By sort of popular demand...the Dumpster Diving Treasures thread...

karkyco

karkyco

CAGiversary!
Feedback
23 (100%)
Spinning off directly from Dinobot's "EB Games/Gamestop Destroys PS1 Games; Dinobot Sad" topic, since I and a few others are clamoring for more dumpster diving stories (tips and tricks, bragging rights to ridiculous scores that we will call BS on, getting chased down and mauled by a pack of junkyard dogs or mall rent a cops, etc.), I present the Official "Post Your Dumpster Diving Expedition Discoveries" thread.

I, uh...don't have any glorious tales to post YET as I have yet to experience the adrenaline filled thrill of dumpster diving for fame, glory, and of course profit.

But if anyone has some amazing (or the alternative...horrific) discoveries they've made whilst in the act of dumpster diving, please share them. As apparently numerous retailers will destroy or simply dump various old, unwanted, etc. inventory and then just "damage them out" for tax purposes, rumors indicate there are some incredible finds to be had in your local retailer's dumpster. Think of them as real life "treasure chests" akin to the ones found in your favorite RPGs.
 
Well I shared my treasures in the old thread, but have many weird stories.
The biggest Haul i almost got was about a year ago, a friend and i were at church one wednesday night and decided to go grab some Ice-Cream afterwards. as we passed the local Blockbuster was saw a lady pushing one of the large carts they use to restock shelves out to the dumpster so we pulled up beside her, the cart was full of old DVD's, and alot of the Green Xbox cases that they had replaced with "rentable(AKA crappy black)" cases. I asked if we could have them....bad question....the lady answered "NO and if I see you digging for them in the dumpster I'm gonna call the cops....plus I had a suit on so I had to let it go. At the time all the workers there loved me and would have given me the case but her.

I also got my First PC(An old 486) from a lady that was about to chuck it in a dumpster.
 
ill help out a lil..

this is from the dumpster lady website


Is diving or scavenging legal?

The very first thing you have to do is find out whether dumpster diving and
scavenging are legal in your town and county. Diving is illegal in a few
towns and counties.​

You can either go to the library and do the research yourself, or you can call
local law enforcement and ask. Most divers choose to call from a pay phone
so as not to identify themselves to law enforcement.


I will tell you that local law enforcement is not always aware of the exact laws.
I've heard of cases where cops told divers that diving was illegal when the divers
know for a fact that it isn't.



Be respectful, neat, and quiet. Don't make a mess. Don't ever dump your own
trash in someone else's dumpster -- that's always against the law. If it says
"No Trespassing", don't. If a dumpster or an enclosure is locked, don't mess
with it.



If you find that it's illegal in your area, then dive outside the city or county limits.
Obey all laws. Period. End of story.
Click to expand...
 
[quote name='djkunai']Found a dead hooker once, but I passed.[/quote]

WOW, that reminds me of the time that the manager at the local Game Crazy offered me the "services" of a girl that was working there if i signed up for MVP....and the girl said "sorry but we have had to many new MVP's today I'm worn out, but i have a dead hooker in the trunk of my car and she's still warm".....totaly off topic and realy gross.
 
[quote name='Sinnbox']WOW, that reminds me of the time that the manager at the local Game Crazy offered me the "services" of a girl that was working there if i signed up for MVP....and the girl said "sorry but we have had to many new MVP's today I'm worn out, but i have a dead hooker in the trunk of my car and she's still warm".....totaly off topic and realy gross.[/quote]

hmmm warm dead hooker....yummmm:lol:
 
i found a perfect stretch armstrong a couple years back, with a pump and everything


sadly, i lost him :( ...the joys of being 22 and still loving that thing
 
[quote name='Sinnbox']Well I shared my treasures in the old thread, but have many weird stories.
The biggest Haul i almost got was about a year ago, a friend and i were at church one wednesday night and decided to go grab some Ice-Cream afterwards. as we passed the local Blockbuster was saw a lady pushing one of the large carts they use to restock shelves out to the dumpster so we pulled up beside her, the cart was full of old DVD's, and alot of the Green Xbox cases that they had replaced with "rentable(AKA crappy black)" cases. I asked if we could have them....bad question....the lady answered "NO and if I see you digging for them in the dumpster I'm gonna call the cops....plus I had a suit on so I had to let it go. At the time all the workers there loved me and would have given me the case but her.

