Carter Stevens Earns $140,000 Reselling Dumpster Finds, Turning 190 Discarded Chairs Into $27,600
Updated
Updated · CNBC · Nov 7
Carter Stevens Earns $140,000 Reselling Dumpster Finds, Turning 190 Discarded Chairs Into $27,600
1 articles · Updated · CNBC · Nov 7
Summary
$140,000 in sales between September 2025 and September 2026 came from Carter Stevens cleaning up and reselling discarded goods he pulled from dumpsters around Nashville office parks and luxury condos.
190 discarded Steelcase chairs became his biggest haul, generating $17,000 in bulk Facebook Marketplace sales and another $10,600 from individual listings after he hauled them away by pickup and trailer.
31-year-old Stevens says the business grew after he sold a trashed pair of Nike Air Force Ones for $35, while keeping costs low by sourcing boxes and packing tape from dumpsters about 90% of the time.
About $12,000 in debt, addiction and a spell of homelessness pushed him into the trade; he now says the income is hit-or-miss, saves aggressively and is studying real estate wholesaling for steadier work.