I'm in a desperate way in need of finding myself Sega CD games to allow my Sega CD to really do it's job, and to enjoy it. I was willing to use all the thrift stores, and even Disc Replay stores, at my disposal, which turned out to be a major, MAJOR mistake. The Goodwill stores had games I wanted, but the games were fairly cheap and I still decided that I would hold off and wait for this weekend's 50% off sale to see if they're still there, if not no big loss.
But its what happened when I walked into the Salvation Army that shocked me to the point of hypertension and the need to march straight out of the store. They had a Gameboy with a 4 player adapter for, what the chicken scratch deciphered to, $6. Which isn't a bad price at all because it was in great shape, although there was no way to tell if it worked or not.
Next up was a stack of cased Gameboy games ranging in price from $1.99 to $2.99, not bad although I don't see why they put the well known titles at $2.99 and the less known titles at $1.99. This shows the store's desire to wring every cent out of thrifty shoppers. Then there was a stack of Gameboy games, all in cases, taped together so that you couldn't tell what was what, except the top game, for $12 (again chicken scratch so it was probably more!), and again for the maybe 7 to 10 games in the lot it wasn't a bad deal, but I can't see what games were there and I'm NOT going to buy something from them unless it is an absolute steal, because I not longer want to support such an ignorant, money grubbing company.
But until I saw the complete in box Gameboy printer, I was ok with them being complete and utter douchebags, but this was my breaking point. Yes, it was complete, yes it looked like it was in great shape, but they wanted (again chicken scratch!) $20 for it! Ok, NOTHING and I mean NO-THING in a thrift store should be over $9.99, unless its furniture or jewelry.
I'll be honest it shouldn't shock me, the manager or duty was the same asshole who argued with me last year over an SNES that he just couldn't let go for less than the number he pulled out of his ass. This guy is rude, arrogant and his only job is to rape the customer, yet it seems the majority of people who shop at Salvation Army aren't willing to fight for a better price, and most video games go to resellers.
Salvation Army used to give me so many good deals and I wanted to stay loyal to them in favor of the deals I've gotten. Over the matter of 6 months I simply can't stand Salvation Army anymore, and I've grown to despise their employees and their business ethics, or lack there of.
This time last year I would have urged anyone to donate to Salvation Army over Goodwill, but today I have to say if you are going to donate, donate to Goodwill! I see the only people Salvation Army is helping are themself and the resellers who buy up all the over priced shit so they can sell it at even more insane prices. If thrift stores weren't the only option to find things for the retro systems I love, I wouldn't shop at any of them.
