View Full Version : Thrift store drama
unclehobart
2/20/06, 03:37pm
Has this ever happend to you?
After bringing home todays purchases we have noticed that one still has one of those anti shoplifting magnet dealies from the original merchant that go right through the meat of the clothes on a low hem. Its a JCpenny tag that has *warning* tampering with tag will release garment destroying ink and could cause injury. ... how lovely.
Anyone know how to defeat these stupid things? I'm about to go out into the garage and tap it with a drill to dry and release it in a safe direction.
Professur
2/20/06, 03:47pm
Gimme a photo. These things are designed to be difficult to remove in a store. But with a half decent toolkit, they're no bother. (Oh shit. I remember your toolkit.)
unclehobart
2/20/06, 03:54pm
unclehobart
2/20/06, 03:58pm
I was thinking of slipping a ziploc bag over the end and slicing a hole just large enough for the mechanism to get through, and tapping the cone side with a fine drill to either bleed out the ink or let the pressure ball pop in a harmless direction... and repeating the process with the flat side as it seems to have a little depth to it as well and might have extra ink over there. I just hope the thing doesn't have a mini explosive in it that will send plastic fragments into my hands and eyes.
Professur
2/20/06, 04:23pm
I was gonna suggest saran wrap. Nope, that's not one I've seen up here. Can you get a look up the inside of that cone? I'd wager that you could use a file/rasp to slice a ring off it, exposing a pin that's cuttable.
unclehobart
2/20/06, 04:40pm
I've been reading up on this kind of tag... or at least tag style. Apparently the cone side is a spring with ball bearings and a copper band for the alarm. Its the disk side thats tricky. It has 2 tubes of nasty dye; one being a visible marker and one being a UV marker. It can't be frozen and you sure don't want to force it. If the pin is pulled out with the bearings in lock mode, needles rip up through the dye packs. The way to apparently take this sucker on is to hack through the cone cap and disassmble the spring assembly. It should then fall right apart.
Might I also suggest not going to that thrift store anymore? If they didn't check for something big like an ink tag, then who knows what other hot items they might be accepting?
unclehobart
2/20/06, 05:30pm
We were also in the laibility loop because we didn't notice the darn thing either until we got home. It was tucked down deep on the lowest hem of the dress
in any case... success!
unclehobart
2/20/06, 05:32pm
Dremels truly are the tool of the gods.
Amazing to think it was invented by a dentist, huh?
they don`t have a return for credit policy? :confuse3:
If not, they might suddenly get one if you call the cops :D
woodman19_99
2/20/06, 07:06pm
That's freakin cool! I have always wondered what the inside of those things looked like. Now you need to rig it to play a nasty joke on someone! :evilcool:
they don`t have a return for credit policy? :confuse3:
If not, they might suddenly get one if you call the cops :D
But then I couldn't sell it for 3X what I paid for it.
unclehobart
2/20/06, 07:38pm
Being as we bought it from a thrift store and not a JC Penny there are no returns... thrift store sales are final. A JC Penny may have understood and taken the thing off... but the nearest unit would be an hours round trip and cost more in gas than the dress was worth. My tools were right here and gutting it for the sake of manly inquisitive science took only 10.
I just hope you're not selling stolen goods.
Being as we bought it from a thrift store and not a JC Penny there are no returns... thrift store sales are final.Ours aren`t, that`s why I asked :P
I just hope you're not selling stolen goods.
But...but...we paid for it. I've got a receipt :lloyd:
I think that Goodwill would have taken it back, all their sales aren't final...especially if their tag is still on the item. But we would have had to take the drive to Smyrna and back again and that would have spent the $4 the dress costs and I would be out of any profit I stand to make.
I still remember the time my mom and I were driving down the main street in town and she saw my old rocking horse from when I was a kid sitting out in front of an antique store.
Professur
2/21/06, 06:05pm
We were also in the laibility loop because we didn't notice the darn thing either until we got home. It was tucked down deep on the lowest hem of the dress
in any case... success!
