Thrift stores are great: they're usually 1 to 2 bucks per CD, with a super random selection. Often it's stuff that's not that great (to me): budget classical, Christmas music, older pop, random stuff. But there's also lots of good stuff in there.
Using an LLM (Claude, ChatGPT, etc.), you can set up a project with your musical tastes and instructions like "Call out 'essential' tier albums regardless of whether they're my general taste". Then take a photo of the shelf or shelves, upload it to the project, and you find some pretty interesting stuff. Electric guitar flamenco, Max Q, Afro-Celt, chant, African guitar, Sun Ra - are all examples of things I've found over the months.
The LLMs also make finding things outside your own knowledge much easier. There are tons of classical albums in thrift stores, but often dubious recordings on budget labels, and picking out the high-quality versions takes a lot of research that you can basically skip. For me that's a 'good enough' way to get into it, and if you really get into it, you can do your own research of course. I've found I really like some of the nice string quartet recordings, for instance. Same thing with jazz and blues for me: lots of chaff for my tastes, so it helps winnow through it quickly.
I also managed to accidentally buy some albums that are worth more than the typical 5-10 bucks CDs go for at slightly more upscale places like Half Price Books or eBay. I'm not someone trying to run a CD flipping business (seems like you'd barely scrape by, honestly), but they're fun finds. See below.
Paid $4 · listed from $300 on Discogs (Sep 2026)
The 2013 Hungaroton reissue, near mint. Really warm, straightforward Beethoven. She recorded these over many years and never signed off on releasing them, so they only came out after she died.
Discogs page · Find a copy on eBayPaid $10 ($1 each) · about $60-100 for the ten on eBay (Sep 2026)
Ten Beatles CDs at a buck each, including Abbey Road, Rubber Soul, Sgt. Pepper's and the White Album. Playing With The Beatles, Rubber Soul and Sgt. Pepper's back to back is a fun way to hear how fast they changed.
Find a copy on eBayPaid $4 · the 2015 remastered box lists from $165 on Discogs (Oct 2026)
Decca's 2015 remastered box (17 discs), including Deryck Cooke's introduction to the Ring. The first complete studio Ring, recorded in Vienna from 1958 to 1965, and still the one people compare everything else to. It's about 15 hours of music, so not a one-sitting thing.
Discogs page · Find a copy on eBayPaid $4 · about $45 for all eight volumes (Sep 2026)
All eight ECM volumes, sold as a $4 "box" with no box. Recorded live in Zurich. Schiff also did a lecture on each sonata at Wigmore Hall, and they're free online as podcasts if you want to go deeper.
Discogs page · Find a copy on eBayPaid $1-2 · $15-26 (Sep 2026)
An Australian import, not something you expect in a US thrift bin. Gritty Aussie pub rock with Jimmy Barnes yelling his heart out - super fun to listen to.
Discogs page · Find a copy on eBayPaid $1-2 · $3-15 depending where you look (Oct 2026)
Michael Hutchence's 1989 side project away from INXS, with Ollie Olsen. Dark, dancey late-80s electronic rock that sounds nothing like INXS. A super fun listen I wasn't expecting.
Discogs page · Find a copy on eBayPaid $4 · about $20 on Discogs (Oct 2026)
The EMI Classics box with the Staatskapelle Dresden. Big, slow-building symphonies that feel like cathedral music without the words. Jochum's 70s Dresden recordings still get recommended a lot.
Discogs page · Find a copy on eBayPaid $1-2 · $10+ (Oct 2026)
Cool pressing from the now defunct Epiphany label, when they were experimenting with 'audiophile' copper discs. Russian Orthodox chant and carols sung by a men's chorus in a chapel. Really pretty, in a quiet, echoey way.
Discogs page · Find a copy on eBay