I also got my First PC(An old 486) from a lady that was about to chuck it in a dumpster.[/quote]I would have waited until she went back inside and done it anyway.
 
[quote name='clortho']I would have waited until she went back inside and done it anyway.[/quote]Definitely.

I'd give the cops at least 10 minutes to show up. ;)
 
I've only ever curb crawled(picked people's trash), but I've definitely thought about dumpster diving before. I found one site which a CAG had a link to in their profile before. I believe it was called DumpsterWorld or something along those lines.

Very good community of people who were helping each other and EVEN newbies to make money from the trash they pick.
 
Remember, take a few empty cardboard boxes with you and lay them outside the dumpster while you're looking. If any cops show up you can always say that you're just looking for boxes for moving purposes and point to the pile of boxes you brought with you. No cop will haul you to jail for collecting boxes to use for moving.
 
Dumpster diving is not worth the time, trouble, cleanliness, or potential embarrassment.

However, I can see djkunai dumpster dive for something and flip it at Blockbuster/GameRush. :)
 
ive got some nice furniture off the alley, a bigass couch that no would take with them, a really nice queen sized bed(i had to sponge it down, but it was very very clean already, and a lazy boy recliner
 
Ive read through some of the dumpster diving forum before... hilarious stuff...

the only time I ever picked out anything from a dumpster was the time I was driving by a gamestop and noticed a familiar display item sticking out of the top... I walked up and noticed it was a psp display and looked like it had recently been discarded... took it home, and after an hour of cutting through the ploycarbonate protection, I got the psp out, and it worked perfectly, only needed an analog sick... I sold it on amazon soon after
 
Found 100 DVD cases and a Brian from Family Guy cardboard cut-out once in a blockbuster dumpster.

Best find was $200 paintball gun still in packaging with price sticker. Found out months later through a mutual acquaintance it was an employee theft attempt. Was at a True-Value that was moving.

^ I lived next to shopping center for both these dumpsters. It's much easier, safer, and more profitable to learn one or two dumpsters well, so you know when to try. Maybe there's a store near your house. Keep away from food stores or restaurants = MESS. The one time I jumped into Blockbuster's to look through movie posters only to find out the hard way they had thrown away a broken freezer's entire ice cream selection! (earlier on a HOT day) :censored:
 
I have an experience from a year or so ago. I was visiting a friend over at his apartment, and while I was there his wife asked him to take out some trash and walk the dog, so I tagged along to help him out on his chores. When we got over to the dumpsters, there was a couple boxes setting in front of them and I peeked inside and found they were both filled with old video game controllers. Various Xbox, PS1 & 2, Gamecube, Dreamcast, Saturn, just about 15-20 various controllers, most third party. Me and my friend shrugged our shoulders, grabbed the boxes and went down to the local GS and split the credit on them.
 
[quote name='funkflexmctough']Found 100 DVD cases and a Brian from Family Guy cardboard cut-out once in a blockbuster dumpster. [/quote]
about 4 or 5 years ago when dvd cases were expensive, me and my bro and his friend went to about 7 or 8 blockbusters to grab some dvd cases. i've heard about it through fatwallet then and people were getting around 600 to 800 cases in just 9 to 10 blockbusters. we ended up with 497 cases with most of those double cases for Lord of the Rings Two Towers. i still have about 100 or so left of those. but it was quite an adventure because you didnt want to get caught by anyone. we did find other stuff like stuffed animals and cardboard displays. some stores mistakenly dumps out the dvds with the cases. i found a game or two for the ps2. good times.
 
Awesome scores, guys. I love the advice, PacificKarma, about taking cardboard boxes.

