Curate This. DIY Recycling - More 100% Free Inventory Saved & Sold For $1,275 - Helping The Environment For Income - GET INVOLVED!
I want to keep sharing posts like this since helping the environment and promoting financial independence are key priorities.
Here are more recent examples of household items people naively or lazily throw out that I recover and sell with ease for income.
I hope that these ongoing examples can wake people up to see that wasting good products because of a small issue or a new replacement are lousy ignorant excuses that generate an exorbitant amount of unnecessary waste.
The damage is twofold because consumers who need these items are often buying new parts or units they ultimately don't need to. If you don't need the money from resale, others need the savings, and our planet certainly needs the help with less pollution. Think about it.
I have so much stuff that hasn't sold or been listed yet that I'm looking into storage space and expanding. I'm just a one-man show now looking at most 2 hours on just weekdays on my city's curbs, ONLY immediately around my apartment. Imagine what we could do if others actively got involved to the extent they can...
It's not always about the money...
It's about saving these items from being destroyed, connecting them with people who need them, and helping our planet one item at a time.
Leading by example:
Lego Minifigure set sold for $39 to Hawaii. (Part of 15+ pounds of Legos I found thanks to the @$$ who threw them out).
Star Wars Lego Minifigure set sold for $26.
Batman Lego Minifigures sold for $18.
Baby car seat base sold for $115.
Note from buyer: "Thanks for your work getting this to us. We will use it A LOT."
Working printer with ink sold for $130 in 1.5 days.
Leather UGG boots sold for $103 shined with shoe shine I found on the curbs, of course.
Printer printhead and ink from a working printer sold for $95 in about 1.5 days. Layup money.
College textbook sold for $75.
New cotton thread sold for $34, with ~1.5 sets of these left to sell.
Note from buyer: "You are outstanding.. thank you! This is getting used on a crazy quilt I am making from my uncle's pastoral garments for my aunt.. They were missionaries in Africa for many years so lots of color, and I have been looking for variegated threads.. You made my day :)"
Working vacuum power nozzle sold for $65.
Washing machine detergent tray sold for $55.
Working vacuum power nozzle sold for $55.
Vintage porcelain trinket box sold for $44.
Printer paper catch tray sold for $25.
Business telephone sold for $25 for parts only because I couldn't test it.
Vacuum part sold for $20.
"I gave you an excellent review and wanted to personally thank you for a fine job. I couldn't be more satisfied as I hooked it up and used it and it performed as if it were brand new. Again, fine job."
Auction catalog sold for $23 a few blocks away.
Vintage Barbie heels from the early 1960's sold for $25.
Vintage sewing machine belts sold for $19. You reap what you sew....
Working vintage vacuum power nozzle sold for $30.
Vintage neon beer sign transformer sold untested for $45.
Vacuum filter cap sold for $17.
Working printer touch screen sold for $25.
Vacuum canister sold for $40.
Stroller wheel sold for $44. Supply and demand...
Architecture book sold for $30.
Vacuum hose sold for $18 - easy repeat seller.
3 Empty Hermes boxes sold for $35 within an hour of listing.
I sold more free odds and ends, but you get the drift. Dollars are revenue before shipping/fees.
In addition to recycling, I thrift for resale and have some consignment relationships in the works.
I also just found 2 Mackie 8 channel mixing boards/control extenders. These are going to be fun to play around with.
...Last month, I sold 101 things at only $355 in inventory cost for plenty of profit to comfortably live on. About 60-70% of these items were FREE.
Please ask questions or share your examples. Try to find and sell one thing and see how easy it is, or learn the ropes so it gets easier over time.
Other Recent Recycling:
- Recycled Sales for $724
- Recycled Sales For $740
- Recycled Sales For $507
- Recycled Sales For $1,269
- Recycled Sales For $609
- Recycled Sales For $845
Recent Thrifting:
Do what you can to reject waste.
Thanks for your interest and support,
Do you dumpster dive or just look for stuff that has been left on the curb. Also is the night before garbage day the best time to go out looking?
