The Showdown

Throughout history, there have been issues that have divided families, made enemies out of close friends, and even started vehement arguments that lasted until early hours. The Civil War, liberal versus conservative, paper versus plastic, Coke versus Pepsi...all pale in comparison to perhaps one of the greatest controversies of our age: Apple's iOs versus Google's Android OS. Throughout history, there have been issues that have divided families, made enemies out of close friends, and even started vehement arguments that lasted until early hours. The Civil War, liberal versus conservative, paper versus plastic, Coke versus Pepsi...all pale in comparison to perhaps one of the greatest controversies of our age: Apple's iOs versus Google's Android OS.

A Familiar Ring To It...

My favorite part of the day is when a young man enters my jewelry section in search for that one particular piece that will say to his prospective significant other, “yes, I love you enough that I would sacrifice this much money for you.”  My favorite part isn’t the look of joy he experiences when I give him an amazing deal on an amazing piece.  No, my favorite part is explaining to that young man that he is participating in a mating ritual that has existed since time immemorial!

Strange romantic symbolism binds our age to ancient times.  But our ties are lost if we forget why our traditions exist.  I mean, why do we wear rings on our ring fingers?  Why do we give our spouses gold?  Why do we spend so much money on diamonds?  Why do we choose diamonds anyways?  Everyone used to know the reasons why we have these traditions.  Now we simply operate as if these traditions were rules that always existed and never evolved.  But that isn’t true.

Fun Facts:

1.      The tradition of wearing a ring on the left hand wasn’t universally accepted until after WW2.  Almost all modern cultures wear the wedding band on the left hand, except for Korea.  Koreans traditionally wear their wedding band on the right hand.

2.      In ancient medicine, the ring finger was thought to house a nerve that connected it to the heart.  It was known as the Love Nerve.  By giving your spouse a ring that was borne on the ring finger, you were symbolically giving something that would always be next to his or her heart.

3.      The diamond has been perceived to possess extraordinary warding powers since its emergence in popularity millennia ago.  A warrior was thought to be able to inherit the hardness of a diamond if he wore the diamond against his flesh in battle.  Diamonds were also thought to protect against mental maladies, contagious diseases and evil spirits.  However, the powers of a diamond were lost if it was purchased—fortunately, the powers may return if it’s given.

4.      Additionally, while the diamond solitaire is the traditional engagement ring, the symbolism of the ring is what is important and holds significance, so when deciding, make sure you find that perfect ring that makes the right statement. Feel free to stop by and ask any of our associates for ideas or examples of different types of rings.

Patience is a Virtue: Depreciation

Welcome to the age of tight budgets and shallow pockets. Since the holidays are coming up your teenager is eyeballing the newest Axe guitar on Craigslist, the pre-teen is ready for a bigger bike and your youngest is checking out the most recent DsI. Even with the holiday sales you’re starting to total anywhere from $500 to $1,000 at a retail store. How is one able to afford all of this? One option is to throw it all on a credit card and defer the inevitable. The other option is to buy used.

However, buying anything used, especially electronics, Blu Ray discs, and musical instruments, can be a daunting, and worrisome task. I’m glad to say that we make it safer, faster, and easier on your mind. At TB Goods we test all of the items that we take in as a Pawn or Buy, then we test them again when we get ready to release them back into the public. Every one of our associates has an area of expertise that ensures that we only take in the best tools, computers, jewelry and any other item that comes our way. So when someone decides they’ve played enough on their $50 amp we can take it, spiff it up and after its gone through the system to ensure that it hasn’t been stolen we can bring it out of our doors and sell it to you for $30.

Here is where it all comes together. That Les Paul Studio guitar that is going for $800 on Craigslist, we just got it into stock (and sold it on Ebay) for $499.99. That adorable pink DsI is retailing for $150, we have it for $100 and that awesome mountain bike was another $150, we have it for $69.99 plus tax.

So now that you know we offer the same items, in comparable condition, for fantastic prices (often marked with a BLUE STAR deal of an additional 30% off) I’ve been reminded to tell you about our 7-day return policy. If for some reason one of our Sales and Lending Associates missed something and an item doesn’t work properly, or isn't what you needed, you can return it and we will exchange it for one that does work properly, or you can get store credit. Try returning an item on Craig’s list, and see what happens!

All of our Layaways are currently 10% down on jewelry and 1/3 down on all other items!
We’re here to help your budget and take the worry out of shopping used items.

Shop our EBAY or come by our two locations in Alachua and Gainesville, Florida! Mention this blog post and get 10% off your purchase!

Let's (Not) Go Out To The Movies!

After a bit of a summer break where we have been trying to avoid the heat (and we've seen gold prices shooting up to record prices!) we're going to go back to talking more about consumer electronics...specifically, some of the things you may want to watch on that new television...to paraphrase a catchy old jingle, let's go out to the movies!

...or better yet, let's stay in and watch them.

Sound Off Pt II: This Time It's Personal

Continuing on from our last post about home audio and surround sound systems, we are now going to take a more personal approach to listening to your favorite music as well as looking at some other things you may be able to do.

Gold: The Ups and Downs

Taking a real quick break between posts about music equipment to talk a little bit about something that concerns a lot of our customers, and that's the gold market. Lately, it seems that we have had many customers come in confused and surprised about the value of gold and the direction it has gone and is going. While there isn't enough room on this whole blog to fully cover the gold market (and indeed, people have spent their whole lives studying and hypothesizing about it) there are some basics that may help give some understanding as to what's going on...

Sound Off!

A while back, we posted about televisions and hopefully answered some questions about getting that big just right-sized TV...but that's only half the picture...well, half the movie. It's no good having a great picture when the sound is sub-par, so let's look at getting the sound as good as that TV you got, along with some other sound and music devices.