I just remembered my one trash score, it wasn't from a dumpster but rather at a city trash can next to a bus stop a couple of blocks from my place.

My wife and I were out walking one late afternoon, and there was a huge black Hefty trash bag right next to the city trash can. Sticking out of the bag was something plastic...I thought I recognized it, so I told my wife to stop.

My wife was TOTALLY not into me going through the trash, but I open the trash can and the part sticking out was the freaking original GI Joe portable battle station platform (this set):

images


It was disassmbled, among other vehicles and playsets. But all pieces looked flawless and had the stickers applied perfectly - I didn't know how or why they showed up there (I thought maybe some collector threw them out, or maybe his girlfriend/wife threw them out!!!) No figures or figure weapons though, unfortunately.

I pretty much told my wife "I'm taking this bag home", she wasn't having it, but I took it and told her I would keep it in the trunk of my car. She was freaked out about bugs or trash or whatnot. The bag and its contents were perfectly clean...but the trash can's trash bag was filthy so I didn't go through that. I can only wonder if there was more in that trash can, but it was mostly empty so probably not.

So I take the bag to my office/warehouse the next day, and dump out the contents. Contents were:

GI Joe Portable Battle Platform, complete (no figure, no box, no paperwork/instructions)
Cobra A.S.P. x2
Cobra H.I.S.S. tank x2 (originals...again, no drivers unfortunately) - these, like the rest, were completely flawless. It looked as though someone had just assembled it, applied the stickers, and put it on display or put it away.
1 or 2 Cobra F.A.N.G. choppers
1 Cobra attack vehicle that splits in the front, forgot the name
some other random smaller playsets and vehicles.

I just put it all in a box and put it in storage with the rest of my old GI Joe collection. I'll have to go through it someday...I must have like 5 or 6 HISS tanks now. Some day I'll hopefully be able to set up a nice battle scene with all that stuff and my stuff.
 
well every year when school ends kids are required to clean their lockers
me and my buds who dont wanna pay $7 for a new binder next year go "trash pickin"
we have found things from wallets to gamecubes
i look forward to this every year : ]
but the janitors get really pissed if you do that because thats what they do for their kids
and its not that dirty as dumpster diving
 
I remember a couple of years ago, my step grandfather found a almost complete season of simpsons episodes in a garbage bag outside of blockbuster. It looked like the people working there tried to slash the back of the disc holders to render the discs useless, but they didnt do a good job and the knife didnt go through the hard plastic. It was missing a disc, but it was still a good find. BTW: he gave it to me after a few days. I guess he doesnt like the Simpsons.

About 6 years ago my dad found a propane tank near a dumpster one day when he was taking out the trash. He brought it back, and he traded it for a new full propane tank for a discount. It probably wasnt much, but I think he saved about 5 or 10 bucks doing that.

Last year, at the end of the school year, my American History teacher was going to throw out a bunch of educational LaserDisc movies and a LaserDisc player. I offered to take them, since I am a LaserDisc collector, and he was more than happy to give them to me. I gave the player to a friend who was interested in LaserDisc and was starting a collection. Everything worked perfectly.

The same day I got the LaserDiscs, a bunch of students were cleaning their lockers, and I saw them throw perfectly good books, folders and even new backpacks into the dumpster. I didn't want to go swimming through all that, so I passed, and because I didn't want to smell like dumpster the rest of the school day.
 
Wow, these stories are really inspiring and makes me want to go diving even more!

I'm not picky at all when it comes to grabbing "trash" from a garbage can, like all of people who posted, I get some really nice stuff.

However, I usually just dumpster dive for art supplies (stereotypical poor college student blah blah blah), or if I find something laid outside of the dumpster while I'm walking past it.

I haven't even considered divin' for food; guess it's a mental obstacle to overcome, especially if you can get still-good food for free (once again, college student blah blah blah)

There's a Safeway near my campus; I'll have to see where their dumpsters are (although they're 24 hours....)
 
[quote name='Dori-dori']Wow, these stories are really inspiring and makes me want to go diving even more!

