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I also miss those magical times. Part of the magic was haggling over prices since nobody actually knew if the electronics would work, or simply because you car

by II2II 5y ago

I also miss those magical times. Part of the magic was haggling over prices since nobody actually knew if the electronics would work, or simply because you carted off several boxes of stuff they couldn't sell. I managed to explore a number of 8 and 16-bit platforms from the 1980's and early 1990's because of that. Thrift stores were also a lot more tolerant of junk back then. If they could sell something, it didn't much matter if it was broken as long as the customer knew it was broken. They knew a lot of people were looking for cheap stuff they could fix, either for personal pleasure or to make a few dollars.

dragonwriter 5y ago
> Thrift stores were also a lot more tolerant of junk back then. If they could sell something, it didn't much matter if it was broken as long as the customer knew it was broken. I suspect that thet haven’t gotten any less tolerant, just what people are willing to buy from them at a cost that covers justifies the inventory space given competition for the space has changed.
- j4yav 5y ago
  Isn’t it the lack of space/economics that is making them less tolerant of keeping junk around? Or do you mean something else?
  - II2II 5y ago
    There was some concern about liability. One of the shops I frequented in the late 1990's would only let customers who they trusted browse through their sorted junk piles. These piles contained things like bicycles, which had to be thoroughly inspected and properly repaired in order to be safe. I also noticed a transition towards boutique style stores around that time. While the older stores may sell a box of books or bag of clothes for a few dollars, the newer stores would only sell items at their sticker price (or with a fixed discount during sales). Less product moved since people would only buy something when they felt it was worth the sticker price, rather than paying what they felt something was worth. The transition made space/economics more of a factor than it used to be. Some of the old style stores still exist, but they are increasingly difficult to find.
coryrc 5y ago
Things are a lot harder to fix nowadays.

by II2II 5y ago

dragonwriter 5y ago

> Thrift stores were also a lot more tolerant of junk back then. If they could sell something, it didn't much matter if it was broken as long as the customer knew it was broken. I suspect that thet haven’t gotten any less tolerant, just what people are willing to buy from them at a cost that covers justifies the inventory space given competition for the space has changed.

j4yav 5y ago
Isn’t it the lack of space/economics that is making them less tolerant of keeping junk around? Or do you mean something else?
- II2II 5y ago
  There was some concern about liability. One of the shops I frequented in the late 1990's would only let customers who they trusted browse through their sorted junk piles. These piles contained things like bicycles, which had to be thoroughly inspected and properly repaired in order to be safe. I also noticed a transition towards boutique style stores around that time. While the older stores may sell a box of books or bag of clothes for a few dollars, the newer stores would only sell items at their sticker price (or with a fixed discount during sales). Less product moved since people would only buy something when they felt it was worth the sticker price, rather than paying what they felt something was worth. The transition made space/economics more of a factor than it used to be. Some of the old style stores still exist, but they are increasingly difficult to find.

coryrc 5y ago

Things are a lot harder to fix nowadays.