Thrift stores?

[enwar3]

I'm always seeing stories about how people make wonderful finds at thrift stores, and I'm wondering which thrift stores they go to. Salvation Army? Goodwill?

It's not that the racquets are cheap. It's that there are so many racquets that you can't find anywhere else (read: racquets from previous decades) except at thrift stores. Where else do you guys look? Garage sales? Craigslist?

I'm trying to become a smarter shopper by finding new places to look for older racquets.

Basically the question is: where do YOU go to find older, cheaper (?) racquets?

 

[SFrazeur]

Garage sales are good to try. Some churches will often have sales events. You can try the older neighbors, ask them if they have any racquets their children may have left behind that you could buy. There are also charitable higher end resales shops such as Hospice.

-SF

 

[bossass]

Scoring at a thrift store is as much luck as strategy. Any thrift store, there's no telling who's gonna donate what to which thrift store. Basically you just make the rounds around town, or quick stop in when you happen to drive by one. I don't go out of my way to try to find old rackets. If I'm there, I look. Bigger volume thrift stores that are popular will also have faster turnover.

Garage sales are also good, maybe in neighborhoods where more wealthy country club types might live. These hoods often have a mass sale weekend.

 

[gwrtheyrn]

Garage sales seem to be good...recently one of my friends picked up a pure drive really cheap at one, but I don't know if he'll ever use it, though he could use it instead of his hammer

 

[TheShaun]

i'll often pop in to a sporting goods consignment store. haven't found anything yet, but i'll keep my fingers crossed.

 

[python]

I live in a nicer subdivision in my city. Once a year we have a neighborhood garage sale where people unload all kinds of stuff they no longer want. I think I buy at least 5 racquets and golf clubs this way each year. Some of my better finds: A pair of St. Vincent Pro Staffs for $10 each, a never strung Head Genesis widebody for $5, and several mint condition woodies for $1 each.

Believe it or not, I use the woodies the most, since I play in a wood tennis tournament every year.

 

[netman]

Prior posts pretty much cover all the bases. It basically comes down to dumb luck and timing. One thing you can do is put the word out in your neighborhood, church, club, etc. letting folks know you like to collect old racquets. In many cases they will give them to you just to get rid of them.

-k-

 

[max]

I kick myself still for passing up a very fresh Jack Kramer Pro Staff midsize (yeah, toward the end, it got a bigger head), for $1 (or was it $3). Very crisp fresh condition, would've been fun to monkey around with.

 

[Bud]

I picked up a nice Silver Ace on CL for 20 bucks. Also saw a mint JK Staff out of state for 10 dollars. LOL! I was almost tempted to drive the 800 miles to pick it up.

 

[SlapShot]

Craigslist can be a great place to look - I scored a pair of Wilson Sting SC Midsizes for $20 - they hit a bomb of a serve, even with the factory string on them.

 

[Nuke]

I just bought a near-mint condition Dunlop M-fil 300 for $40 at a sports consignment shop last weekend. Play It Again Sports. Lots of older racquets there, too, and usually pretty cheap.

 

[retrowagen]

Also, don't forget to check at used sporting goods stores. Here in California there is a chain of them, Play it Again Sports; I have found some interesting old sticks there from time to time, and the older they are, the cheaper they tend to be. However, sometimes they consult **** to price items, so on some higher-demand items, prices may be a bit steeper.