Anyone shop at Salvation Army?

[Cambot]

I found 2 Dreamcast games there today. I asked the guy where they keep video games when they get them, and he said they're in with the CDs. Anything in that bin is $1.99. I picked up a shrinkwrapped Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six for Dreamcast and another DC racing game I've never heard of called F355 Challenge: Passione Rossa. I'm reading that F355 game is somewhat uncommon, too. Not bad for $4.00 total.

How well do you guys do at Salvation Army stores in your town?

[poe]

Only have one left (they converted the other into a 99 cent outlet, then closed it a month later) and they hardly get any donations, considering there are 3 other not-for-profit thrift stores in the same area. The only things that tend to show up there are OEM software (if I really want 30 copies of Grollier's Encyclopedia, I know where to go) and comic books they tend to mark up way too high.

[Steven]

are salvation army and goodwill stores, essentially, one and the same?

[tholly]

are salvation army and goodwill stores, essentially, one and the same?


same type of store, 2 different entities.....such as best buy and circuit city....same type of store, 2 different owners.....


i have however shopped at both and will continue to to look for sweet finds....

[norkusa]

I have a couple Sally's by me that I used to go to at least once a week. That was 3-4 years ago though when I'd find good stuff there all the time. Now, anything half-way decent there is snatched up by the employees before it hits the floor, or by the Ebay people. And everything left over after that is usually priced too high anyway.

Last summer I found a loose LaserActive system with Genesis module for $20, so I still find stuff there. Just not nearly as much as I used to. Same goes for Goodwill but they've really gone to crap since they launched shopgoodwill.com. x_x

[Darren870]

Mmm, yea I go to them sometimes but they only have duck hunts or crappy over priced SNES games.

I try to go to the ones by me at least once a month.

[Perkar]

i probably frequent at least 2 salvation army's 3 to 4 times a week. on an ambitious day, i'll hit 4 or 5 of them... i have quite a few in my area. i find stuff all the time. very rarely will i find anything particularly rare (i did snatch a loose earthbound about a month ago for $5), but i've built the majority of my collection (nearly 1700 games) from the thrifts....

the key is persistance. if you're not there buying the stuff, someone else is.

my best ever thrift find was from a smaller chain... Rescued Treasures. there's a few around here, i know of another in kalamazoo MI.... i got 2 toploaders with 55 games for $60. not a bad deal.

[Gapporin]

I've shopped at my local Salvation Army before. I don't remember if I found any games there (don't think so), but I did pick up my current 8-track player, and a few records there.

But yeah, regarding thrifts, I go everywhere. Salvation Army, Goodwill, pawn shops, computer shops, bookstores (yes, I've found games at local bookstores), etc. etc.

[sisko]

It's always hit or miss. I went to one Salvation Army religiously for 2 years and rarely found stuff.

Then 3 weeks in a row, I scored the mother load

Huge box of 2600 games with a heavy sixer - $15
Complete Microvision with 5 complete games - $10
Huge lot of SMS games/system including a factory sealed Phantasy Star - $30

[-hellvin-]

I go to this chain very often. It's a rare occasion they ever get anything anymore, but when they do it always seems to be KICKASS stuff. Defenitely a worthy stop on my thrifting route.

[wrldstrman]

:( :( :( unfortunally the people that work at our goodwill grab any game donated and run to the vintage game store thats right by them and sell the games.. needless to say Ive only seen 1 cart ever in the goodwill in 3 years they must of overlooked LOL ..the salvation army closed in my area

[ryborg]

One of the many amazing benefits of living in a massively economically depressed area is that thrift stores are everywhere. Seriously, there are about 10 in a eight-mile radius from where I live. Since I started going there in '97, I've gotten hundreds of amazing games/systems to keep and resell. Once ebay got huge things died down a bit (because all the 18-26 year old min-wage workers there realized this stuff is worth money), but you can still find great stuff almost daily if you know where to go.

Amvets > Salvies > Goodwill > local generic thrifties
________
I inhale iolite (http://vaporizerinfo.com/)

[vahn401]

I'm only aware of one salvation army near me. I tend to visit there every other saturday. Which is perfect cause it seems like this particular salvation army doesn't actually sort any of their donations from the week until friday-saturday. So whenever I go in there on saturday, theres usually at least something. I've gotten about 30 ps1 games for 2 bucks a piece through there. Best find was I snagged a huge box full of D&D stuff for 20 bucks. All the books were mint, must have been stuff printed during the 70's. I don't even play the game, but I figured they had to be worth something, but never followed through with the research.

