Thrifting Pair Fills An Entire Cart For $68, Then Nearly Grabs 20 Glass Balls Until A Quick Search Reveals They Are Not The $100 Crystal Versions

It was noon at Desert Industries Thrift Store, which is not exactly prime time. Jami says that in the afternoon she and Zeb sometimes find hardly anything, and she has almost walked out of this shop with an empty cart. This time, the cart filled up fast, and a pile of glass balls nearly made it in.

The couple behind @JamiRayVintage had a week and a half of thrifting to film, which is why they joke that viewers might see the same outfits for days. Desert Industries, she says, has the best pricing around.

Half A Cart Before She Even Left The Yard

The first stop was the dishes, where she liked some pretty bowls marked Royal Kent, Poland. The bowls were $2 and the plates were $3, and she thought they would look lovely on a plate wall. She skipped the dirty ones and one with what looked like glue, and took the clean ones.

Out in the yard, she found chairs for $15 each and then a basket of what looked like solid glass balls. “That’s cool,” she said, imagining them as a Christmas display. They were $2 each, and she counted 20 of them, which she figured came to about $28 in glass.

She also grabbed a treasure box for a youth activity and a fun little stool that might need new decoupage. Then she spotted two soup tureens at $5 each, both with their spoons. She says she uses those more as planters than soup bowls.

“I haven’t even left the yard, we’ve got half a cart,” she said.

A $3 Afghan, $3 Shams And A Hand-Painted Bowl

Inside, she saw a pretty pink Afghan from across the room for $3. It is baby-blanket size and delicate looking, and she loved it. She also found a pair of Euro shams for $3, which she thought would be cute coming into Christmas, and a Christmas box for $2 that turned out to work.

A dirty bowl that looked hand-painted was $2. A beveled mirror was $3, and she liked it because it is easy to ship and easy to make over. An old ironstone piece that she thought might be a chamber pot cost $2, and she says the crazing on it was lovely.

She also picked up a French milk creamer for $2, a German half-liter piece stamped Germany, and a basket she liked because it had no handle. A butterfly art piece was $5, and she wants to repaint the frame.

In the platters, she passed on a piece with a big chip and a Corning Ware platter, then took two pieces marked KPM Germany for $3 each, with no chips. She also passed on a chipped enamel bucket.

A Quick Search Showed The Glass Balls Were Not The $100 Crystal Kind

Then came the glass balls. Before committing, she did a quick search. She says that if they had been crystal, they would be worth about $100 each. But they were just glass.

That meant they were worth about $5 to $10 each, and she would have to invest about $28 to get them all. With that much money tied up and no sure sign they would sell quickly, she decided it was not a good return and left them there.

She grabbed one last item from the go-backs, a $3 find, and asked Zeb for the grand total. He said it was $68 for a full cart.

Goodwill In Salt Lake Added $57 More

The car was full because they had two other days of thrifting ahead. Next was the Goodwill in South Salt Lake. She was tempted by a basket at $5.99 but moved on, and took a tall lantern for $7.99, a tray with feet at $3.99, Rae Dunn trinket dishes at $3.99 and a Pioneer Woman mug at $2.99.

She also found a hand-painted wooden tray for $7.99, a bundt pan she loved for $3.99 and a little chicken egg cup for $2.99. A Rae Dunn trinket dish that said “junk” matched their “I love junk” shirts. The total for that Goodwill haul was $57.

The Thrift Boutique Furniture They Had To Pass On

At a third shop, a thrift boutique, they browsed the furniture. She says the shop always has great pieces. A sofa was $300 with delivery for $100, a secretary was $100, and a rocking cradle was $60. A trunk was $40.

Zeb said no furniture, since the car was packed and they had no truck. So she turned to smaller things. She bought espresso cups for $3 each, bean pots for $1 each, a $3 find and a wood-burned Vermont cutting board that looked like ones she bought a few weeks before. The total came to $22, or $17 after $5 in rewards.

They Went Back For The Glass Balls After Learning Zeb’s Aunt Collects Them

The couple returned to the first thrift store because, she says, Zeb found those glass balls and they did not buy them, and then they learned his aunt collects them. They did not find the clear glass balls on the return trip, but she found a long list of other things.

She took an angel for $1, a baby blanket for $3, a polka-dot quilt for $4, two king-size pillow shams, a quilted sham for $2, a gold wooden piece for $2, a pickle fork for 25 cents and a little bonsai planter. She also passed on a single Sheffield knife, saying she would buy it if she could find a set of two or four. The final total was $36.

What Happened To The Haul Back Home

Back home, the thrifted jars, which she paid $1.99 for at Goodwill, got Christmas Joy transfers and clear wax. She says they sold for about $12.95. Frames got fresh paint in a sage green she mixed from leftover Americana paint and Juniper, and old postcards went into a gold frame.

How To Decide If A Thrift Find Is Worth It

This trip offers a few lessons for any thrifter.

Search before you buy in bulk. A quick online check showed those 20 glass balls were worth $5 to $10 each, not the $100 crystal version.
Do the math on the total. She figured $28 for the whole lot and asked if the return made sense.
Check the go-backs. She reminds her viewers to look there for items other shoppers set aside.
Look at the maker marks. Poland, Germany and KPM stamps told her what she was holding.
Think small when the car is full. Small items like espresso cups and bean pots fit when furniture did not.

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