It's getting hard to even give away CRT TV's

[radiotvnut]

I decided to do some cleaning out and took 3 CRT TV's to the flea market to give them (one a 19" Emerson remote set from '88, a 19" GE remote set from '89, and a 27" Sony Trinitron from 1992). Not that long ago, this flea market was happy to get whatever TV's I wanted to give them because they said people still bought them. Personally, I wasn't seeing any evidence of that and if they were actually getting the prices I saw marked on some of them, then I need to start dragging them home again. Based on what I was seeing, I don't think they were moving as quickly as he led me to believe.

Today, I showed him what I had and he showed no interest in any of them and said that he was trying to get out of fooling with TV's due to lack of interest in used ones. He said he had 30-40 that he needed to get rid of and would likely end up having to pay to get rid of them. He finally agreed to take the Sony, since it was in a black cabinet; but, would not take the two woodgrain-cased 19" sets.

A lady who my Mother knows, who collects things for the needy, said she'd take the other two and she happens to live down the road from the flea market. My Mother asked the lady if the people who'd be getting the TV's knew they were old TV's and this lady, who is in her 80's, feels about like I do about it.....if you're down and out, can't afford anything, and you claim you need a TV, then you should be happy with whatever you can get. Even before flat screens took over, I've tried to give TV's to so-called "needy" people....only to get turned down because they were not big enough, had no remote, were too old, etc.

As far as local places that still have CRT TV's, a few thrift stores still have them; but, they rarely have anything older than the late '90's and they don't appear to be moving. I suspect when these stores get rid of their current CRT sets, that will be the end.

Back in 1995, those 3 TV's that I gave away would have been about $250-$300 worth of used TV's and people would have been glad to buy them; but, today, if it's not a practically brand new large flat screen smart TV for a rock bottom price, they don't want them.

Back 25-30 years ago, there were still picky TV buyers; but, nothing like what it is today. Back then, I could sell just about anything that produced a picture, no matter if it was color or B&W or how old the set was. In fact, I often ran into older people, who only wanted a B&W set.

Something I regret about the past is not saving more of the older tube and early SS sets that I brought home because, today, they are almost non-existent in my area and with so many places no longer taking CRT sets, the situation isn't going to get better.