This & that

Having a bigger car is proving to be very convenient. It definitely uses a lot more gas (I’m guessing about 50% more than the Hyundai hatchback), but the extra space and side doors are quite handy, and it’s also a lot more comfortable.

This table and chair set would have been two or three trips in the Hyundai, but with the Rondo I was able to get it all in one go, even with yet another load of books taking up space as well.

Yesterday I sold the chairs on Facebook Marketplace for 200$. They were in nice condition overall, one was a bit wobbly and the upholstery was “meh.” They were likely antique, or close to it.

I was told (by someone who has probably forgot more about furniture than I might ever know) that the table I picked up is a “d-end” style piece that dates to the mid-1800s. I don’t have any good pictures of it right now, but maybe I’ll share some in my next post.

I’ve been using Marketplace a little more often these days, especially for larger pieces. Dealing with people can be annoying but it’s not so bad if you don’t take it too seriously. I still prefer eBay for most of my fancier items – I like the anonymity, and also a lot of things are too niche to sell at a high price locally – but Marketplace is definitely turning into a good tool for my business.

I continue to load up on books on a weekly basis, all thanks to this one spot. I’m a bit overwhelmed by them right now, they just keep coming and coming and making a big mess in my garage. I think my plan now is to sort out the obvious “yard sale quality” books and the “back to the curb quality” books, leaving the books I need to research for later. I might need help for that big job.

For now I’ll share just one book from this haul, this 1818 leather-bound bible published by J. Holbrook. It was printed long ago, but not far away in Brattleborough (now Brattleboro), Vermont. Antique bibles are pretty common, but this is a nice one. I listed it for 300$.

This was basically my only find on one of my recent runs. I picked it up because it looked sturdy and vintage, but I was mildly grumpy about that outing until I noticed the mark on the bottom. As it turns out, it was a Danish “J77” chair made by Folke Palsson, and it sold pretty quickly to someone on Instagram for 225$.

Otherwise, some recent picks have been a little gross. Thanks to a tip from a follower, I went to check out a massive pile that was basically an entire apartment out on the curb. Unfortunately, the stuff was loaded with bedbugs and cockroaches. I knew that within 30 seconds of looking, but thankfully the tossers also put a couple of signs up (they don’t always).

Some guy was grumpy about people picking there. It was a bit of a mess (not my fault, honestly) but I’m pretty sure this pile, which took up about three parking spaces, was always a mess. In my unbiased opinion, the city was more to blame for any mess by letting this mound of infested trash sit on the curb for at least three days (it was definitely out in the rain the day before I got there, and was still there the night after).

Either way, it wasn’t a disaster. I’ve seen pickers do much worse. The bugs scared away most of the competition.

I’ll look through these huge bedbuggy piles, because sometimes people will abandon any common sense and just toss everything. The key is just to be careful and only take things that can be easily cleaned. My main score was a large collection of jadeite dishes by Fire King, and a few pieces of uranium glass. I double bagged those, and put them in “quarantine” until it gets a little nicer out. Then, I’ll clean them all in hot water in a way that no bug could survive (bedbugs in particular can’t take the heat). I didn’t take any pictures as I was in the “heat of the moment” while digging through this massive pile (and was also really hungry), but maybe I’ll share some once they’re all cleaned up.

I also took a bunch of small electronics, like transistor radios and such. I’ll probably leave those double bagged for a full year, because they’re harder to clean and I’m not in a rush. Thankfully, a good winter freeze will kill any bugs.

There’s another gross spot not far from my home, but so far it’s mostly been grungy kitchen stuff with maybe some minor cockroach activity. This week I pulled out a very dirty Le Creuset that looked to have a years old dinner still inside (the “before” picture is actually cleaner than it was when I found it, I scraped out the ancient food with a random piece of plastic before bringing it home).

This actually wasn’t too hard to clean, most of the work was done by soaking it in water. It had a few chips, but nothing too bad and I was able to turn around and sell it quickly for 50$. I enjoy rescuing any cast iron, the Le Creuset branding just makes it easier to flip.

This place has provided plenty of similarly grungy dishes and ceramics. I (finally) figured out recently that the dishwasher is actually very effective in cleaning off the old grime. Who’d have thunk it? Some of the nicer pieces will soon be listed on my @garbagefindssells Instagram account, while others are going to the yard sale.

Anyways, that’s all for now. Things seem to be picking up, though I’m still craving a nice precious metals haul.

Links

1. My eBay listings. Sign up for eBay (Canada, US). Search for something you want / research something you have (Canada, US). — These are Ebay Partner Network links. If you create an account or buy something after getting to eBay from here, I get a small cut of the profit!  —
2. “Things I find in the garbage” on Facebook
3. Follow @garbagefinds and @garbagefindssells. Note that someone else runs the latter.
4. Email: thingsifindinthegarbage@gmail.com. Note that I really suck at keeping up with my email.
5. Donate to the blog. It costs close to 500$ a year to maintain (no ads, domain name, storage space, etc) which ain’t cheap. Otherwise, it’s nice to get a few bucks for coffee, food, or gas!