This Should Have Been Called Thrift Wars
Yesterday morning I spent 3 hours at the thrift store.
3 hours.
It was as if I had walked into an episode of Thrift Wars. I was so intrigued, I ended up spending my entire morning there.
It all started with this buffet:
I couldn’t believe I had seen such an amazing, clean piece for……(get this!)…..$35!
You could have put this in your dining room and ate off of it the very same night!
I stood there scoping it out, snapping pics to show you guys, when a nice 70-year-old gentleman asked me if I liked it, pointing out that it was already sold to “Pete.”
Who in the world is Pete??
Pete walks over at that time, with this beauty of a print in his hands, and introduces himself as a flea market vendor.
I’m always interested in furniture flippers and how and where they sell their goods.
But what should have been a quick “Hey, congrats, Pete, you found a nice piece there….” turned into a 3-hour ordeal.
The Best Flea Markets
He was actually waiting for his art dealer friend to show up to give him the print a “once-over” to see if it was valuable.
While we waited, we talked about where all the best Flea Markets are (he told me about The Big Flea Market which is held bi-monthly across the U.S., I believe. Next one is in NYC).
He also told me about the Brimfield Antique Show which is miles and miles long of amazing stuff and people drive hours just to attend.
I had never heard of these flea markets.
Tell me more, Pete…
The Business of Furniture Flipping
When his friend showed up, I stood there watching in awe as his friend pulled out this jewelers magnifying glass and started inspecting it!
(Excuse my horrific stubby nails. HA!)
I mean, I know that people scope out good art from the thrift store, but to pull out the glass….. That was a whole ‘nutha level.
Apparently, depending on the technique used, you can tell “good art” with this little thing.
This guy said he never travels without it after learning his lesson and losing good art because he couldn’t tell it was valuable.
Then they busted out his cell phone, scanned a barcode on the back, trying to check eBay to see what the going rate was on the picture.
Meh–$50 for the print….
The thrift store was asking $50 for the whole piece. Still a deal, but not enough of a profit to sell at the flea market.
I felt like I was standing in the middle of some HGTV show or something and that cameras would come out of the woodwork any moment!
What’s even funnier is that we all three stood around sharing stories of “hoarding” and how our spouses just don’t understand.
We were united by junk.
Pete then grabs this thing around his neck and says, “Well, I don’t leave the house without this thing right here.”
A measuring tape necklace?!! LOL
I carry one in my purse, but clever to have it so accessible. LOL
You gotta be ready, right??
After a couple hours, I had to try to get out of there, but Pete wasn’t done with his lessons yet, and the Thrift Wars were about to get even more interesting.
See this table here?
Apparently, this is a Danish mod table. This is his “taste” so he gravitates towards it.
Knows it like the back of his hand.
And you won’t believe the price.
$35!!!!!
According to Pete, this table could easily be flipped and sold for least $600.
What?!
He wanted to prove to me it was authentic, so he tipped it over.
Sure enough. There was the proof:
Made in Denmark
It doesn’t get any more “quality” than that!
A local artist friend to Pete was interested in the table and asked him to “watch it” for him so he could empty out his truck and come back to buy it.
Well, before you know it, someone else had his hands all over it, claiming he had bought the table just an hour before!
He hovered over it like a protective animal over his meal, pulling out his receipts to prove that he was the owner, not Pete’s friend.
As they all stood around checking receipts, I could have pulled up a chair with a big tub of popcorn and watched this drama play out. It was so interesting to see the salavating and near-flared tempers! (Read my article What To Do When Attached By Vultures at the Thrift Store).
For these furniture flippers that scour the thrift stores every morning, ready to pick off the cream of the cop, ain’t nobody messin’ with their scores!
And what was even funnier is that Pete said that that man in the light orange shirt was their well-known furniture flipping dueling competition!
Then it hit me: while everyone else goes to work and thrift dives for fun evenings and weekends, the furniture flippers (mostly retired men) have scoured the cream of the crop early in the mornings with a vengeance, digging through piles of scraps looking for diamonds!
And suddenly I was on their turf, in the middle of their “everyday,” seeing the other side of thrift diving: the hungry side, the furniture flipping side.
And it almost felt like I was silently being voted into their club.
Finally, I had found my “people”!
And this was better than any cinema entertainment. LOL
What I Found That Morning
I did happen to find what I was looking for while there: a coffee table.
Blah….plain…simply functional for my 30-Day Makeover Challenge in my family room.
But after Pete glanced it over and said, “Nah, this is crap. You should look for the solid wood” I ditched it.
It was horrid.
I’ll find something else, I guess. Or build something with my own hands.
But this…….
I had walked by it.
Until Pete pointed out all the well-constructed joints, the great stitching the 60’s fun and funky fabric.
