Selling What People Throw Out For Income - More Completely Free Items Sold For Another $609
Thrifting feels like it's becoming obsolete for me. I can just about live entirely off curb recycling in my expensive city for total freedom because rich/lazy people love to throw out valuable items. If I can get it for free and simply hover around my neighborhood in the evenings, why race around the city competing with other thrifters, when I can help the environment and get far more satisfaction?
Here are a couple of recent sales over the last 3 days for inspiration and education. This are just my recycling sales. I also sell the things I've accumulated by thrifting. Figures are revenue before fees.
Complete PlayStation 2 Slim setup sold for $75 within 24 hours of listing. Fully functional. I have a second complete set that'll sell any time now with the holidays. I want to slap the people who toss this type of stuff.
Wireless printer sold for $135 sold within a half day of listing.
You're not seeing double here. The same wireless printer model found again sold for $135 sold within a half day of listing.
Electronic coin sorting machine sold for $65.
Yes, I took a hinge off of a used washing machine on the street and sold it for $55.
Old faithful, the electronic vacuum hose sold for $40.
Sink basin faucet I randomly found mixed with Harley Davidson exhaust pipes sold for $34.
Mixing it up with an early 1960's Barbie doll pencil dress sold for $22.50. (I have 2 cases of these types of things, but I'm slow to list them.)
Brand new laser tag vest sold for $25. Not a lot, but hard to leave it behind. I found a second unit with this, which will sell during the holidays.
2018 Hotel/Restaurant guide sold for $22. Not much, but why not?
This is what a common curb pile looks like. Imagine countless rows of these. It's easy fishing, especially when most of the items are laying loose on top, or stacked on the side in twine.
My Last Post:
9 Free Recycled Items Sold For $845
P.S. - I went to a few thrift stores today on my way back from a free lunch with an Instagram food influencer, and got one item for $10.88 that sold within 30 minutes of listing tonight for $70.
My listing count is starting to ramp up now that my family situation is under control, so I can finally focus on myself.
Time to go outside and find some more.
Feel free to ask any questions.
As always, reject waste! It helps the environment and all of us.
Thanks for your interest and support,
You rock. I don't know where you live but I wish it were here. I would give you a job. I just inherited a hole bunch of stuff and you could sell it for me. 70/30 split. Great job. Keep it up.
This is so impressive. Do you have to clean up a lot of these objects before they are ready for sale?
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Thank you. This is just a slice. I've sold thousands of things from the curbs in this fashion and have tons I haven't sold/listed yet.
~80% of the items need either no clean up or a wipe down with rubbing alcohol at most. This is to freshen them up, remove the dust, or get rid of surface scuffs. It's amazing how 30 seconds of rubbing alcohol on the right surface can make something look brand new.
Things like vacuum cleaners/appliance parts, or things list espresso/coffee makers, do also call for rubbing alcohol to remove surface scuffs/stains, but usually a solid rinse through. It's super easy. For example, many people toss high-end vacuums because of a simple clog, so some brief troubleshooting is involved, or rinsing a hose out with water is called for. If something isn't fit for selling or can't be cleaned well, I'll salvage whatever parts I can and spruce them up. If that's the case, I usually don't take the former with me when hunting around.
If I find medical devices, which I often do, I'll sanitize them even if they don't look like they need it. Most of the stuff on the curbs has been nearly directly put out from an owners' apartment in near mint condition and put in bags in a short timeframe. The condition is usually near taking it straight from their hands, barring weather.
This is wild. I've gotten a lot of treasures from our local dump, since there is a swap shop where people are encouraged to leave and take what they like. But I never see treasures quite like this.
I've gotten a couple of computers which I still use every day. I've been discouraged lately, though, because the dump has gotten stricter with their "no pick" policy about electronics. It's so depressing to drive past perfectly good machines that people have left in the rain.
That's pretty awesome. I thrifted a lot a few years ago and it was so much fun finding valuable stuff. I found quite a few iPods and couldn't believe the depreciation these things had. They were a couple hundred dollars new and people just donate them or throw them away. Same with old game systems.
Oh man, you live in an amazing place for street finds. I am jelly.
I know, sorry, but you have better Goodwills... Check out these whoppers in my last post...here.
Matt, this is awesome what you do here. And so much money. I think 20 bucks for a little book is awesome. Where do you get all this stuff?
I sold a book last week for $205 within 3 hours of finding it (in the link at the bottom of the post). I quit my job 3.5 years ago to thrift for a living, but the free recycling around my neighborhood is so much more practical and rewarding. All I do is walk around on some weeknights in my immediate neighborhood for 1-2 hours a night and gather what I find sitting on the curbs. Thanks for checking this out. I'm going to start posting more on it to educate others.
I added a picture to the post with what the curbs look like. I just go fishing since everything is visible in clear bags or on top of them.
Powerful stuff. I am glad you shared that.
As always impressive founds and sales!