That being said, I've developed my own strategy for combing the shelves:
1. Don't take chances. I know, it seems like a great opportunity to experiment -- it's so cheap! -- but in my case, I just end up with a stack of losers. Maybe, maybe once in a while it might pay off, but like winning the lotto, the odds are against it.
2. Avoid the budget labels. This one's easier said than done if you don't know which record companies were originally cheap -- in the thrift store rack, every CD is equal. Budget labels retail for half the price of regular labels, and the reason is that they're usually always not very good. Greatest hits albums that feature remakes of the hits, jazz collections that are bootleg recordings of live European tours, or new recordings by big bands still on the road long after any original members have died, classical recordings done by less-than-talented orchestras, even repackaged 'original' recordings that have fallen out of copyright -- there's a lot of junk out there. (LaserLight, I'm looking at you.) Sometimes a classical budget label turns out great; Naxos started out poorly (their stuff sold for $4.95 when major labels were still going for $16.99), mostly with recordings of the standard repertoire by Eastern European ensembles. Later though, Naxos' quality improved so that their releases were showing up on many "Best of the Year" lists.
3. Stick with the budget labels. Wait, what? Okay, here's my point: classical labels that have been around for a while amass a huge catalog. How do you sell a Beethoven symphony recorded in the '70s (or earlier) when there's 10 other versions of the same symphony on your label alone? Sell it cheaper. Every major classical label has their budget line, and if you can read the tiny print (harder and harder for me these days), you'll see what parent label is spinning off titles at the budget price. The Handel pictured above isn't the CD I found, but is the original on Teldec. I found the 'Ultima' release, but I still noticed the red triangle that's Teldec's trademark. A 2 CD set, recorded direct-to-digital in 1983, resissued in 1997, and bought in 2013 for $1.99! The performance is a hoot, too. I first heard "The Messiah" in raise-the-roof versions where everyone was singing for their life. This original-instrument version is much, much quieter; I told my wife the chorus of "For Unto Us a Child Is Born" sounds like the downstairs staff singing in the hallway just outside the nursery -- don't want to wake anyone up!
4. Small, unknown labels can hold treasures. Rule of thumb is: countries with a 'relaxed' attitude toward copyright produce an abundance of repackaging. That's why you see so many Bob Marley CDs released by anybody with a pressing plant in their garage. And Bob of course was no help, re-recording many of his own songs multiple times so that it's hard to tell if you're buying the version you know and love or some bad demo version. I lucked out with the Gabby disc. My vague notion of the Hawaiian music industry was that there wasn't really much of an 'industry' but rather a loose network of tiny boutique labels. I recognized some of the Gabby songs from the soundtrack to "The Descendants" -- another score for under 2 bucks!
5. Expect seredipity. Yes, this whole post is full of the worst, most contradictory advice, it would seem... I'm not talking about taking chances, but sometimes you get totally gob-smacked by what you can find. Last week, I found a primo copy of "Epsilon in Malaysian Pale" by Edgar Froese. I know! (It's the second solo CD by the Tangerine Dream founder, as if you didn't know.) Anyway, not what you'd ever expect to find in a Mount Vernon Value Village!
I hit Value Village a week later and the shelves were decimated, but I'll try it late next week and see what awaits. I can't imagine this gold rush will last much longer, but I'll keep mining until it taps out.
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