Very rich people pt. 2

Posted on by garbagefinds

Part one

Let’s go back to that great haul from a few weeks back, which also produced a bunch of miscellaneous electronics. I saved some nice headphones, the best of which are the Bose noise-cancelling earbuds on the bottom. Bose is a great brand and the earbuds looked almost new. I recently sold them on eBay for 200$. The Beats by Dre at the top right should also make me some money, while the other pair is solid but unspectacular (5-10$ at a yard sale).

The nice thing about rich people junk is that they tend to buy higher quality items to start, so their stuff is more likely to hold its value even after it becomes “obsolete.” That Sony CD Walkman for instance is not exactly current, but it still sells for around 50-60$ because it’s one of the better ones on the market. The mini Sony AM/FM walkman is also surprisingly valuable, going for at least 35$. The antenna inside that thing must be pretty good because the sound is great considering its size.

The most interesting piece is the Sangean DT-200X radio. It’s one of the few radios on the market that can be converted to a “ghost box”, or a device that spirits can more easily communicate through. Basically, by removing one of the circuit board pins the radio can play audio while also scanning the airways. You end up hearing random bits of audio, some of which might sound like someone trying to communicate. I don’t really believe in this kind of stuff, but I don’t mind if other people do. Ghost boxes are hard to find these days, so they often sell for 100$ or more. Originally I chose not to hack it, but once I realized how easy it was I opened it up and got it done. It’ll probably sell for a bit more as a result, and it was good to make sure that it was indeed a hackable model (as Sangeans made after 2012 apparently cannot be hacked).

The Expos radio is pretty neat as well. It’s not particularly good (the antenna probably sucks), but it works and should sell at a yard sale.

I saved two Ti-83 calculators. The Silver Edition model worked but the other did not. I left the latter on the curb in hopes that someone would pick it up and fix it, but I’m not sure if anyone did. The SE should sell for around 50$.

I found a bunch of disposable cameras, some with many shots still left on them, as well as a Canon Ultrasonic camera lens.

That Magellan GPS looks really old, but it still has value because the model is desirable to outdoorsy types. It sells for around 65$. Unfortunately I didn’t find the power adapters to go with the walkie-talkies, so I’ll probably just end up selling them “as is” on eBay. The thing with the screen is an iSonic HD8000 projector, or something like that. I can’t find any info about it online, but I get the feeling it’s one of those things that people sell out of white vans, or pretend is worth a lot of money when it’s not. That at least is true with the iSonic 800HD.

Otherwise, I unfortunately didn’t find any MacBook Pros or iPads. On the plus side, I did find a couple of iPods. Usually I only find the older models, but these were relatively new, from 2010 and 2012 respectively. Neither looked to have been used very often. I already sold the one on the right for 115$, and the one on the left (which comes with a nice strap) should go for close to 100$.

Otherwise, I saved an Apple DVD drive, a few Apple adapters (which sometimes sell for good money), and some other miscellaneous bits and bobs. Overall, I should be able to make at least 700$, and quite possibly a fair bit more from these electronics.

Some of the stuff, like the iPods have obvious value, but a lot of that total comes from things that might not look like much, but are of value to the right person. That’s why it’s always a good idea to look up your finds on eBay’s completed listings to see what they sell for – it’s the best way to learn the potential value of your stuff.

Also, I figure I’d mention again that I’m part of the eBay Partner Network, which means that I sometimes made money when people go to eBay from my blog via clicking one of my eBay links (like the “completed listings” link above, and the link to my eBay listings below). Specifically, I make money if you buy something (not necessarily my items) or sign up for an account after clicking to the site from my page, at which point you can go anywhere via the search engine. It’s not much money, it might be anywhere from 1 cent to 10$, but it does add up. Anyways, consider it if you plan on buying something through eBay regardless. I think I’ve made like 40$ over two years so far, but I haven’t really marketed it that well either.

I have lots more very rich people garbage to show you (from various location), as well as some interesting stuff I found in Villeray a while back.

Relevant links

1. Facebook page
2. My eBay listings
3. Etsy store
4. Kijiji listings
5. Contribute to garbagefinds.com
6. Follow me on Instragram

Email: thingsifindinthegarbage@gmail.com. I often fall behind on emails, so I apologize in advance if it takes me a while to get back to you.

27 thoughts on “Very rich people pt. 2”

  1. Wow, I’m an electronic dunce. I really learn a lot from reading this kind of post. All that stuff about “ghost boxes” is curious indeed.
    Good to know too is the info you provide on the usefulness of checking out ebay “completed listings.”
    I’m very glad you’ll be making good money on the rich folks discards. 🙂

  2. Heading says Part 2 but under the first picture is says Part 1. I’m confused.

  3. You never know what will happen with an eBay Partners Network link. I have them on each page of my samstoybox.com website (my toy collection). Someone followed one of my links to eBay a few weeks ago and proceeded to buy $4300 worth of comic books. I made $200 from that guy and wish he’d go through one of my links to eBay for the rest of his life.

