Skip diving

mrwibble

Anyone else regularly go skip-diving at work ?

I do it at a telecoms company and have made over £1000 on Ebay over the last year or two from dumped servers (£600), unused colour toner (£290), laptop bits (chargers / docking stations) (£350), unopened software such as Windows XP (£80 based on £10 apiece) etc plus enough double-wall cardboard boxes of various sizes for all my other Ebay sales. Admittedly I do test everything and chuck the non-workers but thats perhaps 10% of the stuff in my boot on average.

Its perfectly acceptable to grab what you can once it hits the skip as it saves on skip removals but how many people actually peer in and pull stuff out on the board ?

in_my_wellies

I got skirting board, architrave, picture rail and three doors to match my house from a skip up the road outside the same sort of Edwardian house as mine. I knocked on the door and asked, the builder said he thought I was mental!!!
I was able to replace the 'modern' stuff the builders used in the extension. Looking out for more to do the rest.

fairenoughclough

in_my_wellies wrote:

the builder said he thought I was mental!!!

Was he wearing a stetson ?

Queenie

mrwibble wrote:

...... Its perfectly acceptable to grab what you can once it hits the skip as it saves on skip removals .....

Do be careful, this falls into the muddy depths of the "Theft Act" and assuming rights of ownership!

For example, if the skip is on business property, you are accessing their property to remove items they currently still own. The skip is owned by a business, who have now assumed the rights of the owner; therefore you would need permission from either the original ower, or the new owner (skip co.).

Companies who rent out skips make money from the "rubbish" they remove (just like the old rag and bone men). Just as you are doing with the same goods! What you call rubbish, is called "salvage" by the skip companies and salvage is big business.

The only way to guarantee that you never be arrested or liable for any offences is to ask permission from the a) the original company (to enter their land and skip dive) or b) the permission of the skip company (if the skip is in a public place).

in_my_wellies has the right idea, ASK FIRST!

SnowyOwl_2

Reading this thread has been a bit shocking. What idiots put unopened toner or software into a skip?? These things all cost good money!! They can either be returned for refund or better still passed on to charity...FOR FREE!!! What mindless stupidity!! Maybe they could even order the right things in the first place!!

A company I used to work for had a three year rolling program of replacing its meeting rooms furniture...so even if the furniture was totally PERFECT out it went, broken up and into a skip. That included a boardroom table big enough for 24, plus the matching chairs - literally thousands of pounds worth - and replaced with brand new. Oh it made my blood boil, it really did especially when they were telling people "no pay rise this year, can't afford it"..!

I'm glad someone is capitalising on this wastefulness and taking it out of "salvage"...good for you MrWibble...don't get caught though as some mindless jobsworth from these wasteful companies will inevitably say you are stealing when really their company has already endorsed criminal behaviour.

I should imagine quite a few private householders who hire skips are relieved when people take stuff away...the usual complaint is that their skips get filled overnight with other peoples rubbish!

Queenie

SnowyOwl wrote:

... I'm glad someone is capitalising on this wastefulness and taking it out of "salvage"...

You clearly feel very strongly, SnowyOwl - but "wastefulness" and "salvage" are a contradiction in terms. If it is salvage, then it surely cannot be wastefulness!

SnowyOwl wrote:

... good for you MrWibble...don't get caught though as some mindless jobsworth from these wasteful companies will inevitably say you are stealing when really their company has already endorsed criminal behaviour....

I fail to see how companies can be endorsing criminal behaviour by putting their belongings into a skip which they have paid to hire and have removed! Are companies endorsing shoplifting by displaying their wares on shelving in stores then? No, of course they're not!

I agree with your comments on private householders, yet the law remains the same. But, based on your comments above, do you believe private holders are also endorsing criminal behaviour?

If anything, it is the OP which would be endorsing potentially criminal behaviour (which I am sure is not the intention!) and your post is also potentially endorsing such behaviour by cheering him on. (I do not believe that is your intention either).

Whether people decide to Skip-Dive is entirely up to them - however, I posted simply so that anyone who feels encouraged by the OP to do this is AWARE that they may be breaking the law and it is not an easy peasy way to make money - you could end up in a cell and the long term effect of that can be very damaging and costly!