Reading's Value can be Measured in Dollars

It was a busy Saturday at the fundraiser, when a lady asked whether the Hometics Full Body Foldup Body Massage Mat worked. Since we all wanted to try it out, but had no time, we pointed her to the nearest electric outlet. The report came back that it was a failure and we should trash it. Well, I still wanted to try it out. It appeared new and sold for nearly $100 in the stores. Since it had a lot of controls and I wasn't sure how to use it, I read the first direction and ... Oh, my! It works only when it has pressure on its pads. Well I put pressure on its pads and it vibrated and heated and I purred. I wasn't too sorry as I peeled off the seven dollar bills and paid the sales tax. Reading had just saved me $90. Do you know where I can get another one? My wife took this one over. A small cost to pay for a contented wife. NOTE: Volunteers and staff are not allowed to buy donated items on the first day they are on display.

Volunteers were sorting new donations and one found a small horseshoe necklace in a gift box from Kay's. After a close examination she surmised it was gold and suggested we should price it higher than the costume jewelry. I priced it at $35, thinking that would be about 90% off retail and a fair price. Our food pantry could buy a lot of food for that $35! Our customers stopped and looked at it all day and said it was nice, but we had it priced too high, until just before closing. A regular customer came in, took one look at it, and asked us to hold it until he could come back with the money. He went out to get the money and we found he also checked with Kay's on the value. He said it was originally $379. A volunteer took the time to squint at the tiny gold stamp. A customer took time to look closely at it and read Kay's price list. He saved $340 and went on to make someone very happy.

The girl came with her mother, but she didn't want to spend one minute of her Saturday afternoon in any thrift shop. Time passed and they eventually approached the register. Mom told me that her daughter was glad she came to the shop after all. It seems, she found a sweater that was worth more than anything she ever had in her life and could hardly wait to wear it to school. The new store tags hanging off the sleeve displayed a price over $300 and mom had just purchased it from our fundraiser for $5. We don't know the criteria the young lady used to pick out this special garment, but she was overjoyed to read the tag that announced her $300 savings. Maybe she had just crawled the rack reading price tags.

Imagine handing someone from North Carolina a $100 pile of Pennsylvania quarters and having them thrown in the trash can, because everyone knows they can only be used in Pennsylvania. Silly? Yes, but it happens everyday when people jump to conclusions without reading. All across the country county commissioners are making available a discount prescription drug program. At the top of the card is the name of the county and the commissioners that issued the local card. In the first paragraph it explains that the card is valid at 9 out of 10 pharmacies from coast to coast. it is even good for Obama's family in Hawaii and Palin's in Alaska. This card that saved our friends and neighbors over $1 million in its first 9 months, is often thrown away, because everyone knows it can't possibly be used anywhere that is not on the top line. Folks, I don't really want to hear about the high costs of drugs from people that can afford to throw away 10-40%, because they don't want to read any farther than the top line.