Flea markets, thrift stores and garage sales

[fan-of-fans]

Has anyone been going to these lately. I haven't had much luck with the thrift stores lately, especially Habitat, so I hadn't been going as much.

But we're back in the season here for the flea markets. I went to the two local ones last weekend and they were huge, no vacuums though.

There's also been more garage and estate sales lately, so I'll likely be trying to go to some of them.

 

[human]

I don't think I've ever been to an estate sale and I have a negative feeling about flea markets since my dad used to drag us to the one at the state fairgrounds in Raleigh every Sunday after church so he could worship at the altar of junk. I despised walking around there in my Sunday clothes and especially in those uncomfortable Sunday shoes. But enough about my childhood trauma.

Thrift stores around here are quite hit-and-miss. I went a couple of years without seeing a single worthwhile vacuum cleaner and then earlier this fall, I found two at the same Goodwill store a few weeks apart, an early '80s vintage Sanitaire SC 686 and a Kirby Heritage 2 Legend for $10 and $15, respectively. Both in were exceptional condition for their age. The Sanitaire was missing a cord hook, the Kirby was missing its cord and of course both needed new belts. I've chronicled both of these finds in excruciating detail in other threads, so I won't rehash it further here. A few days before I bought the Sanitaire, I spotted a nice looking black and white Oreck, which I think was some sort of anniversary edition, for $10 at the Habitat ReStore but I walked away from it because it just wasn't something that appealed to me.

Of course, sometimes I see something good and I'm just not in the right mood to buy it, like the time I walked into Goodwill and saw a nice, shiny Kirby G5 and an equally shiny metal Royal upright with a matching burgundy bag right next to it for $19 each. They had to have come from the same person. I couldn't decide between them, even at that price, so I walked away from both of them and they were both gone the next day when I went back for the G5. But it's not like my floors are going un-vacuumed for lack of hardware. They're going un-vacuumed because I'm a slack-ass and would rather work on the machines than actually clean house.

 

[justjunque]

I hadn't been to any for a long time.
I hit two thrift stores last weekend.
The only vintage vacuum I saw, I ended up buying. It has its own thread in vintage.
It's a 1950s Westinghouse Porta-Vac. No power cord, no hose, no attachments. Just the small metal canister. But it looked so cool, I love the color combination, and it's in great condition.
So, for $5, I had to buy it.
It's not a vacuum, but I also bought a Regal Poly Insta-Hot at the same store. I think that was $5 too.
I meant to get to a couple more stores this week, but my lazy-itis flared up.
We've lost most of our flea markets in the area.
There is one, maybe a half hour away, but I've yet to go check it out.
Again, I've been meaning to for a few years now.

Barry

 

[hoover300]

I have not been to my regulars in a while. The only thrift stores I have been to in the last couple months were an antique shop in Lexington, at which I found an antique folding cart, and a direct air Featherlite at ReStore. As there are no good thrift shops close to me, I try to go to Bee Garbage (recycling center) whenever I can. Most of my recent finds have either been from eBay or a very good vac shop over an hour away(some of which I have yet to post about).
~K

 

[gregvacs28]

been to several in the last month+.

I saw a 2000s kenmore canister vac and at another place

a 1980 Electrolux Olympia Special with a newer plastic hose for $10. I've been back to that store a couple of times and it's still there.

 

[electrolux137]

a 1980 Electrolux Olympia Special

~
~


Does the Olympia Special have the brown plastic cord halo? If so, would you be willing to get the machine and send me just the halo and the cord? I've been looking for one for years! I'll pay your full purchase price + shipping. Thanks!

 

[gregvacs28]

I didn't look. It was standing on end so I couldn't see the end.

Next time I go, I'll look.

 

[suckolux]

Have been to a couple places here pretty often, there is a pet resale store, which runs a dog rescue with the profits, I peruse their books pretty often,$1 or less, sometimes look at appliances, not normally much more than clothes there. We have a newer addition here, a resale store, they buy the returns, ect from Costco and probably other places, sometimes good prices, sometimes just retail. Got a few great deals there.

 

[gregvacs28]

It used to be that I wanted for so much new stuff.
Now it's all used stuff I want and there's so much and it's so inexpensive, there really isn't anything I need.
It's a cool feeling knowing you have a store credit card with no balance and you'd be hard pressed to spend anything there.

