Imagine, a free directory of stuff you can have just by driving around and picking it up. You might as well turn your ability to drive and lift into a money generating hobby. If you get serious though, you can easily turn this into a real business. I’m going to tell you how a day of scavenging one day a week nets me $500 per month. Dominating several sectors can easily pay the bills and leave a healthy profit in most metro areas

There is simply a ton of free stuff out there. Recently I posted a free ad for this crap that I didn’t want to deal with moving. Within 45 minutes the scavengers came and stole off with it. I tried to make a time lapse of it, but it was gone so fast that everything is gone from one frame to the next! Someone’s trash is another–you get it

What to Look For

You’re going to want to go after the mid-size items, like TV’s, stereo equipment, computer equipment, and any mid-size item of value. For example, a quick search as I’m writing this article yielded these FREE items in my area:

• HP 19” monitor (worth up to $80 on eBay)
• Sharp 27” TV (sold for $50-70 on eBay)
• Rita Mulcahy’s PMP prep book (sells for $55+ on Amazon)
• 2 drawer file cabinet (worth $30-40 retail)

Employ different strategies depending on the size of your truck/van and your cash goals. Depending on what is available near you, what you have knowledge about, and how much you want to make, specializing will allow you to dramatically improve your ROI (on time and fuel). Here are the niches which work best:

1. Target nice or decent furniture, then consign it every Monday to a local auction to be resold. This one requires the truck and perhaps a temporary storage area. A tarp in the back yard works almost as well.
2. Focus on getting all the books you can get your hands on, then resell them on Amazon. Even a book that sells for 1 penny on Amazon nets you over $1 because of the shipping profit. Sell 500 books in a month, make $500+! (This is my focus)
   
3. Target free moving boxes, then resell them to local Public Storage or Shurgard storage centers that sell supplies, as some of them pay up to $1 per box! You didn’t even know you could do this but it is commonplace.
4. Target broken electronics (TVs are best), fix it (or pay someone to), and resell the working electronic. Become a domain expert in some sort of tiny repair. Many electronics have common failure points with predictable, and often miniscule, repair costs. I put a new $0.05 capacitor into a “dead” big-screen TV, and resold ir $300. You don’t need to be an electronics expert. Just learn the tiny bare minimum you need (like how to replace a CRT, or LCD backlight (or in my case measure a high-voltage capacitor) and you’re in business. Be resourceful.
5. Target office furniture, and fill a cheap warehouse space with the stuff you pick up. Office furniture is very high dollar stuff, and most small businesses either can’t or don’t want to afford it. They also won’t deal with buying from a bunch of unreliable sellers. They will love coming to your storage space that is open one or two days a week to outfit their whole office with used furniture. You’re only cost is time, gas, and storage, which should be less than $0.75 per square foot even in expensive markets.

Parts List

• Overalls (to help you get in the mood)
• Truck, van, SUV, Mini-cooper, Radio Flyer wagon, or Roller skates
• Phone with an Internet browser (or laptop w/wireless card)–just get an iPhone already
• The ability to lift at least 50 pounds or access to a Giant (you can always borrow a friend’s).
• Hands (or good prosthetics)

Logistics

In many cases, the address is listed, and you can just show up. In other cases, a quick email or phone call is all that’s needed. Call ahead whenever possible and act on the newest ads, preferably w/an Internet capable phone. You want to plan your routes efficiently to keep gas spending (and your time) down. Use Google maps to get a route from your Starbucks to the final destination, the use it’s add destination feature to figure your entire route. Click avoid highways if you decide to go at it during a weekday.

Just like any business you want to work in efficient, focused batches. In this case, you will batch your research and route planning, the actual pickups, and the selling. Because new ads are posted so often, the goal is to spend no more than 2-3 hours actually picking up, then stopping at the nearest Starbucks to line up the next 2-3 hours. Depending on your market’s density this will need some tweaking to keep you from overspending on driving.

If the ad’s contact is e-mail, don’t wait for a response. Say I’m going to come over at this time, and then just show up. Same goes for voicemail. You need to be very proactive to make this work in efficient batches. Shyness will get you nowhere. If you are not fast, someone else will be. If they respond while you’re driving, fine, but dictate the route on your terms. It is better to ask for forgiveness than permission.