Re: BESIDES M D DOES ANYONE GARBAGE PICK OR DUMPSTER DIVE FOR TREASURES new pics
Do I dumpster dive? Sit back, this could be a long but interesting story!
Yes, I started by looking for aluminum cans when I was in college, to pay for beer and ciggs.
One day I discovered that my local "big garbage night" was well worth the trudge out to the richer part of town. I bumped into a friend I hadn't seen in years, who told me that he was doing it as a summer job; he was selling at a flea market on each Wednesday, and making himself $600 a week, paying for the van, and a garage to store all the junk in. That was over 20 years ago! He eventually hired a helper to sell all of it for him, too.
Since then I've been bitten pretty hard by the dumpster bug.
Last year I netted around $2000 on my finds by selling on eBay.
Here is just a portion of the things I've found:
At least 10 working VCRs
5 or six working lamps, 1 of which is a nice desk lamp on Hubbie's desk
1 lava lamp, working
several old telephone tables, in use at home, just a polish and viola' perfect!
book cases, in use in my computer room
2 Anne Klein Watches
1 Movado Gold-tone Watch lookalike, complete with real box and forged papers
Several computers, needing work/parts but useful as storage servers
6 monitors, one of which I'm using, all of which worked
4 or 5 official baseball/football t-shirts, pants, jerseys, hats
Kid's Gap Leather Jacket
tons of costume jewelry
Computer printers, some working , some not
clothing butler
assorted vases and potting supplies
all sorts of nice women's clothing, some of which I kept, the rest goes to Salvation Army (for a tax deduction!)
1 wooden cabinet Kenwood stereo that I took apart, cleaned, polished and sold for $200 bucks on eBay
1 crappy Sears brand electric guitar (I'm redoing its insides, replaced the machines and repainting it)
assorted artwork, including 1 homemade ceramic ashtray that is now a decorative catfood bowl
all my ashtrays, including 2 crystal ones
assorted candles (unopened),candle holders, candelabra, and 1 candle chandelier of wrought iron that I sold on eBay
I could go on forever, but:
My Prize Finds:
1 Star Trek Trading Card of "Q", signed in person by the actor in a special acrylic frame with brass plates indicating serial # and authenticity
1 Gold plated Star Trek Next Generation Beeping Comm Badge
And the money:
Here's a lesson in garbage diving - when things look bleak, keep looking! I was out looking through bags and bags of romance/mystery trash novels (you can actually selll these too, I'm told they're quite collectible- or trade them for book you want at your local used bookstore!) I hate the darn things, but it pays to look at every book. You never know when you'll find one signed, or perhaps you might find some thing pressed in the book that might be interesting.
So I kept opening bags, tossing out cruddy books, when I found a book on anatomy - interesting, it seemed to be made for nursing training in a college. I stood flipping through the pages, when I hit paydirt. Over flipped the page, and WOW! Bills, $20 bills! I had to look around to see if anyone was looking. nope!
$300 total. What a haul!
So remember, leaf through those books. You never know what you might find!
I continue to root through dumpsters and curbsides.
'Fraid I'll never get it outtah my system.