 

[huskyvacs]

I've still been having trouble finding vacuums at thrift stores. If I had a car, I'd do neighborhood watch and hunt for vacuums on trash night. I found a couple back in spring but none since. My last good Goodwill find was a Hoover Concept One back in October. I also found a Canadian-only Kenmore upright on eBay for 99 cents in a random 4AM auction. I had to pay about $30 in shipping due to customs but still was a good deal I think.

 

[gregvacs28]

Charles- electrolux137

Checked that thrift store today, but the Olympia was gone.
Just several cordless stick vacs where it was.

They also had a blue Panasonic Jet-flow similar to this pic.
(I didn't have my camera, I guess I should be carrying that when shopping these places)

And a bissel green canister carpet cleaner and a shop vac.

 

[electrolux137]

<span style="font-family: Arial; color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a name="bott"></a>~</span></span>


<span style="font-family: Arial; color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a name="startPOSTER_39246.10"></a>~</span></span>


<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: small;">gregvacs28 <span style="color: #000000;">Thanks for checking for me. I really appreciate it!

<a name="endPOSTER_39246.10"></a></span><a name="endPOSTER_39246.10"></a>
</span></span>

 

[lesinutah]

Hmm

My thrift store is ran by the Mormon church. It's in the city of there prestigious BYU. They seem to always have a selection. Two weeks in a row the Kirby g4 $15 and riccar brilliance newer 11 amp model $10. It's hit or miss though. It has lots of dry spells. When class is in if you time it right you can get vacs before the students do.
The attachments for vacuums are never with the vacuum. I got electrolux floor polisher, d80 rug rennovator, tradition shampoo nozzle among others. I have gotten sentria 2 sentria and ultimate g shampoo system for $4-$10 each.
There is a vacuum shop that brings in it's. Trade ins I believe.
The all original 509 all original except bag and sentria with all accessories.
I visit the store alot. It's a place I find vacuums to sale.
Les

 

[gottahaveahoove]

Although I RARELY go to them, (usually busy)

I enjoy flea markets, antique stores, and ESTATE sales. It's amazing what you can find.
I always go to them when I make my annual trip to N Canton. Tom A. and I were at one once......furs, etc coming out of this fab home. I told him, "Well, I'm sure they had DELUXE tools". He almost hit the tree!
We were also at a sale, wearing HOOVER T-shirts. A man said to me, "Um, there are also some Dirt Devils over there".. Tom decided to move to the other side as I turned, pointed to my shirt, and said, "Really? Are you kidding me"? he replied, "Oops".
But, they are fun.

 

[gregvacs28]

My current fav thrift had a model G kirby last week for $10. A kenmore progressive canister and beat up hose only.


Went back yesterday, kirby  was gone.  Kenmore is still there.  I think they only want $6 for it.


 


They also had a hoover from the 80s with two switches on the handle.  


OK, i officially need to take my camera when I go....

 

[fan-of-fans]

Our newspaper used to put the garage and estate sale listings online. A month or two ago they did away with it. So I'd have to get the newspaper in order to read them.

That has slowed me going to sales quite a bit, since I can't make up a route before I go. I have been going to a few sales the last few weekends that I was aware of though.

I can still get Estate sale listings on estatesales.net so that's mostly what I use now. Some of the best sales I've been to though, were not listed there.

Sometimes if I happen to see signs for sales on along the way to others, I'll stop by, or at least drive by and see if there's anything good.

 

[jo]

Here in Dallas I sometimes get to a goodwill or the habitat store, we also have a few other thrift stores. Picking up a vacuum at these stores can be very hit or miss and usually more of a miss. Most are worn out, filthy, and are big box store plastic junk that still sort of work. Most of the time Goodwill sells them for $21.99 and the stick vacs might be $14.99. A bit pricey if you ask me for someone’s used up vacuum that would need a complete clean out, maybe a belt or a bag or filter, not to mention some time to clean the whole thing out. In all my years of going to thrift stores I’ve only found two decent vacuums there...an Aerus Lux Classic last May for $25.99 in pretty good lightly used shape but no small attachments or plastic wands or floor brush...only the canister, hose and power nozzle with its wand. Fortunately it had the vital parts and I had extras of everything else to make it a complete set.

