College students leaving town

[TanksHill]

My first year of college was overseas. I lived in the dorms in Munich. The elderly German who lived in the area were in heaven. Most of us did not live in the area and could nut justify bringing an ironing board, or toaster home on a plane. The piles of stuff were ridiculous. Now that I Think back on it it kinda makes me feel ashamed.

g

 

[lupinfarm]

A lot of the larger items and even things like toasters don't end up in the actual dumpsters but on the ground next to them, IMO if its not in the dumpster the garbage removel company doesn't own it yet

 

[card5640]

I stay away from the dorms, I go to apartment units that I know cater to students. More goodies from the apartments.

 

[ORChick]

My first year of college was overseas. I lived in the dorms in Munich. The elderly German who lived in the area were in heaven. Most of us did not live in the area and could nut justify bringing an ironing board, or toaster home on a plane. The piles of stuff were ridiculous. Now that I Think back on it it kinda makes me feel ashamed.

g

I'm a little surprised at this. When my German FIL died in 1989, and the kids needed to empty the apartment, none of the three still living in Germany even brought up the idea of donating any of it to the (German equivalent of) "Goodwill". DH did, but then he had been living in the U.S. for 12 years. Germans, at least at that time, had a very negative view of "second hand". Perhaps things have changed, or possibly it was only that part of Germany. It seemed a shame to me; my parents-in-law didn't have fancy stuff, but much of it was still quite serviceable. The kids took what they could, or wanted, and the rest went to the dump.

 

[rebecca100]

I live near a resort/retirement community!! During the summer the dumpsters are filled with NEW stuff-fishing rods, tackle, reels, stuff like that usually, sometimes stereos and really good stuff. I used to work in housekeeping and if no one claimed what we found in the rooms within 30 days we also got that. Then on top of it all the policy about things that the company owned was that if it was replaced for ANY reason it was thrown away! I got a whole shipment of towels that were off color and the tags had already been cut off so they couldn't be returned so they threw the whole shipment of brand new towels away along with any towels, blankets, pillowcases, pillows, sheets, bedcovers, comforters, kitchen appliances and pots and pans that were damaged or stained in the dumpsters. I also brought home about 60 trash cans that I planted tomatoes in. I have several bags of sheets and towels stored in our camper after I gave away as much as I could. And that was only one season working there. I also got my TV, queen hide-a-bed, and matching chair from there. I had to pay $45 for all that though-$25 for the hide a bed and chair set, and $20 for the tv. It was all clean and looked brand new the pull out on the hids-a-bed had never been used.

 

[~gd]

A friend of mine owns the Store Your Own outlet in this campus town. He offers Student Packages. One is at the regular price for the summer term, 1/2 up front, 1/2 at pickup (Limited term 1 week Past the start of school Only) That date is very proment on the contract and everbody has to sign it. Lost Key fee is the local standard of $50. If he still has space leftover and it starts to slow down, He will wave the 1/2 upfront and only charge the key fee upfront as a refundable deposit. It is amazing the number of people who manage to lose the key over the summer or manage to return to school without enough money to pay to bail out their belongings. 10 AM saturday after the term has expired he cuts all the locks and people are allowed to examine the contents for the big auction that starts at Noon. He has Students, Locals, and the professional people that usually bid on these odd lots for second hand stores. Auction Action moves very rapidly and if gets no reasonable bid or it is too low it is just set aside. Auction is usually finished around 5PM and bidders have untill 8pm to get their new purchases out of there when he locks the gates. He takes the rest of the weekend to see what he has left and for private sales. Monday The Salvation Army shows up for his donation which usually includes some storage space because they don't have room for it all. they truck off what they want and jam the rest in minimum space and sweep everything up before they leave.
The cash goes in the till (I think) and he takes a tax deduction for the donation. His motto is on his office wall "Nobody ever went broke by questioning the carelessness of Youth"

 

[ga_goat]

I do real estate repair for a living in a college town , and you wouldn't believe the things they just move out and leave in the house at the end of a quater . Lots and lots of kitchen stuff and clothes text books that the college bookstore will buy back , beer caigs ( deposit)and the list goes on and on .

 

[card5640]

Great score for me this year, dresser, 11 towels, some great clean rugs, plastic bins, lots of comforters and sheets one set brand new. Pans and lots of dish drainers, Brand New in box trunk bike rack and a fry daddy and waffle iron. Sad no building supplies, but my coop is complete. Will continue to check today but it is raining.

 

[lorihadams]

I live 30 minutes from my alma mater, Longwood College......never thought about driving by and looking around for "stuff"......hmmmmm

 

[Henrietta23]

Best thing I ever got was one of those huge spools that had been turned into a table. Wish I still had it now for my goats! I used it for years in apartments and even had in the basement here for a while until I got the brilliant idea we needed space more than a big ugly spool table.