Yeah, that's pretty much how I figured it would come off. But I'd have cut lower on the cone and cut the pin.
unclehobart
2/21/06, 06:36pm
The pin was extremely well guarded from above and below. All I had was a mini masonry bit. Cutting low on the cone would have been really dicey because the whole thing rotated. I wouldn't have had anywhere to grab it well. General top down grinding seemed the safest approach.
FluerVanderloo
2/21/06, 09:14pm
When I worked at the school bookstore we sold clothing, and all we had to do was put the safety tag on a magnet to get it apart.
unclehobart
2/22/06, 08:07am
How strong of a magnet?... because I didnt have anything more powerful than kiddie letter fridge types... aka.. feeble.
FluerVanderloo
2/22/06, 12:40pm
Oh this was one of those heavy ass things. It was round, about the diameter of a CD with a circular groove in the center where the one half of it was placed, then you just pulled the other half apart from it.
Professur
2/22/06, 12:48pm
An old speaker magnet would have covered ya.
An old speaker magnet would have covered ya.
D'oh! We have one of those.
unclehobart
2/22/06, 01:35pm
I don't think it would have as the ball bearings all had to be pulled away from the core of the mechanism in a disc shape away from each other. A flat magnet would only have been able to cover 1/3 of the cone at a time.
Besides... it felt really good and primal to dig in and tinker with the darn thing. I felt like a 3rd rate bomb squad.
Professur
2/22/06, 01:39pm
Your speaker magnet doesn't have a hole in the middle? Mine all do.
unclehobart
2/22/06, 01:50pm
I'll have to ask her about said magnet. I didn't know we had one.
That usually depends on the size of the speaker it came from. Tweeters and mids usually don't have holes in the middle. Not all woofers have a hole but many do because of the extra cooling needed from moving that much air.
I'd probably unscrew one of my car's 12" subwoofers from the box in the trunk and use that magnet.
I'll have to ask her about said magnet. I didn't know we had one.
Is she THAT far away that you need to add it to your to do list...ya couldn't shout as you typed? :p
Is she THAT far away that you need to add it to your to do list...ya couldn't shout as you typed? :p
I was on the phone, funny thing is that it's from one of his old speakers.
I was on the phone, funny thing is that it's from one of his old speakers.
I'da sent an IM if I were him then :D
I once took apart an old CDROM drive, and inside there's a piece of plastic with a magnet in it that makes contact with the spindle when the disc goes in to keep it from wobbling. I pulled the halves apart and turned the magnet around, then put it back together and stuck it on my parents' fridge. It's still on it.
unclehobart
2/22/06, 04:20pm
Now I remember. Its one of the Boston Accoustic speakers I salvaged from the dead truck. That sucker should have worked quite nicely.
Why do you only have one?
unclehobart
2/22/06, 06:38pm
4
Why don't you sell them on eBay?
Also, what size are they?
unclehobart
2/22/06, 06:49pm
Hell if I remember. Theyre tucked off deep in a closet.
*trying to work up the gives-a-damn to go closet diving*
one of these speaker magnets could have worked :D
...if it didn't pull the nails out of the floor when you went to pick it up.
unclehobart
2/24/06, 08:09am
No shit. That thing is probably strong enough to mess up cell phones.
it hasn't take out my cell phone yet
DUDES!!!!! We got a commercial post card in the mail yesterday advertising the Grand Opening of a new Goodwill just a tick down the road...course the opening was last week but we went today! We scored big! BIG!!! we waltzed outta there spending on $250 with what would have cost us brand new several thousand! I have soooo much inventory now! Alot of this stuff still has the tags! :D
AND THEN as we are driving by our neighbors we notice a sweet wooden doll house sitting next to the trash....having no shame I get and and look at it. Heavy as heck with a staircase and matching gazebo, in the trunk it goes! BUT WAIT! Next to the doll house was a cardboard box and thinking it might be furniture for the house or something I look inside. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY FILLED WITH DISNEY VHS TAPE STILL IN THE CASES!!!!!! Obviously somebody upgraded to DVD. SCORE!!!!!
unclehobart
2/28/06, 01:17pm
Yeah... an easy $200 hardwood dollhouse and about 25-30 tapes. Major score.
