Thrift store shoppers, question for you

[Jupiter]

One of the thrift stores I go to recently switched over to bagging all the small toys. They seem to try to  bag similar items together. I will see 2 or 3 G3's and a McD's pony in one bag. Back in the day when I'd find G1's at this particular store I was sometimes able to talk to pricers into taking out just the pony from a bag and pricing it so I wouldn't have a buy a whole bag of junk I didn't want. I hardly ever see G1's in  my local thrift stores anymore sadly. I've been to a number of other  stores that just seem to grab a handful of toys and shove it in as bag.

It really seems like thrift stores don't want to bother having loose toys and pricing every single thing.

[Mermaid]

Definetly varies! At some stores I find them loose, but others bagged.

I usually will pick up ponies if I find them, but will leave g3s behind if the price is to high or they look manky. Usually with the bagged ponies I buy, I will take out what I like from the bag after I purchased it and bring the rest of the toys to another thrift store.

I totally once bought a bag of toys with a g1 baby sea pony, and several other toys including a mc Donald's Barbie with a pink ribbon tied around her from her previous owner. I brought the toys to another thrift including the Barbie, and in a few weeks there she was in a bag with a g1 shs. Bought her again and brought her back. Found her again with a few g3s and a g1 as wind whistler. I got a good laugh about buying her three times, I decided to keep her! She now lives on my book shelf, pink ribbon and all.

[sweetapple]

^I love that Barbie story xD I guess she wasn't planning on leaving you!

No matter which op shop I venture to here in Perth, Australia, I haven't found a G1 since the late nineties I've found G2s just once last year, on a shelf by themselves.
G3s, 3.5s and G4s are popular though, I see them sold single all the time, but a little more often they're bagged with other toys for about $2 per bag. I only see pony-themed bags once in a while (mixed with fakies and Mcdonalds) Mostly it's just unrelated toys, nothing I'm interested in (unless it's LPS). Like Mermaid, I just donate them again.

[shindow]

My Goodwills used to have loose items and then they had bags of grouped ponies and now you're lucky if theres 2 ponys in a bag full of junk for 2.99, sometimes 3.99... I've only found one G1 in my time searching and a ton of G3s.. but mostly McD's G4s...

[unicornprincess]

I have a local thrift store I go to a lot and when they get ponies whether it is Fakies or actual mlps they always end up in the same bags together. Unless there is a ton of then they might get broke up and put into other bags. Also most of the time the ponies when they end up into bags usually end up in bags for 3.00 USD. Not too long ago I found 3 G1's in a bag amongst a bunch of fakies since there was 3 in there I ended up buying. I don't get to go to the Goodwill very often since the closet one is miles away from me.

[ponybanker]

Savers always bags them, thats the only thrift i usually find them at lol. I will passon common ones unless they are multiple to a bag, they are suaully priced $1.99-4.99 depending on how many ponies are in the bag. I am going to Ca next week and cant wait to hit up the flea markets YAY... its been sooo long! At flea markets, i usually find them loose.

[Breyer600]

Thankfully, the Goodwills around here put ponies in the "Fill Your Own Grab Bag" bins.  They'll also sell individual items from the bins for 49 cents each if you don't want enough for a whole bag.  I love their stores! 

The AmVets thrift store on the other hand always bags their toys (and have now started bagging just about everything!).  They tried for a while to bag the toys randomly, but I don't think that went over well (the toy area was always full); so, they switched to bagging similar items together and now the toy section doesn't get overfull.  Even with bagging ponies together, they are usually way overpriced since it almost always is one G3 pony with a bunch of fakies and McDonalds ponies.  I've also been burned when I have picked up one of their bags due to the way they pack the bags hiding major flaws with the bag taped so tight you can't shift the items around.  (I really don't like their store much at all as I've frequently seen items priced higher than what I can get them for brand new, and only keep checking on the off chance they'll get a rare G1.) 

[NoPonySpecial]

The one thrift store where I sometimes find them (always G3s) they tend to put all the MLPs and horse-related toys in the same baggie. They like to go by theme.

I'm much more likely to find ponies at this one used toy store, and they are kind of devious when they make up baggies with one or two official MLPs and a bunch of fakies.

[invaderhorizongreen]

The nearest goodwill to me is almost an hour away, we just have a salvo here. I only find ponies once in a blue moon though, and very rarely are they gen 1.

[Galactica]

I used to find them all the time (usually bagged). In the last few years, not so much.  Goodwill seems to sell most of their ponies on shopgoodwill.com, where they get VERY competitive prices (the same or more than ebay often times). Still, it's fun to look and I'll admit I've jumped in and bought a lot or two before if it has something I really want in it...

[tymmorn]

I've found both bagged and loose, though more often than not all I find are fakies.  Only ever found 1 Breyer stablemate, and that was in a bag.  Nothing bigger.
I don't go thrifting as often as I'd like, but then again my town doesn't have very good pony-hunting stores.  For that, I have to go out of town to a Goodwill.

[DreamLight]

My thrift store doesn't bag ponies bigger then a g4 so I don't have that issue

[MoondancerMilkyWay]

if ever i find ponies they are usually bagged with other random things. i need to go to the thrift shop today...

[Psivampyr]

It depends on the store really- Once I found a big clear tote bag full of ponies at a Goodwill, it was hanging on a roller rack, the whole bag was 6 bucks!! At another Goodwill I found a lonely Parasol in the stuff animal bin, she was priced as if she was a stuffed animal. The girl let me have her for half the price however because she saw it wasn't a plushy. When I was in Oklahoma I went into a Vintage Stock store and on the wall in baggies there were ponies. They each were bagged separately, I only bought 2 as the others were full of mold. When I was at a thrift in Vegas the ponies were bagged with barbies and Monster High dolls, I bought the MH dolls and got a pony. When I lived in AZ I went to a Value Village, and the ponies were on a little shelf mixed with other toys loosely.

[Derpy309]

I work at a thrift shop (Poor me...) and one time I found a Surprise, I got her for 25 cents. I brought her home, sanitized her, restored her tangled hair and removed any markings with acertone. Then...my dog got her....