Congratulations on your lucky find! You're gonna' love it.

I'm a big time believer in thrift stores. Some years ago I was at one and found an electric grain mill which was 'broken' and I got it for some ridiculous price like $20, figuring I could salvage a motor and grindstones from it.

I took it apart to clean it, and all that was wrong is that a screw had fallen in between the grindstones and jammed it. Put it back together, worked like a champ.

A decade or so ago I accompanied the DW to a Salvation Army store; she was helping produce a community theater play and was looking for some cheap period clothes. While there she ran across a Harris Tweed jacket for $5; it fit me perfectly. A year or so after that find we were in London having tea at the Savoy Hotel, and I fit right in with the other tweedy gents, although I would bet that no one else in that tea room had spent only $5 on their jacket...

Great find! Have fun.

I too scourer SA and GW for appliances. I was in great debate about getting a toaster oven. I had never had one and didn't want one on the counter. On the recommendation of AnnT and Jessy, I decided to research. I found a TO at SA for $5. I used it for a month and was sold! DH didn't understand why I couldn't continue to use the $5 instead of going for the $150 Cuisinart. Duh! The $5 one was white.

Great story Arley.

I love goodwill stores! At this same goodwill a couple of weeks ago I spotted a strange looking bottle up high on a shelf, picked it up , it was very heavy and had a black bamboo overlay all over, it was divided into 4 chambers and had a black top, when you took it off it had 4 openings with black rubber stoppers. It was $1.99, I totally did not need it but bought it anyway. Got it home and decided to clean it with a cloth. Turns out it was covered with 950 silver (higher than sterling), made in france in the 30's. Local antique dealer said she would not sell it for under $450.00!

Wow, that is awesome Bonjo. I don't have any hopes up of finding anything like that, just a gently used meat grinder.

Congrats! You got a great deal.

Oh wow, what a great find. I've been stalking the Good Will and Second Hand stores to find a bread machine for Makayla, she's just sure she "needs" one. (grin)

All other 5 year olds want an Easy Bake Oven. She wants a breadmaker. Yup, that's my girl!

Annie

That really is a great find. Enjoy it. I never seem to find any cool stuff at the GW or SA here.

Carol

Good for Makayla for bypassing all the junk toys.

Sounds like Beau when I got him a plastic fishing pole with a magnet on the end of the line and magnet fish. I could have sworn he rolled his eyes when he said "Grammy, I use a Zebco with a sprite spoon lure" or something to that affect. I said but this one comes with little fish.

The dough turned out perfect. HUBBY kept looking at the machine,pizza margerita turned out perfect! Some Goodwill stores check the merchandice online before pricing, others do not. I frequent the ones that don't!

Congrats on the find. You will enjoy having the bread maker... even if you use it just for dough and actually bake in the oven like several of us do.

I found a good deal on my Nesco Food Dehydrator and my Oxo salad spinner at GoodWill. However, I almost had to sue them for a heart attack and false advertising. I stumbled across a Vitamix box for only 80 bucks, and I was with with a friend who really wanted a Vitamix. I ran to get him and both our hearts were racing... we'd been looking for a Vitamix for a very long time. We gleefully ripped open the box only to find a stained Jack Lalaine power juicer! Imagine the disappointment!

But, I digress. Enjoy your bread maker! It's great that you found it NIB... sometimes the bread makers at places like that are missing the pan or paddles and there is no way to tell if they work or not, so you were very lucky to find that!

Bobby, That would have been an awesome find! My SA has a testing station and a return policy if it doesn't work.

Okay, I'm going to run out in search of a SA/GW food grinder.

It's great to find something new at a thrift store. I've gone there to buy dishes because I generally only buy pairs of settings, and that's easy enough to find.

As for the silver - I found a set of sterling silver dessert forks and spoons at an antique shop on La Brea that had just come in from an estate sale and were all tarnished. I took my glasses off to read the sterling mark, but the seller did not and sold them to me for the price of silver plate. I weighed them after I bought them and found that the silver alone was worth more than twice what I paid for them.

San Francisco is a terrible place for thrift stores because the antique dealers swarm on them at 5:00 a.m. on delivery days and pick through all the good stuff. I found a lot of good stuff in free boxes in S.F., however, and didn't pay a cent for it. One year I did my Christmas shopping at free boxes and got presents that my sister and SIL both loved. I couldn't tell them where I got them, however.

I need to make some donations to thrift stores now - we usually go to Out of the Closet, which is very close by. Kevin finds some good vinyl there usually.

Lars

I went thrifting yesterday looking for a meat grinder. I was shocked at the number of people!!! It was Sunday and this was the only store in this strip mall that was open but the parking lot was almost FULL of cars.

The appliance section was stripped! The check out lines snaked to the back of this huge store! Perhaps it was the area of the county that accounted for the large number of shoppers.

I walked out, but I was left with feelings of sorrow that so many families were in need. I noticed that the toy department was pretty well stocked and kids were milling around there. I will be cleaning out Beau & Lily's toy boxes. Although the last time I offered to share some of Beau's toys with other children, he said definitively that he needed ALL of his toys.

I love thrift stores.....even thought they often have that "eau d'sweat"...
Last summer I found a pair of sterling candle sticks for a little over a dollar and a wonderful pair of deco-ish brass candleholders for about $3.
Last time I went I came home with a tupperware juice container just like the one I had just lost the cap for!
I pretend I am going to look for stuff for the church kitchen....but in reality...
At times past I have gone to furnish each kid's college apartment....and when I directed Guys and Dolls at the Community Theater, I visited thrift stores for miles around looking for stuff like striped suits and Fedoras and old fur stoles...had a ball. Found the most amazing pair of men's platform soled shoes, blue patent leather and white smooth leather...perfect for some of the gamblers in the sewer!
And when I directed Little Shop...I found soem wonderful stuff for the urchins....even found 3 alike tacky satin brides maid dresses that we could altar to fit our 3 singers!
I have some christmas decorations to donate....maybe I better look around while I am there! LOL!
Linda C

Good news-I found a brand new Saladmaster food grinder at the SA. They are pricey even on eBay.

Bad news-A major piece was missing.

Today at the GoodWill I got a Hoover SteamVac LS in excellent condition for a mere $9.99

Good score PK!

I went out today still in search of the food grinder--no luck with that. But I did find an interesting stainless steel serving tray still in the box that can be heated for hot hor d'oeuvres or chilled for cold appetizers. I got it for $4; found it on the internet for $56.