Five Examples of Garbage That Can Be Sold for Decent Money
Many of us could use more money, and we find it in a variety of ways, such as asking for a raise, changing jobs, or taking a second job. But you can also start selling junk. Not just trash , of course—most trash is, well, just junk—but those things that people tend to throw away or leave behind that actually retain enough value to be worth picking up and reselling. While this tends to be a bulk business (meaning you’ll have to sell a lot of them to make real money), you can make real money by simply collecting these things from trash, houses, or even public places. Six examples of surprisingly profitable trash include golf balls, wooden pallets, cardboard boxes, wine stoppers and egg cartons.
Lost golf balls can cost up to $2 each
More than 25 million people play golf in the United States, and if you’ve ever played golf, you know that means a lot of lost golf balls. About 1.5 billion golf balls go missing in this country every year. The amazing thing is that used golf balls actually retain most of their value. According to Lashan Wanigatunga, co-owner of Two Guys with Balls , used golf balls can cost anywhere from 15 cents to $2 depending on the brand, so you can make a decent amount of money just by collecting golf balls you find on the ground .
The real money is in diving for golf balls, as water hazards often contain large quantities of them that no one is going to chase. It’s such a real thing that the Bureau of Labor Statistics website even lists occupations, noting that divers can earn $200 a day retrieving golf balls (Todd Hutchinson of Ballhawker says you can actually earn $800 per day doing this). . Diving for golf balls can be dangerous if you’re not familiar with underwater work or don’t follow safety protocols, but where else can you make a few hundred dollars a day picking up things left behind by someone else?
Discarded wood pallets can cost up to $4 each.
Wooden pallets are quite common and very useful. If you notice a business in your area that regularly stores a bunch of pallets in piles or in dumpsters, you may have an opportunity: Used wood pallets in decent condition are actually worth between 50 cents and $4 per pallet . All you need are pallets that you can legally take with you (many businesses will be happy to get rid of them if you just ask), a way to transport them, and maybe some pallet repair tools if you want to maximize your success. You can use the North American Pallet Recycling Network to find pallet brokers in your area, and companies like Kamps Pallets will actually pay you and come pick up your pallets as long as you have at least 500 per year to sell. There are usually local pallet brokers in your area, so a little research can lead you to other resources.
Used cardboard boxes can cost $1.25 each.
Those Amazon and UPS boxes we throw in the trash or give to friends when they move may actually be worth some money. You can sell empty used cardboard boxes on platforms like BoxCycle , which pays 10 cents to $1.25 for standard moving boxes and buys just about any box you might have on hand; U-Haul Box Exchange , where people list boxes for sale or for free; and Used Cardboard Boxes will buy your used shipping boxes. You can also try selling used boxes on eBay .
Wine corks can cost about 10 cents each.
People in the US break out more than 4 billion bottles of wine every year, many of which end up in trash bins, but wine stoppers can actually be sold for a pretty decent profit on places like Etsy or eBay . They typically sell for about 10 cents each, although some branded varieties may cost more . Of course, that’s not a lot for someone who expects the average American to consume 16 bottles a year for inventory purposes, but if your local restaurant is just tossing used corks in the trash, you might be in business.
Egg cartons can sell for 30-40 cents each.
Used egg cartons have a surprisingly large market: people use them in crafts, and small farms also buy them to sell eggs. Standard supermarket egg cartons on sites like eBay can cost around 30-40 cents each , meaning that if you eat the average number of eggs each year (about 285, or about 24 dozen), that’s an extra $60. 70 alone. If you actually go out every day and collect 24 egg cartons from local restaurants, hotels or other businesses, that’s several hundred dollars a week.