Bob of I Like to Make Stuff helped make concrete countertops!

[freebeard]

Locally, it's BRING

https://bringrecycling.org
BRING Recycling
We would like to show you a description here but the site won't allow us.

For you, maybe Habitat For Humanity

https://www.yellowpages.com › show-low-az › habitat-for-humanity-restore
Habitat For Humanity Restore in Show Low, AZ - Yellow Pages
1. Habitat for Humanity Social Service Organizations Charities Foundations-Educational, Philanthropic, Research Website (928) 474-0330 708 E State Highway 260 Payson, AZ 85541 2. Habitat for Humanity Social Service Organizations Charities Foundations-Educational, Philanthropic, Research Website (928) 425-6466 Claypool, AZ 85532 3.

Do the toilet paper tubes have to be whole or can they be crushed and Matryoshka'd?

[Xist]

In the last 90 days there are 54 completed sales of empty rolls of toilet paper. Fifteen to 225 rolls sold for between $7 and $61. A total of 4,262 tubes sold for $644.41, averaging to 15.12¢ each. The lots sold for between 7.7¢ and $3.50 each, but the second-highest was 54¢ each.

Fifteen rolls sold for $8.14 and 120 sold for $61.

The thirteen cheapest sales had 50-225 tubes, but one lot of 50 was the only other post under 100.

Of the 13 most-expensive sales had 15-164 tubes, but 8 had 15-85, and 5 had 120-164, so smaller package were more likely to sell for more per tube than larger packages?

Shipping isn't proportional, though.

One lot of 120 was flattened and sold for $19.75, which is 16.46¢ each, and above average.

Seven lots of 50-100 sold for less than the asking price.

The nearest Habitat for Humanity is in Payson, 88 miles away.

[freebeard]

....at 708 E State Highway 260.

I think we've entered the Twilight Zone -- where there is a thriving market in used toilet paper tubes.

Do they rate by quality? Bamboo toilet paper has the best tubes, twice as thick as some recycled paper tubes.

[oil pan 4]

I replaced toilets in rental houses.
I'm sure plumbers and reno crews pull a fair number of toilets and toss them into the bin.

[Xist]

"There are many factors that go into how long a roll of toilet paper lasts, but on average, a roll of toilet paper should last one person 3-4 days." https://mindyourbehind.com/how-long-...et-paper-last/

I honestly wonder where people are getting 100-200 tubes--or even 50. Do they clean large and fancy buildings where they use normal tubes and not the huge dispensers?

There are 3 of us here, so if we used a roll every day or two it would be at least a month before we have 24 tubes, and somehow that seems extremely fast.

Maybe because we always use double rolls.

Are we supposed to start buying singles to produce tubes faster?

What about buying single-ply, which people often double up?

Those top 13 sales totaled 967 tubes for $384.79, or an average of 39.79¢ each.
Let's say that I manage to sell 2 dozen at that price, $9.55 shipped.

While tubes were originally longer (with wider sheets), they have been 3.7" long and 1.6" in diameter for many years.

I could put 24 of those in a box that measures 7.4x6.4x9.6. According to https://www.skunkworxpackaging.com/p...alculator.com/ that would weigh 6 ounces.

Not that I consider empty tubes to have a significant weight, but I cannot find anything saying how much they weigh, just this listing on Amazon saying that a 10.2x7.2x4.09" box of 24 weighs 10.9 ounces.

That same calculator says that would weigh a third of a pound, so allegedly 24 tubes weigh 5.57 ounces, or .2319 ounces.

Sixty-nine weigh a pound?

All right.

I don't know how their box weighs less than mine. I don't see how you could fit tubes more efficiently without flattening them, which is way too much work!

So, my box would weigh less than 12 ounces.

If I send a 12-ounce box First Class it would cost $5.95, leaving $3.60 profit after a month of collecting tubes, posting them on eBay, and selling them.

Let's say that I get people in my town to hold onto tubes for me and every day I grab 5 tubes from an average of 5 families.

A total of 4,262 tubes sold in the last 90 days or 47.35 a day. I wouldn't, but let's say that I ship 24 a day for almost 40¢, and the existing sellers simply sell about half as much.

I don't drive down the market, which always happens.

I could make $3.60 profit a day every day for a month.

A hundred and eight dollars a month a month sounds okay, but how long would it take to drive to 4.8 people's house a day, remove bits of toilet paper, list the ad, box up everything, and mail it?

I cannot imagine doing that in 15 minutes, which would mean you earn $108 in 7.5 hours and make $14.40 an hour, but you're your own boss!

[Xist]

That makes sense, Oil Pan. I had thought one could ask local groups if anyone had an old toilet they needed hauled off.

Targeting plumbers and renovators would make more sense.

[Piotrsko]

Not only old toilets but old style sinks and pedestals. Easier to find a plumbing company and ask them. Habitat has gotten proud of their stuff and are starting to want new prices for their used items. They do have good prices on odd lots of fired ceramic flooring in 10 or so pieces.

Concrete teacher at old work place has a side hustle of making countertops. He uses 6000 ksi bag concrete, glass mesh reinforcement, couple of modifiers, and never pours one less than 3" thick. He also has a terrazzo floor grinder/ polisher for those odd requirements.

[oil pan 4]

2 words.
Money laundering.

[freebeard]

Verbosity please?

[Xist]

The toilet paper tubes?