I'm not picky at all when it comes to grabbing "trash" from a garbage can, like all of people who posted, I get some really nice stuff.

However, I usually just dumpster dive for art supplies (stereotypical poor college student blah blah blah), or if I find something laid outside of the dumpster while I'm walking past it.

I haven't even considered divin' for food; guess it's a mental obstacle to overcome, especially if you can get still-good food for free (once again, college student blah blah blah)

There's a Safeway near my campus; I'll have to see where their dumpsters are (although they're 24 hours....)[/quote]

Apparently there's a whole dumpster diving culinary culture, I think it's called "Freegan"...these people dumpster dive for everything from food to their furniture to clothes etc. Crazy. They even have recipes from the food scraps they find.

I heard an interview about it on local radio once, I think one of the main advocates wrote a cookbook.
 
It's apparently against the state of Georgia's code. My wife's hair-stylist recieved 3 months for it (he had 2 prior possesion convictions, was on probation and did not retain an attorney). Here a dumpster is apparently different than a residential garbage can and is also treated differently than mislaid, mislain, or abandoned property.
 
i actually posted this on another thread thats still on these forums.. but it belongs in this thread..
[quote name='phear3d']
true story.. this is about 2 years ago when i worked for retail. stores next to us were potterybarn, victoria secret, chicos and william sonoma. aside from victoria's secret, the other stores are pretty high end stores. i got to know the supervisor at potterybarn and he used to throw displays or sample furnitures. so he gave me a few chairs, lamps, and some mirrors. they are supposed to destroy them or donate them but its much easier for them to just rid of it in the trash. ive probably gotten around $5,000-$7,000 worth of furnitures from them.

another time is when victoria's secret had all those holiday lotion, perfumes, etc.. one day i was throwin the trash to the dumpster and saw boxes of them. it was sick to think they just threw them out. we're talkin more than $4,000 worth of personal care products. some of them spilled out but i got the most of it. i even found holiday cds still unopened from their boxes. i shared the haul with all my co-workers but the rest i sold made around $300.. i sold the cds just this past holiday for $10 each.

too bad though, i heard the day before, Chicos threw out boxes of holiday clothing, untouched and still in plastic. and a day before that Hallmark got rid of their holiday plushies.[/quote]
 
Ok, I have never actually dived in a dumpster but I am sure my grandpa has. I have only sifted through trash on the curbside a couple times and one time I picked up a carseat that I needed a part from (for a very strange reason, trust me) and I asked the person if they were throwing everything out (it was a really big pile of stuff), I am sure they were just happy to have it removed.

Oh yeah, and then there was the time I got chased by the cops with a friend when we saw an arcade game on the side of the road, had a very small car at the time so we grabbed the boards out of it (I obviously couldn't take the whole game), apparently someone saw us and called the cops, must not be illegal here as we were let off with no charges and got to keep the board.
 
[quote name='SaraAB']
Oh yeah, and then there was the time I got chased by the cops with a friend when we saw an arcade game on the side of the road, had a very small car at the time so we grabbed the boards out of it (I obviously couldn't take the whole game), apparently someone saw us and called the cops, must not be illegal here as we were let off with no charges and got to keep the board.[/QUOTE]

Did you go back for the rest?

The only time I dumpster dove was when our hall last year had a recycling bin for old books you no longer wanted (like if the bookstore wouldn't buy them). I found an English book and sold it online for $7 profit.:rofl:

Not sure of the legality of that though... seeing as how it was a recycling bin and not a trash.:whistle2:k
 
[quote name='Dori-dori']There's a Safeway near my campus; I'll have to see where their dumpsters are (although they're 24 hours....)[/quote]

Safeway dumpsters are the best. The ones in Maryland at least. I use to go to this one in Bel Air every couple of weeks and load up on baked goods, breads, cereal, and other assorted sealed treats. Definitely avoid the produce, meats, and dairy, heh.

From my personal experience, the 3 best places to dive are..

