Julian Dyer made mention of a parcel, left on his door step by the post
office, which was damaged by rain.

For something very interesting, and very possibly profitable, I would
suggest to all that you make an effort to attend an auction put on
by the Post Office.  Every thing that is lost, damaged, or otherwise
undeliverable by the Post Office ends up back in a postal facility
and is eventually auctioned off.  The sheer quantity of stuff is
unbelievable, as is the damage that is often done to the items and/or
the packaging.

On the other hand many, many things are there simply because the labels
became lost or unusable or the package itself just came apart and the
contents are good as new (if shipped that way in the first place).

There is everything you can imagine there, and much you cannot.  For
instance, when I lived back on the East Coast (Northern Virginia), I
used to attend these auctions regularly and there were almost always
piles of new QRS rolls there.  It seems that at that time, QRS was not
doing a very good job of packing rolls for shipping.

The number of "lots" to be sold in a one day auction often numbered in
excess of 1,000.  You can see from this that they have to move fast to
get through them.  You MUST attend the preview and get an auction list
since the auction itself is held in another room where you cannot even
see the items.  The stuff is usually  piled in those canvas carts the
post office uses and you are bidding on the entire cart full.

The item descriptions on the auction list are too brief to be of any
use to you if you have not already poked through the stuff.  As an
example, it may just say "Item 212 - paper", "Item 431 - fabric", etc.
In their desire to get through the lots in a big hurry, nothing is
described or discussed by the auctioneer in any manner whatsoever, as
you normally see in an auction.

Prior to starting the bidding, they explain the ground rules.  The
auctioneer will call the item number and start the bidding very low,
usually in cents or single dollars no matter what it is.  Everyone who
is interested is to raise their hand.  The auctioneer then just counts
up, almost as fast as he can talk.  When he reaches your limit, you put
your hand back down and he keeps going until only one had is left and
it is "Sold".  Next item.

If you change your mind during this process and raise your hand back
up, you will be chastised.  There is no pleading to get a higher bid.
The job is merely to get through the lots.  It is immaterial what is
contained in the lot or how much it goes for.

The downside is centralization.  Here on the West Coast, where I live
now, a few years ago, they stopped having local auctions and are now
shipping everything to the regional postal center which is in the San
Francisco area, where the auction is held, usually quarterly.  I guess
this is to limit the access of the average citizen.  I have no idea as
to the other auction locations throughout the country.  However, a call
to your local main post office will probably get you this information.

I can be fun, tedious, boring, tiring, frustrating, enriching,
profitable or any combination thereof.  Good luck!

Bruce Miller
Issaquah, WA