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Nerf Thrifting Tips

Thrifting

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#1 Bubba Longshot

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Posted 04 June 2017 - 11:13 AM

Hello all, I really want to thrift another Longshot over the summer break, and I was hoping if you guys could give me some tips. My community is hosting a garage sale day, and I am planning to attend that. Also, I've located all my thrift stores that I can go to. Yesterday I went to a goodwill, but no Nerf blaster was in sight! Is this common for Canadian good wills, or was I just unlucky on that location?
Here is the list of the thrift stores that I'm planning to hit over the summer:
Value village, urban thift, once upon a child, MCC thrift shops, thriftopia, Salvation Army, world serve thrift stores, and 3 separate good wills.

Any overall tips?

Thanks.

Bubba
P.S this is in the Calgary area if anyone wants to know.

Edited by Bubba Longshot, 04 June 2017 - 11:14 AM.

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#2 Penna

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Posted 04 June 2017 - 11:48 AM

Hit them as many times as you can.


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#3 shandsgator8

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Posted 04 June 2017 - 11:55 AM

I would put chain thrift stores such as Goodwill, lower on your priority list. You can tell that they screen their donations, so the nicer things, including Nerf blasters, aren't sold in stores, but online. This doesn't mean you can't find anything there, but it's much harder to do.

 

A community rummage/garage/yard sale is going to be your best bet, not just for finding Nerf blasters, but doing so at a cheap price.

 

When I find Nerf blasters in formal stores, they're almost always at a higher price than at a local yard sale. I recently picked up a stock Demolisher (but no stock) for 50 cents and a Sledgefire for 75 cents (no darts, but had 1 shell). If I found these at a thrift store, they would have been $2-$5 each (still a decent deal, but nowhere near as good as a yardsale deal).

 

But then there are exceptions to the rule. I got a stock OJ Stryfe for free at a thrift store because it had a faulty jam door switch (it wouldn't work unless you manually opened the jam door and used your finger or pen to actuate the jam door switch.

 

Yardsales have spoiled me. I won't pay over a dollar for a single blaster, unless it's worth a lot (and I can resell it) or I would otherwise buy it from eBay or NH.


Edited by shandsgator8, 04 June 2017 - 12:01 PM.

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#4 GensoNerf

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Posted 04 June 2017 - 05:50 PM

Hit as many of those stress you can as many times as you can.  I haven't found anything for weeks recently, but there have been times I found amazing things, such as a Crossbow, a Longshot, two Nitefinders, and a Rampage for a total of 14 dollars.  Best of luck to you.


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#5 Bubba Longshot

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Posted 04 June 2017 - 06:01 PM

Ok, I just got back from another goodwill and they had no Nerf blasters; is this normal for goodwills? I've already went to two, and never saw a Nerf blaster. However, the one that I went to today had some weird knockoff gun. Hopefully my community's garage sale day on the 10th will prove more productive. I really need that Longshot...
Thank for the tips so far... Are there any other pointers for finding a specific blaster when thrifting?
Thanks all

Edited by Bubba Longshot, 04 June 2017 - 06:01 PM.

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"The only thing that sucks about Nerf modification is the anxiety that something will break... That's why we reinforce a whole lot!" -Me

#6 dangman4ever

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Posted 04 June 2017 - 06:29 PM

Yes that's normal for Goodwills not to have Nerf blasters. The three Goodwills near my home has not had a single nerf blaster since I began thrifting for Nerf blasters. You should check out other non-goodwill Thrift stores if there's any in your area. Also, discount shops may occasionally have a good deal on a blaster. Still more costly than Goodwill but cheaper than sales price. 


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#7 shandsgator8

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Posted 04 June 2017 - 06:30 PM

Ok, I just got back from another goodwill and they had no Nerf blasters; is this normal for goodwills? I've already went to two, and never saw a Nerf blaster. However, the one that I went to today had some weird knockoff gun. Hopefully my community's garage sale day on the 10th will prove more productive. I really need that Longshot...
Thank for the tips so far... Are there any other pointers for finding a specific blaster when thrifting?
Thanks all

 

From my experience in the USA, yes.


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#8 The2ndBluesBro

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Posted 04 June 2017 - 08:33 PM

I haven't had much luck thrifting either. Value village was decent for me as they don't seem to value nerf stuff at all so unlike some other stuff you can still get a good price on blasters. Don't expect to find anything, just be happy if you do.


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#9 Meaker VI

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Posted 04 June 2017 - 09:03 PM

I've had a harder time at garage sales than thrift stores in the last several years; I suspect it's because most people know to list the good stuff on craigslist/similar or they donate it because they don't want to do a garage sale. YMMV of course.
 