College campuses at the end of each semester. I've found new furniture, text books, school supplies, ramen (haha), other assorted dried/canned foods, and clothing. Sometimes you find computers and laptops if you're lucky.

Distribution Centers. If you're worried about diving for food then the best places to start are at distribution centers because they usually throw out cases of food and beverages for ridiculous reasons. When I use to live in MD, once a month my friends and I would take a trip to Jesop to hit up the Odwalla Center and their dumpster were always filled to the top with bottles of juice and health food bars. I spoke to a few workers there once and they said the most common reason for trashing an entire case of juice was that one bottle would break and get all over the rest. That was it.

Thrift Stores. As many donations as they get, they're bound to run out of room at some point so a lot of stuff just get tossed. Over the span of a few years I've found TVs, bikes, DVD players, VCRs, stereos, and other assorted electronics. Friends of mine have looted all sorts of furniture and clothing as well.

Does anyone know of any rad places to dive in Tampa? I haven't had much time to go exploring since I've moved here.
 
the thing about dumpster diving is that there could be personal information inside of it. and i think thats what makes it illegal (in some states/counties or towns) like this one time me and my co-worker did it to grab a few plates from potterybarn, we noticed that there was a shiny piece of plastic sticking out of a little trash bag. i told him to go look at it and it was a gold american express card. we figured someone had already declared it loss and we really didnt want to do anything with it.
 
every time i go to gs i go behind to dive, most Sundays. i always find magazines, preorder promos,display cases and the occasional game. i got BAttlefield2 Sealed that way, from that MEdal Of honor Promo
 
heres non-dumpster story but its just as nasty
when i was in jr. high i was stocking up on genesis games people at my school didnt want anymore
so this guy came up to me and said "Hey! i got a whole bunch of those kinds of games ill bring em tomorrow."
Well the next day he comes with a bag of genesis games......covered in human urine
"Sorry about that my little cousin pissed on these, here!'' "Take em!"
It had St.Fighter 2, Castlevainia, Sonic and Knuckles,and Vectorman 1&2 to name a few
So yelled at him for being a jackass, my friends yelled at him for being a jackass, and the teachers yelled at him for being a jackass
I wanted those games so bad though i stuck them in my locker, took them home later that day and dropped them all in a sink full of warm water and anti-bacterial soap
I washed those games for 2 hours that day and the stench eventually went away
I tested them later and all of them worked!

Now how many of you guys would do that?
 
[quote name='ITDEFX']Has CAG seriously become that desperate for stuff that we now dig in other people's trash?[/QUOTE]

Times are hard.
 
My friends and I were skateboarding after school one day and didn't have any money. We found 18 12 packs of coke in the dumpster. We drank a pack and then hauled the rest and hid them in the alley behind the school. We sold most of them the next day for a dollar each. lol
 
[quote name='kube00']Is http://www.dumpsterworld.com/ the site with the forums on dumpsterdiving?[/quote]

I think that is the site I'm registered on. I know I clicked through a link on someone's profile here on CAG to get to it. I haven't been on there in months, but they talk about everything from scrapping computer monitors for the bit of gold or platinum(I forget which) that's in the core of the monitors themselves, to curb crawling(kinda self explanatory) to dumpster diving and 'Freeganism'.

Just like CAG, there's a fair amount of smartasses and the like, but all in all it's just like CAG, a great internet community where people talk about saving money and the deals they've found.
 
So now we're not only cheap but hobos?

I've never dumpster dived, but I'm interested in the stories from those who have. :lol:
 
[quote name='ITDEFX']Has CAG seriously become that desperate for stuff that we now dig in other people's trash?[/quote]
if you've been reading the thread, the stories are old. theres no recent dives.
 
[quote name='Msut77']Times are hard.[/quote]

Not yet anyways..

[quote name='darkslime']My friends and I were skateboarding after school one day and didn't have any money. We found 18 12 packs of coke in the dumpster. We drank a pack and then hauled the rest and hid them in the alley behind the school. We sold most of them the next day for a dollar each. lol[/quote]

eek.

