The early bird catches the worm.

[stephielou]

Last Friday I was shopping at Unique, a small local chain that has half price Mondays. While I was in the store, I heard an announcement on the PA - Unique now opens at 6:00 am on Mondays! SIX A M! Now, I think of myself as a pretty hardcore thrifter, but 6:00 in the stinkin morning is INSANE to me!

How about you? Are you dedicated enough to the pursuit of bargains to get your butt out of bed at 5:00 to go shopping?

[Big Daddy Audio]

Yes.

See you next time
bye for now.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Just so you know, I believe Unique is a national chain.  I've been in Unique stores in Louisville, KY and Fairfax, VA.  They all do 1/2 price Mondays that I know of, and when Monday is a holiday I've seen them do 75% off. 

-Jay

[Big Daddy Audio]

There's a Unique Thrift at 7th Ave and Indian School in Phoenix, but I'm not sure if it does the same 50% off Mondays.  As I recall, they have a sign that has 30% off for seniors on some days, but not being a senior, I just don't know.  They may open at 6:00 am on Mondays, but I haven't been to that store in at least 6-9 months.  It's just not on my regular route.

See you next time
bye for now

[Femme1]

I am a lazy thrifter. Never can make those early yard sales! Goodies may be getting snatched up early, but I love my snuggly warm bed. 

[SecondhandSophisticate]

Femme1, I am sooooooooooooooooo with you on this!

When I lived in New England, tag sales started at a respectable 9 AM and lasted all day.  It was an all day affair, best done with a family member or good friend. Tag sale days usually include stopping for lunch at some diner and then continuing until later in the afternoon.
 
Here in Dixie, the sales post as starting at 7 AM, which means that, to the early risers,  they really start at 6 AM and all the good stuff is gone by 6:01 AM. It's why I don't normally bother with garage sales here. They are officially over at 11 AM (usually around the time I am meandering out of the house) and the leftover stuff is donated by noon. What DO these people do with the rest of their day?  Of course, they eat dinner at 3 PM and are in bed at 8 PM, lol.   

Like TS Eliot, I take my waking slow...real slow. I lived with a gun to my head, time-wise for almost all my life. I'm on SESO time now. Ciao!

[stephielou]

And here all this time I thought Unique was unique to Cleveland. Not so! Good to know.

I'm with SeSo and Femme1 - bed is the only place for me at that hour!

Estate sales around here generally don't start until 9 or 10 am. On the first day of the sale, there is inevitably a line at the door and numbers distributed. I wonder how early those folks show up? 11 is about as early as I get to one of these. I figure the dealers will beat me no matter what I do, and 11 on Thursday or Friday is still way ahead of the Saturday shoppers. Then again, waiting until Sunday can be great because they're willing to deal on the last day of the sale, but it's a gamble of course.

I really like Tuesdays at Unique too because there is so much new stuff on the floor after Monday's pillaging. Of course, this stuff is the only stuff that's not half off the rest of the week, but I've done really well at one particular store on Tuesdays.

[SecondhandSophisticate]

Stephielou, you do raise an excellent point and that is:  if a tag sale is on a weekday there may be more stuff to be had since "everyone else" is working...except in my community. Since they start 'em here so early, people hit 'em on their way to work. Good for them, bad for those who work evenings.   

I was reading a thrift article recently on a blog that suggested that, if you were thrifting, if you could thrift weekdays in the early afternoon, that would be the best time, since those are the slowest times in thrifts. The article also said that Saturdays are the worst.

Heck, why don't thrifts just stay open 24-7 or at least until midnight? That's when I'm feeling my creative best!

[Big Daddy Audio]

Unique at 7th and Indian School really hasn't been all that great for what I look for.  I've picked up a few vinyl albums and cassettes, maybe a book or two, but nothing of note.  In articles that are written in the local press (The Arizona Republic), that Unique Thrift shop is always mentioned, so it has a draw for a bunch of folks, but it just doesn't do it for me.  If it was amazing (for what I look for) I'd be there more often.

BTW - what I look for is vintage stereo equipment, albums, books, tapes.  Some other things I look for include cameras and phones and bikes.  I also look for Pyrex (just certain things - but I have to say, we've really used the Pyrex I have scored within the last 2 months a great deal, so I'm happy with that).  I rarely look for clothes, unless I really need something.

See you next time
bye for now. 

[valleythriftshopper]

I struggle in the yard sale months to get out of bed early on Saturdays, but when I do I am not disappointed.  I go through Friday's paper, which has the tag sale listings, & map out a route according to which ones sound most promising.   I am not one of those obnoxious people though who show up at 6:00 AM for a 8:00 AM yard sale. 

I did once go to a 5:00 AM after thanksgiving day sale & got a great deal on a computer.  Fortunately the local thrifts do not put out much in the morning, mostly in the afternoon so I have a chance of finding something even if I show up late.

[stephielou]

I go through Friday's paper, which has the tag sale listings, & map out a route according to which ones sound most promising.

I do the same thing! I use yahoo maps because it's easy to add new location and change the order of each one to find the best route. We get our weekly community paper on Thursdays, and that's where all the liquidators advertise. I map out which ones look promising for Friday, and which ones are good for Saturday when DH can come along.

The four Uniques here seem to have good and not-so-good spells. For some reason the west side stores seem to be better than the east, but I guess that's because I'm an east sider and the grass is always cheaper on the other side! (Cleveland has a notorious east/west divide -- some folks won't cross the river unless they have to.) Our Uniques (at least the east siders) also have slim pickins for non-textile items. The books are average, at least for my interest, but the record selection always stinks. They are the only stores around here where I can score vintage sewing patterns for $.30 or less. Still not worth a 6 am visit to me, though!

[dewdrop_me_a_line]

I don't go to half price sales in general. Since I'm a senior I can get the senior discount days and only buy at ridiculously low prices. Since I only shop charity, even if I pay a bit over, I've still contributed to a good cause. 6AM? I don't know . . . probably not! I do go to all night grocers and such to avoid the crowds though. I'm not an early bird, just an avoider. It's just stuff in my book. I would never fight for an item. Hope this doesn't jade my reputation. LOL!

[ChrisMiss]

I used to struggle to get up and going in the mornings.  Now that I'm older I pop up out of bed like a jack-in-the-box and it's early when I do, sometimes 4:30 but always before 7.  On the days when I do go thrifting I love to start early and be done before it gets too hot.  I don't like to run the air conditioning so I love it if I can be home before it's needed.

[Jay2TheRescue]

I used to struggle to get up and going in the mornings.  Now that I'm older I pop up out of bed like a jack-in-the-box and it's early when I do, sometimes 4:30 but always before 7.  On the days when I do go thrifting I love to start early and be done before it gets too hot.  I don't like to run the air conditioning so I love it if I can be home before it's needed.

On my truck I did a test one summer.  For a full tank of gas I ran the a/c on max the whole time, and the next tank I didn't run the a/c at all - no matter how hot it got.  The truck got the exact same mileage on both tanks.  Now I don't care.  If I'm a little bit hot I turn it on because it doesn't cost me anything extra.

-Jay

[ChrisMiss]

I'm just weird...I don't enjoy a/c.  I'd rather have the window open.  Especially when I'm thrifting it seems the a/c doesn't cool the car enough before I'm at the next store.