Joined Jun 2012
Trash Connoisseur
Forum Thread
You threw away what?!
June 21, 2012 at
05:05 PM
in
Finance
I decided to put my log book on this forum so you can all see the crazy amount of free stuff in good condition that I find while walking my dogs at night in NYC. My girlfriend and I recently moved into a new apartment on the Upper East Side and we had been noticing how much brand new (or antique) stuff is left out on the curb.
So for fun (and because we are both as cheap as they come), we started grabbing stuff that is in good condition. Either we use it, try to sell it, or give it away.
Oh, and keep in mind, bottles and cans have a $0.05 deposit on them so we return those.
We just started keeping track, here is what we have so far:
6/18 - 18 books, 1 milk crate, 4 deposit cans ($0.20)
6/19 - Aero-Swiss Humidifier (Valued over $100), Keurig Coffee Machine ($120), Small Dust Buster, Best Fitness Leg Developer (Over $100), 11 deposit cans ($0.55)
6/20 - 7 deposit cans ($0.35)
6/21 - 37 bottle deposit cans (took the dogs on a long walk this afternoon) ($1.85)
That's the last four days, I'll update this as we get new finds.
Anyone else do this either out of necessity or as a hobby?
Stephen
Check out the new blog @ http://youthrewawaywha
So for fun (and because we are both as cheap as they come), we started grabbing stuff that is in good condition. Either we use it, try to sell it, or give it away.
Oh, and keep in mind, bottles and cans have a $0.05 deposit on them so we return those.
We just started keeping track, here is what we have so far:
6/18 - 18 books, 1 milk crate, 4 deposit cans ($0.20)
6/19 - Aero-Swiss Humidifier (Valued over $100), Keurig Coffee Machine ($120), Small Dust Buster, Best Fitness Leg Developer (Over $100), 11 deposit cans ($0.55)
6/20 - 7 deposit cans ($0.35)
6/21 - 37 bottle deposit cans (took the dogs on a long walk this afternoon) ($1.85)
That's the last four days, I'll update this as we get new finds.
Anyone else do this either out of necessity or as a hobby?
Stephen
Check out the new blog @ http://youthrewawaywha
Community Wiki
Last Edited by stephenNYC
July 30, 2012
at
06:41 PM
Here is the master list of all of our finds to date! It also includes what has sold, the upcycle projects and any other benefits we have gotten from our trash!
Found:
TOTAL: 8 milk crates
TOTAL: 635 My Coke Reward Points
Upcycled:
Converted to Cash:
Found:
TOTAL: 8 milk crates
TOTAL: 635 My Coke Reward Points
- 18 books
- Aero-Swiss Humidifier
- Keurig Coffee Machine
- Small Dust Buster
- Best Fitness Leg Developer
- Giorgio Armani Sunglasses Case
- June issue of Backpacker Magazine
- Verizon Phone charger
- 7 dresser drawers
- 2 Wilson Titanium Tennis Rackets
- Large Kitchen Garbage can
- Michael's Arts and Crafts drawers
- A crochet purse
- Shannon Hand-Crafted Lead Crystal Cake Plate and Server
- Cooks Panini-Maker
- 3 Magazines -- Elle, Cosmo, and Glamour
- 2 Picture frames in their original plastic
- Film Quarterly magazines from the 1960s and 70s
- CAT5e Ethernet Cable
- DesignForLiving Water Bottle
- Broyhill Nightstand
- Cheese Grater
- NIB Wilson Titanium Tennis Balls
- Some eating utensils
- Two Hard Rock Cafe Glasses, NIB
- 254 my coke rewards points.
- Black and Decker mixer
- Frying pan
- Lemonade pitcher
- Coffee table
- HP1040 Fax Machine
- HP Floppy Drive & Smart Card Reader
- Dell Keyboard
- BodyBlade Classic 4
- Bake King Cupcake Pan
- Step stool
- United States Annotated Code Chapters 28 (Federal Rules of Evidence) and 42 (Public Health and Welfare), 2001 edition with the 2012 supplements.
- A Trash Can
- Laundry Basket
- Kelty Kids Ridgeline Backpack
- Budweiser Billiard Cue
- HP Toner
- CAT 3 Cable
- Holmes AccuTemp Window Fan
- "The Naked Nude Nude" screen print art
- HP OfficeJet Pro K850
- 2 Electronics Stands
- Laptop Desk with Built in Fan
- Signed Artist Proof, Fragment by Arline Sherman
- Small screwdriver set
- Players Image Alignment Golf MIRROR Training Aid
- 2 Family & Friends CPR Training Kits with Manikins
- Pantone Color Tint Selector by Pantone Library of Color
- 3 Books on Woodworking
- 10Base-T Concentrator
- A bunch of cedar shoe-horns
- S-Video Cable
Upcycled:
- Two dresser drawers into kitchen shelving
- Film Quarterly Magazines into Art for wall
Converted to Cash:
- HP1040 Fax Machine, Recalled for $100 rebate. Used to buy new printer
- Bottle Deposit Returns: $16.30
- HP Toner and HP1040 Ink Cart, HP OfficeJet Carts/Toner (11) -- $26 @ Staples
- BodyBlade Classic 4 -- $68 via Ebay
- Michael's Storage Drawers -- $25 via Ebay
- Air-O-Swiss Humidifier -- $25 via Ebay
- Both Wilson Tennis Rackets -- $27 via Ebay
- Kelty Kids Backpack -- $36 via Ebay
380 Comments
Your comment cannot be blank.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
So for fun (and because we are both as cheap as they come), we started grabbing stuff that is in good condition. Either we use it, try to sell it, or give it away.
