When Carter Stevens tells people he makes six figures a year digging through dumpsters, they often assume he's "blowing smoke," he says.

Not everyone sees dollar signs in a brimming dumpster. But Stevens earned roughly $140,000 in total sales between September 2025 and September 2026 by salvaging trashed items, cleaning them up and selling them on platforms like eBay and Facebook Marketplace, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

Stevens primarily operates near office parks and luxury condominiums around Nashville, Tennessee. Since March 2024, when he started dumpster diving, he's found and sold hand-crafted Persian rugs, high-end office chairs and even samurai swords, he says. Trash-picking helps him keep his shipping costs low, he adds: Some of his supplies, like cardboard boxes and packing tape, also come from dumpsters, enough that he doesn't have to pay for them approximately "90% of the time."

"The amount of waste in this country that you'll find is unbelievable.…