stupitest/grossest thing you've ever seen at the thrift.

[Sir Thrift-A-Lot]

I went home to Windsor a couple weeks ago & checked out some of the thrift stores. There I found the stupidest item I have ever seen - a used Kleneex box. At first I thought that some woman had a large purse, finished the box & tossed it on the shelf, reasonable enough - although it had been priced! 69cents! RIP OFF. I took photos on my cell, but the wife has got to help me upload them - don't know how.

I also saw a sharps box. I picked up a piece of plastic near it & tapped it to see if it was empty - it was.

[Firekinghunt]

For Gross: half eaten probably week old pizza laying inside a mixing bowl on the shelf....yummy...

Stupid: things that are broken beyond recognition and still priced at full retail!

[Thriftygrl]

This passed weekend i saw like some sort of litttle sandwich maker or sandwich press thing.  I lifted the top up and YUK it still had dried up caked on food in it.  GROSS!!!

[Frchgrl]

I don't think I can top any of those. Yucko

[mccoysnina]

Stupidest thing I ever saw: several years ago a local paper had a romance novel free in the Sunday edition.  A little paperback stuck in with the apper in the plastic bag.  Never read it.  But I find it about every trip to the thrift store I go  in, usually the book section, marked $1.  It was free and I didn't want it.
Grossest thing I ever saw was a half full bag of Depends.  Hopefully unused. I didn't check.
Jeannie

[Mattie]

A used toothbrush. 

[Punk Glam Queen]

I went home to Windsor a couple weeks ago & checked out some of the thrift stores. There I found the stupidest item I have ever seen - a used Kleneex box. At first I thought that some woman had a large purse, finished the box & tossed it on the shelf, reasonable enough - although it had been priced! 69cents! RIP OFF. I took photos on my cell, but the wife has got to help me upload them - don't know how.

I also saw a sharps box. I picked up a piece of plastic near it & tapped it to see if it was empty - it was.

I can't help but think it was full at some point, but people kept using them, leading to the empty sitting there. It just seems beyond stupid to price an empty at all.

I've seen some pretty disgusting things over the 30 or so years I've been at the thrift game. Most of which I don't want to revisit by posting. Half eaten food, dirty diapers, and I always find a cup of soda or coffee every single trip every single store. Mice and cockroaches (both dead and alive) and all manner of bugs including maggots. Okay I'm grossing myself out here so I'm going to stop.

Stupidest thing is like one of the other posters mentioned: items broken beyond recognition yet marked at full retail. Or items marked higher than they originally retailed for (typical item: Target's Dollar Spot merch marked at 1.99.) Nothing in a thrift store should ever be marked at full retail let alone higher!

Cheers!
Suzanne

[anastasiabeaverhausen]

and how about those green flower vases, burnt candles and hospital pans....in EVERY thrift store

[Searching4stars2009]

I believe I have now seen it all.  A used toilet snake.   :

[elvisgurly]

I would have to say the time I saw some kind of skull on sale.  I am not sure what kind of skull it was, but then again I didn't really want to know.

*not to gross anyone out*

My mom has a hard time finding jeans that she likes and finally found a pair that she really thought fit well.  Well to make a long story short, she realized they had these nasty bloodstains in the crotch. 

We weren't sure if someone messed up their pants while in the store and just decided to help themselves to another pair of pants while stashing the unclean pair in the pile or someone donated it in that condition.  My mother then proceeded to ask the cashier if she could get a small discount in case she couldn't get the stain out of the pants and the cashier then decided to smell the pants!  In my head I screamed EWW!  Why would you do that?

[mccoysnina]

The clerk wasn't a guy was it?  My DH will take food out of the fridge, sniff it and make a face if it smells bad.  He then brings it to me and says "Gee this smells bad, what do you think?"
I usually reply that his nose works jsut fine, it he thinks it smells bad it likely does and I don't want to smell it.  I will trust his nose's judgment.
Just throw it, I don't need to do an autopsy on it, just freakin' pitch it already.
Never figured that out.  If it looks that bad, I don't specially want to turn my stomach inside out with a bad smell too.
And smelling the crotch of anyone's jeans, bloody or not is not
something I have any urge to do.
Jeannie

[elvisgurly]

The clerk wasn't a guy was it?  My DH will take food out of the fridge, sniff it and make a face if it smells bad.  He then brings it to me and says "Gee this smells bad, what do you think?"
I usually reply that his nose works jsut fine, it he thinks it smells bad it likely does and I don't want to smell it.  I will trust his nose's judgment.
Just throw it, I don't need to do an autopsy on it, just freakin' pitch it already.
Never figured that out.  If it looks that bad, I don't specially want to turn my stomach inside out with a bad smell too.
And smelling the crotch of anyone's jeans, bloody or not is not
something I have any urge to do.
Jeannie

Nope.  It was definitely a female who smelled the crotch of the pants.

[Firekinghunt]

Yeah I forgot...always get the bugs too. Once I bought a vintage glass (worth a lot of $$$) and had to spend an hour letting it soak to get a PETRIFIED cockroach out of the bottom of it...the things you do for $$$ lol

[valleythriftshopper]

My mom has a hard time finding jeans that she likes and finally found a pair that she really thought fit well.  Well to make a long story short, she realized they had these nasty bloodstains in the crotch.  

Any type of crotch stain would be a dealbreaker for me, I avoid just regular stains, your Mom must have a really hard time finding jeans!  

That reminds me of the time my daughter was at the SA with a guy friend and they were looking for swim trunks for him. They found a cute pair but discovered some evidence of the former owners use inside (won't gross you out w/the detail).  Needless to say they were not purchased.  

The food bank thrift has a washer & dryer and are very conscientious about the clothing they put out.  Wish all thrifts were this way!

[hhowner]

I've found most of the stupid/grossest things are caused by the customers. Feces/urine on the floor (not in the bathroom), items broken beyond recognition and just left instead of letting a worker know, pulling all the hands off of the clocks....I could go on and on. We are all volunteers at the thrift store I manage and it sounds lovely to wash all the clothing and household items but there is not enough volunteers or time. We try not to put out stained, ripped or clothing with piling but something is missed occasionally. Most of our clothing, shoes and purses are $1 or less and I always hear people complaining about prices or could I take less. Do people not realize that there are bills to pay?

I guess I'm venting. I do appreciate all of your posts -- interesting to read about how the other stores are operated!