Professur
2/28/06, 01:18pm
A goodwill store in a neighbourhood where a shack goes for a quarter mil. Brilliant.
That's why we spent so much there, good name brands :shrug:
I left a pair of Todd Oldham jeans on the rack because they were missing the size tag.
Professur
2/28/06, 01:26pm
I left a pair of Todd Oldham jeans on the rack because they were missing the size tag.
Never heard of him.
Men...that's what Rob said.
Professur
2/28/06, 01:28pm
Have I mentionned that I think Rob is a very clear thinker? Unlike Ron, who's a sleeze bucket.
unclehobart
2/28/06, 01:36pm
A goodwill store in a neighbourhood where a shack goes for a quarter mil. Brilliant.
Dude... Its a gravity well for top dollar castoffs. Its a dream come true.
oh... and the shacks are 400+
unclehobart
2/28/06, 01:37pm
Men...that's what Rob said.I said 'men'? God, I need more coffee; don't remember doing that.
unclehobart
2/28/06, 01:38pm
Have I mentionned that I think Rob is a very clear thinker? Unlike Ron, who's a sleeze bucket.
All thought and no application... unlike Ron... he can play the guitar and has a masters degree in tight pants.
I said 'men'? God, I need more coffee; don't remember doing that.
:lol2:
Slim Pickens
2/28/06, 02:26pm
Tonks! Can you get me a list of titles? We should coordinate on our Disney titles, so we can make sure we have copies at each house. I bought one of those DVD recorders, but I still haven't hooked it up. When I do, Roz and I are gonna start converting all VHS to DVD. Multiple copies, of course. :)
Professur
2/28/06, 02:31pm
Tonks! Can you get me a list of titles? We should coordinate on our Disney titles, so we can make sure we have copies at each house. I bought one of those DVD recorders, but I still haven't hooked it up. When I do, Roz and I are gonna start converting all VHS to DVD. Multiple copies, of course. :)
Y'know. If someone had the bandwidth, we could set up a streaming server for the kids to watch.
I'll get you the list. We (meaning us, you guys, or Susu) have most of the titles, in either VHS or DVD, though.
Man tonks .. I'm so jealous. Our Goodwill here is crap. On O'ahu it's not too bad - and they have "Savers". But still - it's just the same crap that came from here to begin with :D
Let me ask you though - around here, at Sallie's and Willy's, everything has that 'musty-moldy' smell. Do you have a problem with that there?
Only occasionally. Everything gets washed, though...unless it has it's tags, meaning it was never worn. Oxyclean and fabric softener with febreze in it works wonders! I have recently bought my first Dryel set up to clean dry cleanable objecta at home, so hopefully that works well!
unclehobart
2/28/06, 04:58pm
That truly depends upon how long the garments have been deep storaged before being given over to goodwill. Most of the garments are perfectly fine... but some reek of attic/closet mold/mustiness.
Our of curiousity, how much were the Todd Oldham jeans going for?
Out here, on those rare occasions that something of that quality would come up, worn of course, they're pricey by thrift store standards.
Our of curiousity, how much were the Todd Oldham jeans going for?
Out here, on those rare occasions that something of that quality would come up, worn of course, they're pricey by thrift store standards.
$4.53...:laugh5:
The jeans are all the same price.
$4.53...:laugh5:
The jeans are all the same price.
:O
omg ... we really suck out here LOL
I love the thrifts!
I made an interesting find today, though...It's a shirt from PZI Denim Jeans co, still has it's store tags (and $39 price tag). I looked it up on ebay and the only thing I could find under PZI as far as clothes were concerned was a pair of worn jeans that sold for just under $50. The shirt says made in Canada on the size tag....I wonder if it's a good brand up there. Any Canadians heard of it?
unclehobart
2/28/06, 05:45pm
:O
omg ... we really suck out here LOLIts just a side effect of living against a 4 million population city.
Only occasionally. Everything gets washed, though...unless it has it's tags, meaning it was never worn. Oxyclean and fabric softener with febreze in it works wonders! I have recently bought my first Dryel set up to clean dry cleanable objecta at home, so hopefully that works well!GAIN!!!!!
no, really.
