Thrift Stores Hereabouts
We never get yard sales this time of year. I live in downtown Boston anyway, so there are never many, but I take the subway or bus to the burbs and go to them, in season. There are 2 Salvation Armies and 3 Goodwills that I visit fairly often. The one nearest my house is the main Goodwill branch for the area. Most of them rarely have any tapes at all. The out-of -the-way thrift stores fair better. When they do have them they're usually a 99c each. I was lucky a few weeks ago to score some for 50c. My best finds often come from the trash pickers who sell used books to me at my job. If they find 8-tracks they bring them to me. It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it's great. Luckily I started collecting in '93, when the thrift stores weren't quite so dried up, and expensive. And my ex-girlfriend had a truck, so we could go further afield looking for things. So now I have thousands of carts so it's okay if I find new ones more slowly.

I do buy stuff on ebay. Usually I buy lots, so I get a pretty good deal, but sometimes I spend too much on a tape. . It isn't as rewarding as getting a good deal. I paid twenty-something for a Velvet Underground 8-track last year...I guess I'm glad I did it, because I still haven't found any cheap ones and it's been 10 years of collecting, but I feel sorta ripped off. Someday I'll find a dupe of it cheap and recoup my losses selling it for more than that even.

I love trading tapes with other collectors best, because it's not participating in the whole American consumer culture, like shopping only at thrift stores and used places. Rambling 8-track ruminations.