That's where the second-hand store comes in. Among the hundreds of cool independent stores is a strong contingent of second-hand shops. Whatever you're looking for, be it books, music, furniture, clothes, or odds and ends, if you are looking to save a few bucks -- and aren't we all these days -- chances are you'll find a store here in Austin that will turn you into a regular.
Now that we've been here for over a year, we've had the opportunity to make the rounds. Here are a few places we've been that really stand out:
An All-Around Second-Hand Mecca
Okay, after dissing chains and boxed stores, the first place I mention is a chain. But Half-Price Books on North Lamar simply rules! Walk in, browse through the books, find the first one that you can't resist, and we challenge you to walk out with just that one item. Junky for media but don't feel like you can justify the cost? This place is where you'll go to get your fix. There's a huge, well-organized collection of books that seems to replenish itself faster than shoppers can deplete it. Recently I was looking for a book and they didn't have it, but I returned pretty shortly thereafter and they had multiple copies.
If all the place had was used books, it would still be great, but HPB also stocks tons of CDs (and vinyl if you're old school like that), a large wall full of DVDs, computer software (not used but deeply discounted), video games, board and table games, magazines, posters and more. There are other outlets in Austin -- the one on South Lamar is pretty good, too -- but this one is my favorite. As an added advantage, there's a very large Goodwill store next door, which we haven't been to but have been told has lots of second-hand goodness inside.
It's hard to resist filling up a shopping bag. Here's evidence from our last visit:
The yield from one trip to Half Price Books (plus a couple of things from Recyled Reads)
More Books
When we moved here, we were surprised that there were so few used book stores in town. For a while, Half Price Books was single-handedly carrying the torch. Lucky for us, just a couple of weeks ago, a new venture operated by the Austin Public Library opened up. Recycled Reads doesn't have nearly as deep an inventory as HPB, but the prices are about as low as they get: $1 for most paperbacks and $2 for most hardcovers. Plus, there's a green, feel-good element to shopping at Recycled Reads: Items Recycled Reads is unable to sell will go to Books Beyond Borders to provide books and funding to third-world schools and libraries, and unusable items will be recycled into building material.
The Used Music Capital of the World
Shopping for used music is something I haven't been able to resist since living in Boston and frequenting Disc Diggers, Planet Records, Nuggets and the like. Hartford didn't have jack by way of good music stores, let alone good used music stores. In Austin, there are too many to count. Aside from the already-touted Half Price Books, here are some other stand-outs.
Waterloo Records
This place is an Austin institution. Waterloo isn't huge, but it packs a ton of good music inside, both new and used. There are lots of spots throughout the store that show off things like staff recommendations, top selling new CDs and Texas music. It is also a good place to find new vinyl, which is often hard to get these days. The used section is great and well-organized. There's a great section with all of the CDs that have come in during the past 7 days that have yet to be organized and filed. Great place to flip if you're coming in without any idea of what you want. Watch out if you're there with me, though, as I might lose track of time and kill the afternoon.
Waterloo also regularly hosts free live appearances by good local and non-local artists.
Alejandro Escovedo, an Austin-based breakout artist, rocking Waterloo
Cheapo Discs
Right up the street, Cheapo Discs packs a ton of used (and some new) CDs and LPs into the former original location of the Whole Foods flagship store. Sure, the place is a bit grungy -- one time a bat started circling the store while we shopped, making the two young ladies working the registers shriek each it passed over the checkout area on its circuit -- but this place has tons of good stuff at good prices. Similar to Waterloo, it has a big section with newly acquired, yet-to-be-filed music, just in case you show up without an agenda. Cheapo might be the best used music store I've had the pleasure of spending spare change in.
Here's our prior entry about a trip to Cheapo.
Antone's
Antone's is a lot smaller than Cheapo or Waterloo, but the place has some history. Antone's is heavy on the Texas music and blues, but also carries lots more across the musical spectrum. It makes for a good side attraction when visiting Ruby's BBQ.
Friends of Sound
I've only been here once. Friends of Sound is vinyl paradise -- particularly if you're into Moog synthesizer records, space music and other loungetastic audio treats. There's a big room in the back with lots of bargains, but you might have to sift through a lot of Leo Sayer, Journey and Herb Albert to find what you're looking for.
Furniture, accessories and lunchboxes
We posted a long time ago about a day we spent checking out many little furniture stores, including several vintage ones: Room Service Vintage, Hog Wild Texas, Austin Antique Mall, Austin Home Collection and It's New to Me. I guess I don't need to repeat what we said earlier -- keep these places in mind if you are in the market for a Fonzie lunchbox. Eyyyy!
Stay tuned for my upcoming list of the best previously owned CDs we've obtained since we moved here. That was 16 months ago. Can you believe it?
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