random pack I had to buy at a thrift store

Last Visible Canary

Last Visible Canary

actively parsing hurf durf
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Nov 28, 2006
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Before reading this post know that I've contacted the seller and discussed the circumstances of the sale, and all parties are satisfied with the transaction. No wrong doing was intended or took place in the view of either party.


Hopefully this is the right place for this. It's not really gadgets and gear, nor is it wilderness survival. Since this forum includes wilderness gear, I'm showin you guys :)


I like going to this one thrift store in Tucson called "Casa de los Ninos" because they have a really nice bag section, and occasionally have hiking packs there. I ocne purchased a Dana Design pack for 20$ that I then sold for 160$ on ebay, but for the most part I just like the selection. I'm one of those weirdo's who likes any type of bag as long as the storage options and design are solid.

So I went rummaging and I saw this bag, marked for 25$. The first thing that struck me was the palls channels on the back, and the simplicity of the design. It at once reminded me of a very simplified mystery ranch pack. I turn it over, put it on, look at the pocket structures, but design to try to research it a bit before buying it. I go home, find a single ebay price on it and decide that even if it didn't work out I'd double my money even after fee's. The next day my girlfriend goes in to buy it for me, sent in with 30$. I had zipped up the back cover just to see what it looked like/how it functioned, and didn't unzip it, so the price was completely hidden and it looked like a duffel bag. When the lady asked if she new where the price marking was my girlfreind said no, not knowing where I got the 25$ from. So the lady said "um.... how about 6$?"

After some reading, I beleive this is to be part of the specialist series from Lowe Alpine Systems from the 80's during the beginning of frame stay internal framing. All I can find is that it's possibly called the "Travel Kinnic 2". I haven't loaded it up yet, but even if it doesn't ride well, I bought it as a piece of functional art.

Something about this design, the simplicity of it, speaks to me. It's like something I'd make if I was given only fabric and parts. Presenting my 6$ bag of awesome, next to a mystery ranch alpha wolf system:

P1140299.jpg

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Highly adjustable heigth, though not 'infinitely adjustable' like the velcro frame sheet from mystery ranch, it allows for a broader distance of adjustment.
P1140295.jpg

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Outer two long pockets/compartments:
P1140301.jpg


and one big inner compartment, basically a duffle bag with a simple frame system:
P1140302.jpg


the bag, completely closed up:
P1140300.jpg



It's not going to replace my mystery ranch just because it's not as advanced of a bag. It's lumbar system isn't as padded, it's frame system not able to take as heavy a load, and it's no where near as versatile. With the NICE frame I get 5 bags in one, the wolf pup alone, wolf pup with load sling, just load sling, wolf pup with alpha, and any combination of those with one or 2 long pockets and/or day pack lid. But, it's a beautiful bag to me. Even if I never use it, I might just put a frame around it and hang it from a hook on the wall, ready to be grabbed, filled and slung over my back at a moments notice.
 
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Last Visible Canary said:
Hopefully this is the right place for this. It's not really gadgets and gear, nor is it wilderness survival. Since this forum includes wilderness gear, I'm showin you guys :)


I like going to this one thrift store in Tucson called "Casa de los Ninos" because they have a really nice bag section, and occasionally have hiking packs there. I ocne purchased a Dana Design pack for 20$ that I then sold for 160$ on ebay, but for the most part I just like the selection. I'm one of those weirdo's who likes any type of bag as long as the storage options and design are solid.

So I went rummaging and I saw this bag, marked for 25$. The first thing that struck me was the palls channels on the back, and the simplicity of the design. It at once reminded me of a very simplified mystery ranch pack. I turn it over, put it on, look at the pocket structures, but design to try to research it a bit before buying it. I go home, find a single ebay price on it and decide that even if it didn't work out I'd double my money even after fee's. The next day my girlfriend goes in to buy it for me, sent in with 30$. I had zipped up the back cover just to see what it looked like/how it functioned, and didn't unzip it, so the price was completely hidden and it looked like a duffel bag. When the lady asked if she new where the price marking was my girlfreind said no, not knowing where I got the 25$ from. So the lady said "um.... how about 6$?"


