Where do you buy your weird junk that you don't buy here?
14I’m SUPER excited because I’m going to the American Science & Surplus (www.sciplus.com) warehouse sale this weekend. Who knows what they’ll have?! [Except definitely lots of empty bottles and jars, weird-smelling possibly mis-matched rubber gloves, possibly German military surplus, no-name electronics, electronics parts, junky plastic giveaway-type things with company branding, and maybe leather upholstery scraps.]
The warehouse isn’t actually that exciting, but I love going because 1) there’s an aspect of forbidden wonder in going to a place normally closed to the public, and 2) there aren’t that many stores/businesses around like it anymore, with a physical location and a storefront you can visit. There used to be stores, usually in low-rent areas, packed with stuff: close-outs, overstocks, just weird, random stuff the owner picked up somewhere and thought s/he could sell. Some useful, some not. Single light bulbs, shopworn 20-year-old party supplies, no-name toys, cheap desk accessories, hotel-sized soaps, stickers, incense, box knives… Dollar stores took over the category and put the independent close-out stores out of business, and then started mostly carrying stuff made for them rather than the random, fascinating things you could find even 15 years ago (although I did buy Lee Grant’s autobiography at a Dollar Tree last year, which I still think is insane). Even Big Lots isn’t what it used to be.
There are still thrift stores, of course, and some interesting online businesses. I can actually think of four current versions of the close-out store within driving distance, but my favorites are mostly out of business or taken over by dollar store chains.
Do you have anything like it by you? Where do you get your weird junk?
- 29 comments, 77 replies
- Comment
Well we had one called Hudson’s but it went out of business. Originally run by two brothers, they had a falling out and one of them started another store (more trashy than the original) called something like Cheap as Dirt or something close to that. It is a disaster when you walk in there. Total cluttered disarray, hard to find any prices, a few good things in there but mostly trash. Even worse than meh or the dollar tree in that regards. Meh is closer to what the original store was like - weird crap, some of it useful, and occasionally a really, really good deal.
@Kidsandliz Aw, that sounds nice. Is the original store gone or a shadow of its former self?
There was a store in Racine WI called Nelson’s Variety Store which had a little bit of everything and some crazy-old stock (like tan cotton stockings and glass Thermos bottle replacements) because it had been in business for a long time and apparently didn’t do clearance sales. It closed last year because the owner wanted to retire.
@mossygreen Original store is out of business, the one the disgruntled brother started is still in business.
@Kidsandliz I bet you’re talking about Dirt Cheap. We just got one of those within the past few months. It’s a complete shitshow and 90% of garage sales are better organized and have stuff in better condition. But there is the occasional gem in there–they had NIB Vitamixes for right at $200 and there was once a pellet smoker that sold before I talked myself into going back to get it. There’s not quite enough to make me go back in there regularly and deal with the dirt, trash, and crowd though.
On the other hand, they now have a sister store called Dirt Cheap Building Supplies, and they put one in right next door. Great deals on things like flooring, tile, paint, vanities, and more. It’s pretty much all home improvement, tools, and stuff like that though. It’s fairly well organized, too. You do have to watch out, they have lots of Lowe’s and Home Depot returns so equipment that can break is suspect, but they have a return policy. I’ve scored some good stuff there. It’s a night and day difference from Dirt Cheap.
@Kidsandliz You aren’t thinking of Hudson’s Treasure Hunt, are you?
They still exist, but I think they’re only in Mississippi now. I think there was some sort of legal issue about the status of the stuff they sold, and they had to close their locations in other states.
Dirt Cheap is owned by the same company. A lot of Hudson’s Treasure Hunts were turned into Dirt Cheaps, but those are a lot worse.
@Limewater Yes that except the treasure hunt part was left out of their name around here. Hudson’s mostly had decent stuff until their last year when they made incredibly stupid buys (sort of what like meh does on occasion only more often). The stupidest was boxed food from a CA grocery store that they tried to sell for well over what you could get the stuff for at even the most expensive store around here. No brainer why that stuff didn’t sell.