You know what?
He was right. This was a cute mod chair.
And it must have been a hot item, because wouldn’t you know some other furniture flippers were stalking it before I shooed them away.
So for $10, I scooped that mod chair up real quick!
The Amazing Steals
And the other interesting finds for the day were these chairs:
First, this man was walking by with this ornate wood carved chair, and I just had to stop and ask him if I could snap a pic of it to show you guys!
One of the sales people glanced over and said, “Hmmm hmmm…you better be glad I didn’t price that, because I surely wouldn’t have marked it at $9.99….”
LOL
He walked away like a cat who got the mouse!! LOL It was hilarious!
Everyone was feeling the craze that morning!
And I can’t get over these chairs…. Pete found them before me. Otherwise, they would have been coming home with me.
For $6.99 each, I wanted to find the person who priced them so I could examine them in the head because they must be insane!!
They’re gorgeous for an office!!!
Last but not least, here’s a little something else I saw that was really cute, too! I want to say it was $40?? Can’t see close enough on the tag.
And for $20, this would have made an amazing chair makeover, too!
But you just can’t bring it all home, can you.
After 3 hours, I finally ripped myself away from the thrift store and all these interesting guys.
I knew I’d be seeing them again on my next early-morning venture to the thrift store.
Next time, we can be on the hunt together.
Feels good to be a part of the tribe.
So do you have any interesting stories from the thrift store to share? Leave a comment below and let’s hear it!
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WOW! How I wish I could talk to you ,phone or in person. The stories I could tell. The local G.W. has a “crew” of people who do nothing but attack the employees as they bring out everything ALL DAY! They have been known to fight , shout across the store and push, shove and run you over. They fill huge carts to over flowing, cover them with a random sheet or blanket and on to the next cart full. It’s clothing and house wares, transporting these things into inner city N.Y. and across the borders. My home is only filled with anything and everything secondhand. Last week’s find at G.W.(Good Will) I waited till the “herd” pawed through a bin of shoes, spent 5 min and looked at what I had in my hands, pitched back,pulled out again, and found them to be my size, gray,hardly worn pair of UGGS! I payed $2.50!!! Alot of these people are also selling on EBay. Keep on hunting!
You will soon, Barb!! Me and another blogger friend of mine are going to start doing some Blab hangouts. It’s this new website/app where you can get 4 people on a video conference and just start chatting, while other people watch and type to join in. You should totally check it out! Are you computer savvy? You don’t have to be. Just go to http://www.blab.im and create an account (use your Twitter account if you can). Then we can just chat about all our thrift stuff!!
OMG!!! $2.50 Uggs?!?!?! Unreal!!! That’s amazing! I love it!
Hi 🙂 One of my thrift store adventures is that I spotted a dining room table shoved in the middle of A LOT of other heavy pieces. It looked like someone had the idea to paint it but a little ways into it decided not to, but didn’t”t clean off the paint and the drips. I couldn’t see the price from where I was standing. A salesperson was kind enough to climb over a bunch of furniture to tell me the price was $10.00!! BUT,, ,drumroll please… that day everything with a green tag was 50% off!! I know, right? So for $5.00 I hauled it home and started very carefully scraping it down with a razor blade to remove the paint and drips. The legs hadn’t been part of the experiment, so they were okay. I discovered a hidden leaf on brass hinges folded up inside underneath the tabletop. When the table pulled apart in the middle the leaf unfolds! Genius 🙂 I also discovered the reason the table was so heavy was because it’s solid oak! Then a very light sanding and a couple coats of clear poly and TADA! So…now I have a nice dining room table that seats eight, is vintage, and fits nicely in my space 🙂
OMG, Rhelda! You HAVE to send me a picture of that!! A $5.00 dining table…..seriously!! Email me: thriftdiving@gmail.com. What a great story!! I could imagine your excitement!!!
Who knew going to a thrift store would be so fun & entertaining! LOL
I know, right! And I should have taken a picture of myself, because I looked like a broke down hot mess! I have a plaid shirt on, baggy “painting” jeans, and no bra. HA! Oh, and my hair was frizzy. SIGH….. I should really make an effort. You never know when you’ll be seen! LOL
Wow! Lots of fantastic furniture in that store! I would have ended up spending the rent money, I’m afraid!
I’m surprised you had never heard of those flea markets. You must not watch “Flea Market Flip” with Lara Spencer! Great show! Lots of great (and some not so great) flip ideas there.
When my older sister got married in 1963, she and her husband bought a Danish modern living room set. They had that stuff for decades, sending it to their basement when they “prettied up” their living room after I don’t know how long. They ended up giving it to their daughter when she got married, but alas, it’s long gone by now. That just goes to show you how sturdy it all was.