Something about this design, the simplicity of it, speaks to me. It's like something I'd make if I was given only fabric and parts. Presenting my 6$ bag of awesome, next to a mystery ranch alpha wolf system:

P1140299.jpg
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So, even though you *knew* the price was $25, you didn't pay the full amount - only $6 of it? Have you gone back to pay the remaining $19?
 
fmajor007 said:
So, even though you *knew* the price was $25, you didn't pay the full amount - only $6 of it? Have you gone back to pay the remaining $19?
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The pricing at the thrift store, like many thrift stores, is set by whomever handles the bag when it first comes in. Each handler will set a different priced based on how they perceive the value of the bag vs. what they know of it's actual value vs. what their clientele will be willing to pay for it. In this case, in no way did I set out to deceive the store into allowing me to pay a lower price, I gave my girlfriend 30$, I told her that the bag was 25$ but she didn't know where I got the 25$ supposed price from since it wasn't visible on the bag. She thus paid the asking price that was presented to her by the handler at the register. No one was knowingly deceived or had any intent to deceive at any point. I did not intend to hide the price, I just forgot to unzip the back panel. Had I been there I would have paid the 25$ because I would have unzipped the bag to show her the price marked on it.

That said, my girlfriend, not knowing the location of the price or that any price was ever marked on the bag at all, paid the price asked of her by a staff member who is allowed to set prices on items set out for sale. Had that staff member been the one to have gotten the bag at the initial placement, it would have said 6$ on it, not 25. No one was deceived, I paid the price that was asked at the time under the circumstances that I did not knowingly set into play.

If you consider me a thief for accepting the terms of someones sale given to my proxy during a transaction that I could not be present at, that's fine. Given that the price was set by a designated store pricing handler I have no desire to pay more for it than what they asked. It would be like me going back to give them the additional 140$ I made on ebay off a pack I purchased from them earlier. If they wished to charge 160$ for the bag, the pricing handler should have asked that.
 
Dude, that's a pretty cool pack. Especially for $6! I know nothing about it, but it looks put together well. In fact, it's so impressive you should just give me your Mystery Ranch since you won't be needing it now.
 
Murphnuge said:
Dude, that's a pretty cool pack. Especially for $6! I know nothing about it, but it looks put together well. In fact, it's so impressive you should just give me your Mystery Ranch since you won't be needing it now.
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mystery ranch is for hiking, the lowe is for laundry and rock hounding :D
 
Yeah, had to try! I finally started using my MR 3 day assault and I love it.
 
Nice score. Grab a deal whever you find it. If army surplus meets my parameters, then that's what I'll grab.
 
You told your Girlfriend it was $25 so she knew she was ripping off the old lady, and you know what it was marked at...that's what matters!?
There is a difference between negotiating the price down and deceiving someone for a lowball price.
Especially since your a flipper any way, you made a killing on a DANA and it's still not enough that you need to make a killing on this bag too?
That lady that priced it "didn't take it in" so she doesn't have any idea that someone else paid more than $6 bucks when they did take it in.
Keep ripping them off and you won't have a place to go get flipper bags because they will be out of business.
 
For what it's worth canary, neither you nor your girlfriend did anything wrong. Buyers should not be obligated to correct the mistake of a salesperson, especially one who does not care enough to search the item thoroughly for its proper price tag.
Also, sweet score!

EDIT: upon re-inspection of the picture it appears that $25.00 is clearly marked on the lumbar support, definitely no wrong doing. Maybe go back and suggest the shop keeper renew her eyeglass prescription.
 
All else aside, good score on the pack. Thrift stores may be getting more expensive, but sometimes you can find a good deal. Here in SV, I picked up two of the SpecOps THE packs, ACU and tan, at two different stores. I paid about 30 bucks all told for them. I'll have to check ou that store next time I get into Tucson.
 
Nice score and interesting pack! I wonder what it was designed for.
 