GAIN!!!!!
no, really.
:headbang: That's totally what I use with the oxyclean and dryer sheets!
He keeps laughing at me cause I keep smelling the clothes and generally acting like the Gain commercials, but I don`t care, I like it :laugh:
I love Gain .. but once, I bought a particular dryer sheet and I can't remember which one it was (what brand or scent) and it just did not jive well with the detergent .. needless to say ... it was not pleasant :D
unclehobart
3/01/06, 02:33pm
Not a fan of 'new car smell' dryer sheets, eh?... ;)
I love the ones called 'spring meadow' and such. Fankly, I didn't know spring meadows smell like someone stomping on a reeky perfume bottle.
I'd like to market "stockyard" dryer sheets just to see if anyone's dumb enough to buy them. :D
What about cedar? You know, for that hampster cage smell.
:D @ the hamster thing. Before I moved to Hilo, we lived in a two-story A-frame cedar house. At first, I liked the smell .. but after a while .. my own house gave me a headache LOL
Actually, I don't know if I've ever actually been in a meadow...not sure what it is, by definition. If it's like the pastures we have out here in the country, I seriously don't want my clothes smelling that way :D
paul_valaru
3/02/06, 12:29am
He keeps laughing at me cause I keep smelling the clothes and generally acting like the Gain commercials, but I don`t care, I like it :laugh:
no I laugh cause it is more like and herbal essence commercial...
no I laugh cause it is more like and herbal essence commercial...
Where it sounds like she's having an orgasm? I have herbal essense and was going to do that one day while showering to freak my roomie out but we had company so I didn't...don't want people I just met (was my roomie's friend) thinking I'm TO weird :D
paul_valaru
3/02/06, 01:00am
Where it sounds like she's having an orgasm? I have herbal essense and was going to do that one day while showering to freak my roomie out but we had company so I didn't...don't want people I just met (was my roomie's friend) thinking I'm TO weird :D
what, don't want to show the real you???
hehe
and yes the orgasm one.
what, don't want to show the real you???
hehe
and yes the orgasm one.
No, most people need to be eased into the real me
paul_valaru
3/02/06, 01:06am
No, most people need to be eased into the real me
or the restraining orders start? been there, done that, lol
or the restraining orders start? been there, done that, lol
Usually they just don't come back around...my roommate and I are both oversharers though so it works well. She had forgotten that she told me she doesn't swallow and in the middle of burger king the other day a friend of ours made her laugh with her mouth full and she muttered "I need to swallow this" through the mouth full of burger she had...I looked at her and said "Thought you said you don't swallow?" she LOST it (as in started laughing hysterically) she had to spit her burger into her napkin and then said "How did you know that about me?" it was friggin' HILARIOUS!
paul_valaru
3/02/06, 01:13am
Usually they just don't come back around...my roommate and I are both oversharers though so it works well. She had forgotten that she told me she doesn't swallow and in the middle of burger king the other day a friend of ours made her laugh with her mouth full and she muttered "I need to swallow this" through the mouth full of burger she had...I looked at her and said "Thought you said you don't swallow?" she LOST it (as in started laughing hysterically) she had to spit her burger into her napkin and then said "How did you know that about me?" it was friggin' HILARIOUS!
doesn't swallow???
and you put up with this person?
shame!!!!
doesn't swallow???
and you put up with this person?
shame!!!!
How does it affect ME in anyway??
paul_valaru
3/02/06, 01:20am
How does it affect ME in anyway??
well you might pick up bad habits
well you might pick up bad habits
Ok, we're close but not THAT close. I'm not in the room when she's doing the thing one does before they're in a spit or swallow position...I'm also not in the room when she's in the spit or swallow position...:blank:
paul_valaru
3/02/06, 01:30am
Ok, we're close but not THAT close. I'm not in the room when she's doing the thing one does before they're in a spit or swallow position...I'm also not in the room when she's in the spit or swallow position...:blank:
WHA!!!!!!!!!!
you mean all those female roomate movies aren't true????
I am crushed
WHA!!!!!!!!!!
you mean all those female roomate movies aren't true????
