving for my little ones.

 

[Tony V.]

The only issue I see with your find Will is that you may be inheriting someones outdated equipment. Nothing changes faster that the audio industry particularly receivers and Video. Hopefully it is indeed something you can use.

 

[Will S]

That's a fair point. I guess something is better than nothing, even if I need to start it with a hand crank

 

[Todd Anderson]

What kind of gear are we talking about, Will?

 

[Will S]

The initial object was a DLP from a theatre that he remodeled. He said it detailed for $40K (sounds wicked high) but the owner only wanted the latest technology, he said the owner didn’t want it and he had no use for it. I emailed him about it a few days ago but not sure it’s still around. But he says he gives away all his working equipment that has been replaced with newer stuff. My thoughts are that we could have an AV network of free-cycled equipment for people who aren’t as particular about the equipment but just looking to get a setup in place and then slowly upgrade to perfection!

I want to expand my sound system in our basement and our tv room, and I’d really like to get an outdoor setup where I can bring out a projector and we can show movies to the neighborhood kids and the adults can sit around the fire pit.

It’s a big dream and will take a while but rose wasn’t built in a day

 

[Will S]

The initial object was a DLP from a theatre that he remodeled. He said it detailed for $40K (sounds wicked high) but the owner only wanted the latest technology, he said the owner didn’t want it and he had no use for it. I emailed him about it a few days ago but not sure it’s still around. But he says he gives away all his working equipment that has been replaced with newer stuff. My thoughts are that we could have an AV network of free-cycled equipment for people who aren’t as particular about the equipment but just looking to get a setup in place and then slowly upgrade to perfection!

I want to expand my sound system in our basement and our tv room, and I’d really like to get an outdoor setup where I can bring out a projector and we can show movies to the neighborhood kids and the adults can sit around the fire pit.

It’s a big dream and will take a while but rose wasn’t built in a day

I love autocorrect...