Nashville Man Makes $140,000 with Dumpster Diving Business
When money gets tight, a lot of people consider taking on extra jobs. For some, that could mean side gigs like driving for Uber or DoorDash, while others may look for more creative ways to make a few extra bucks.
However, there appears to be a growing interest in making money in a decidedly unusual way: looking for new (or like-new) items in the dumpsters behind retail stores. The process is called “dumpster diving,” and while it used to be considered a gross and unpleasant activity, some people are showing that it’s so much more.
In fact, a quick social media search turns up dozens of videos of people celebrating their latest dumpster diving hauls, including the money they made when they sold the items they found.
Several people, including TikToker @upcycling.mom, say they’ve made hundreds of dollars by selling the things they’ve found in the dumpsters behind Target. Meanwhile, accounts like Instagrammer @dumpsterdivingmama show how hard dumpster diving can be, with many retailers damaging products before throwing them in the trash, making them impossible to resell. But that hasn’t stopped some dedicated dumpster divers from making an absolute killing with their finds.
Man Makes Six Figures Dumpster Diving
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A 31-year-old Nashville, Tennessee, man says that he earned $140,000 dumpster diving. Carter Stevens spoke with CNBC Make It about his side hustle, which involves finding salvageable items that have either been tossed away or that are about to be tossed away.
Then he takes them and posts them for sale online, listing them on places like Facebook Marketplace or eBay. The outlet says that Stevens does more than just hit dumpsters, and he will occasionally work with businesses that are in need of a junk removal service, offering to take some items off their hands so that he can resell them.
Some Retailers Destroy Merchandise Before Tossing It
Unfortunately, dumpster diving isn’t always lucrative. While Threads user @glamourddive posted a video of one of her recent hauls, which involved finding several items worth hundreds of dollars, she also shared some of the downsides of diving.
Not only did she get caught by an employee in one of her videos, but she also highlighted just how much merchandise gets destroyed before it’s thrown away. For example, she found an entire bag of products in an Ulta dumpster that had been emptied before they were tossed in the trash.
What to Know Before Dumpster Diving
While dumpster diving can be profitable (and maybe even a little bit fun if you like hunting for buried treasures), it’s worth noting that it isn’t always considered legal.
According to FindLaw, there’s no federal law that bans dumpster diving, but it is illegal in certain circumstances. Anyone who is considering trying their hand at a little dumpster diving should first check their local “garbage ordinances” to see what the regional rules are surrounding trash.
Additionally, people should never dumpster dive on private property when there are warning signs or locks on the dumpsters, or if it’s expressly prohibited by local laws.