@Kidsandliz Hudsons, if I remember correctly, used to sell salvage goods purchased from insurance companies after fire, flood, etc. from large chain stores or mom and pop operations so you never knew what you would find. Dirt Cheap sells overstock / excessively damaged goods from Hudsons and returns from online resellers / brick&mortar stores. They usually mark it up about 50%, remove the price, then mark it down 40%. You can often still find the return slip still attached to the box. Hudsons Treasure Hunt seems to sell the returns, insurance purchases, and overstock from all over. Gotta watch the prices now. Base of operation is Hattiesburg, MS.
@nasman6 Yeah I’d believe the insurance company stuff. Bought a microwave there and there was soot from a fire all over the box (but not really all that much inside it and it worked fine).
Flea markets or curb side trash.
/giphy flea circus
@eonfifty Where are your flea markets that aren’t mostly short-dated commercial baked goods and folding tables full of tube socks, tape and pens?
@mossygreen
http://cuyfair.com/fairgrounds/flea-market
@eonfifty Wow, that seems really reasonable for buyers and sellers. I’m impressed. The only regular flea market I know of around me is Wolff’s (https://www.wolffs.com/) and the cost for sellers (I just checked) is $20/$25. For $6/$12, I’ll bet you get a ton of people with interesting stuff.
God, I miss flea markets.
@eonfifty @mossygreen @f00l
First Monday Trade Days in Canton, TX. The biggest flea market I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure it’s even possible to walk the entire thing in a weekend. Maybe if you go 3 or 4 days
@eonfifty The dumpsters behind the hospitals at which I have worked, and others.
The Hazard Frought [Harbor Freight] dumpster.
Roadside trash salvaging.
Also both Coleman’s MilSurp and The Sportsmans Guide sometimes have odd military surplus from numerous questionable sources.
I also look at Etsy and “Dude, I Want That” periodically for really esoteric things
@compunaut @f00l @mossygreen The biggest one I’ve been to is the http://hamvention.org in Dayton, Ohio. It’s a specialty market focusing on amateur radio stuff. It’s only one weekend a year, so it can be very big.
@compunaut I love Canton! We used to go all the time when I was a kid. Sadly I don’t make it there on a regular basis anymore. Have you ever been to Third Monday in McKinney? I’m much closer to that one but have never been for some reason.
@PhysAssist you should check out marina dumpsters. usually people with the big fancy boats put out stuff they are getting rid of next to it, we’ve scored a few neat things over the years.
@stardate820926 Haven’t been to McKinney. Weatherford (about 20mi W of Ft Worth) has a First Monday flea market I’ve been to on occasion.
Up north (at least in IL) they have flea markets at many county fairgrounds once a month or so; Kane Co. flea market is known far & wide.
@eonfifty @mossygreen We have some fairly large flea markets here, but for the most part they’re all become cheap outlets for cheap mass produced junk. I occasionally like cheap mass produced junk, but I can usually buy it cheaper than at a flea market.
@moonhat I will remember that, thanks!
I buy cheap weird crap at Five Below. Sometimes there are good finds at Dollar Tree. Not so much at Family Dollar, which around where I live is rather creepy.
@heartny Five Below has pleasantly surprised me and has a quality weird candy assortment.
@heartny we got a five below here recently but I haven’t been yet. Maybe I’ll make the trip this weekend.
We have a local place up here that often gets pallets of WalMart returns, but they pick up other interesting stuff as well.
@Thumperchick That’s interesting, I’ve only noticed the Target salvage at Goodwill.
@Thumperchick
Where might that be?
I don’t really like to leave my house to go shopping. I’ll go for groceries and the occasional pair of jeans. But for the most part I get my useless crap here, at woot, and what used to be called yugster. Yugster fucked up my order one to many times though, so the shine is off that for me.
