Amazon box.Photo: Getty
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure — at least, when it comes to certain products on Amazon, a new report claims.
The update comes after theJournalspoke with several sellers who have gone dumpster diving to find a product haul, and even established an Amazon shop of its own to test whether it would be allowed to sell products culled from the trash.
Oregon-based Wade Coggins told theJournalhe regularly scours store clearance sections, abandoned storage units and dumpsters to find items to sell, then repackages them with things like cardboard boxes and bubble wrap, as the products need to “look brand new” when shipped off to be sold through Amazon.
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Another man, 49-year-old David Gracy, told the outlet that his business partner sold humidifiers and keyboards he’d found in a dumpster in 2016.
“Amazon’s not going to ask, ‘Where’d you get it from? Did you get it from a dumpster?’” Gracy said.
Meanwhile, Jesse Durfee of Connecticut said he uses Amazon to sell toys, video games, electronics and various other items he finds in dumpsters and in his town dump.
TheJournal‘s reporters behind the story said they established an Amazon shop called DJ Co, and combed dumpsters in suburban New Jersey located behind stores like Michaels and Trader’s Joes.
Their search yielded several products, like a jar of lemon curd from the grocery store and a stencil set from the craft store. They were ultimately able to place the items up for sale, though they purchased the products immediately so no actual customers would, according to the report.
Spokespersons for both Michaels and Trader Joe’s told theWSJthey did not approve of their store’s products being sold on Amazon.
An Amazon spokesperson told PEOPLE in a statement that the examples outlined in theWSJreport are “isolated incidents.”
source: people.com
