I am working Part Time for a "We Haul Trash" service

[frugi]

I am working Part Time for a "We Haul Trash" service....

I am a auctioneer/antique dealer. These folks have hired me to be on-site while they are clearing out houses in order to determine what is NOT trash, and should NOT be scrapped. My first job with them was a eye opener, and quite hilarious. I had to practically throw myself in front of one the guys getting ready to smash 2 large stained glass windows into the 40 yard dumpster, than they were throwing away about 100 aluminum arrows with nice, expensive tips (they didnt know they had resale value, or that they were aluminum)......They were going to throw away a tackle box full of tackle, fishing poles. They were cleaning out the tool room, and throwing ALL of the hand tools into the scrap metal pile....I pulled out a Plumb sledgehammer, a antique double bit axe, gobs of Craftsman sockets, a set of Mac wrenches, it was ridiculous. In addition, I also found some nice expensive pottery, and some nice old tall religious statues, and a nice antique plaster life size nativity set, and the topper was 3 huge boxes of antique trains, train buildings, the track.....most of the were metal trains and cars, some were plastic...I found old Barbie accessories, and barbie house that folded up and turned into a suitcase, all form the 1960's, found some Mattel plastic melting machine that allows you to make your own action heros, play with them and then melt them into something else. WE found so much stuff it was insane. I am paid simply to find the value, and make sure it doesnt get thrown out, then they move all the keep stuff to a storage building where I get to auction it off for a fee. Win, win situation for me. I also get first dibs on anything I want in the houses. I found out after they did the house I helped them with they got paid $7200.00 to clean the house out.....I figured out I am in the wrong business....this is what I need to be doing wow!!!!!!, also they were was a 1955 Pontiac on the property, and a aluminum bass boat, they kept the boat, and sold the car to a scrapper for $250.00 (it was in pretty rough shape) all in all I learned a new way to make extra income, so now I will start advertising in addition to my auction and estate services, that I can haul unwanted trash, and metal.

[NHsorter]

That sounds like a great gig for you! Congrats. Hope you find some awesome treasure. I am sure that every cleanout won't be that lucrative, but still, that is a great start. Crazy that people don't have any idea that old trains and stained glass windows don't have value. And MAC tools are awesome. You would think that most cleanout guys would at least know about the value of tools.

Now you just need them to give you clearance to look around for hidey holes in these places

[frugi]

i dont need clearance, I have miners style lamp headgear, a flight jumpsuit, gators, gloves, face mask...I get down and dirty. I look like a sci-fi guy going to a convention......I dig around in every crevice possible. I suppose you could compare me to those crazies who get in neck deep water sticking they're hands under the banks of the river trying to catch a huge catfish. I have been that crazy.....and missouri has rattlesnakes, copperheads, black widows, brown recluses, and several other deadly creatures. I always think about that when I am in rotted out cellars without electricity, laying on my back stretching my arms under moldy shelves, in closets, behind rotted out walls, in ceiling tiles.....I am especially scraed of spiders and ticks, but I stay the course......the rewards are great when they happen.

[NHsorter]

That is awesome I can't wait for more stories after you get into some other places. I would watch this on TV if you had a show.

[frugi]

i wish i had a show!!!! actually I met one of the guys last week from one of the auction shows on the history channel. he came to one of my auctions and bid on some African art. after the auction he introduced himself, and asked for one of my cards. It is the show about the Ozark Auctions. I think the show is called "Sold!". he came to my auction, I must be beginning to make a name for myself, hopefully I can contract out my services to his place here and there, and you might just see me on tv.

[Lemon Thrower]

very interesting post.

here is something to consider. learn the business, but instead of competing with them, do them a favor. Offer them a flat rate cash to take the "treasure" off their hands. Work for free and offer the guy some cash for all of the good stuff. The guys gets something extra and doesn't have to pay you. Then you take your time and liquidate it as best you can. If that's not feasible, tell them you work for free, use his trucks, labor and warehouse, but you split auction proceeds 50/50.

p.s. the plastic action figure thing sounds real cool - can you post some pics? might want to make you an offer for my 9 year old.

