Substitute thrift shopping

I have a thrift store that is just about 3 blocks from my house. So only a few hundred steps.

It sits in the basement of a local church, and is open on Tuesdays and Saturdays. I wish it were open more frequently, but I understand that the people who work there are volunteers. When we have nothing going on a particular Saturday, which is rare, I try to make the walk down at 10am in search of cards.

My best find there was a giant binder of cards for $5 (read about it here). Rarely do they have new cards and they get tired of me asking each time I go in. However, I saw a guy one time paying just as I was getting there and he had a massive bin of cards that just come in and not even hit the floor yet. I could just tell he was an aggressive thrift store shopper and probably spends all of his Saturday bouncing around from shop to shop and trying to do the same. Part of the reason I try to get there at 10am when I go is because I know he might be lurking again ready to buy cards on my home turf.

Anyhow, the shop was close from mid-July through August 25, as a I read on a sign last time I went. I excitedly made my way there yesterday thinking of all the new cards they must have gotten in while the shop was closed for the summer.

To my disappointment, I arrived and saw the shop was not yet open. One of the ladies told me there were some plumbing issues they were fixing (basement of an old church, mind you), and it likely wouldn't be open until later in September. Bummer. But all was not lost!

They were having a substitute sale in an all-purpose room in the church. I ventured in and saw a few tables set up. I'm not sure the rhyme or reason for what was displayed, but it seemed like a little of everything. There were no cards, but immediately my eye saw these.

Originally I looked and put them back while I browsed for more cards and looked at a tennis racquet (my kid has one and has been bugging me to get my own to play). Unfortunately the racquet looked like it would fall apart if I used it. I should just suck it up and buy one for $20 on Amazon for the three times I'll actually use it.

Anyhow, I noticed a guy with a gray ponytail looking at the Murray sculptures. I pulled out my phone to see how these sell on eBay, and a few sold for above $20 each. The man put them back and moved on. I went over and picked them up again, and asked the lady how much they were, as they were one of the few items with no price tag. She said $1 each.

I figured I couldn't let them just sit there, even if I didn't have a plan or a need for them. I forked over the $2 and made my way out, bummed I didn't find cards but excited I found something I could likely profit off of at some time.

This is not my image because I didn't want to open them, but here is what the statue looks like:

I'm still not positive which way I'll go. I'll probably try Facebook marketplace first to avoid shipping, but I can't imagine many Orioles fans around here. eBay seems like my best bed, but I'd need to charge around $15 shipping, as the boxes aren't small. If neither of those work, we're having a town-wide garage sale next month and I'll try to move them there for a couple bucks each, remembering that I only paid $1 each to begin with and have no real need for them. I just don't want the cost of my time to make these a nuisance, so whatever ends up working with the least amount of legwork.

Still, I couldn't just let them sit there.