I just got back from a large thrift store just now. I picked up 6 circa 1960 retro wheat pattern saucers at 50 cents ea.. 4 retro coffee cups at 50 cents ea. A pattern cream and sugar oriental import for 2.00 ea. and in their showcase 2 sterling silver candle sticks for $15 the pair. I will mark up my pattern pieces for my indoor minimall space to at least 2.00 ea, likely 3.00 ea. and the candlesticks to 45.00 after I polish them.
Thrift stores have been selling stuffs to ebayers and minimall store owners for a number of years now. You have to frequent the places and do run throughs always picking off in your cart all you think you want. Sort out later what you do not want. We pull the furniture tag and take it home with us and then go there, when they open the doors in the morning and buy what we can afford for the day.
Big saturday flea markets are great too. You find out when they have setups and when the reserve tables go off reserve in the morning. All the first set up people from about 7:30 am to 9:00 am are always willing to make the best deals, because they havn't had time to think about it for pricing and want to pay for the table as fast as they can. All the dealers do the pickoffs at that time of the morning. Gold/silver jewelry, objects of art, furniture. My wife picked off a 1970's india import 4 panel full carved jarra wood 6ft. tall folding screen last weekend for 35.00. A customer later saw it and said they paid 500 for theirs. She has it in her shop for 400.00. Your hunting gets better in about a year of doing it a lot. You will buy some junk, but you will also find good stuff. Read and look at magazines on the stuff, so you are familiar with what you are looking at. I hope this helps.