[Perkar]

I'm only aware of one salvation army near me. I tend to visit there every other saturday. Which is perfect cause it seems like this particular salvation army doesn't actually sort any of their donations from the week until friday-saturday. So whenever I go in there on saturday, theres usually at least something. I've gotten about 30 ps1 games for 2 bucks a piece through there. Best find was I snagged a huge box full of D&D stuff for 20 bucks. All the books were mint, must have been stuff printed during the 70's. I don't even play the game, but I figured they had to be worth something, but never followed through with the research.

funny... i picked up a couple d&d books last month, thinking they would be worth something ... i bought them for $3 a pop. i go on ebay, and they're worth about $3 each. course, the stuff i picked up is early 90's stuff, so perhaps yours is worth a bit more. check it out though, there's always good stuff to be had at good ol salvation army.

[kainemaxwell]

I usually try to hit my local store once a week. Most the time they don't have anything but on occasion they're get in a batch of NES or SNES games I look through.

[McBacon]

In Britian, we have Charity shops which are the same thing, but more diverse (Christian Aid, Help the Aged, Save the Children etc).

They seem to have boxed games only, but they do well to keep CD games away from music.

All I've picked up from Charity Shops is Mario Party on the N64 (complete for £3) and some Sonic Videos.

However, one brand of shop decided to make a specilist electronic branch, where I have picked up tonnes of complete Game Gear and Saturn games at "everything £2 each" :)

[grimbal]

I have 2 Salavation Army stores and 1 Goodwill store within 30 miles of my house. The SA store furtherest from me hardly ever has anything and ditto for the Goodwill. But the other SA near me almost always has something.

I've found NES, SNES, Genesis, CD-I, PS2, & Xbox games there within the last year alone. I try to hit it either Friday close to closing time or Saturday morning when they first open.

[tritium]

Goodwill in my area has cool stuff and good prices, but the salvation army store doesnt have any electronics and everything is uber expensive. Not worth the trouble.

[zektor]

There are a few Salvation Army stores in my area. I used to shop them quite often, and picked up some great stuff there in the past for cheap ($20 for a mint Jaguar and 15 games)...but...they have changed since then. I guess they think any old game is worth a fortune, and tried to sell me Genesis sports titles for $10 a cart the last time I was there. I also notice that they list game related items on ebay now. I don't even bother anymore...

[Haoie]

You know, here in NZ, I've never seen any kind of a game being sold at a Salv Army store.

But then again I hardly ever visit.

[jcalder8]

There is one near where I live but they have never really had anything. The only thing they've ever had was a genesis and 32X for $25 Canadian. So far no games or anything else of interest. There is a Value Villege(same kind of store) thats even closer to me that always seems to have something game related. My best pick up there was my Power Glove with instructions for $6 Canadian.

[Cryomancer]

For awhile there mine kept having almost PERFECT shape older PC games for like 2 bucks i kept picking up. They even were considerate about the sprice stickers and bagged them so you could see the insides! But I haven't been there much lately since I have found much there since they moved the sections around.

[Slate]

I go to a SA to the west of where i live, i find stuff there now and then.

Soetimes they are overpriced ($20 for a junky genesis with the wrong power supply) But other times they are dirt cheap ($5 for an odyssey 2 with 27 unique games, half of them complete, most with manuals)

I don't see games there every single time, but i'd rather have it being slow than fast, so i find gems instead of junk.

[Sailorneorune]

I had claimed my Saturn (which, as an update-of-sorts, works like a DREAM) from the SA in Morganfield, KY. I may keep checking back there every so often, because someone may dump some games to go with my Saturn... :-P one can only hope...

[tornadostormxl]

where are these store located i never see them @_@

[Kitsune Sniper]

There are no such stores in my area. There's lots of 99 cent stores, and the flea market usually gets the stuff you'd find at Goodwill. Hell, a lot of people there -sell- Goodwill stuff.

[drewbrim]

Goodwill and the SA are next to worthless in my area as well. I did grab a boxed Odyssey 2 once, but usually I'm combing over the $10 genesis games just on the chance that there is something good in there.

[Cambot]

where are these store located i never see them @_@

Usually in the not-so-affluent, yet highly trafficked parts of town.

[Matt-El]

Salvation Armys are really crappy places to go for stuff, especially in my neck of the woods. I mean, if you want a PS1 system for 40 bucks, then fine....

[ahamilton0953]

just go to smartpages.com or some other online yellow pages site. just use the keyword thrift and your city/zip and you should find any in the area. I just did it and found about 8 SA's in my area I didn't know about.

[GuilewasNK]

I absolutely shop at Salvation Army and Goodwill!

Like others have said though, it takes persistence to find things at times.

Over the last year I have found these...

Genesis - All complete except for Sonic 2

Mortal Kombat $1
Mortal Kombat II $1
Lost World: Jurassic Park $1
Sonic the Hedgehog $1
The Revenge of Shinobi $1
Dick Tracy $1
Space Harrier II $1
Animaniacs $1
Altered Beast $1
Golden Axe $1
Exodus $1
Sonic 2 $1

32X

Virtua Racing Deluxe (complete) $1

N64

Super Mario 64 - cart only $4