I think my best furniture thrift store find is the rocker I snagged at Salvation Army for $25. The seat was missing and the upholstery was orange (!!), but the wood was dark and beautiful. I did a quickie cover-up job with some nice striped khaki and beige fabric I had. I think it looks great … from the front! Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough fabric for the backside, but I just keep it up against the wall and no one is the wiser! Maybe someday, I’ll do the job right!
Hey, Linda! I’m LOL at your half-covered rocker! I do that stuff, too. No one will ever know!! Shhhhh… Send me a pic of it. I’d love to see it!
Yeah, surprising that I don’t know about these flea markets. I don’t have cable so I don’t watch Flea Market Flip, although I watched a marathon of a few shows once when I was at a hotel. HA! 🙂 I pretty much stick to my thrift store because the prices are most affordable. I better school myself on these markets!
OK, Serena. Please! You HAVE to tell me where your thrift stores are so when I visit my son in S.S. I can take a look too. Richmond is expensive beyond belief. The “thrift stores” here are so full of themselves, the prices are ridiculous! I mean it – I really would like to know where your stores are (send me a private email)! I think you did mention a couple of places one time, but I’d like to hear it from you directly! Oh! And I already have plans to go to Brimfield in May! http://brimfieldshow.com/ I’m lucky enough to have another son who lives nearby – my “reservations” have been made at his house! Guess I’d better take the train up and rent a Uhaul to come back! But I sure would like to shop in MD too!!!
Just emailed you!!
There is a Value Village up the street from my house that I haven’t been in forever. Now I want to go and scour for finds in the morning!
Those office chairs are amazing. The ones that got away. I would be dreaming about those chairs.
I know, Mimi, they were really great. Pete even turned them over and showed me how they were labeled on the bottom…something about “Certified.” He said he could get about $100 each for them. LOL
Oh, and I found one similar to those at a yard sale for $10, but mine has wheels. It needs a replacement wheel, but hubby uses it for his desk! SOLID, and for just $10!!! Don’t you love a deal?!
Thanks, Mimi! 🙂
Now you’ve met my people – welcome to the family! I met guys like this when I trailed around with my dad as a kid, never knowing all the information I was getting would one day come in handy. We only ever get solid wood – and most people leave it behind because it’s so darn heavy……..it it will last 4 lifetimes (I know this because I have my great-grandmother’s secretary) The pieces those guys chose for you are great – stick with them – they will teach you things you would never believe you needed to know!
Speak on, sister! I’m already looking forward to going back and bumping into them! LOL And you are so right about wood. You can’t buy real wood for cheap at regular stores!
Oh, and there is a little Asian man in there that I want to get to know who must know something about art because I’ve seen him twice in the last week. And he walks by and looks at what you’ve got and he’s like, “This one no good. It’s print. Too much money!” Love that!!
Probably obvious to you, but the first thing I thought of when I saw that mod chair was how great it went with your logo colors! Would be a nice addition to your office. Enjoy and thanks for the great post! ~Kat
Katherine, I know, right!!! I forgot to mention that, but that’s exactly what I was thinking as this guy was pointing out all the awesome things about this chair. I was like, “Hmmm….you KNOW…that fabric DOES look great and matches my logo!” Plus, I like pops of color (since I’m too chicken to paint walls with any bright colors. LOL Thanks, Katherine!
Its funny when you say you’re too chicken to paint your walls a bright color!
I sold houses for years, so I always kept my rooms a neutral color at my own house. I tended toward light blues and cream and tan colors. When my sons moved out, one challenged me to paint his old room a vivid orange – hah! I met the challenge and his old room is tangerine! The other son’s room became lime! I Facetimed that one and he HOOTED with laughter over all the green accessories Id bought at tag sales and thrift stores and the white furniture Id outfitted the room with! The tangerine room became a guest room/office with mahogany furniture, which looked good against the orange walls!
I so look forward to your posts. They put a smile on my face. My husband doesn’t get it either.
Awww…that makes me happy, Susan! It really does. Sometimes when I’m writing something I’m like, “Well….I don’t know if people will really care about this, but….it was important to me and *I* thought it was cool, so maybe they will, too!” 🙂 Thanks for validating that stories have a place here on Thrift Diving and not just projects :).
Why don’t I ever find treasures like those where I live??
You know, that’s something else we were talking about while I was there at the thrift store: why there is so much good stuff in this Washington DC area. And they were saying it’s because it’s so transient here, and wealthy, in general. And that makes sense. This is a huge metropolitan area (I’m in the suburbs). But there’s so much stuff because the more rich folks come into this area! Where do you live?
Central NY, in the beautiful Finger Lakes area.