Tag: dumpster diving

Stuff and things

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It’s been one of the harshest winters in recent memory, but enough decent trash has been trickling out to make my picking expeditions worthwhile. I went for a walk around my old neighbourhood in early January, and came across these bags.

Inside was mostly kid’s toys and junk, but for some reason a couple of doctor’s tools were mixed in. Maybe a retired doctor gave their grandkids their old devices to play with, who knows. Regardless, they were in pretty good cosmetic condition, and weren’t all that old either. The otoscope (above) battery was shot, but it held power for long enough to test the lights on the components. These things retail for over 1k new, and I was able to sell this one pretty quickly for 200$.

I also found and listed this sphygmomanometer. It’s not worth as much, but should fetch 50-100$.

I found another little jewelry stash that probably belonged to someone’s teenage years. Mostly junk, but there was one nice 14k gold butterfly necklace that made my trip worthwhile.

I mentioned one particular spot being notable for one other thing in my last post. That one thing was a big collection of perfume. Pretty nice stuff, and mostly fairly recent and fresh. I gave first dibs to someone who helps me sell things on Facebook, 2nd to a regular perfume buyer, and sold one on eBay for a total profit of around 400$. But I’ve still got a bunch left – selling used perfume on eBay is a pain after recent policy changes. If anyone knows any alternative selling platforms for perfume, let me know! Apparently Marketplace isn’t all that great for perfumes either, with lots of companies using algorithms to flag anyone trying to sell their used product. (To be fair, if they didn’t MP would be filled with fake Chanel #5 and whatnot).

Otherwise, I’ve done well this winter re-organizing and decluttering my garage. That includes listing some items that had been sitting around for years, and also processing some new arrivals quickly. The Breitling watch box and knife sharpener were recent finds that sold quickly (80 & 100$ respectively). The same applies to the otoscope above, which quickly listed then sold. Of the things that had been collecting dust for at least a year, my relatively quick sales included optometry paraphernalia, a stamp collection featuring a lot of vintage big blocks from Iraq, Pokemon-themed “Mighty Beanz”, an emergency beacon thing for avalanche safety, and an old projector lens. The lens felt like the dustiest of the bunch, but sold within an hour or so of listing for 100$. I still have some work to do, but am more organized than I’ve been in a very long time.

There was a death in my family recently. It wasn’t a surprise really, but regardless it sucks when that time comes. My next post will be dedicated to him.

 

La Vérité

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I’ve been trying to write “something” lately, with some success. Starting a book is intimidating, writing various tidbits that could one day be part of a book is less so. Regardless, I have lots of time on my hands now that the snow has arrived. I still go out hunting, but not as often as I would if the weather were nicer. As usual, getting my brain into “focus” mode is the biggest challenge.

Here’s some stuff from a couple months ago. I was saving it for the book, but then I realized the trash wasn’t really book-worthy, just the story surrounding it.

I saved a whole bunch of cute antique pictures from the bags on the right. Only one was an original painting (bottom left), but regardless they are good for decor.

I also saved a cool collection of Magic Lantern slides. I’ve found (relatively) newer ones before, but these are printed on glass and look much older. I think they could be from the late 1800s. I doubt they are super valuable, but I do have a bunch of them and they’re interesting regardless.

 

Otherwise, the recycling provided some interesting old newspapers. Most unusual might be the old Communist publications from the 30s. “La Vérité” (The Truth) was started by Leon Trotsky way back when he was still alive. “Le Journal de Moscou” looks like Soviet propaganda (one is marked with a “Friends of the Soviet Union” stamp, which was apparently located downtown), and I wasn’t able to figure out much about the other ones other than that they were left-ish. I like finding uncommon things, no matter which direction they lean so I enjoyed finding these. I do wonder if the Vérités could have some value, they appear to be hard to find.

I kept an eye on that spot, but my only other noteworthy find (a few weeks later) was this shield-type thing, which I think might have been the coat of arms version of the 1926 La Presse Canadian flag design contest winner. It had a really long string on the back, so it might have been hung from the actual rafters at some point. Regardless, another rare item by the looks of things, although only folks with an interest in Vexillology will care.

In with the new

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It’s been almost a month since my last post! I’ve been a bit busy, having done five yard sales since then, as well as some visiting with family, but I’ve also had a bit of writer’s block.

I’m still adjusting to focusing more on new finds than old. Fresher finds can be a bit more complicated. For example, one recent score includes an object that could theoretically be traced back to whoever tossed it (very unlikely, but possible), and I don’t want to hinder the current flow of trash there (or have some other picker poach the spot). These kinds of issues aren’t a concern when it comes to things I found years ago.

For another recent score, I have a cool shot of the trash pile, but the spot might (doubtful, but who knows) be too recognizable, so some similar concerns emerge. I was also thinking I could save that tale in my theoretical book … but by the time that is done we’ll all have largely forgotten about the stuff anyways. And the story isn’t so much about the finds anyways.

I think I’ll share the latter finds soon, and the former once the folks are done tossing their old junk. Today will just be a general update, plus one find.

For the yard sales, as I said earlier it’s been a busy stretch. Labour Day is now my favourite yard sale day of the year. With the students moving to the neighbourhood right around that time, pretty much all of them need stuff for their new apartments and have nothing better to do because it’s a holiday. I did both Sunday and Labour Day Monday, and probably cleared out about half of what I had there, between sales and my purge afterwards.

I’ve done a few more since then, but I’m now at the point where yard sales are providing diminishing returns. Most of my bigger ticket items have sold, so I’m left with smaller sales and old stock. That’s exactly where I want to be this time of year, because winter is coming sooner than most would like and I want to be “out of stock” by then.

Otherwise, with the confusion and cost surrounding the US duty/tariff/tax situation, I quit shipping eBay items to the States altogether. I’ll revisit it when there’s a bit more clarity or sanity, but as things are now it’s just too much of a headache to figure out. And now Canada Post is on strike, which means that eBay sales of any kind are more or less impossible at the moment. I guess I could figure out how to use Fedex or UPS, but I think I’d rather hope the Canada Post situation gets resolved – CP is generally cheaper and easier to use from my experience. I’ve been fortunate enough recently that I don’t need the eBay income all that desperately. In past years this situation might have been very challenging for my finances, but as of right now it’s just a mild inconvenience.

Otherwise, here’s one notable find from a couple months back. I stopped at an apartment building and found the bins filled with neat old junk, including this one bin that contained a bunch of old photos. I also found some fun yard sale stuff, a very small amount of gold and silver, and a letter written & signed by a former Prime Minister.

Wilfred Laurier was PM between 1896 and 1911. The history seems to check out. For Anglos, he’s asking this HG Carroll guy to replace Jean Blanchet as a judge temporarily. However, Blanchet died later in 1908, so the temporary post became permanent. A pretty random bit of history, but it’s cool to see Laurier’s signature and the Prime Minister’s Office letterhead. I doubt it’s worth a whole lot, so I might just keep it for my personal collection.

Otherwise, I’m planning another sale for tomorrow (Sunday) at the 4096 Coloniale spot from 12-6 pm. Late notice I know, but come by if you’re interested! There won’t be too many more this year.