I am crushed
:p
We've all forgotten the most important question of all... do you swallow?
Professur
3/02/06, 09:29am
She's already answered that in another thread.
She's already answered that in another thread.
And for that reason I shall not answer it here.
Inky: If you wanna know then hunt for it!
Prof: DON'T help him!
We had a thread about this? Jesus....
*wanders off trying to remember what info was spilled about herself.
eeew...gooey pun not really intended.
Professur
3/02/06, 09:57am
And for that reason I shall not answer it here.
Inky: If you wanna know then hunt for it!
Prof: DON'T help him!
I had no intention of it.
Tonks, I was right about the missus. She couldn't wait to get me outta the house to have a coffee in her new mug. She said it actually tasted better.
I had no intention of it.
Tonks, I was right about the missus. She couldn't wait to get me outta the house to have a coffee in her new mug. She said it actually tasted better.
Why can't you be in the house while she uses them?
Professur
3/02/06, 10:03am
I already answered that in another thread.
I already answered that in another thread.
Cause you can't stand the smell of coffee??
Professur
3/02/06, 10:08am
Give the little girl a lollipop.
unclehobart
3/02/06, 10:09am
The description was something along the lines of hyena grade retching at the mere presence of coffee grounds within 3 meters... even through lead... sorta like superman/kryptonite.
OOOOOH! Reminds me of my old av.....wonder if I still have that?
Give the little girl a lollipop.
Can I have some timmie's cappucino instead? I am having a damned hard time keeping my eyes open...
Professur
3/02/06, 10:14am
No, you're too young.
Rob, admit it. I managed to keep myself under control all the time I was a your place, didn't I?
No, you're too young.
Rob, admit it. I managed to keep myself under control all the time I was a your place, didn't I?
TOO YOUNG? For Timmie's Cappucino?!
Marlowe is already addicted...bad, too. We took them for ice cream at Cold Stone and she orders coffee flavored...with sprinkles!
Professur
3/02/06, 10:21am
Last time I went for the hyena grade retching was I had a chocolate tart of some form or another, and instead of a bit of chocolate on the top, they'd put a coffee bean. I was deep in conversation when I bit into it. Shall we leave it at "the table had to be put back in it's place."
Slim Pickens
3/02/06, 01:05pm
Marlowe is already addicted...bad, too. We took them for ice cream at Cold Stone and she orders coffee flavored...with sprinkles!
Well, at least she gets it honest-I don't know about you, but I started drinking cafe au lait when I was still in diapers
My mother is a Kiwi so I was raised on tea. Found coffee as a teenager and am currently an avid drinker of both.
Slim Pickens
3/02/06, 03:34pm
My mother is a Kiwi so I was raised on tea. Found coffee as a teenager and am currently an avid drinker of both.
And made me into an occasional tea drinker
*whistles* (http://www.otcentral.com/forum/showpost.php?p=129598&postcount=30)
AlphaTroll
3/15/06, 05:12am
Why don't you sell them on eBay?
Also, what size are they?
Why would anyone buy something like that?
Free cup of joe at all Starbucks (http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0314freestarbucks14-ON.html)
unclehobart
3/15/06, 07:57am
Only for you in AZ though. I dare say the price of gas would offset the cost of a cuppa.
AlphaTroll
3/15/06, 08:02am
Making your own at home seems to nullify the problem :shrug:
(Kaz = cheepskate didntcha know?)
Only for you in AZ though. I dare say the price of gas would offset the cost of a cuppa.
Nope. It's national.
GAIN!!!!!
no, really.
Gain has fabric softener now!!!! :jump:
Oooooh! I'll hafta look for that!
I saw it in Wal-Mart.
But I didn't get it cause I just bought a bunch of Snuggle that was on a dollar a box. So I have to whip through that first :D
Then would it be your Gain and Wal-Mart's loss?
unclehobart
3/20/06, 06:10pm
Weak. That was worth only a 2.0 difficulty for scoring. Try for a 2.7.
Weak. That was worth only a 2.0 difficulty for scoring. Try for a 2.7.
:(
vBulletin® v3.6.8, Copyright ©2000-2012, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.