[frugi]

the deal I have with them is the pay me $10.00/ hr. to "sit around" and "help", then they use their trucks, their manpower, etc. They move all the "good stuff" to a storage center that they pay the rent on, then about every 30-40 days I do an auction there and get paid about 40%, and they also pay my expenses, including advertising. I also do get 1st dibs on the stuff of value that I want in the house, but I pay a fair price for it....I only want gold, silver, jewelry, coins, stamps, knives or guns, and anything else I know to be a super investment. As far as getting everything of value, I really have no place to store it, and then try and sell it, from my expreience of 20 years in the flea market business, I takes time, and investment of time, and travel, and storage, I am trying to get out of the junk collecting business, and in to the fine stuff business, that is why auctioneering is such a great thing, I amke money acting as a middleman for other peoples stuff. At the house deal, the only stuff I straight our bought was a jewelry box full of jewelry, a early fountain pen set in the original box, a antique stamp collection, an antique photograph album, a antique bottle opener collection, and some cast iron paper weights. I got all of it for $50.00, and have since sold most of it for over $150.00, and found gold and silver in the jewelry box that I have kept in my stash.......The only reason I even do this for them is they will use me for their auctioneer, and I like to get 1st dibs on the gold and silver.

[NHsorter]

That sounds like a good deal to me. Inquiring minds want to know... how much GOLD did you get to keep for your stash?

[frugi]

That sounds like a good deal to me. Inquiring minds want to know... how much GOLD did you get to keep for your stash?

about 3 grams of gold hoop earrings, and a tiny broken bracelet barely weighing a gram, and about 2 ounces of sterling silver, and a whole mess of broken crap worth nothing, which gets tossed into the "broken jewelry crap worth nothing" box that I sell at the flea market for $1.00 each piece. Each time I set up at the flea market I manage to sell $50.00+ out of that box each time....

[Dr. Cadmium]

That's a great day for you!

I'm sure you know this, but one caveat worth mentioning for everyone here: cleanouts like this are very uncommon. Most modern homes are full of imported trash that has very little value for resale or scrap. You're more likely to find rooms full of cat-urine soaked coaches and "made in China" housewares than quality tools or antiques.

A second note worth taking is that when doing this full time inventory control is critical, otherwise all of your dumpster rescues will quickly overwhelm you. This is why the approach of most trash hauling/cleanout companies approach is "throw everything out, get paid for the service, then move on to the next job".

But if you're allowed to cherry pick the good stuff while the other guys handle the bulk trash, that's a great position. When you see the amazing stuff you can save from trash in a day, you begin to think about how much out there doesn't get saved.

[frugi]

That's a great day for you!

I'm sure you know this, but one caveat worth mentioning for everyone here: cleanouts like this are very uncommon. Most modern homes are full of imported trash that has very little value for resale or scrap. You're more likely to find rooms full of cat-urine soaked coaches and "made in China" housewares than quality tools or antiques.

A second note worth taking is that when doing this full time inventory control is critical, otherwise all of your dumpster rescues will quickly overwhelm you. This is why the approach of most trash hauling/cleanout companies approach is "throw everything out, get paid for the service, then move on to the next job".

But if you're allowed to cherry pick the good stuff while the other guys handle the bulk trash, that's a great position. When you see the amazing stuff you can save from trash in a day, you begin to think about how much out there doesn't get saved.

100% Correct!!!

[mtalbot_ca]

Your are in the zone... with the babyboom going into retirement homes, tons of households will change hands. Congrats.

[frugi]

p.s. the plastic action figure thing sounds real cool - can you post some pics? might want to make you an offer for my 9 year old.

I did make them keep that, instead of letting them throw it away.....as far as I know it is in their storage building.....Whenever they have me do the next auction for them (it will be before winter) I will specifically photograph it , post it on here, and send it to you in a mail for sure, and you can place an absentee bid on it..(an absentee bid is where my staff would be on the item for you UP TO your max bid, so if you bid $25.00, you might still win it for $10.00, but you would NOT win it if it went to $25.50) It could sell for $1.00, it could sell for $100.00, at my auctions there are never reserves of any kind on any items.......if you won, the items would fit into a Lg flat rate box, and would require extra $$ for shipping, which can not be included with your bid offer.....

I would be happy to do this if you like when the time comes.