[quote name='blueweltall']:whistle2:s

same here.

This thread is getting really weird.[/quote]

agreed.

[quote name='phear3d']if you've been reading the thread, the stories are old. theres no recent dives.[/quote]


but that doesn't mean that people aren't going to try this.

All the dumpsters behind places like gamestop have video cameras watching that area. I guess because they don't want employees trashing games and have their friends come by and pick it up.
 
[quote name='ITDEFX']Not yet anyways..



eek.



agreed.




but that doesn't mean that people aren't going to try this.

All the dumpsters behind places like gamestop have video cameras watching that area. I guess because they don't want employees trashing games and have their friends come by and pick it up.[/quote]

i doubt it why have cameras watching garbage for other than what u said,
 
Yea I joined dumpsterworld.com, I'm under junkkube00. There are some ppl who have netted some good stuff, but diving for food isn't something I could see myself doing.
 
[quote name='kube00']Yea I joined dumpsterworld.com, I'm under junkkube00. There are some ppl who have netted some good stuff, but diving for food isn't something I could see myself doing.[/quote]

percisely
 
Why dive for food? I think if someone has teh cash for a internet connection they would have cash for food.
 
[quote name='Nathan_Sama']heres non-dumpster story but its just as nasty
when i was in jr. high i was stocking up on genesis games people at my school didnt want anymore
so this guy came up to me and said "Hey! i got a whole bunch of those kinds of games ill bring em tomorrow."
Well the next day he comes with a bag of genesis games......covered in human urine
"Sorry about that my little cousin pissed on these, here!'' "Take em!"
It had St.Fighter 2, Castlevainia, Sonic and Knuckles,and Vectorman 1&2 to name a few
So yelled at him for being a jackass, my friends yelled at him for being a jackass, and the teachers yelled at him for being a jackass
I wanted those games so bad though i stuck them in my locker, took them home later that day and dropped them all in a sink full of warm water and anti-bacterial soap
I washed those games for 2 hours that day and the stench eventually went away
I tested them later and all of them worked!

Now how many of you guys would do that?[/QUOTE]



Ugh, yeah, I would probably disinfect them too, unless it was just a bunch of old sports games, then I would take it to the SA and let them deal with it! There are definitely ways to disinfect this stuff and there is also febreeze, and I am sure there are worse things they could be covered with then human urine. I just really hate seeing games go into trash for most any reason, especially if they are working.

I would definitely not dumpster dive for food however if its a package of stuff with just one can/item missing or one broken can then its fine as long as it has a good date on it and the stuff is in its normal package. Usually these are set outside the dumpster. Definitely want to avoid the things that spoil fast, obviously. My grandpa has brought home items like this many times and they are as good as what you buy in the store as long as you throw out the 1-2 damaged things in the package.
 
Originally Posted by Nathan_Sama
heres non-dumpster story but its just as nasty
when i was in jr. high i was stocking up on genesis games people at my school didnt want anymore
so this guy came up to me and said "Hey! i got a whole bunch of those kinds of games ill bring em tomorrow."
Well the next day he comes with a bag of genesis games......covered in human urine
"Sorry about that my little cousin pissed on these, here!'' "Take em!"
It had St.Fighter 2, Castlevainia, Sonic and Knuckles,and Vectorman 1&2 to name a few
So yelled at him for being a jackass, my friends yelled at him for being a jackass, and the teachers yelled at him for being a jackass
I wanted those games so bad though i stuck them in my locker, took them home later that day and dropped them all in a sink full of warm water and anti-bacterial soap
I washed those games for 2 hours that day and the stench eventually went away
I tested them later and all of them worked!

Now how many of you guys would do that?


lol, reminds me of the time i was going on a yoth Gropu trip and my friends grandma gave him some cash for a Slurpie on the way there. He accadentaly dropped it in the urinal then tried to dry it with the hand dryer....it was still damp and smelled bad when he handed it to the cashieer. poor lady...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top