@7 you mentioned I think in another thread about an author who published a book about side hussels, can you remind me of his name ?
Did the value of secondhands change?
Re: Did the value of secondhands change?
The book I was referencing above is "Discards: Your Way to Wealth" , 1977, by Mike Lebda (Chicago discard operator) and Dan Quinn (publisher who later wrote "Ishmael".) Unfortunately, it is out-of-print and extremely rare. If you search for it on the internet, you will just circle around to my previous mentions of it on this forum. It's a weird mix of practical advice offered in the street-wise style of 1970s Chicago and universal "out of the cave" wisdom.
You might even say the discard business isn't a business at all. It's a way of looking at and using your environment.
Re: Did the value of secondhands change?
Gotcha. That was likely Chris Guillebeau, author of "Art of Non-Conformity" and many other side-hustle and entrepreneurial books.
Re: Did the value of secondhands change?
I just stumbled across this place in LA that recycles leftover paint. I had some very old cans to send to hazmat and I was given the name of this place call Acrylitex. They accept old paint. Unlimited amounts.
I had to recycle a few dozen cans of paint. Too much for household hazmat from our garbage company. My neighbor gave me the name of this place that collects and recycles old house paint. Dried or wet. It didn’t matter. Unlimited amounts. Sounded strange.
I went to the address and they had five buildings in a business district. One end of the block was drop off and the other end was retail paint sales. They explained that they take old donated paint and make new paint by Grinding up the pigments and adding new solvent. They had some primitive machinery. Industrial mixers and dispensing pumps. Can sealing presses. Staffed by fifty paint splattered ex cons with rival gang tattoos…all working politely together. It was a management spectacle. Obviously created and operated by a genius. Free unlimited feedstock turned into a valuable building material. Their marketing signs said “why waste your money at Home Depot?”
Just another example of people making money off waste material runoff from a rich society. They said a lot of their business comes from contractors hired to cover graffiti in LA. There is no end to the cycle and their Frankenstein paint likely doesn’t have to last long.
I had to recycle a few dozen cans of paint. Too much for household hazmat from our garbage company. My neighbor gave me the name of this place that collects and recycles old house paint. Dried or wet. It didn’t matter. Unlimited amounts. Sounded strange.
I went to the address and they had five buildings in a business district. One end of the block was drop off and the other end was retail paint sales. They explained that they take old donated paint and make new paint by Grinding up the pigments and adding new solvent. They had some primitive machinery. Industrial mixers and dispensing pumps. Can sealing presses. Staffed by fifty paint splattered ex cons with rival gang tattoos…all working politely together. It was a management spectacle. Obviously created and operated by a genius. Free unlimited feedstock turned into a valuable building material. Their marketing signs said “why waste your money at Home Depot?”
Just another example of people making money off waste material runoff from a rich society. They said a lot of their business comes from contractors hired to cover graffiti in LA. There is no end to the cycle and their Frankenstein paint likely doesn’t have to last long.