Where I live thrift stores take in computers for recycling only. Dumpster diving is not an option: that is a misdemeanor / felony when someone reports you.

I sometimes find them on Craigslist. Picked up a 80286 for $25 last month and a 19" CRT for free yesterday.

eBay is my preferred channel ($75 / 100 for a desktop is the norm on the low end) or Vintage Computer Forum (lots of stuff up for sale there).

I used to find my stuff while dumpsterdiving and it's how I got most of my stuff. In more recent years I got bits and parts from all over the place, by buying on local WTS sites, by getting stuff for free from people I know or people I met and had a friendly chat with. I used to ebay, but I don't anymore since ebay generally stinks these days (the search options are terrible and I already gave up after that and more people ask more money for their old stuff on ebay these days it seems). I also find stuff in thrift stores (very occasionally) and from time to time I'm donated something by relatives and friends.

You just have to open your eyes and see what opportunities you have.

It is also a hunt. When buying a complete system or an upgrade (or downgrade) set, I try to look at the value of the parts and not the system as a whole.

Dumpsters 😀

These days almost exclusively from the "electronic waste" dumpster in our "garbage room".
Perhaps 50 families share "garbage room" in my neighborhood so there are limited ammount of useful things to loot.

The loot from the garbage room is often incomplete and that leads to the other source Ebay or its Swedish sister site Tradera.

Texas doesn't have the best pickings often but in places like Dallas and Houston one can still find some good hauls but metal scrappers than rummage through and nazi land lords make it that much harder 😵 .

Thrift shops sometimes have good finds but most have only junk that no one wants.

Stuff is given to me here and there (e.g. my current Pentium build/nightmare was found in a neighbor's garage during a clean-out), and used purchases - the loss of Computer Geeks has put a huge damper on things though. I also tend to keep any hardware I buy, so in some cases I've had the hardware for a decade or longer and can continue to use it (like my Pentium 4 system - it was brand new to me in 2001).

I've never had a good experience with buying used systems from thrift shops, computer stores, etc - it's usually half-broken junk that would be better off recycled, and despite that they want near retail pricing for it ($200 for a Pentium II? you betcha!). Never gone "actual" dumpster diving (have never had to) - have saved some machines from the trash before, but that's about the extent of it.

Not surprised you aren't seeing Pentium II-III era systems at thrift shops - you gotta remember that with hardware pre-Y2K it was usually businesses, schools, etc (large organizations) buying the majority of computers; not every household owned multiple complete systems, nor did they have the Internet. So the majority of those machines have been recycled or otherwise handled years ago. At least, that's always been my understanding of why that stuff isn't as common as you'd expect it to be. No idea what most people do with their personal systems - I'm guessing they probably either just go in the trash or get buried in the basement/garage though.

obobskivich wrote:

I've never had a good experience with buying used systems from thrift shops, computer stores, etc - it's usually half-broken junk that would be better off recycled, and despite that they want near retail pricing for it ($200 for a Pentium II? you betcha!).

I have learned to spot bad caps in thumbnail sized pictures... A must have skill when you buy second hand stuff on the net 😀.
Thrift shops are not good places to buy unboxed hardware but complete systems can be OK as long as the price is right.

For new parts I turn to Performance PC, Frozen CPU, Newegg and Amazon, and for vintage gear I'm pretty much tied to eBay. While very little has come my way via thrift shops or the 'ol dumpster, over the years I've done well with office discards: Big city -> quite a bit of 10 year old gear on the verge of hitting the sidewalk/loading dock at any given time. Also, I've been associated with an office for years now and they always ask me if I want to cannibalize a system slated for the trash heap. That's be a reliable source for basic items like ram, HDs, CDRs, cables etc., though enthusiast grade GPU's, CPU's and motherboards are hard to come by in this fashion.

Where i get my stuff..

Mostly i bought second hands computers, or get things for free or for a nice price.
A lot thing a just need to pay for it.. I consider if the computer boards / parts are worth to have..
Mosty expensive things i got from ebay..
If i disamble secondhand computers, then frequency i found very good usefull stuff in those computers.. (and some of good luck offcourse)

I can't remember the last time I saw a computer in a thrift store, or good vintage audio. My guess is employees are buying it and selling it online. Probably would have better luck at pawnshops, but pawnshops are not cheap. Plus I feel dirty when I go in one.

Pawn shops here are not interested in computers unless they are Apple. They only like fast selling items with a high mark up. Makes sense with the high cost of running a business on the island. There is a guy with lots of obsolete computer parts where I live. For a while I was allowed to rummage at my discretion. Never really found anything of value. Now I just buy OEM desktops: best value proposition. Games I like really do not care about specific hardware.

Old ones are hard to find here. Everyone is scrapping them for the gold inside. It's like comics during WWII all over again.

Find Estate Sales. A lot of old people are dying and have old computers just collecting in their basements for 30 years.

eBay / Craigslist are my methods of choice. Thrift stores / estate & garage & yard & tag sales take up to much time.

In Russia, old PCs are very cheap. It's very unlikely for anyone to sell a retro PC for $100, if it isn't a complete brand-name set (with CRT, keyboard and mouse) in a good condition. It is easy to buy even a branded PC for $15-30.

Some examples:

Just plain noname PC: $3

Compaq Prolinea Net1/33S: $15
Some Macintosh: $15
Compaq Deskpro: $15
Some ALR desktop with MAG display: $15
Compaq DeskPro: $25
HP Vectra: $25

Also, I have once bought a Siemens Nixdorf Scenic Pro C5 (P233MMX) from a German seller: €35 + €45 DHL shipping (13 Kg).
Acquired a half-dead Siemens Nixdorf Scenic Pro C6 (PPro-180) locally in exchange for a new pneumatic pistol (which cost me $70).

My Samsung 486S/25Q desktop with dead socketed DALLAS battery but otherwise new inside (while being slightly worn outside) cost me $50 locally. Said to be thrown into a dark corner of some company's warehouse and lying there for 20 years (1993-2013).

From my dad (he services all the old computers for ORTHO mattress computers so when they upgraded their computers (currently transferring them to the windows XP boxes), also from friends and eBay/Craigslist. Also in Californian trash if it's out at the curb is considered public domain, now dumpsters is not directly on private property eg: construction site or property is ok to dive in, if its against a building it's best to ask the manager(s) of the shopping place if its ok to do so. Though still you might get in trouble if a cop drives by you'll have to explain what you're doing.

Don't have anything useful in respects to thrift/dumpster diving near me.. so I just buy whatever leftover stuff badmofo doesn't want 😀

Someone put an old PC in Helix Episode 6 at mark 14:50 🤣

^ I noticed that too!!! 🤣 🤣 🤣 pizza-box with 5.25" drive 😁

OMG I noticed that PC as well 🤣