I've yet to find anything worthwhile at goodwill, again YMMV depending on location and time of year. Value Villiage and a local shop have been my best returns.
 
 

Ok, I just got back from another goodwill and they had no Nerf blasters; is this normal for goodwills? I've already went to two, and never saw a Nerf blaster. However, the one that I went to today had some weird knockoff gun. Hopefully my community's garage sale day on the 10th will prove more productive. I really need that Longshot...

It's normal for every store to have limited selection. You're relying on arriving when someone has donated something you want and someone else hasn't wanted it. Go as often as you can spare to as many places as you can. In two trips I'd not have expected to find anything; usually I make a find once a month if I'm going to a few stores a week and I've only made a few really worthwhile finds. Big garage sales are usually better than regular garage sales; I figure probably because of ease for the sellers as they're more reliable sales than Craigslist and have better turnout than a solo garage sale would.

 

If you can, travel to neighborhoods that seem like they'd have more nerf stuff - I make more finds near a community college than elsewhere in town, and the best finds I've seen locally have been in a wealthier area.
 

Thank for the tips so far... Are there any other pointers for finding a specific blaster when thrifting?
Thanks all

No pointers for finding specific blasters - you have to accept what comes and buy it or pass. Longshots aren't rare, so it shouldn't be a difficult find, but it may just work out that you don't find one. The more places you can hit daily/weekly the better your odds of finding anything, if you want something specific you'll likely be better off on Craigslist/etc/nerfexchange/the trading forum.


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#10 ToadBrews

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Posted 04 June 2017 - 11:07 PM

Thrifting is generally a good way to build up a collection. It's a horrible way to find a specific blaster. You will probably spend more on gas driving to the stores than you would buying a used longshot on Shopgoodwill.com or ebay.


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#11 Bubba Longshot

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Posted 05 June 2017 - 08:10 AM

Thrifting is generally a good way to build up a collection. It's a horrible way to find a specific blaster. You will probably spend more on gas driving to the stores than you would buying a used longshot on Shopgoodwill.com or ebay.

Ok, I have a back up plan in case I don't find a Longshot (waiting for the price to go down on Amazon.ca). However in the meantime, I'm taking the public transit to every thrift store in my city. That way, no gas money is wasted.
If I find something, I'll mod it for the mod contest...
Thanks all. Any more advice?
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#12 hcat625

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Posted 05 June 2017 - 08:29 AM

Ok, I just got back from another goodwill and they had no Nerf blasters; is this normal for goodwills? I've already went to two, and never saw a Nerf blaster. However, the one that I went to today had some weird knockoff gun. Hopefully my community's garage sale day on the 10th will prove more productive. I really need that Longshot...
Thank for the tips so far... Are there any other pointers for finding a specific blaster when thrifting?
Thanks all

I find it quite common for goodwill to have little or none nerf blasters. Don't worry you just can't give up.


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#13 Silly

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Posted 05 June 2017 - 08:33 AM

I use ebay and look up nerf lots and sort for cheapest first. Usually they are selling several 7 to 90 dollar items for around 30 to 90+ dollars. Ive gotten 2 stampedes and a rapidstrike for only 50 bucks from one lot.
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#14 Lasagna

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Posted 05 June 2017 - 11:21 AM

If you are in Canada, try Value Village. It's hit or miss, once I only found some crap buzzbee ballgun but last week I saw a vortex praxis, another vortex pistol, some little know Darth Vader Nerf brand single shot, a Furyfire-like Nerf brand, stock yellow recon with nothing else, a Titan, a manual crank up flywheel ballgun, and a Tommy 20. All were $5 CAD or under, but I only picked up the titan.


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#15 Bubba Longshot

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Posted 05 June 2017 - 04:52 PM

If you are in Canada, try Value Village. It's hit or miss, once I only found some crap buzzbee ballgun but last week I saw a vortex praxis, another vortex pistol, some little know Darth Vader Nerf brand single shot, a Furyfire-like Nerf brand, stock yellow recon with nothing else, a Titan, a manual crank up flywheel ballgun, and a Tommy 20. All were $5 CAD or under, but I only picked up the titan.

Yeah, I am a Canadian. Judging from what both you, and the2ndbluesbro said, Value Village is what is producing for us Canadians. Unfortunately the nearest value village is 30 minutes away, so I'll probably hit it less... Although, the value villages are located beside other thrift stores, so it may work out.

Thanks!
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