    I enjoy reading about your finds.

    Cheers, Sam

  4. Please whittle down your student debt.You are making a lot of money as it is.Be smart in spending your money.If you are going to eat out,at least try eateries in different neighborhoods.

  5. Did you try changing the internal battery on the non-working ti-83? (There is one of those round watch-type batteries inside). That’s the usual reason why they don’t work.

    1. Nope, I figured the bigger batteries were more important but maybe I was wrong.

      Actually, I remember now that the Ti-83 did power up, but the screen looked weird and it didn’t respond to any keys. There was a repair for it online, but it looked like more effort than it was worth (at least to me).

  6. you got to try artists trash. When I met Andy on the street he took a circuitous route home cause he know what I was after

    2. Well Arcade Fire is from Montreal so maybe I can find out where they live and hope they throw out some gold

      1. “Garbology” is about studying garbage. So going though Bob Dylan’s garbage was to get insight into his life. At the very least you could find what he ate. But there have been studies of garbage dumps that give insight into a certain period.

        Michael

        1. True. Sounds interesting but I’ll leave that angle for others, at least for now. Who knows, I could get into other areas of garbology at some point.

  7. I am constantly amazed at the things people throw out. There is NEVER anything like that around here. I am impressed.

  8. I remember reading on your blog a while back that you found pictures of Pierre Trudeau at a picnic or a barbecue.Do you think there are other copies of these photos that exist?If not,they are of historical importance.Why would someone throw out such nice historic photos?

    1. Quite possibly none exactly like them, though I wouldn’t be surprised if some other people took photos of the event. I’d say they are of historical importance but only a little bit, as photos of PET aren’t exactly rare. Still, they’re not garbage that’s for sure.

  9. Any photos of Pierre Trudeau are in huge demand,especially if they are unique.The man had so many fans even Dorval airport is named after him.He is hated by some nationalists in Québec,but those photos must be archived for posterity.The Montréal Archive or a museum would probably be interested in them.You must scan all those pictures first and make copies before safeguarding the originals at the right places.

  10. Please check the trash on Fendall street in Cote Des Neiges every chance you get.I work near there and recently I saw two signs for succession sales there.

  11. My family has been in Quebec for over 150 years.We have family photos going back to 105 years.No photos ever get thrown out in our family,even those of my parents’friends.We have digitized most photos but love to keep the originals in photo albums and in photo frames on the wall.Why do people throw out valuable old photos?

    1. But if you go far enough back, it’s easy to keep stuff because there wasn’t much of it. A photograph was a big thing initially, something you posed for. It’s easy to find photos of my family a few generations back, my great, great grandmother Henrietta is in the Museum of History, at least the website. The photos weren’t passed down to me, they’re in books and now websites.

      But there’s only one of each. The same photo pops up everywhere, because photos were rare, so those that exist get lots of travel. So there weren’t boxes of photos to keep around, or to sort. They were kept because they weren’t everyday things.

      Photographers probably kept lots of photo, but they lack information. So they can represent the period, but without names or details they aren’t all that useful. It took a long time for me to find anything that Henrietta had said or written, and that doesn’t travel with the photo.

      So is that photo someone in the family, or did it come with the frame? One way it’s important, the other it isn’t, but without information it might as well be a “nobody”.

      Michael

  12. I’m thinking about hitting a rich neighborhood on a night before garbage collection day. Got tips on how to spot good potential finds vs just waste? Are they usually rather easy to spot or do you have to dig a few minutes? Ever been “confronted” by the person living at the house you were checking out the garbage pile? lol. Also, do you bring some equipement with you (gloves, bags, etc)

    1. I have a “garbage picking tips” section under the Resources tab. The key is to develop screening techniques that will improve over time, there’s no perfect technique – I certainly check out really gross garbage thinking that it might be good sometimes, and very occasionally I probably pass or drive by a bag with something great inside. Only way to improve your odds is to practice. I’m confronted pretty regularly, less often at night but you’re also more likely to have awkward encounters with police or neighbourhood security agencies at those times (you will look sketchier than you would in the daylight). Gloves are bags are good to take.

    2. Otherwise, some rich neighbourhoods are a waste of time at night. For instance, people in Outremont more often than not put out their trash in the morning. Personally, if you have a car I’d recommend the West Island as those areas are affluent and largely untouched, as far as I can tell.

      1. Ok, so gloves/bags and try not to look sketchy lol. Btw, when you get confronted by people, do they tell you to back off and leave?

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