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Hi scavengers I’ve been selling on eBay for several years now which has been great for me as some side money. My family got rid of their car as it was on a lease and that’s what I used for scavenger in when I got the chance to. It made it easy for auction pickups and visiting thrift stores. I live in a major city, Chicago, and moved out of my parents house last year and don’t have a car that my roommate does.
I’m happy to start scavenging again. My roommate works during the day and takes his car while I’m in between jobs. Any suggestions about scavenging without a car at least to try to make enough money to eventually buy a car and pay off some debt? tCurrently I’ve been renting U-Haul’s when I either attend auctions or pick up from auctions. Depending on auction pick up during the week it’s not too bad as it’s $19.99 and then $.69 for every mile but then on the weekends it can get expensive starting on Friday where it increases to $.99 for every mile. Let me know your thoughts and I’m sure someone in this forum has been in a similar predicament.
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I’ve been full-time reselling for 16 years without a car. Here’s how I’ve managed:
Bring a rolling suitcase with you, or a rolling backpack with an additional backpack stuffed inside of it. Get to thrifts via public transportation or uber during the pandemic. Leave your bags up front, be friendly with the cashiers and they will let you put your bag(s) behind the counter.
Haul your stuff back via public transportation. If it’s too much, get an uber. If it’s too much for an uber, get an uber van. I’ve never learned how to drive, so a rental van is out of the question.
If you believe your haul is going to be too much for 1 uber van (you plan to go to an auction), bring someone along (a friend or significant other) to get a 2nd uber or uber van to haul off the excess. Tip well. Be kind. Thank everyone.
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Almasty is the one who knows from experience how to thrift without owning a car.
In my mind, I’d be a lot more selective. Only scavenge what I could stuff in a backpack. Bike more. Public transport. Uber if needed (but this cuts into profit).
Or like you mentioned, fo o an auction every couple months. and rent a uhaul once every couple months. Eat on your haul for 60 days. Uhaul’s arent cheap so make sure you buy enough to make it worth the trip.
Anything is possible. Just have to do the numbers.
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One of the local scavenger/hoarders here used a bicycle with a sheet of plywood screwed to the luggage rack. Saw him once with a three-seater upholstered settee balanced crossways on it.
When I’ve shifted large objects by bicycle I perched the object on the pedal, e.g. door or cupboard, and leant the bike over towards me. Bit of a pain. I shifted a 12 foot by 16 foot Persian carpet on a bicycle by rolling it up and putting it lengthways along the saddle and handlebars.
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So on my way to a haircut I decided to bring my suitcase like suggested after my haircut decided to go to the thrift shop nearby. I walked in and I knew it was good stuff but then I looked at the prices and the stuff was eBay prices or even higher. Curious about their business model but whatever. I ended up picking up some DVD’s and Arizona magazines. 25 items, $27 buy cost and should be able to flip for about $100. It definitely wasn’t a home run but at least got me started buying to flip again.
As for auctions near me I found several. There was one that was like 70 miles from me in the state next to me which is a huge 2 today auction with over 3000 items. Although I really would love to get items from that auction I kind of feel like I need to start with a smaller auction to get my feet wet again and manage my money management a little better than just blowing $$700 or so on auction stuff.
I’d have to spend at least $500 at the auction to make it worth it. That said I did find an auction closer to me that’s online so then I just pick stuff up and it has a couple hundred items maybe 400 which is a good size and I’ll double check my numbers and how it might work out with the U-Haul stuff but it shouldn’t be too expensive to go out and grab the stuff since I’d be picking it up on a weekday should be $.69 per mile instead of a dollar per mile. I’ll keep you guys posted. Finally I’ve sold some things on OfferUp and FB Marketplace which feels good.
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The rolling suitcase idea is a good one. Another one to think about is a rolling grocery cart. You can find models on Amazon that fold up, can hold up to 200 lbs, and much easier to stack things in then having to lay the suitcase flat, unzip, etc. Something else to possibly consider are ways to source online, buying lots and piecing them out. Bulq.com has small lots. Sometimes I find ways to flip lots from other eBay sellers, particularly if I’m able to buy them with eBay bucks (although that is only once a quarter).
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