I think if I was in better health and could stand like I used to I might like auctions.
@therealjrn I never bought from Yugster. Got some junk from Thing Fling, which I don’t think exists anymore. And Tanga seems to be a marketplace now. Man, the market has changed.
@therealjrn Have you ever bought from GearBest? Tons of weird stuff at low prices. But you run the risk of it taking forever to get your order. Best fidget spinners around, if you’re into that kind of thing
@heartny Maybe not the fidget spinners, but I’m down with weird shit. I’ll go take a look!
@therealjrn I used to do a pretty fair number of hang-around-in-person auctions, which were sometimes enjoyable or a complete waste of time.
A lot of markets are transitioning to auctions with online ‘pre-bidding’ followed by a couple hours of live bids, or even straight online. Think estate sale via local, mini eBay. Always reducing the effort to part you from your $$
Of course, you still have to go pick it up & lug it home.
@heartny @therealjrn
Bad Juju with GearBEst … sample order took a month to receive inoperative electronics. Check BBB for enlightenment. No, GB is not a member, but evidently, hundreds still choose to vent their extreme dissatisfaction so they do it here.
There is a place in Spokane, WA that I used to go to when I lived about 90 miles south of there. I am wracking my brain trying to remember the name of the place. It was pretty decent. Big mess inside, but generally good stuff.
@Kidsandliz Is that the one with the smudged windows and the dusty floor? You know, where you park your car and go inside?
@therealjrn HA HA HA.
The outside looks like a cross between a bunch of shacks joined together, junk yard and makes you think it isn’t safe to drive inside the chain linked fence to park and go in.
@Kidsandliz The one with the white dog or the one with the brown dog?
@Kidsandliz White Elephant?
@walarney No the white elephants are inside. We have to pay for them. @therealjrn Considering the junk store business is a dog eat dog world, I’d say dogone it it would likely depend on which day you came.
@Kidsandliz The General Store.
@Kidsandliz just curious, did you go to wsu?
@moonhat taught at U of ID
If you live in the San Fernando Valley, there’s a place called Mr. Stuff (YouTube link) that stocks virtually everything you described plus more. I work around the block from them so I go there virtually every week. Good writeup from BoingBoing here.
@squishybrain That place looks like a wonderland. I should move to CA.
@mossygreen @squishybrain
https://www.misterstuff.com/shop/
The weird stuff I like is probably more girly than the weird stuff the average meher enjoys. Real estate prices are sky high where I live and a couple major local thrift stores have gone out of business recently. The plus side of the high real estate values is that estate sales can be interesting. The heirs are motivated to clear out the house quickly so they can put it on the market because that’s where the real money is. Recently those are where I buy oddball stuff.
@Pamela I hear ya. I’ve got a good friend who does the estate sales. He’s found quite a few treasures. He has so many treasures he has filled up his house and three storage units and one or two none-working cars…the car he drives has treasure so much that only the driver’s seat is clear…but he lives alone with no family so the pursuit of treasure is his hobby. He also likes books. Many, many, many books. I’ve tried to talk him into making furniture out of them.
@Pamela If he dies before I do, I will drag my carcass over to one of the World’s Largest estate sales.
@Pamela I live near the fabulously wealthy too, but rarely check out the estate sales. It seems like a lot of the time they’ve trucked in stuff from elsewhere to sell, which feels like cheating. Also, there are a lot of “estate sales” which should really be called “garage sales” or “house sales” to not get hopes up. But I do read about people who find incredible vintage perfumes and think why not me? And the answer is, because I didn’t go.
Decades ago there was a few salvage places south of LAX that had salvage from TRW, McDonnel Douglas and other military and space contrators. Gyroscopes, cockpit panels, switches and avionics. Might still be there.
@Everbody That sounds really fun!
@Everbody
That was where set decorators and at directors picked up much of the stuff that was later seen on the sets of Star Trek: TOS and later on Star Wars etc.