Oh, and keep in mind, bottles and cans have a $0.05 deposit on them so we return those.
We just started keeping track, here is what we have so far:
6/18 - 18 books, 1 milk crate, 4 deposit cans ($0.20)
6/19 - Aero-Swiss Humidifier (Valued over $100), Keurig Coffee Machine ($120), Small Dust Buster, Best Fitness Leg Developer (Over $100), 11 deposit cans ($0.55)
6/20 - 7 deposit cans ($0.35)
6/21 - 37 bottle deposit cans (took the dogs on a long walk this afternoon) ($1.85)
That's the last four days, I'll update this as we get new finds.
Anyone else do this either out of necessity or as a hobby?
Stephen
Check out the new blog @ http://youthrewawaywha
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
We had a very good bulk trash night! I had to go downtown for a doctor's appointment earlier in the day and instead of taking the bus from the subway station back to our apartment, I decided to walk back and see if anyone had put out their trash early. Within a block I found a 32" Olevia LCD -- my first flat screen find thus far. One of the difficulties in finding electronics is that there isn't any way to really test them before the decision is made to carry it home. From where I picked it up, I knew it was about a half mile and 85 stairs up to our apartment. I have developed the following set of criteria to aid my decision-making process in whether it is worth it to take it home:
1. I visually inspect it to look for any signs of physical damage.
2. I google the name and model to find out four things:
- What is the cost of buying it new?
- How much does a used one sell for on Ebay? (Remember, this is NOT the price people are asking, rather the average it fetches through the bidding process)
- Are there parts available for this specific model and what is their average cost? This is important for two reasons -- will it be cost effective if I need to replace something, and if I decide to scrap it, what will the parts be worth?
- Has the manufacturer issued a recall? If so, what are they offering to return it? I started doing this after the luck I had last month with the HP Fax Machine.
3. How heavy is it? Will carrying it prevent me from being able to take other items that could be more valuable?4. If no cables are with it, what type of power and data cables does it use? Many older electronics use non-standard power cables and if I don't have one in my vast collection, I can't test to see if it works without investing in a new cable. This can be problematic because if it doesn't work, I've wasted my money.
I can usually do this evaluation in about 2-3 minutes. In the case of the TV, I saw no physical damage and was hoping that it was just a matter of a blown fuse (a $4 fix). I wasn't planning on selling it if it did work because it'd be nice to have a TV in our bedroom. Unfortunately, when I plugged it in, the LCD screen is seriously cracked and because it is model from a bankrupt company, it would be a waste of time and money to try to fix it. The good news is that I will be able to part it out and hopefully make around $50-100. That will be the true test whether it was worth carrying home.
Later that night, Chelsea and I took the dogs on a walk. We found yet another printer, an HP OfficeJet 4215. It seems to be working fine after I tested it out, so I can probably make around $20 on Ebay and $4 off the print carts at Staples. We then found a Staples shredder -- something I have been wanting to get -- and when I plugged it in and tested it out, it works perfectly. SCORE!
The last find is my favorite of the night. It is a signed print by a Japanese artist named Otsuka, and it is dated 1981. Some research into the piece led me to the art gallery in Hawaii that distributes his work. I emailed them last night with pictures and a few questions, and they got back to me early this morning with an appraisal that unframed it would fetch between $250-500! We have been having such good luck lately.
In terms of recent sales, one of the CPR Kits sold and brought in $9 after shipping cost. The Player's Image Golf Trainer brought in a profit of $25. It is always nice to move inventory quickly, and the best part is that anything we sell is pure profit.
All in all it was a very successful night!
For older printers/equipment you might be able to buy used cables for cheap on ebay.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
We have a lot of "for sale (insert city/area name)" type groups on facebook for our area. Might be more of a local thing, but it is marketed as an on-line garage sale...do you have any of these in NYC? That might be another outlet to move things quickly.
I'm going to "find" somethings in my own house and see if I can roll them into cash this way in hopes of not having to ebay things. I have not seen that vintage or antiques sell well on these sites, so I will hit ebay for those items.