Good deal on Bottles

I don't know if they have this everywhere, but I went to Aldies yesterday and found a good price on bottles. They are $1.99 here in Indianapolis full of non alcohol cider. I paid $2.69 each for empty bottles and stoppers at a local brew shop last year so this is cheaper plus you get the cider. I know the cider has artificial flavors in it but you could dump it out and still save money on bottles and stoppers. The label comes off easily with water.

Edit: I just noticed that the photo (taken with my phone) cut off the top. It does have the nylon stopper with the rubber gasket.

Most Small bottle redemption centers (in most places) have an imposed upon them minimum number of one type of bottle! So If a strange bottle shows up
they can not return it for credit until they have that minimum number of bottles ! 6, 12, 24-

This magic number can mean that the Small Bottle/Can redemption centers money/profit is tied up for a long time in bottles taking up space in the back room !

This gives you haggling room ! Offer To buy every one of them for a dime each -as they come in (clean and un-cracked!), and plan on a shopping trip that
swings by there every so often, With an eye for other peoples trash being your treasure, you can pay for your specialty bottles with someone else's empties.

If you stock your bro-in-laws brand, soon he will be dropping off his empties ! ''Bro ! No old cigarette buts in the bottles, please!'' For the Crafts. Big AL

I have a standing order with my friends that if they bring me a case of empty bottles, I give them a 6-pack of my homebrew. Once you make a few trades like that, you'll have more bottles than you know what to do with. You have to be OK with other peoples moldy bottles, some of which aren't even re-cappable, but following one of the general axioms of recycling: if you take more of all of it, you get more of what you want.

I soak in 5-gallon buckets in plain water for at least 24 hours, then in some soapy water for at least 24 hours, scraping labels in between. That one-two punch cuts through most things and leaves the bottles sparkling clean. I have enough now that I can be really picky about the ones I keep, and I send some to the recycling every time I cycle through them.

That's a good deal.
Just the bottle is worth more than that.

I bought some apple cider in 1 liter bottles like that.
It was clear glass, and the painted label is baked on, but...so what?
I also got some ginger beer in those stopper bottles, and they are a dark green.
The ginger beer was OK, so I went back to get more, and they were sold out. Damn it!

I always keep my eyes out for good bottles.
I got a cobalt blue vodka bottle that looks like Polish crystal. Very heavy.
My room mate had put it in the recycle bin, but I saved it.
A bottle of that quality sells for $20 or more. Must have been an expensive vodka.

-This story was told to me as true, I wasn't there, it might have happened ! In the bad old and now repeated days of Russian expansion, when ever eastern
European satellite country was invaded, one of the 1st Edicts passed as part of 'the new order' was a ban on the sale, transport or storage of the stopper
bottles, as removing the gasket and adding fuel and a rag = the Molotov cocktail incendiary !

As one country after another 'fell under the russian boot' certain manufacturers would rush to hide the pre-invasion bottles for use in better times !''

The guy that told me this spoke with an accent, and had the obligatory fur Hat our state troupers used to wear! So it must be true ! Big AL