Huge source of inspiration for the visual artifacts in many SF films and TV shows.
That requires research and/or dumb luck.
@rtjhnstn What does?
@rtjhnstn @therealjrn Probably everything?
@mossygreen @rtjhnstn Doesn’t it though? ha ha
Recently, I have been shopping weekly at what we call “the pallet store”. They buy those pallets of returns and sell the goods cheap. Was in there yesterday and bought a Pioneer Woman table cloth for $5. It is very pretty and was a great deal.
We also go flea marketing a few times a year.
@tnhillbillygal We have a store a few towns over called “Bargains in a Box” which I think is the same idea. I haven’t been there in ages, I should go.
Pomona Swap Meet. I’ve been going 2 or 3 times a year since 2001. Of course the fare is a bit specialized for most mehfolk. But if you’re into the subject… none better in the country. 15 miles of vendor spaces. Yes, MILES. In all my most ambitious visits the most I’ve managed to accomplish is about half. Mostly ok since the back nine is kinda focused on VDub and riceburners.
ebay
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Portable-Robot-Speaker-Smart-Bluetooth-Wireless-Stereo-Smart-Speaker-US/253855566140
@communist Dammit if I don’t want to bid on that. I only have 8 or 9 Bluetooth speakers. But I don’t have that one.
@communist Meh needs to sell these. I would buy one. Just made a dumb ebay purchase so not into buying one from there at the moment but if meh were to sell it…
I don’t live in the SF Bay Area any more, but when I did there was a place on the Oakland / Berkeley border called “The East Bay Center for Creative Reuse”. It’s fabulous. Inside, it’s as cluttered as that name. They had all sorts of random things, mostly donated. Lots of it was way too trashy for thrift stores. Somehow they always had used foamcore there. Super sturdy 3/4 inch. I made tons of things for the apartment out of that. Like a little shelf unit for the kitchen window. If you’re in the area, check it out.
@BethanyAnne east bay center for creative reuse is amazing
@BethanyAnne Ooh, I’m going that way in a few weeks. I’m not sure if I’ll have the time to check it out but that sounds really interesting!
Things that are posted on the DEALS thread here.
Englishtown Flea Market has a bunch of barn buildings with regular tenants and the outside is set up for people who want to do their yard sales there. It’s open every weekend.
Far Hills Rummage Sale is only twice a year but it’s in a rich area so you know it’s not crap from Walmart being resold (at least not all of it.) All items are donated and VNA gets the money. All items are organized by volunteers into different tents: furniture, jewelry, kitchen, electronics, books, etc. Antique dealers descend on Friday morning from NY and CT and buy up all the rare stuff, but there’s plenty of decent stuff left for us regulars.
I recently found maxsold auctions. Online looking and bidding physical pickup. Kinda interesting stuff.
My answers seem kinda tame…
Ollies
Habitat ReStore
Goodwill
@earlyre I shop ReStore and Goodwill all the time. Also local thrift stores. You never know what you’ll find.
@earlyre I love Ollie’s!!!
@earlyre I was going to mention Ollie’s.
@earlyre I’m 1780 mi from the closest Ollies.
I do like Goodwill and Habitat Store.
Most of my cast iron collection is from Goodwill.
@daveinwarsh How do you clean and re-season them? My Woot skillet sat after we moved and didn’t fare to well. And that’s a mighty nice collection!
@reg036 here’s my way (for Lodge type pans anyway, I don’t have any real vintage stuff where someone might get mad about the wire brush):
Clean: either a wire brush and elbow grease to take off the rust (you can use the kind you put in a drill) or ez-off oven cleaner and a trash bag (nasty, wear rubber gloves and do it outside). Wash with soap and hot water for hopefully the last time. Dry it completely.