In August I donated a very expensive range hood to habitat for humanity. On the counter at the register they had two packages of Aerus Home solutions “C” canister bags...I bought them for $5, a total of 47 bags. Went out to the car to go home and said to myself...”I should go back in and look around the store, there might be an Electrolux in there”...but doubted it. Sure enough in the back of the store near the appliances was a very nice light blue Aerus Lux Legacy with ALL original attachments and even an additional flip over rug and floor tool in addition to the regularly included floor brush. Everything was there. Even the sidekick II. I asked a store employee if I could try it and there was an extension cord nearby he said I could use. Everything worked great and I pondered if I really needed this vacuum seeing that I have several other Electrolux’s. There was a price sticker of $39.99 on it. I hemmed and hawed for a while on it thinking this is just nuts to buy it...and not being crazy about the plastic wand system I really was on the fence. I examined everything more closely for wear and everything seemed in really great shape and the power nozzle was barely used, only the one sided floor brush had normal wear on it, everything else was practically new and very, very clean. There was even a genuine Electrolux germ grabber bag installed in the machine. A woman came by while I was looking at it and asked what kind it was. I decided to take it and hauled it up to the counter and the guy rang it up with tax for a whole $22! I expected it to be $39.99 plus tax but then I realized appliances must be half off that day! I think the forces of the universe worked for me that day. I donated a new unused still in the sealed box Viking island hood and as a result gained a virtually new Aerus Lux Legacy.

My Brother needed a new vacuum so I decided to offer him the earlier Goodwill find Aerus Lux Classic. he likes the Electrolux Aerus products as well as that’s what we grew up with and he has had his adult life as well and one of his Electrolux’s..an Olympia special model was really on the fritz...a trash find, no cord end, a motor with worn bearings, and it was just beat to hell with a badly leaking non electric hose and no attachments, he had to use the attachments from his other Electrolux that resides on another level of his house when he would clean the upstairs so he was due for a replacement for his upstairs vacuum.

I think more and more vacuums are going to be appearing at thrift stores as people convert to the new stick vacuums like the shark rocket or the Dyson stick vacuum. I have a Shark rocket and honestly it’s the first Non Electrolux/Aerus machine I actually like just about as much and possibly more for some reasons than the Electrolux/Aerus. I think it’s that it’s powerful while having good attachments and also is a lot like using a canister but without the canister to drag behind. I’m not much of an upright fan because I have back issues so the weight of pushing an upright around is annoying and I also like to get into tight spaces with the vacuum and in our current house we mostly have hardwoods with a few small area rugs and a big upright is sort of useless for me.

 

[fan-of-fans]

Nice find. I used to see newer Electrolux and Kirbys at the Goodwill here with pretty good prices but that was a few years ago. Lately everything is the bagless uprights or stick vacs. Most look to be in good condition but nothing I'm too interested in. Awhile ago there was a white Kenmore Progressive canister for $12.99 but it was missing the Pet Powermate cover and the attachments on the hose handle, and I already have two Kenmore canisters.

Another thrift store here gets in Kirbys pretty often but they're also expensive on things generally, especially small appliances. If a Kirby comes in they usually want $50 whether it's an older Classic, Heritage or a newer G3-G6 series. Last weekend I went and there were two Eureka Boss Lites that they wanted $20 each for, way too much!

 

[dartman]

I don't go to thrift stores hardly ever and I try to avoid garage sales unless it's obvious they have stuff I like or can use. I'm trying to avoid my hording tendency but I keep saved searches for things I want on Craigslist and eBay. The Royals I have bought all came from Craigslist. I found a 4650 canister for 25 bucks with a bad wire in the powered hose, much later a Starks/Royal 5700 for free with extra bags and belts, and somewhat recently a monster 12 amp upright for 25 bucks pretty beat up but working. I bought a good hose setup for the 4650 on eBay for more than I paid for the vacuum and used it a while till the hose split but it still works taped up. The 5700 was pretty much good to go as is and I just cleaned up the powerhead and impeller, the other one I needed to rework it a bit and it needs some seals, the back wheel axle is bent but it now works very loudly. I certainly have enough vacuums to keep me busy between all the oldies and the modern robot and cordless stick vac I have now. Unfortunately I like everything including cars...