Never been in a dumpster. Curbs often look like this, so I just go fishing from what I can easily see and keep rolling. I just go on recycling nights where stuff is in clear bags or boxes. I go at night for the serenity since virtually no one is outside.
Are they clearing out old storage buildings here or what? Dorm rooms? Apartments? That's a massive pile of trash!
It's all just apartments and some businesses at times. No houses really in the city atmosphere, aside from once sandwiches together on the city streets. That pile is one of the bigger regular spots, but there's always some level of pile per building or apartment, so as you walk for 4-6 blocks, there's a ton.
Yes, the second half of this strip...
Another amazing collection Matt.
It almost makes me want to move to a big city just so I can find stuff like this...
At the very least, you could take a nice vacation and likely pay for it with the extra suitcase you bring home!!
I've found some good stuff lately I'm still staging or haven't sold yet. You obviously get the idea, but it never ceases to amaze me how lazy people are when there are several thrift stores at most 5 minutes away. There is an incredible amount of stuff I can't take but wish I could walk over to a thrift store to donate/save. It's night time when I collect though and I have to be practical with what I can carry at the moment. I will in the long run or perhaps find a way to monetize it more.
Are you in a very big city? And is it in very wealthy neighbourhoods you find most of the thrown out stuff?
(Reached out on Discord here.)
Crazy! We’ve got all kinds of stuff lying around. Might try to sell some of the random stuff, thanks.
It was on eBay that you sold it?
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LEGO stuff is huge. Still blows my mind what folks throw away.
It literally doesn't lose its value either. I used to look to buy some used sets for my kids and they were about the same price as buying new! So crazy.
Yeah LEGO’s are silly expensive. I got some cool promotional pieces from Comic Con a few years back. It’s just a single mini figure and they fetch over 300 bucks each. Nuts!!! I did a piece on them a while back.
I have seen those Comic Con characters on eBay! Wow!! They sure are expensive!!
Yeah, who would throw away Lego? That stuff is almost as good a store of value as gold!
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LEGO Coin?!? Hmmmmm. Lol
Proof of Bricks
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lol
"Business telephone sold for $25 for parts only because I couldn't test it."
If you sell it for a low price and it doesn't work, do you refund them? If so, you might think about selling it for full price and just keeping that same practice in place. It's a little bit scary to sell things that are untested, but even things that you test don't always work after shipping.
Thanks, I sold it at a discount untested "as is/for parts or repair" with no returns as a final transaction. Good thought though. They'd usually sell for $50-$60 so it's a tradeoff for me on the revenue and the buyer on the risk side.
Ah! Makes sense if you're not accepting returns. Keep up the good work!
Holy moly! Lookit the size of that money heap!
Nothing like that here, everything is in plastic rolling bins that each house gets. Though there is one day per year that each neighborhood gets a " large and bulky" pickup. Though everyone and their mama is out looking on the curbs.
Maybe it's different in a larger city vs residential. You should be much faster than someone and their mama, so bring the GoPro and entertain us!
I used to work with a guy who'd say
"It's a throw away world"
whenever he threw something in the bin. So one time when he said it I asked him if thought we would be able to get another one when we're finished trashing this one. He never said it again or least not when I was around.
He must've interpreted that as his face haha. Good for you for speaking up.
It's so hard to believe that people throw away such perfectly good and functional items. Talk about our 'Throw away society.'
I love how it gives you an income as well as the satisfaction that comes with gifting to friends or others in need.
I know the feeling of finding something that you know a friend is looking for. A friend had just started hooping and within a few days of her paying for an up-market hoop ~ I found one for her that had ~ EXTRA SPARKLE. Not as heavy, but heaps more magical. ♥︎♥︎⚖️♥︎♥︎
Can't believe someone trashed those Legos! My kids would love a find like that!! Looks like some great sales. I'm just always amazed at what people are tossing. It's insane.
I still have the bulk of the Legos. A few seem to be near complete sets in bags as well, but I don't have the time to confirm that. I'm going to stash them to accumulate 25 or 50 pounds and sell them in bulk.
Wow! That's pretty amazing! I used to be able to find "lots" of sets on craigslist. I'd pay $30 or so for a handful of sets mixed up with the books included. Now we have a million Legos.