RF Generation Message Board

I have noticed several people on here, dumpster dive, and are able to find decent stuff.  I have in the past considered myself above it, but I am now actually considering trying it out. I live in a big city so a variety of stores is not scarce.

I would like to know tips and secrets to dumpster diving. i.e. when is the best time to go? where are the best places to check out? etc.

Find out the times when trash pick up is done and go out early evening or early morning hours when trash is being put out or before it's picked up. Just in my old apartment complex, I found people cleaning out apartments before moving and had $300+ of items I just picked up sitting next to the dumpster. It's also how I got my first set of furniture.

Secret?  Just be cool.  Back in the day most people just didn't care, but now people can get really mad.  Like cops.  It's been a while since I really went diving (like the mid-nineties), but number one rule if you see a dumpster surrounded by a fence, beware.  And even then be prepared to get yelled at (especially if you at an electronic store).

These days my diving is in name only.  I just happen to work for a computer remarket company with an awesome boss who probably feels sorry for me because he pays me in roasted Spanish peanuts, so my finds are completely cool with The Man.

Thanks for the tips. From what I know up here in Washington, a lot of people do it, and it seems as it is okay to do as long as you are cool about it.
I think the only laws that dumpster diving applies to where I live is where it applies to going through a residences trash.

Believe me, I am not even agile enough to hop a fence, so I probably won't be doing that anyways. 
I am not sure if I am really going to start dumpster diving, but I hear all the time of great finds, so I though I would consider it.

Thanks again for the info.

As far as i know when you pout your trash out on the street its up for grabs. The only time its illegal is if its on private property. I love dumpster diving i hate getting yelled at. One time i practically cleaned a whole dumpster of scrap metal they where just throwing away out and had some guy yell at me. I would have thought he would have thanked me for recycling and cleaning out his dumpster so he could throw more away? Whatever just use common sense and try to be polite if anyone says anything to you and stay off private property.

Here, the trash is technically owned by the person if it's on their property, private or not. Hence, why I go dumpster diving near community trash cans - doesn't belong to the person throwing it away and the company that empties them only comes at night.

Yeah i never hit up private residents. Maybe i did when i was 17, those were the days. Sitting in the back of the pickup hitting the rich neighborhoods.

you could always ask the business or residence where you want to check. i'm sure most would be ok with it if you asked first, even if that would be an awkward conversation to have Lol.

Not sure if that is a question I am willing to ask, I am much to dignified for that, unlike going through trash

He-he dumpster diving.

When I was going to school in Indianapolis my roommate and I used to go dumpster diving at Half Priced Books at around 11pm almost every night. Their dumpster wasn't locked or fenced. We would take tons of  unwanted records, VHS, DVD's, books, ect... and load up our vehicles with their junk.

We would wait about two weeks and go back to them and sell them back their 'junk' for in store credit.

Got many games and DVD's for free or next to nothing. Don't worry about cops, they have better things to do.

That's classic, Raz.  And they never figured it out?

All this talk of dumpster diving makes me want to hit Gamestop later tonight.

^ They never figured it out, or the employees never really cared.

I have been seeing a bunch of GameStop dumpster finds on YouTube. I went once. I got a DS box. A wii stand and some empty game cases. It was ok. I will prob go again. Not sure what the laws are for it here in CT