Are you sure these people aren't collecting all the free stuff in the neighbourhood, then selling anything of value and hoarding the rest?
Those hoarded items are usually unsellable in their current form, but with a bit of restoration could become sellable. Some items are faulty, but are still hoarded for parts to help repair other items.
Overall this behaviour is probably very good for the planet - many items end up seeing far more use than they would otherwise.
It's questionable if its good economic use of these people's time though. Is it worth them spending all day collecting and repairing a $150 TV, when they could have gone to work in a factory that can turn out a new TV every 30 seconds for far fewer dollars?
> It's questionable if its good economic use of these people's time though.
It may not be, but the problem usually is that the market can't make a better use of those people's time. I don't think many people would work such high effort, low pay tasks if they could actually get a better job.
Are you sure these people aren't collecting all the free stuff in the neighbourhood, then selling anything of value and hoarding the rest?
Those hoarded items are usually unsellable in their current form, but with a bit of restoration could become sellable. Some items are faulty, but are still hoarded for parts to help repair other items.
Overall this behaviour is probably very good for the planet - many items end up seeing far more use than they would otherwise.
It's questionable if its good economic use of these people's time though. Is it worth them spending all day collecting and repairing a $150 TV, when they could have gone to work in a factory that can turn out a new TV every 30 seconds for far fewer dollars?