Has this ever happened to you? (Thrift Store Rant)

There's a thrift store in my town where I can occasionally score cheap CDs, but it's either feast or famine. Sometimes I can stop in there and I'll find 4 or 5 decent CDs in one visit, but then there'll be nothing but crap for months afterward. Anyway, a while ago I was in there and was going to pick up a copy of Beastie Boys' LICENSED TO ILL (what the hell, it was only a buck, and "Fight For Your Right" and "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" are worth that much all by themselves). About halfway to the front register I opened the CD case to check the condition of the disc before buying and there was no CD in it. So much for that. I gave the empty case to the lady up front, told her the disc was missing, she thanked me, and that was the end of that.

On a whim I stopped in there again today while doing some errands and found three more CDs I would've gladly picked up - LED ZEPPELIN II, Ministry's PSALM 69, and Salty Dog's EVERY DOG HAS ITS DAY. Remembering my last experience, I looked in the cases of all three and ... no discs in any of them!! WTF?? This time I took all three up front and even asked the lady if they were storing the actual CDs behind the counter now, but the answer was "nope, sorry." She graciously offered me the empty cases for nothing but I sez "What the heck good is a CD case with no CD in it?" Duh.

Now I'm curious if someone is shoplifting the CDs from the store and leaving the discs behind, or if people are merely careless enough to donate them to the store without making sure the CDs are there!

Either way, to this thrift store for not checking the merch before putting it on the shelf, and getting my hopes up (again)!!!

damn, I bet someone is pilfering em. I'm surprised they dont keep the discs behind the counter or something.

Stender wrote:

I'm surprised they dont keep the discs behind the counter or something.

They probably should but this place is a tiny little shop that's so packed with wall to wall crap (furniture, clothes, household stuff, etc., etc.) that they don't have enuff room to move'em anywhere.

It happens a lot to me at the goodwill in my town. I saw the cd case for The Brave - Battle Cries and when i opened it up - no cd. Also happened on a Steppenwolf cd I wanted. Sucks when it happens...

If the CDs are only a buck with the CD supposed to be in them, why not see what the'll take for the empty cases, then download the music and make your own.

Alot of thrift stores round here are not selling cds anymore due to this problem. Goodwill just recently occupied one of the old Tower Records locations here in Sacramento and they have all the cds in the individual locked plastic cases that alot of used shops have. I just recently got Ozzy/Randy-tribute for 3 bucks in choice condition.

Maybe they should shuffle the shop around so that the CDs are close to the counter. Would be more difficult for potential theives to bag the discs if they can be seen easily.

snooloui wrote:

Maybe they should shuffle the shop around so that the CDs are close to the counter. Would be more difficult for potential theives to bag the discs if they can be seen easily.

Good idea.

Getizzyback wrote:

If the CDs are only a buck with the CD supposed to be in them, why not see what the'll take for the empty cases, then download the music and make your own.

Yea, I thought about that (after I left the store) but decided I didn't really wanna be bothered.

My Goodwill keeps changing from keeping the cds in the cases to holding them in a binder behind the counter. It's annoying because several times I've had to show the employees where the binder is stored. And they always insist that the cd should be in the case.

Is it possible that the cds are being stored somewhere in the store and the employee just doesn't know or care? Else I'd say people are probably just donating them without. Sucks either way, those were some cool potential finds.

jstate wrote:

Sucks either way, those were some cool potential finds.

Yea, I was particularly ticked off about that Salty Dog disc not being in the case. I only remember hearing one song off of that on MTV years ago but liking it, so here I was thinking "Oh cool, I'll finally get to hear more of this band!"... aaaaaand, crushing disappointment. Ack.

Fat Freddy wrote:

jstate wrote:

Sucks either way, those were some cool potential finds.

Yea, I was particularly ticked off about that Salty Dog disc not being in the case. I only remember hearing one song off of that on MTV years ago but liking it, so here I was thinking "Oh cool, I'll finally get to hear more of this band!"... aaaaaand, crushing disappointment. Ack.

Its a high finding something cool only to have your heart ripped out by finding the case empty..

I see that all the time with the cheapy thrift stores, but the slightly more classy(?) and organized ones I never have a problem with empty cases. They never offer the case for free around here but if they did I'd take em no problem, just do cd case surgery and take out the covers and there ya go. But yeah, I cant count how many times Ive gotten temporarily excited about finding a gem, only to find the cd gone.

Fat Freddy wrote:

She graciously offered me the empty cases for nothing but I sez "What the heck good is a CD case with no CD in it?" Duh.

Well silly, you could have taken those cases and then went onto swapacd.com to look for those cds. tons of people throw cds on there without cases. I'm sure those would have been easy to get on there.

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

She graciously offered me the empty cases for nothing but I sez "What the heck good is a CD case with no CD in it?" Duh.

Well silly, you could have taken those cases and then went onto swapacd.com to look for those cds. tons of people throw cds on there without cases. I'm sure those would have been easy to get on there.

vert true.