Season: I use flaxseed oil as it has a very high smoke point. My grandma swore by Crisco. Don’t use Olive oil, it is a very low temperature oil. As I understand it, the higher the temperature the better the oil will polymerize, which is what the seasoning coat is. Wipe on the thinnest coat possible with a paper towel, you really want to wipe most of it off. You definitely don’t want any drips. Put it in the oven preheated to 450°F for a while, maybe 30-45 minutes until it stops smoking. Be sure to use the exhaust fan. Or use a gas grill outside, that’s even better. Turn off the heat and let it cool until you can handle the pan.
Repeat the season coat at least 4 times. I like 6 if I have time.
For cleaning I use hot water and a chain mail scrubber, preferably whole the pan is still warm but not so hot that you today warping it by hitting it with the water. Some people say to scrub with salt and half an onion but I never thought that scrubbed well. I dry it and apply another thin layer of oil and either let it sit if I’ll use it again soon, or put it on the burner or in the oven and heat it up to create another polymer coat if I’m going to put it away.
If you leave too much oil you can wind up with sticky gunk.
If the seasoning gets messed up, a scrub with soap should strip it and then you can start over.
And if that’s TL;DR here’s a short video where they use heat and a vinegar soak to strip the pan, so that’s another alternative:
@djslack Thanks!
Radio Shack used to have warehouses of interesting stuff around FW. They had an outlet store up in N FW that had store products marked down. Fun, but not real treasure.
They had some enormous warehouses just north of downtown downtown full of stuff you could purchase for (so it seemed) almost nothing.
I bought one of those big 5’ in-store light-up tube testers there for $10.
Unfortunately it was later stolen from a storage unit. : (
These stores are gone now tho.
: (
For those of you who don’t know what @f00l is talking about:
/image in store vacuum tube testers
/image vacuum tubes on a TV chassis
@f00l @narfcake These pics are like porn to me! I work with tubes all the time, and they used to be a job for me. I’ve always been deeply in love with antique and vintage electronics of all types. Here, have a view inside one of my vacuum tube voltmeters (VTVM):
@PooltoyWolf Sexy…and warm…I’ll be in my bunk.
@therealjrn Oh dear. Dont get burned!
@PooltoyWolf Would not be the first time I’ve been burned in romance. lol
@f00l I used to love Radio Shack.
The tube testers used to be in the front of some grocery stores and drug stores. I remember taking tubes to the Rexall store to fix the TV.
Unfortunately, they were inaccurate, causing many good tubes to be replaced. They were fairly easy to use though, as you just followed instructions to plug the tube in the correct slot & flip a few levers or knobs.
Ahhh… The good ol days of fixing your own TV, putting tin foil on the antenna, whacking the side of the TV, adjusting the horizontal hold (it locked in place when put to slightly down) and getting up to adjust volume to to switch to one of the other 2 stations.
@f00l My father used to have a briefcase tube tester that had wires to connect to a large tv tube to test. wish I had it
My local store is a neato building with big rockets and a flying saucer on the roof called Skycraft Parts & Surplus. They have anti-tank missiles and practice bombs hanging from the ceiling, and all manner of electronic parts you can possibly imagine, new, NOS, and used, going back to the 50s. It’s like my toy store, haha. Their stock cycles and changes on a monthly basis, so every visit is new and fun. They’ve been a Winter Park, FL institution for many decades.
@PooltoyWolf New bucket list destination!
@mehcuda67 It truly is an awesome store!
Wish.com and Kickstarter.
@JT954 I love wish!! Love love love.
People bitch about being ripped off sometimes, like “I ordered this top of the line brand new laptop for $20 and it was a piece of shit!” Or “they only sent a cord!!!” Well duh, you deserve that one, LOL.
Just buy cheap shit for $5 and under!! I’ve gotten a ton of jewelry, phone accessories, posters, socks, makeup, blankets, watches, slippers, etc etc etc for ridiculous cheap prices.
