EXT wrote:

When I was growing up, he regarded charity collectors with disdain,
particularly the Red Cross. One exception. The Salvation Army.


Today, you can help the Army, AND yourself!

Have you ever been in a Salvation Army Thrift Store? Sure you have. But have
you ever seen a refrigerator? A washer? An automobile? Riding lawnmowers?

Trust me, those get donated too.

The question for you, then, is what does the Salvation Army actually DO with
the stuff you don't see in their thrift stores?

In my town, they auction it off. Every day. Each evening, they tell me, five
or more trucks unload a mountain of stuff into the warehouse where it's
sorted. The big stuff goes to the auction area. Here's a sample of the stuff
I've scored:

* GE front-loading washer & dryer on pedestals. Original retail, $2500. I
paid $350.
* Kenmore stainless (inside & out) high-capacity dishwasher, retail $1245. I
paid $45.
* 650 garage floor tiles - the plastic kind that snap together. I paid $40
for the lot and sold about half for $140 at a yard sale. There were enough
left over to tile my patio.

Much of the stuff they sell is in bins roughly the same size as the large
canvas letter bins you see at the post office. The most amazing, to me, is a
bin about 4x4', seven feet high, filled with SHOES. This bin usually goes
for about $150. I figure the new buyer sorts the shoes into junk and
keepers. The keepers move to a table at a flea market where they go for $20+
a pair. Even if there are only 50 pair of little used, high end shoes, the
buyer is making out like a bandit!

I've seen bins full of golf clubs, lamps, framed art work, toys, stuffed
animals, bedding and linens, computers and computer-related things
(monitors, fax machines, printers, etc.), kitchen appliances, books, more
books, video tapes, luggage, whatever. Stand alone are outdoor grills,
lawnmowers, crutches, mirrors, organs, pianos,...

In one of the bins (at the bottom, out of sight) I bought for $25 was a
14x25" stained glass window hanging. I cut out a hole in the door to my
library and mounted the stained glass there. Quite dazzling and a fun
project. Also in the bin was an antique pedestal-mounted gum-ball machine.
The previous owner had replaced the gum-balls with small sea shells. Again,
a clever piece.

I saw eleven king-sized mattress (name brands) go for $900. A lot of about
25 smallish bicycles at $100.

And we haven't even gotten to the furniture! I did buy a Henrendon sofa,
brocade covering, with a full set of pillows and arm covers. $15 (plus ten
dollars "tip" to a helper to assist in loading it in my truck. The wife was
out of town at the time, and said it didn't exactly match our motif. Gave it
to my son. His cats just LOVE it. We no longer care if the kitties shred the
thing - a replacement sofa can be had for less than the price of a
cat-scratching-post!

Once a week, my SA has a "high-value" auction. This includes large-screen
TVs, working computers, slot machines, musical instruments, and the like. (I
picked up a Yamaha electronic keyboard for $15 - retail $145.) Once a month,
they auction vehicles - last month they had a '93 Lexus.

One of the workers tells me they average about five thousand in sales every
day. The highest he can remember is something in excess of ten thousand
dollars.

If you think on it, there have to be similar situations for Goodwill and
other charitable groups, plus unclaimed freight from UPS or FedEx.

There's bargains to be had, my friends.