culture – Things I find in the garbage

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.

Miscellaneous finds from weeks past

April 10, 2016April 10, 2016 garbagefinds29 Comments

Here’s some assorted finds from the last few weeks! A bag in Cote St-Luc produced a small coin collection, an old Romanian bill, and some other doodads. I also found a light meter, but this light meter collector (who seems to know their stuff) described it as “junk.” Apparently Sekonic made some good meters, but this is not one of them.

The oldest coin was a beat up 1905 Canadian silver quarter. I added it to my scrap collection, which I recently exchanged for a nice payday.

In NDG I found a neat photocopied drawing, titled “The Monetary Maze,” which looks to extol the virtues of unfettered free-market capitalism. According to the artist, economic management of any kind causes inflation, hurts economic growth, and “will ultimately seal the death warrant of all other freedoms as well.” I disagree entirely with the premise, but the maze itself is pretty well drawn and the idea behind it is interesting. The paper was a bit too large for my scanner, so the title as well as a hand-drawn heart below the initials “FRO” are cut out of the picture.

This note was once stapled to the front of the drawing.

I came across this cool “Cirque du Soleil” watch in Outremont. It has a distinctive look, owing to the fact that the clock arms have been replaced with colorful hoops. I found it new in its original wooden box, which was still sealed in plastic. I replaced the battery and now it works great, though I’ll have to find someone to press the back on again. One just like it sold on eBay for 130$, and I expect mine to go for a bit more.

Otherwise, I saved two 1978 tax guides in Montreal West (love the graphic design!);

… an antique metronome (TMR);

… a roughly half-pack of Viscount cigarettes, on the back of which is written the date June 12, 1978 (Montreal West);

… a cool chalkware wall hanging (CSL);

… a well-used vintage cast iron dutch oven (Point St-Charles);

… an old cheque for the grand sum of 1000$ (or, as written here, “ten hundred” – NDG);

View this post on Instagram

Aw, the garbage knew it was my birthday! #Mtl #montreal #garbage #birthdaywishes

A post shared by Martin (@garbagefinds) on Mar 30, 2016 at 9:23pm PDT

… this figurine, which I actually found on my birthday (CSL);

… and what looks to be a stuffed baby crocodile (TMR). The skin looks pretty real, as do the teeth. It’s sewn up the bottom, and looks to have been filled with some type of straw. I’ve certainly never seen anything quite like it before, and I wouldn’t mind if I never saw anything like it again!

Home

March 24, 2016 garbagefinds35 Comments

I decided to go on a run to Côte-Saint-Luc last week despite the fact that it was raining, occasionally heavily. I have a fondness for the neighbourhood, which is mainly composed of humble single-family homes and duplexes built between the 50s and 80s. It’s the location of a big rail yard, which makes a lot of noise even late at night. It’s largely Jewish – nearly 40% of the population as according to the 2006 census – but there are also pockets of Russians, Poles, and other nationalities. In the 2011 census 42% said English was their mother tongue, making it much less French (only 17.52%) than most other neighbourhoods here. About 36% reported a mother tongue that was of a non-official language.

I like to mention the neighbourhoods in which I make my finds. To me it’s big part of the story behind each item, as each area has its own specific character and attracts a certain kind of person. If you like to imagine the past lives of some of these objects, knowing what neighbourhood they came from can make that fantasy a little more vivid, or at least more accurate. I know most people outside of Montreal probably aren’t familiar with any of these places, so I’ll make a point going forward to describe any new neighbourhoods as best I can.

My trip ended up being more of a success than I expected. This spot in particular provided some nice finds.

I found a bunch of small items near the bottom of the first bag I opened, and spent several minutes sifting around making sure I didn’t miss anything good. I saved some Israeli coins, a cool retractable pen pendant that’s likely silver plated, a silver pendant with “Jerusalem Israel Sterling Silver” stamped on the back (with what looks to be some dried glue discoloring the front), a probably silver Israeli tag of some kind, and a nice little pin.

I suspected the pin was gold because it was heavy for its size. I didn’t see any markings at first, but later I noticed a faint “14k” on the side of the pin. It’s worth about 60$ for scrap, but it’s nice enough that I might try selling it on Etsy. If anyone recognizes the stone, let me know in the comments!

I also found two small trays or dishes, both of which are marked as being 800 (80%) silver. If they are indeed silver (I can’t personally test them, since I realize that my acid test kits are now expired) they’re worth a bit of money even if just sold as scrap. Together they weigh about 190 grams, making their silver value around 80$.

Otherwise, I saved a seemingly never used Waterman fountain pen, which someone on Reddit helped me identify as a first generation “Expert” …

… an also unused Teepak Colonial “melon tester” knife;

… and a large collection of vintage brochures, most of which looked to be from the 60s and 70s.

Here’s what came out of the New Zealand package.

Later on, a recently sold house produced some nice toy cars; …

… a pair of unnecessarily large brass dice;

… and a busted Domar vase, similar in style to this one I found on eBay. It was adorned with a sterling silver overlay which I was able to tear off. The silver weighs about 70 grams, making the scrap worth about 30$. There was lots of silver out that night!

Towards the end of my run I opened a trash can which contained that person’s flotsam.

I saved a few cool things, including a vintage slide rule. There seems to be a healthy collector’s market for old slide rules – I listed mine on eBay for 100$. The price might be a bit high but I expect it’s worth at least 70-80$.

Otherwise, a bag under all those doodads held a collection of banners, pennants, and patches, all of which look to be sports related. Some are from the Olympics, which might make them somewhat collectible.

I returned to CSL this week, but wasn’t able to reproduce the same level of success. We’ll see if next week is any better!

Tag: culture

Very rich people pt. 2

Relevant links

Miscellaneous finds from weeks past

Home