Railroad Salvage Stores

[fairy74]

Has anyone had any experience with these? Are there good deals to be had or not? I have a chance to go to one of these this weekend and I'd never heard of them before...Any thoughts?

[PRICEPLUS]

Never heard of them.What are they?

[fairy74]

supposedly if any merchandise gets dinged or boxes get crumpled while being transported on the railroad they sell off the goods cheap...at least that's my understanding of it, but I'm a little in the dark as to what exactly to expect?

[PRICEPLUS]

Sounds great. I have never heard of one around near me.

[Cheetahwoman7]

Googled the name. It appears that they're all located in CT. Never heard of them out here in Cali. Tell us how your shopping trip goes.

[tinapbeana]

fairy, we have something similar here but it's not 'railroad salvage'. there are a couple of food auctions where where items that were bent/dented during shipping have been sold wholesale to a business and the business then sells the items at the auction. there's also a lot of food-service items (like 2 lb bags of frozen veggies, pre-prepared spinach dip, seasoned chicken breasts, etc). i've had very good luck with them, and neither i nor my SIL have gotten an item that was truly bad (i.e. spoiled), just a few that weren't to our tastes.

[LuxLiving]

We have something similar only they take not only railroad salvage but semi-salvage and such. Always find something great there at low costs. Some is overpriced. Like any other shopping you need to know your prices and let the buyer beware...check things over carefully for dings, chips, missing pieces, etc. before you plunk your dollars down.

[bjl584]

There is a store similar to this in my area. I had a talk with the owner. He said that because his store is classified as a salvage store by the government, that he does not legally have to adhear to expiration dates on food products. Just a word of caution. You can get great deals at these types of stores, but it is very important to check dates and quality on food items that go bad such as milk, meats, eggs, etc.

[crazyBMB]

This is a very interesting. I will have to check this out

[lynclarke]

We used to have a salvage store about 30 miles from me. I LOVED it!!! You never knew what you could find. As a previous poster said, you really need to know your prices. But you can get some great deals. I can remember buying things like artichoke hearts for 39¢a can or Brennan seasonings (New Orleans) for 79¢. They even took coupons! But, like all good things, it came to an end. Wish I could find another one. You know, Old Time Pottery works on the same principle. They sell lots of stuff - if you see it- buy it or you may never see it again.

[fairy74]

Went on Saturday, appeared to be more than just railroad salvage, maybe trucking lines as well and all kinds of other salvage. It was a great experience, got bags of dog food where the label was slightly ripped, high grade variety for 3.00 per bag (yeah for doggies!) and DH got an MP3 player (good brand) in a dented box for $10.00. Definitely an interesting experience, there was a little of everything...worth checking out.

[nanamom]

I used to go to one in PA. You can get some good stuff and some stuff that makes you wonder why anyone ever made it. My DIL got some breakfast cereal boxes once that were 10 cents each. I'd love to find a place that was a salvage store around me.

[fairy74]

The place where I went was not listed in the phone book or online, but a friend of mine who is even more frugal than me, called BNSF, UP and some of the other local railroads to ask them where they sell their salvage and they gave her the phone number to contact. If anybody is not finding salvage stores in their areas, might be worth it contact trucking/moving lines, railroads, etc. and ask them where they sell their damaged goods.