Hi all,

I thought I'd share a story with you.

I went to a National Trust gardens on Thursday. I don't know if you Americans have something similar to the NT, but that would still interest me quite a bit.

Anyway, whilst we were walking around, a sign caught my eye. 'Second hand bookshop'.

"Well well," thought I, "I really ought to have a look."

So I walked into this small room, stuffed with books ranging in subjects, fiction, non-fiction.

I walked over to the small corner with science books (I dislike fiction), looking for something that might interest me. A number of biology books, and then-wow! A book on electronic test measurement and calibration! How much could this be?

£2.

I'll be having that thank you.

There was also only one physics book - 'Introduction to Nuclear Physics'. This book was quite old - second ed, printed in the early 50s. How much was this? £6.50. Well, it seemed a shame to leave it, so I bought that aswell.

After reading them, I checked them out on Google. The electronic book was selling for about £10, and the nuclear physics was selling upwards of £50!


The moral of the story - go out and support good causes. Not only do you find gems like this, but you can still learn many great things from these old books.

What have been your great bargains?

@Loosewire, I hope that you're back now. Few posts.

 

We have a chain of second hand stores that sell items donated by the public.
I frequent these and pick up wallwarts - AC to DC adapters. My last find a week ago was one SONY adapter 8.5VDC @ 4.5A - perfect for one of my projects. Cost $2.99

 

What project was this?

 

I have a project that uses 10 DSP boards analyzing gamma ray spectra. Each board consumes about 0.4A.

 

We have flea markets. A friend just picked up, well over $400 bicycle touring gear for $100. I have also seen people getting fantastic deals on electronic test equipment.


They were very popular back in the 70s. Now not so much.

 

@ Sparky,we have a National Garden in Washington,@ VooDoo,

wake up and smell the roses. Tell the guys about it. Its in your back

yard. We have the Historial Bonnet House in Fort,lauderdale,Fl, one of

our members can describe it. Shortbus has gone by it,I think. You

never know where he will be next. Near N.W. 27 Ct a could smell a

bodyfor weeks.

 

http://www.google.com/search?q=cher...ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CCkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=655

http://www.nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/about/2012-centennial/

y'all are missing the Cherry Blossom Festival.

 

We have flea markets. I think I might open up a "mad scientist supply" booth there. I am in the process of categorizing all my gadgets & widgets. I have filled so far (18) 27gal storage totes with everything from gears & cogs to o-scopes to valve controllers to touchscreeen panel PCs. About 5000lbs I estimate. I'm about 60-70% done.

 

I tried the flea market thing a couple times but it seems you cant even give the stuff away these days.
I would rather keep it around than sell it for scrap...so far...

 

I tried the flea market thing a couple times but it seems you cant even give the stuff away these days.
I would rather keep it around than sell it for scrap...so far...

Nice junk collection. me likes it. There is a market for those old CRT scopes, people are making these "steampunk" clocks out of them. Try ebay. I want to start selling on ebay first, but I hear you have to start small and build up your reputation before anybody will buy anything of worth from you.

 

OMG! I love it. Is that a lute or dulcimer in the corner?

 

Not VooDooMojo, but it looks like a Martin 'backpacker' guitar to me.

 

We have flea markets. A friend just picked up, well over $400 bicycle touring gear for $100. I have also seen people getting fantastic deals on electronic test equipment.


They were very popular back in the 70s. Now not so much.

Most people I know buy at garage sales and craigslist, then resell at the flea market, amazon, and ebay. He's worked it into quite a lil biz with his pda and laser barcode scanner. Constantly buying books for 50 for $1 or $0.25 each and selling em for $30, $25, etc.... Believe it or not he kills it with anything barbie, and or VHS. Somehow VHS's are selling like hot cakes on amazon.He bought a 10 pack of alladin all NIB. Sold all of them for $25 each in like a month. I think he paid $15 for the 10 pack.

This is gonna make you guys sick too. All these book dealers that buy books in bulk then scan them and sell the ones worth money. The ones left over that aren't worth money they burn so they don't go back into circulation and don't buy them again. This is happening all over the country with these book buyers. Its sad we don't have non profits that would guarantee they would ship the book out of the country. Thats the only way these guys won't burn em. I've talked to a couple of em that do it.

 

Old Martin Backpacker
I put a Big Twin Hot Spot Transducer on it a while back.
Sounds a bit like an electric banjo.
I like Bela Fleck so that's ok too.