Found a $10 Minolta srT101 + 5 lenses at a thrift store.

[Sirius Glass]

If you want to find good cameras at thrift stores, you have to go often and consistently. Chat-up the workers and let them know what you are looking and sometimes they will alert you to something you might have overlooked.

Casual shoppers who drop in once a month or every blue moon will only be successful by pure luck

I did that a few years ago and still could not get them to hold the cameras for me to see.

 

[MTGseattle]

I think in the bigger metro areas, it's the smaller thrift stores that are dedicated to one specific entity where we would have a better chance at camera gear (Seattle Children's hospital thrift store comes to mind). This probably means higher prices too, but the various Goodwill locations out here tend to be really busy, and stuff gets knocked around a lot, or put straight into the glass case.