Price Point

I have a price point in mind when it comes to buying new (to me) things for my home. I know exactly how much I'll pay, and I won't pay a dime more than that. Last weekend, there was a big book sale in our area, which was conveniently next to an antique mall I haven't set foot in since last year.

At the time, they had a mid-century modern dealer with some good prices. He had an adorable set of salt and pepper shakes shaped like cats that I absolutely loved for less than $10. For some reason, I neglected to pick up the set and later discovered they were Holt Howard. Of course that dealer was long gone and in his place were a lot of expensive people. I paid $7 for a Westinghouse refrigerator dish and $3.50 for a set of spun aluminum salt and pepper shakes that almost match my canisters. Unfortunately, most dealers were way overpriced on their things.

The sad thing is that this is completely normal in my area. In the last few months, I only picked up six pieces of Pyrex total. Three came from a Goodwill, one came from another thrift store, and the other two came from antique malls. I paid $3.99 at Goodwill, $2.99 at the other thrift (for my first piece of Opal!), a ridiculously low $2.99 for a Snowflake casserole, and $9 for what is only my third ever piece of pink Pyrex.

We have a thrift store nearby that I loved when I first started thrifting. Most of the Pyrex that I picked up came from their store, but they apparently picked up on its popularity. I haven't seen a piece in there in a long time marked less than $10, with the exception of a poor dishwashered to death Butterprint bowl. Looking for a pink Gooseberry medium sized bowl? $20 please. How about the smallest bowl from the primary set? $15 thank you very much. Need a set of 80s bowls that no one really collects? Hand me $30-50.

There is one good-ish antique mall in our area, but the store is fairly hit or miss. I picked up a set of retro-fantastic plastic cups for $7 for the set of six. Another dealer wanted $42 for the same exact set. Other dealers had the matching bowls and plates for $25-60 per set, and multiple dealers want $15-30 for the matching pitcher, while the original dealer has the same pieces sitting out for $10 or less.

The first time I stopped by, I saw a booth filled with vintage kitchen items and almost had a heart attack on the spot. After seeing the prices, I'm surprised I didn't keel over right then and there. I'm sorry, but I just can't justify spending $20 on a single refrigerator dish, $120 on a set of primary mixing bowls, or $30 on a casserole dish that isn't rare nor popular. And don't get me started on the pink pieces! I literally saw the smallest Gooseberry casserole for $22. I picked up the same piece last year at a little known thrift for $2.99. Another dealer in there has a single pink refrigerator dish with a $40 price tag on it.

I tend to not pay more than $10 for anything for myself unless it's something I absolutely love and absolutely have to have on the spot. Since I'm not a reseller, have limited space in my home, and have cats that love knocking things over, I don't want to spend too much on something unless I know that I want it and need it. Case in point: I fell in love with a set of stacking footstools that I saw for around $60. I loved the shape, size, color, everything. Then I remembered that my cats love to scratch their claws on anything and everything, including the vintage leather desk chair my now ex-boyfriend found a few years ago. Damn cats just won't let me have anything nice.

The plan for this weekend is to stop by the area's largest flea market, which only takes place a few times every year. Judging by the photos I saw online, I highly doubt I will (a) come across anything mid-century and (b) anything I can afford. At this point, I just hope that prices start coming down or this will be the saddest summer for thrift store and flea market shopping.

Way Too Expensive

Luckily for me, my parents love thrift store finds as much as I do. They had a flea market booth in the area up until January of this year. Between the owner raising the rent prices, the lack of sales, and the vendors leaving in droves, they decided it was just about time. Their monthly income dropped by more half in the last few years, and their sales leading up to Christmas of last year were a quarter what they were the year before. They now have a booth at one of those week-long flea markets, where they just pick up a check every month, and the sales over there are still pretty good. Trust me, this all leads to something.

I decided to hit up the local thrift stores last week and over the weekend to look for some last minute gifts. I found this very same record at one thrift store, and while I don't like paying $4 for a simple record, I do love me some chipmunks. This is one of those thrift stores with an "antiques" section filled with very expensive items.

I once bought quite a few pieces of Pyrex from another branch of the same store. I never paid more than $10 for a piece, and that was only for one with the original lid and cradle. After realizing that people bought Pyrex, they started moving it all to the expensive antiques section. The last time I went in, they had a pink Gooseberry bowl for $20 and a small red fridgie for $10. No thanks. The prices are actually cheaper at the antiques mall a few miles away.

My roommate found a vintage fruit crate that he fell in love with...until he checked out the price. $40 for a single crate. Excuse me, $39.99 for a single crate. The funny thing is that the last time I was there, they had two similar crates out for the same price and a 1950s aluminum cooler with a $49.99 price tag on it. We laughed about it, but darn it if all three didn't sell while we were in the store.

I managed to find three things in the store, walked up to the register, and started to pay my $9. That's when my roommate noticed an old miter saw sitting on the register behind us. As soon as he pointed it out, the cashier instantly started talking about how they looked it up and the exact same one is listed on eBay for $600. If she hadn't already ran my card, I'm pretty sure I would have walked away right then and there.

I am so tired of thrift stores doing this, so I finally pointed out that the bad thing about eBay is that anyone can list something at any price they wanted. Just because someone has it on there for $600 doesn't mean it will sell for $600. This same store frequently places eBay auction listings on items in their glass cases and list prices accordingly. They once had a cool set of mid-century modern wood candle holders priced at $19.99 because someone had the same ones on eBay for that price. I went home, checked the listing, and discovered that they guy had relisted them multiple times and couldn't get a price. I bookmarked the page, and those candle holders were still turning up month after month.

This is also the same store that once had a vintage 1960s set of speakers out on display with an eBay listing. Someone, who clearly had no sense of prices, listed the speakers with a starting price of $25,000. You read that right, $25,000. The thrift asked customers to make an offer. I doubt anyone was surprised when they were still there six months later.

I keep going back because you never know when you might find some hidden gems. I once found a very cool hutch at a thrift store for $25, but this thrift had the exact same one earlier this year for $250. My roommate found a cool MCM hutch at Goodwill for $70 that this thrift had earlier this year for $270.

This particular thrift store chain has three locations in our city. Two have an antiques section inside the stores, while the other one has its own antiques shop next to the main thrift store. I keep seeing the prices rise for no good reason. After my most recent trip, I think I'll just cross these stores off my list. If I wanted to pay $200+ for a piece of furniture or $20 for a single Pyrex bowl, I would just spend more time at the antiques malls in the area.