Discovery of the Habitat ReStore

[hoosier]

Love, love, love my ReStore. The salespeople at my store will bargain with you - if you ask. Got a whole house humidifier for $5.00, a brand new looking Sears microwave with every button you could ever want for $10.00. Big bathroom window - dual pane with nice frame for $6.00 for my chicken coop. Also doorknobs, hinges, paint etc. But try making them a lower offer next time, they may take you up on it!
There's A used industrial floor cleaner/polisher I have my eye on for my wood flooring...I'm just gonna let it stay there for awhile and then make them an offer....

It is posted in our local one that they do not bargain.

 

[~gd]

Love, love, love my ReStore. The salespeople at my store will bargain with you - if you ask. Got a whole house humidifier for $5.00, a brand new looking Sears microwave with every button you could ever want for $10.00. Big bathroom window - dual pane with nice frame for $6.00 for my chicken coop. Also doorknobs, hinges, paint etc. But try making them a lower offer next time, they may take you up on it!
There's A used industrial floor cleaner/polisher I have my eye on for my wood flooring...I'm just gonna let it stay there for awhile and then make them an offer....

It is posted in our local one that they do not bargain.

A lot depends on the volenteers maning the stores some know value and some are just putting in there service time (there is a service requirement to get a home from Habitat) In our local there is usually one experienced worker usually too old to be on a building site with the rest as service workers (too old, young. or 'with child') the boss does the bargains and keeps an eye on the till. If they are overstocked or something has sat too long you can get some real deals OKed by the boss. I took in a spare brand new door that they needed for a project house and got a steal on two old doors with stained glass which could not be bought new. The boss knew what they were worth but they had been there for a year and nobody had even asked about them. my bathroom contractor turned me on to them. I am a old coot living alone and hated the new double sink vanity and the low volume comode that never emptied with one flush. He removed them carefully and took them to the ReStore. He returned with a wood vanity that had tons of storage space and a decent sink, a med. cabinet with a mirror for over the sink and a old comode that was huge and worked. I asked what I had paid for that and he said nothing we even have credit if you want to get old light fixtures to go with this stuff. I have them set aside but wanted to ask you first since you hadn't mentioned the light fixtures. Seems a rich old coot had died and the kids wanted to modernize the house for sale.

 

[Bimpnottin]

My brother and SIL got the laminate countertop sheet to redo their whole kitchen for less than $30. It cost them more than that for the adhesive to glue it down with.

 

[hoosier]

Love, love, love my ReStore. The salespeople at my store will bargain with you - if you ask. Got a whole house humidifier for $5.00, a brand new looking Sears microwave with every button you could ever want for $10.00. Big bathroom window - dual pane with nice frame for $6.00 for my chicken coop. Also doorknobs, hinges, paint etc. But try making them a lower offer next time, they may take you up on it!
There's A used industrial floor cleaner/polisher I have my eye on for my wood flooring...I'm just gonna let it stay there for awhile and then make them an offer....

It is posted in our local one that they do not bargain.

A lot depends on the volenteers maning the stores some know value and some are just putting in there service time (there is a service requirement to get a home from Habitat) In our local there is usually one experienced worker usually too old to be on a building site with the rest as service workers (too old, young. or 'with child') the boss does the bargains and keeps an eye on the till. If they are overstocked or something has sat too long you can get some real deals OKed by the boss. I took in a spare brand new door that they needed for a project house and got a steal on two old doors with stained glass which could not be bought new. The boss knew what they were worth but they had been there for a year and nobody had even asked about them. my bathroom contractor turned me on to them. I am a old coot living alone and hated the new double sink vanity and the low volume comode that never emptied with one flush. He removed them carefully and took them to the ReStore. He returned with a wood vanity that had tons of storage space and a decent sink, a med. cabinet with a mirror for over the sink and a old comode that was huge and worked. I asked what I had paid for that and he said nothing we even have credit if you want to get old light fixtures to go with this stuff. I have them set aside but wanted to ask you first since you hadn't mentioned the light fixtures. Seems a rich old coot had died and the kids wanted to modernize the house for sale.

Thanks - I will keep that in mind.
At one of the local stores, if it is there a month, it is 25% off; two months is 50% off; and three months is 75% off.

 

[hwillm1977]

It is posted in our local one that they do not bargain.

Ours has the same sign on the door 'No bargains, all prices are firm and clearly marked. Items without price tags will not be sold'

I'm guessing they had issues with people taking the price tags off stuff and then asking how much something was.

 

[FarmerJamie]

Dropped off some old light fixtures and a ceiling fan today. The one I went to didn't have a real big variety - people were browsing, but not buying. I will pop in from time to time, though.

 

[cabinchick]

It is posted in our local one that they do not bargain.

A lot depends on the volenteers maning the stores some know value and some are just putting in there service time (there is a service requirement to get a home from Habitat) In our local there is usually one experienced worker usually too old to be on a building site with the rest as service workers (too old, young. or 'with child') the boss does the bargains and keeps an eye on the till. If they are overstocked or something has sat too long you can get some real deals OKed by the boss. I took in a spare brand new door that they needed for a project house and got a steal on two old doors with stained glass which could not be bought new. The boss knew what they were worth but they had been there for a year and nobody had even asked about them. my bathroom contractor turned me on to them. I am a old coot living alone and hated the new double sink vanity and the low volume comode that never emptied with one flush. He removed them carefully and took them to the ReStore. He returned with a wood vanity that had tons of storage space and a decent sink, a med. cabinet with a mirror for over the sink and a old comode that was huge and worked. I asked what I had paid for that and he said nothing we even have credit if you want to get old light fixtures to go with this stuff. I have them set aside but wanted to ask you first since you hadn't mentioned the light fixtures. Seems a rich old coot had died and the kids wanted to modernize the house for sale.

Thanks - I will keep that in mind.
At one of the local stores, if it is there a month, it is 25% off; two months is 50% off; and three months is 75% off.

Cool! I will ask at my local store if the same policy holds here.
The young man who bargained with me was being watched over by the boss. I was so thrilled I told the boss I would definately be back again

 

[Boogity]

I went back to the closest Re-store again last week. I found some prices to be unbelievably good deals and some were too high. While I was browsing through the hardware section I had a chance to talk to the manager. I found out that most of the workers there are volunteers and are not permitted to make deals with customers. Only the manager and assistant manager are allowed to do that. He also told me that the pricing is a problem at all of the Habitat re-stores because thete is so much stuff passing through there every day. The manager and assistant would have to work 24/7 to keep up with all the pricing needs. As a result they authorize a few of the "more informed" (his words) volunteers to help with the pricing. As a result some of their prices are out of line with what customers think is correct. He said that Habitat is aware of this issue and they are trying to work out a solution.

I live in a very rural area in Indiana and I only look at very CHEAP stuff at the re-store. I don't need anything fancy or beautiful for my projects. I purchased 8 old single pane wooden windows 22"W x 37"H the first trip to the re-store for $1 each. They were perfect for my new chicken coop and 2 new cold frames. This past week I purchased 17 sheets of 30"W x 144"L corrugated steel roofing in perfect condition for $34. $2 dollars per sheet!!! Can you imagine that??? These panels are about $18 to $24 each at a building supply outlet. Now I can put a new roof on the tool shed. I also purchased some more hinges. They have a big bin full of large steel hinges and a bin full of medium steel hinges. I bought six 2-hinge packages of gigantic 8" hinges (excellent for gates and barn doors) for $2 each pair. And six 2-hinge packages of 4" hinges for $1 each pair.

Now that I have talked to the manager I would not feel strange talking to the management about any price that I feel is too high.