Treasure Classifieds Forum

I've heard of guys dumpster diving over the years, but aside from it being a cool novelty, I never really paid much mind to the idea. Until I stumbled upon this fella's videos...

This guy is GOOD. But he's a pro, and he owns his own pawn shop, so, he knows exactly what to look for, what it'll sell for, etc. He is VERY informative, and offers up a lot of information in his videos.

In addition to dumpster diving, he also hits places like Goodwill's, second-hand shops and other venues, where he picks up stuff for re-sale.

It's not as easy as he makes it seem, as he sometimes has huge month's selling on Ebay, where he pulls in $30,000+, but the takeaway is...

There's a LOT of good stuff floating around out there, which can be had for free, or very little

Even if you don't resell, watch his videos, as he gives the lowdown on the best stores to dumpster dive at, the best days and numerous other tips.

I'm going to try it for fun this Spring. Seems like something which offers the same type of mystery and excitement as digging in the dirt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ioklciRR1M

Cassandra and myself both go to salvation army and goodwill and yardsales when we can.
We used to go every Wednesday, and then eat at this amazing bakery that also had pizza. It was and is fun times, a treasure hunt of clothes and other goodies. Although we don't go often anymore, we have got a lot of nice stuff over the last 2 years.
Between vintage and collectibles, to new or like new odds and ends and the big one...
Clothes! We have gotten so much stuff for only a few dollars each which sometimes would cost over $100 dollars in the store.
Designer and name brand shirts, sweaters, hoodies, shoes with tags or like new.
It takes time though, as you have to go through the racks in order to find the goodies.
But yeah, we keep and have kept everything we have gotten. If we would have re sold it I don't even want to know how much we could of made. But, we enjoy it and get nice things out of it!

When I used to buy and sell collectibles, one of the favorite spots was estate sales.
Not the sale itself but, in the dumpster filled with the stuff they cleared out of the house that was considered trash.

A few hours before the sale, as long as we were not asked to stop, we would rifle thru the so called garbage in the dumpster.  Most times we found better stuff in the dumpster (free) than what was for sale in the house. We made piles of cash from these dumpsters.

When we were kids back in the early 60's we used to hit the department store dumpsters, this was before the time of compacting. We found all sorts of toys that we could play with.

Interesting topic. Back a hundred years I worked off shift in NYC. While walking to my car on the way home I spotted a chair that was being tossed out of an old tavern. It had a wooden seat and wrought iron legs and back. This was the type of chair they used in old bars where the men had long mustaches. I took it home and fix it up. Probably was a $65 chair at that time. One day my wife gave it to my brother because she hated it. After that I only peaked into dumpsters when convient but have found other stuff.
Finding stuff at the curb is easier but I don't go just to busy.

(12-25-2016 11:39 PM)Zachbl92 Wrote: [ -> ]Cassandra and myself both go to salvation army and goodwill and yardsales when we can.
We used to go every Wednesday, and then eat at this amazing bakery that also had pizza. It was and is fun times, a treasure hunt of clothes and other goodies. Although we don't go often anymore, we have got a lot of nice stuff over the last 2 years.
Between vintage and collectibles, to new or like new odds and ends and the big one...
Clothes! We have gotten so much stuff for only a few dollars each which sometimes would cost over $100 dollars in the store.
Designer and name brand shirts, sweaters, hoodies, shoes with tags or like new.
It takes time though, as you have to go through the racks in order to find the goodies.
But yeah, we keep and have kept everything we have gotten. If we would have re sold it I don't even want to know how much we could of made. But, we enjoy it and get nice things out of it!

The deals are out there, for sure, Zach. It's funny, in one of the videos that guy posted, in the link I provided, he was hitting a Goodwill searching for a nice deal. But he recognized everyone in the store as fellow trash chasers, and said; "There's more pickers here than actual customers." Everyone had their smart phones out looking up prices on Ebay, etc. Was LMAO. I'm sure there's lots of competition out there, but if one can time it right, the chance for a killer score is doable. Since you mentioned clothing...

There used to be a famous store in NYC called "Jack's Cheap Clothes". Don't believe it's there any longer, but what the owner used to do was ingenious...he would buy lots of used clothing, get stuff from out of those recycling bins, he even accepted donations in his store. Lots of tricks up his sleeve. He'd then clean the clothes and re-sell them for big money. Mostly to the chi-chi crowd, skateboarders, goth kids and stuff like that. Made a mint.

(12-26-2016 10:30 AM)Sven TreasureLinx Wrote: [ -> ]When I used to buy and sell collectibles, one of the favorite spots was estate sales.
Not the sale itself but, in the dumpster filled with the stuff they cleared out of the house that was considered trash.

A few hours before the sale, as long as we were not asked to stop, we would rifle thru the so called garbage in the dumpster.  Most times we found better stuff in the dumpster (free) than what was for sale in the house. We made piles of cash from these dumpsters.

