dumpster diving could get crowded tomarrow.

I read the wired article--missed the reference to it when reading the first article.



Still not sure what this dude is doing that the SMF crew AREN'T doing to make the big money. Someone suggested that he's pulling stuff that us great unwashed wouldn't look at twice. I wouldn't be so sure on that...didn't read any examples in the article of stuff that the collective "WE" wouldn't think to grab.

I cringed at the veiled implications behind the assertion that most scrappers are working class people "who carry a ton of personal baggage". The example was a guy who screwed up his life to the point where he had to scrap to live and did meth for a bit. So they set the tone at who your scrapper competition is. Hmmm... we've got all kinds on SMF...guys like the star of the article (in the IT game) and others that cut across all walks of life.

So I don't think we are all joe lunchkit with PTSD and worried about aliens landing as the article implies. I resent that implication that I'm a f*ckup because I like to chase scrap.

The other thing I noticed is that it seemed that he didn't seem to care about permissions to get into dumpsters. Just dived in. He DID chase the store dumpsters and the occasional industrial dumpster, and watched out for large roll-offs appearing at stores. (watching for large roll-offs appearing is probably a good hint for us.)

Didn't sound like he dismantled much for maximizing scrap returns, instead, looking to resell for better than scrap. Do many of our guys use Amazon for reselling?

I suppose another hint from this is that driving a "nice" vehicle (I assume his avalanche was also a late model) and probably dressed decently helped keep the security and cops from hassling him much.

The major takeaway I got from this is that retail store dumpsters have a lot of new stuff in them that is ripe for the taking. It sounded like all you have to do is cruise the malls.

I'm still not sure that it all adds up. If cherry picking mall retail dumpsters is so lucrative, we all would be doing it right across North America...wouldn't we?

I'm not in an area where I can check this out for myself. Would anyone who does have experience chasing these dumpsters care to comment?

Jon.