There are a lot of thrift stores near me but I have to sneak over to them. I work 9-5 and have two kids who go to bed at 8:00 so I don't want to take them thrifting after I pick them up, I just want to spend time with them! My husband doesn't like that I go, so the only times for me are Wednesdays and if I happen to have a random day off. I used to work at home so I'd go whenever I wanted, but I made a lot less money so it balances out. You can't have time and money, I've decided.
I have noticed that some stores seem to have a TON of toys and others have virtually none. The one near my work has so many, it's crazy! That is where I find my best stuff nowadays.
Another thing I have known to be true over the years is if you find one vintage toy, odds are very high that there are others in the store. It's like someone donates a whole bunch at once. So when I come upon one pony, I immediately get excited because 90% of the time there are more.
The stores I go to (a large chain spread across Utah) have a policy that they bring stuff out on carts from 10am-4pm. When the carts come out tons of people swarm them. If you have the guts you can elbow your way through and find some good stuff but it gets dangerous. One time the police were called because two ladies were playing tug-of-war with a doll and neither would let go! Ha ha! I'm not that nuts!
The worst is when you see someone with a huge cart full of 80's toys. They got there a half-hour before you and cleaned the place out. That's happened to me a few times and it still irks me. Once I was on the other end, though. A girl stopped me and asked me where I found all the stuff (I had one of those big strawberry-shaped toy boxes and other SSC things from the 80's) because she was a collector. I felt a bit bad for her.
Once or twice I have taken a day off and hit every thrift store in the county, starting from one end, moving South. Those days are so much fun, but I spend close to $250 every time and money is money. I am always mindful that just because it's cheap, it isn't free. I have to turn down a lot of stuff that I'm only sort-of interested in.