The AS-IS department is pretty much our #1 source for even more affordable furniture, but for the truly cheap, there's the handy-person's corner, which is usually just a giant stack of wood and wood products.
Occasionally, you might find in the pile all but one or two minor pieces of a furniture missing, or that it was simply missing the hardware. Alas, it's not always that easy. Nonetheless, here are some tips on making the best of it:
- Study up on how each piece is built up, because you'll need to know a lot of parts identification if you're buying your furniture piecemeal. It could be a while before another of the same shows up, or perhaps that a piece from something else can work too without too much effort (
ie
. dresser parts).
- Pax and
Akurum
sides look similar, but there are key differences. Study the holes ... then you know how to spot them.
- If the door to the Recovery backroom is open, play "I spy" and look for any carts loaded up. The closer that cart is to the door, the better the chances that it's going to be wheeled out shortly.
- Having a vehicle in which you can haul a lot of stuff is vital. The biggest I've ever done was 4 carts loaded up with boards and beams. That day, including breakfast and lunch, I didn't even break $30.
- Owning a table saw is a good idea, because it makes really quick work of trimming off damaged corners on boards to be repurposed (ie. a Pax side board with a chipped corner yields 2-3 super affordable shelf boards.)
And the most important tip ...
- Visit often, because you never know what they'll bring out!
We still have the rest of the stuff that we had to bring home as well, and have used it bit by bit for little projects. 