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

She graciously offered me the empty cases for nothing but I sez "What the heck good is a CD case with no CD in it?" Duh.

Well silly, you could have taken those cases and then went onto swapacd.com to look for those cds. tons of people throw cds on there without cases. I'm sure those would have been easy to get on there.

Well silly, I don't have the patience for SwapaCD. I'm all about the instant gratification.

Fat Freddy wrote:

Getizzyback wrote:

If the CDs are only a buck with the CD supposed to be in them, why not see what the'll take for the empty cases, then download the music and make your own.

Yea, I thought about that (after I left the store) but decided I didn't really wanna be bothered.

Might be able to score some disc-only trades on SwapaCD or something. Probably worth it for that Salty Dog album.

As for the disc themselves; I doubt people are stealing them. Well, I don't doubt it, but I'd guess that most times that's not the case. The crap Goodwill and thrift stores get is that stuff tossed in donation bins and whatnot. The discs probably just fell out at some point in their travels.

Never had that problem myself, but I could see how disappointing & frustrating that would be. The 2 thrift shops I visit keep the cd's up front by the registers for probably that reason.

There was a 3rd that I went to a few times that had the jewelcases taped shut. Not a perfect system, but I guess it was effective enough.

Fat Freddy wrote:

There's a thrift store in my town where I can occasionally score cheap CDs, but it's either feast or famine. Sometimes I can stop in there and I'll find 4 or 5 decent CDs in one visit, but then there'll be nothing but crap for months afterward. Anyway, a while ago I was in there and was going to pick up a copy of Beastie Boys' LICENSED TO ILL (what the hell, it was only a buck, and "Fight For Your Right" and "No Sleep Till Brooklyn" are worth that much all by themselves). About halfway to the front register I opened the CD case to check the condition of the disc before buying and there was no CD in it!

Oh boy! can I sympathize with this! I'm glad I am not the only one that faces this frustrating experience! (we'll glad just cause I don't feel lonely...not cause you had to go through it). This happens to me in ALL three branches of Savers in town. As you said... it is feast or famine. I have found some terrific buys, but there is nothing worst than finding a great CD, and there is NOTHING there! Or, it is the wrong CD! At the Goodwill, I don't run into the same problem because they tape the CD cases shut...and tight. Granted, usually I have to replace the case because of the tape they use, but I have tons of emply cases (I usually replace them anyways, because they tend to be too scratched). I'd rather have that, than an empty case.

It's happened to me before at Goodwill. I thought I had scored with cds by Giant and Guardian. I'm glad I checked before I went to the checkout. I would have been pissed to find out I had bought empty cases.

Sounds to me like this "empty CD cases" phenomena plagues thrift stores everywhere! I had no idea!! Well, at least I know I'm not alone in having experienced this crushing disappointment...

Fat Freddy wrote:

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

Fat Freddy wrote:

She graciously offered me the empty cases for nothing but I sez "What the heck good is a CD case with no CD in it?" Duh.

Well silly, you could have taken those cases and then went onto swapacd.com to look for those cds. tons of people throw cds on there without cases. I'm sure those would have been easy to get on there.

Well silly, I don't have the patience for SwapaCD. I'm all about the instant gratification.

hahaha me too but sometimes it doesnt hurt to wait.

I wonder if anybody has ever opened up a Led Zeppelin IV CD case at a Goodwill store, and Roy Clark's Greatest Hits was inside......

Yesterday I went back to the thrift store that I mentioned in my first post, for the first time in a couple of months. There was a pretty big stack of CDs sitting on a shelf (at least 100 of'em) but when I started rifling thru'em, at least half of them were empty cases, with no CDs in them. A lot of the ones that did have the CDs in them didn't have the back tray art, just the booklets. WTF?? I briefly considered mentioning the empty cases to the lady behind the counter, but decided it wasn't worth the trouble, because after my past couple of experiences it's become clear that they don't give a rat's ass, they just unpack the donation boxes and throw the stuff up on the shelves without looking at'em. Fortunately none of the "empties" were CDs that I would've been interested in anyway.

At least my 7 year old found a couple of books from the "Goosebumps" series that he hadn't read yet, so the trip wasn't a total waste of time.

Fat Freddy wrote:

Yesterday I went back to the thrift store that I mentioned in my first post, for the first time in a couple of months. There was a pretty big stack of CDs sitting on a shelf (at least 100 of'em) but when I started rifling thru'em, at least half of them were empty cases, with no CDs in them. A lot of the ones that did have the CDs in them didn't have the back tray art, just the booklets. WTF?? I briefly considered mentioning the empty cases to the lady behind the counter, but decided it wasn't worth the trouble, because after my past couple of experiences it's become clear that they don't give a rat's ass, they just unpack the donation boxes and throw the stuff up on the shelves without looking at'em. Fortunately none of the "empties" were CDs that I would've been interested in anyway.

At least my 7 year old found a couple of books from the "Goosebumps" series that he hadn't read yet, so the trip wasn't a total waste of time.

hahaha! goosebumps...I totally remember reading those around 2nd or 3rd grade.