When university graduates throw out dear things, scavengers plunge

Valentino sneakers cost $ 980. A tovala toaster oven, originally $ 390. A Lucite Table of Maison Claire, which would have cost $ 899 – except in this case, it was free.

Lena Geller found these articles, and many others, in the waste room of her building in Durham, in North Carolina, after dozens of students from the University of Duke moved at the end of the spring semester.

“It seems badly that many things have been thrown,” wrote Ms. Geller An article for the Indy weekwhere she is editor. She kept a spreading sheet of the about 70 articles that she found in the trash can, considering, after doing research, that they initially sold $ 6,600 in total.

“I had some friends who sent me a text after reading the play, like:” We should develop a sort of business plan, “said Geller, 26, in an interview. “It seems that most of the things I got were sitting there. I think there is a lot of money to make. ”

Each year, at the end of the graduation season, many students who came out throws or simply abandon costly household items and luxury products instead of giving or bringing them home. Local residents and scales intervene, save items to reuse or sell, then praising their discoveries on social networks.

Peter Valley, a founder of the 47 -year -old software company, has sold books thrown for years. For him, and many other scales, university campuses are a source of practically inexhaustible goods which can be sold, preserved or given.