7:30AM: wake up, look at the alarm clock and wonder why I am up this early again. Look over to my girlfriend and tell her it's time to get up. She makes her usual grunt at me that indicates "If you wake me up I will murder you where you stand and hide your body in the lake." Make breakfast and get ready to leave by 8:30.
I hit the first sale at 9 at a nearby church with a rummage sale. We walk in and the smell that you get when you walk into an old church fills my senses. Look around and there are about 4 tables set-up with mainly clothes and miscellaneous items. Because I don't want to feel like a jerk, I look around with my girlfriend. I see they have some huge alien head-ware that you see in beauty salons. Nothing at our side, we leave.
We start out towards our next destination on the other side of town. We stop at a Volunteers of America thrift store. This is not a small thrift store but a very, very large one. We're talking Wal-Mart size big now. I get out of the car and the cold air is bringing in the smell of the local fast food joints. I never stop enjoying that smell. Inside, I make a quick run towards the area with CDs and electronics. One tip in any thrift store, look for the CDs if you want to score video game related items; most thrift stores just put these with music CDs and have no clue. I look through the stack and quickly spot two items.
Not the greatest finds but it is a start. I have to remind myself that I can't just stock the rarest, greatest items. I can't let MY tastes decide what I buy. I have to learn based on making mistakes what will sell and what won't.
We leave and heads towards another rummage sale at a local church. We parked in the front and walk up to the front door and we see a sign that says, "Please use back door for sale." Damn. We walk around, the cold air letting up a little bit and go inside. Everything 50% off! Great! Hopefully they have a gem hiding. We pick up a couple things we could use around our apartment, extension cord, light, but I don't notice anything related to video games. Strike 2 for rummage sales.
We head to a local goodwill next and strike out there. These larger thrift stores are either hit-or-miss. When I've shopped at these in the past you can find great stuff, or nothing. Today, it's nothing.
We head to another larger thrift store and find, in my opinion, the greatest board game I have ever seen in my life! Conglomerate is a board game that my accounting heart will love. I'll be playing it tonight with the girlfriend. She will feel my wrath!
After getting groceries we head to a place for lunch because we have a gift card. We plan to eat there and hit a tiny locally owned thrift store. Am I glad we got there soon after they opened...
Now that is what I like to see! We found a boxed Sega Genesis, a non boxed Sega Genesis with controllers and a near mint copy of Shenmue! Now that I like to see! I love this little thrift store. We have obtained a few other things there at real great prices. I do feel this place will be my little gem where I find great deals.
I decided that we should try and look at a local pawn shop. These places can be seedy but can have great finds as well. I remember seeing a local pawn shop online that had pictures of a lot of video games they had but could not remember where they were. After driving around looking downtown, we decide to stop at another pawn shop that I believe is not the correct one (I was right). We get there 10 minutes before they open and the guy opens the door and lets us in anyway. Well that's cool, I can't say that wasn't nice. We look around and see, gun, gun, gun, tv, tv, jewelry and more jewelry. I spot, near the back, a little stack of new and older video games. Swish! I ask to look at the older games because I can't see the titles. After looking at them I grab two games.
It's always great finding these older games out in the market. We get home a little later and I start testing everything out and everything seems to be in working order. Always good to know everything is working. We get all the pictures taken and I get everything added to my Overstock Retro Ecrater store after a little work and I feel good.
Did I find a lot today? Not a lot. What did I find out? I found out today that I will need to expand where I search to find games. I will need to use other sources to keep stock flowing in to add to my store. I have a paltry amount right now and I will need to grow. This is a good first step though.
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