Hey Hivers. It’s been a while.
As crypto rises, it’s been tougher to fire myself up to go outside overnight to hunt for stuff to sell, but I’m still grinding.
My next frontier will be buying two metal detectors to support day trips with friends. I’ve always had a passion for finding stuff, and have great memories of metal detecting on property I grew up on, where the farm house was built in 1870.
In an effort to get myself plugged back into the Hive, here’s my first post of recent recycled sales in a while I’m sitting on a park bench overlooking the water on a sunny afternoon.
The formatting may be basic from my phone, but I’d rather post now while I’ve got the motivation.
Some recent sales...
Artist signed 1955 Hungarian Porcelain Matador & Bull:
- Sold for $200 cash for an art installation.
- Miraculously found as is wrapped in a tablecloth in a black garbage bag with others.
- The artist will let me know where it’s installed so I can hopefully see it on display.
- 11” long and nearly 3 pounds.
- They sell for up to $450 online, but I didn’t want to risk shipping it. I gave up some profit by selling it in a local marketplace.
- I wanted to keep this for the bull run, but it’s fragile, and prone to damage.
Super Rare German 1964 Heating/Sun Lamp:
- Sold online for $449 to a collector in China.
- This was found in a box a thrift store declined outside on their curb.
- This unit was featured in the MoMA museum!
- It worked perfectly! Can’t say the same about the items we buy these days.
- I emailed the sales director of the thrift store to tell them to sharpen their staff up so they don’t refuse and toss things like this.
Late 1980’s Nintendo Power Glove:
- Sold online for parts/repair for $87.
- I found the complete setup, but the cable to the sensors was cut, and I couldn’t test it.
- I really wanted to keep this as a trophy, but let it go. I doubt that I’ll find another at this rate.
MacBook Air Laptop:
- Sold for $125 for parts/repair within 10 minutes of listing it online.
- This was found in a dark bag on a night I swore to myself that I wouldn’t go home until
I found a Mac product. - I found this 1.5 blocks from my apartment after trying outside for 3 hours. Pretty cool manifestation here. I was amazed.
- After opening the unit, it was water damaged from a spill over the trackpad. The display screen was perfect.
- Non-fun fact: water damage can take weeks to sink in on electronics as corrosion builds. This turned on at first, but was dead a few weeks later. This is why air drying asap is critical.
Police Radar Detector:
- Sold online for $178.
- Found in a clear bag with other electronics and tested on my friend’s car.
- I found this in the afternoon while rewalking a route that was not picked up from the prior night due to bad weather. Lucky me - or astute me for double checking.
- This find was a first for me.
Vintage Beer Sign Transformer:
- Sold online for parts/repair for $105.
- I shocked the hell out of myself through the rubber insulated wires when testing it again before shipment. The wires didn’t touch whatsoever, but holy hell did they not need to. It was like a bolt zapped from side to side like Frankenstein.
- The switch was loose, so I sold it at a discount.
Vintage Walnut Pipe Rack:
- Sold online for $150 to a very happy buyer.
- Found loose on the curb overnight.
- This model is rare and I was happy to save a classic handmade piece of wood construction here.
Super Rare 10,000 Piece Last Supper Puzzle:
- Sold online to Thailand for $350.
- 5 bags sealed, 1 bag open with a note saying that 2 specific pieces were taken as replacements. It has 9,998 pieces - so I heavily discounted it (ironic as it’s still pricey).
- I didn’t include the box to minimize shipping.
18.5 Pounds Of Assorted Legos:
- Sold for $120 cash to expecting parents who wanted to stash this for their son to play with in a few years.
- Many sealed new bags and loose pieces accumulated over a few months.
- I included the 3 pound bin, which was naturally salvaged as well.
- No mini figures. I keep them separate and have rebuilt a nice set of those again after selling out a while back.
...That’s enough for now. I look too anti-social here at the park.
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Summary:
9 items for $1,764 = $196 revenue per item before any shipping and fees for non-cash deals.
This helps with the bills while I keep holding and topping off my coins.
I almost always ship with boxes and packaging I reuse from the curbs. The only time I don’t use recycled boxes is when flat rate options are much more economical.
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Many many more to come if I can get back into the swing of posting again for any remaining fans from back in the day who don’t mind saying hello so I know the energy here is put toward a good cause.
Anyone out there?
Thanks,
Matt