1whobuys said:
You told your Girlfriend it was $25 so she knew she was ripping off the old lady, and you know what it was marked at...that's what matters!?
There is a difference between negotiating the price down and deceiving someone for a lowball price.
Especially since your a flipper any way, you made a killing on a DANA and it's still not enough that you need to make a killing on this bag too?
That lady that priced it "didn't take it in" so she doesn't have any idea that someone else paid more than $6 bucks when they did take it in.
Keep ripping them off and you won't have a place to go get flipper bags because they will be out of business.
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I have no intent of selling this bag. If I were to sell it, I'd make my money back, but that isn't going to happen. I've sold one single item I've found at a thrift store in my entire life, that hardly makes me a flipper. I've lost money on 95% of every knife I've ever resold, and I don't buy things solely with the intent to resell them later. I have a long history on ebay and bladeforums that verifies this.

I told my girlfriend the bag was 25$, but she had no idea where I got that number from because she couldn't find a price on it. As far as she knew I 'thought' it was 25$, but without seeing a price on it there's no way to know if that's the case. So she asked a member of the staff to price it, and they did. I paid what the store asked to be paid for the bag, the price being set by an employee who is trained by the store to price things. If they're going to go out of business it isn't going to be from me deceiving them, it's going to be because the employee's that are allowed to set prices too low, and there is inconsistency in pricing between employee's. That one of their members priced it at 6$ is part of their companies standards of pricing, they did their job. That someone else priced it at 25$ is a problem with their pricing standards, not my issue.

As far as the price asked for, the price paid, and the item being priced, I wasn't involved. My girlfriend acted as any other buyer would when wanting to purchase an item that appears to be unmarked, she asked for a price, was given one by the company, and paid for it. In the end, since she was my proxy, I paid the price that the company asked. That it was a different price than another person at the company asked isn't my problem, thats the companies issue with lack of consistent pricing standards.

Had someone else mentioned to them that the bag was unmarked, that lady would have taken a marker and marked it 6$. Thats the company, not me.
 
dougo83 said:
OP said he hid the price, plenty of wrong-doing there.
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This thread is less than a page long, it doesn't take that much time to read through the posts to find that at no point did I say "I hid the price" or "I wanted a lower price" or "I told my girlfriend to get a lower price". I adress it in post 3.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/s...buy-at-a-thrift-store?p=10541842#post10541842
Last Visible Canary said:
I did not intend to hide the price, I just forgot to unzip the back panel.
Click to expand...
 
seriously. I didn't steal from the place, I didn't intentionally hide the price so I could get a lower one. I didn't tell my girlfriend to try to get a lower price, to hide the price, or anything of the sort. I gave her 30$ to buy the bag, told her it was 25$. When she didn't see a price on it she asked what the price was and was told 6$ as any other person off the street would have done, thus paid the asking price from a member of the staff designated and trained to price bags. All I wanted to do was show off a really awesomely designed bag from the beginning of internal frame design, which I happened to get at a great price.

and I'm certainly not a flipper, which is out of left field considering my past history of lower-than-purchased-price sales here on bladeforums over the past 9 years.
 
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I locked this thread until I could contact the company and get there opinion on it. I sent them an email describing the circumstances but after a week without a reply I went in, bought some books and asked one of the register employee's what her opinion was on it. Jessica is there more often than not and is allowed to price items and her response was "we have so many people who are allowed to price things here, thats one of the nice things about a thrift store like this. Sometimes things get under priced sometimes over priced, it's always a grab bag. You've got nothing to worry about.".

After contacting the seller all parties are happy with the deal that transpired and no wrong doing or deceit took place. Each pricing agent is allowed by the company to set prices including the lowering of previously set prices if the customer requests it or no price is found on the bag upon inspection. The second pricing agent priced it according to their opinion and I paid the price they asked thus concluding a legal and satisfactory transaction with the company.
 
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I hate that you felt the need to do that - but I am glad to see all parties retract their statements and the discussion stayed civil.

TF
 
Yeah, it's cool that you went that far... but I don't feel like you needed to.
 
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