 

[gregvacs28]

These are stores i miss going to.

How will shopping at thrifts and Habitat look...... when ever in the future?

Really, I wish the thrifts would make an online website where all locations could log into and post their stuff and they would take pics of everything. This way it could sell world-wide and we wouldn't be inconvenienced with selective store hours or travel distances.

Not only that but some stores that become over stocked will throw good stuff out because they don't have the space. If they sold on line (and shipped) it wouldnt matter.

 

[hoover300]

Online

I know some Goodwills do this, but won't ship most uprights. In fact I snagged a Premier Spic Span from the Shopgoodwill site a couple days ago. I am a little surprised they are still selling stuff even online due to the virus.

 

[fan-of-fans]

I miss thrift stores, flea markets and garage sales too. I'd go to them at least two or three times a month.

I didn't know it but our Goodwill is still open, but with shorter hours. We're supposed to stay home, so I've been doing just that. Not likely I'd go to Goodwill right now anyway with second hand items around that could have the virus on them.

Earlier this month Habitat said their plan was to reopen in May. I was surprised, but we'll see.

If they open, I'll probably wait a bit but start going back again, carefully. I need something to do, some sort of normalcy. I don't think it would be reckless to go out sometimes, safely, to certain places if they reopen.

I don't want the virus, but I don't want to lose my mind over it either...

 

[gregvacs28]

Why would you be surprised they're selling online?

Premier Spic and Span vacuum? It would be interesting to see that. Please share.

 

[hoover300]

I am surprised as most non essential businesses in PA have been shut down. I am not sure if this is one of those no contact donation stores though, but it just seemed weird at the time that they would still be making sales.
As for the vac, it has not arrived yet but when it does I will make a thread. It is identical to the one below(not my video).

 

[gregvacs28]

Wow, you found that, or something similar, at Goodwill.  Good for you.  It will be interesting to see it.  I hope it works well.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

These places are slowly

re-opening.
This summer, I'll be making my yearly trip to N. Canton.
I'll stay with Tom A. and his wife, Heather A.
We'll visit Joellen and Dick P.
No trip would be complete w/o a visit to see Jane T.I'll also stop in a great vac shop owned by Ed S., a great place to stock up on real North Canton Hoover supplies.

 

[gottahaveahoove]

We go to wonderful places

estate sales, thrift shops, etc. in N Canton.

 

[human]

Can't save 'em all...

So I finally broke down and visited a couple of thrift stores. The few vacuums on display were mostly plasticrap and pretty much beat down, although I did see a Kirby Sentria that at first looked to be in reasonably good shape for $25. The price was reasonable enough to entice me to take a second look but in the end, I decided to leave it behind.

First, the bag was jammed completely full, so full that it probably weighed seven or eight pounds and I was frankly afraid to unzip it for fear of what I would find inside. As I pulled the machine back and forth to listen for the telltale clicking noise of a failing TechDrive, I noticed the nozzle was dragging on the floor, so I raised it and discovered a wobble caused by a missing front wheel and stub axle on the height adjuster side. The brush roll was also in bad shape and the belt was off and probably broken but I didn't look closely enough to see for sure. And just to cap things off (pun intended), it was missing a hubcap from one of the rear wheels. At that point, I just pushed it back up against the wall and walked away.

Yeah, it was likely an easy fix and it would even have been a good buy as a parts donor, had I needed one, but I just didn't. Besides, I've already got a pristine Sentria, along with six other Kirbys. But being the good obsessive compulsive that I am, I did look up online to see how much the parts would cost to fix it and assuming nothing else is wrong with the machine, I would have ended up spending another $15-$20 on it so I'm just going to have to let that one be somebody else's project—that is, if I can get my mind to let go of it.

 

[justjunque]

Walking away

I had a "walking away" experience in a thrift store last week.
I don't collect Fire King, but I have a few pieces that are like ones from my childhood.
On a trip last week, I saw a set of four bowls; peach lustre or copper tint. I don't know my Fire King well enough to tell the difference.
We had the same ones back home, and Mom has no idea what happened to hers. These looked like they had never been used, and they only wanted $3.99 for the set of four.
Trying to be responsible, and not drag home stuff that I don't truly need, I walked away...and promptly began regretting it. Today, I gave in and went back to see if they were still there. No such luck.

Barry