Plus their app has a giveaway at 9 p.m, every single day of the week. I’ve won so much shit, and you don’t even have to pay for shipping. My wins include: a queen size sheet set, a twin size blanket, 2 pairs of winter boots, 3 pairs of sneakers, a canvas purse, 2 other purses, 4 shirts, 2 dresses, a tapestry, 2 wallets, a backpack, a plastic makeup organizer thing, a winter coat… I could go on. Those are the big ones. I’ve won so much makeup and jewelry it’s out of hand. I’m happy to share my technique, as I call it. hahaha
And I feel like they just send me confusing random items sometimes. Like a “travel cigar cutter” and “top formula hair growth serum” and a “Western cowgirl keychain.” Oooh man, whoever I get for the exchange is in for a real treat!!!
@LemonTheCat An app giveaway eh? I bought a few cheap things there but I haven’t tried them all (vortex shaker, nose plugs, usb hub) but the 2-in-1 flashlight fan works well.
The only thing I don’t like so far is the long wait for shipping - upwards of two months.
@JT954 @LemonTheCat oooh tell us what’s your secret to winning? I have heard about wish but haven’t checked it out. Gonna right now!
Harbor Freight =the Chinese camel nose under the tent.
@Zebra Harbor Freight, the place to buy tools you only plan to use once.
There used to be a really neat place called C-mart that was a bit less than an hour away. They used to have all kinds of stuff, mostly clothes, shoes, and decorative items. A combination of overstock, insurance stuff, and sometimes sample items. They’d have occasional special shipments of high-end lines, handbags, shoes and the like. Now I only have a couple of thrift/consignment shops left. Probably for the best.
Gee, thanks for reminding me, I just spent 80 smackers there… [Sci-Plus]
@PhysAssist Wooo! You got so much stuff! And it’s all great! [I’m assuming.]
@mossygreen I hope I done good, but I guess we’ll see soon…
@mossygreen Wow, I forgot all about that store! I loved that place, but they closed the one by me (south suburbs) many years ago. I would just wander the aisles and find so many cool things.
@pitamuffin It may be worth a field trip one day…
One of my favorite thrift stores is closing at the end of the month so everything is 75% off. I went yesterday and bought 3 pair of shoes (2 were practically new), 3 cookbooks, a bag full of curling ribbon, and about 20 battery operated tea lights for $5.13.
@stardate820926 Sweet.
Pretty mainstream, but in many areas I’ve lived I’ve loved going to HomeGoods because of how much random and/or cheesy crap there is. It’s like a Goodwill that doesn’t smell weird.
Back in my days of living in really socioeconomically fragmentented areas, I remember driving across town to the Salvation Army in the rich neighborhoods to get super nice stuff that had been discarded because it wasn’t new anymore. I also had a roommate whose mom was a maid for super rich people and she would send us the most random designer shit from their trash. I had fancy negligees with the tags still on and one of the dogs had a brass canopy bed.
@arielleslie Sometimes I look at stuff in Home Goods and wonder who would buy it. Then I wonder what possessed anyone to think it was a good idea to make it. Same thoughts in their sister store TJMaxx, but there I wonder if it arrived broken or people just like to trash stuff as they’re shopping.
@arielleslie Oh, I love HomeGoods and TJ Maxx. So strange and random.
@heartny Both. The answer is both.
@mossygreen. So–What’d ya get at the warehouse sale? Anything fun?
I used to go to Milwaukee often, and, whenever I had time, I’d go to Leon’s for frozen custard and then go the two or three miles to American Science and Surplus.
I didn’t buy a lot at AS&S, but I loved to look around. I’ve got some beakers, flasks, and graduated cylinders in my kitchen (the test tubes didn’t survive).
There’s a place here in Louisville called Bargain Supply, which is like an independent supersized version of Harbor Freight. They sell appliances and TVs and stuff, too, but mostly it’s a wonderland of cheap no-name tools.
It’s downtown, but it is outside the current business zone and a bit outside the current gentrifying zone. It takes up about 3/4 of a city block. It will be a long time before the forces of gentrification are a threat.