When we were kids back in the early 60's we used to hit the department store dumpsters, this was before the time of compacting. We found all sorts of toys that we could play with.

That estate sale angle is GOOD! Gotta remember that one And you're right about the trash compactors killing any finds potential, as the fella in the videos even mentions that quite often. One needs to look for the large bins with drop down lids on top.

I think it takes a lot of experience (and trial & error) to know what sells, what doesn't, how to photograph items, price them and a million other things. If one wants to do it professionally of course. As a fun sideline or hobby, anything good gained is just that...a gain.

(12-26-2016 01:04 PM)Bigtony Wrote: [ -> ]Interesting topic. Back a hundred years I worked off shift in NYC. While walking to my car on the way home I spotted a chair that was being tossed out of an old tavern. It had a wooden seat and wrought iron legs and back. This was the type of chair they used in old bars where the men had long mustaches. I took it home and fix it up. Probably was a $65 chair at that time. One day my wife gave it to my brother because she hated it. After that I only peaked into dumpsters when convient but have found other stuff.
Finding stuff at the curb is easier but I don't go just to busy.

Tony, I believe that's the exact chair I saw featured recently on Antiques Roadshow. Sold for $230,000.

Just kidding, but that would be my luck, anyways! There was a news story years ago on some guy that would cruise around the rich neighborhoods in Manhattan, the ones with all the doorman buildings, and he would find all kinds of crazy stuff. He found a painting worth over $15,000, bags of old coins, jewelry, and a zillion other things. Don't know if it was true or not, but he said he made six figures a year poking through everyone's "trash." They showed his truck pulling off down the street at the end of the segment, and there was so much stuff in it the bumper was almost scraping the asphalt! Gotta have an angle

Not found in a dumpster, but in a carpet store of all places. A tapestry from the 1500's which belonged to King Henry!

http://nypost.com/2016/12/26/centuries-o...iii-found/

Fourth post today -

Wow cool find, stuff is out there, you just have to look.
I picked up a 1927 wheat cent on the floor of the supermarket today. It made me smile because folks don't pick up pennies.
Next week I might swing by the Salvation Army to see what came in over the holidays.

I am a 61 yr old dumpster diving woman. I have been doing this for years and truly have enjoyed the many treasures I have both kept and sold. Needless to say I only pick the "choicest" dumpsters. Electronics, books, womens hair products, dvd's and cd's just to name a few of the great items to be found. I also like to check out wealthier neighborhoods on large trash day. Some real goodies have been found. I truly have no shame.

(01-06-2017 11:08 AM)cajamk Wrote: [ -> ]I am a 61 yr old dumpster diving woman. I have been doing this for years and truly have enjoyed the many treasures I have both kept and sold. Needless to say I only pick the "choicest" dumpsters. Electronics, books, womens hair products, dvd's and cd's just to name a few of the great items to be found. I also like to check out wealthier neighborhoods on large trash day. Some real goodies have been found. I truly have no shame.

This brings to mind my bride. Absolutely the most fastidious person in the world but our pooch sleeps on the finest dog beds money can buy thanks to dumpster "purchases". Strip the cover off and a quick wash and someones discard is now his luxury. It kind of saddens me to think of someone's best buddy passing on and how I will deal with the beds when our guy's time comes but hopefully it will be so worn out throwing it away won't be difficult.

The article about the found tapestry is fascinating. It would probably stun us if we knew just how many works of art, artifacts, and treasures are squirreled away in attics, garages, and quaint little shops around the country. All it takes is a keen eye and a bit of luck to find these things. I never go to town without hitting the Goodwill store; I have found truly nice, expensive things there for practically nothing (eg: almost new $600 electronic programmable recumbent exercise bike for $20). Yard sales are a favorite haunt too- I have found some real rare Indian artifacts tucked away in boxes and bags there. And like you cajamk, I always take a peek in the dumpsters when I haul away the trash. People around here are not surprised when they see me scaling out of the bin with an adding machine, weed eater or something else perfectly good that had been deemed trash. I haven't gotten into selling found items yet, but I sure snag things for myself.

It always AMAZES me what people find at Goodwill's and thrift stores. Not only because it's hard to imagine someone not researching something before donating it (we live in the internet age!), but also due to the employees cavalier eye toward the goods. If I worked at a thrift store, I would try to inspect EVERY item that had the possibility of being worth serious money, like; jewelry, crystalware, servingware, paintings, etc., in the hopes of making a score. That the employees do not do this, or do it enough, just blows me away. It's akin to playing the lottery. Every piece that walks through the doors of a thrift shop has the potential to be worth a lot of $$$. And the employees have FIRST crack at it. A shame not to take advantage of those kinds of opportunities.