Usually btw, Nov. and Feb. Though.......................... there can be mid year increases because of currency fluxes or gas shortages and price spikes.

I was told the price is going up on Jan, 1stâ¦

Gary: The prices of high-end appliances, like high-end cars, are relatively inelastic, that is, the quantities of such items that are sold are not simply proportional to price, whether measured in FRB IOUs (fiat dollars) or in gold (the dollar price of which has been manipulated for years). The value proposition for those for whom the price is relatively trivial includes exclusivity and symbolic wealth display, so long as the items do not carry with them a history of low reliability that might possibly be known to the purchasers' peers and interpreted as a deficiency. (This doesn't apply to specific toys such as Ferraris.) For others not in the trivial cost group who may choose to afford the items at the cost of giving up something else, the value proposition might be different, and account for the degree to which the manufacturer is known to support his product (even though one is effectively paying a high insurance cost for that), or has some feature that one "can't live without." This group will be more elastic in price selection. Those who are being pushed out of the middle class due to financial engineering of the economy will be the most elastic. They don't have the choice any longer of giving up one thing for another. They also will not be haunting the high-end appliance stores for the most expensive kitchen decorations. Last, I would note that while currency depreciation (quantitative easing) has now shifted from the US to Europe, dragging (heh) down the Euro faster than the dollar at the moment, the cost of manufacturing a European appliance in man hours has not gone down, and the value of those manhours in absolutely depreciating dollars likely has gone up, though probably not at the rate that the European manufacturers' prices have gone up. To look beyond high-end price inelasticity, one might see that we who buy such appliances are also paying for a lot of social costs in Europe. Anticipate a similar rise in US appliance prices when increasing social costs here inevitably become factored into manufacturers' prices. kas

The one near me has always been what I consider on the high end of second hand pricing. Shirts range from $3.99 to $6.99. Jeans are in the $6.99 - $9.99 range. A few months ago, I was looking for a watering can and found one at GW. It was priced higher than a new one from Home Depot. It helps to have some knowledge of retail pricing in order to determine if one is getting a good deal in the thrift stores. I know that I can find new tshirts cheaper at Walmart and some of the other big retailers than I can at GW, but I also know that I will not be able to find a brand new, tags still on, leather jacket for $5 at any of the big retailers. Nor, will I come across a brand new London Fog down parka at WM for $5. Besides finding great deals like that, I enjoy the thrill of the hunt as well as knowing that thrifting helps keep perfectly good items from going to the landfills. In addition to shopping at GW, I also like to go to the smaller, more local shops. Based on how busy the stores are, it seems like there is room for both GW and the little guys, at least in my area. It's interesting - I go to the mall and it's deserted; I go to the thrift stores and they are packed with shoppers.