Hi Mark,
I have found beautiful curtain panels at my church resale shop for next to nothing. I found some beautiful colors in great shape. I live in a large town and we have a number of large resale shops here. I suppose it depends on what kind of thrift/resale shops you have nearby.
The only downside to this is that it could potentially be time consuming, I was lucky and found some panels right away. Gotta watch out for those time eaters!
Good luck,
Joan