Street Magic - 11 Recent Curb Recycling Finds Salvaged & Sold For $1,151
That's a cool $105 in revenue per find.
It's been a while since I posted my "usual" sold item lists, so let's dive in.
Every item shown noted as sold online was shipped with 100% personally recycled packaging outside of tape, except one for substantial cost savings. Revenue is before fees and shipping.
These were all salvaged from my neighborhood's curbside recycling in plain sight, or in clear plastic bags.
I chose these 11 for their diversity. I sold many more of higher value that I'll show another time. I also prefer to keep some private.
Empty liquor box sold online for $85.
A massive plush luxury brand beanbag cover sold online for $160. Really. The beanbag was 80+ pounds and enormous to take, so I took the most efficient money from it.
Educational book set sold online for $150. I found a second set in the same spot worth $300 that hasn't sold yet.
Electric wheelchair joystick control sold untested online for $135. Yup.
Three door hinges sold online for $65. Flat rate non-recycled packaging was used for only the second time this year to bring shipping costs from ~$14.50 to $7.04. FYI - I had found 9 of these and have 1 left.
Vacuum power nozzles tested and sold online for $113.
Four books from the early 1980's found together sold online for $75.
Modem/router sold online for $70. Ran in front of a recycling truck that was pulling up to the pile I got this from just in time. They even asked what I was doing, and I said "saving this to sell it for about $70." True story.
A computer sold untested w/o a hard drive for $80 cash. The CPU was intact.
Two of these vacuum power nozzles tested and sold in the same day for $45 and $45.
Two of these wifi range extenders found together sold online for $64 and $64.
The effort is not in this post, it's in the hustle and determination I put in to find these things, save them from imminent destruction, and get them to people who need them, so they don't overpay for new ones or throw out something they need a replacement part for... I save and sell almost 1,000 recycled items each year by myself. You can do the math.
I do this to help the planet, not need a job for almost 5 years, and make a real impact. Please support my cause because it gives me extra motivation to save more when I'm outside in the middle of the night in the freezing cold.
Thanks,
@steemmatt
Particularly impressed to see such recent books selling so well.
Do you ever turn really old books to sell (c 100 years old) in your travels?
I'm always selling textbooks and study guides, but not antiquarian books that much. I actually find them all the time when elderly people purge their places or pass on (or even libraries). There are TONS of them outside, but I only take a few. They're often hard to value, not in "fine" condition, and likely not worth too much. First editions can have value, but it's a bit laborious to check each one. Most of the ones I take are simply gifted to friends or kept as a nice piece for my own place.
I have quite a large collection of old books that I have accumulated, and was looking selling some. But the prices I saw on ebay were very low.
That is why I was surprised at the good prices you managed to achieve for these books.
Was it because of their almost 'ornamental' value do you think?
I found a large set of Franklin Library and Easton Press leather-bound books. Most were sealed new. They're very popular and in demand, and also ornamental as you mentioned. These are keepers. Most aren't in demand and are super slow sellers unless they're in phenomenal shape.
I've not come across Franklin Library and Easton Press. They sound US only, but will keep an eye for them.
This is so cool man. Your blog was one of my favorites before I left Steem for awhile, I’m glad to see you’re still posting here. I love that these things you’re finding aren’t going to waste, and that you support yourself with a passion for recycling. Cheers!
Glad you're in tune with what I'm doing. Thanks for the resteem and comment. You have a solid voice from your cover the other day.
Congratulations, your post has been selected to be included in my weekly Sustainability Curation Digest for the Minnow Support Project.
I remain stunned by the affluence, appalled by what people deem to be "rubbish" and have SUCH ADMIRATION for all you do!!
Standing ovation!!!
Leading the curation trail for both @ecotrain & @eco-alex.
Together We’re Making This World A Better Place.
Click Here To Join the manually curated trail "@artemislives" to support quality eco-green content.
Me too, and I see it every day. I can't tell if it's laziness, stupidity, carelessness, or just being a bad human. No good answers really unless they put a sign on something and leave it outside saying "it works, please take it home."
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