The 2023 Dumpster Dive is here!
Attention everyone! Don't miss out on our next Dumpster Dive, which is happening on Wednesday, October 25th. We have raided SparkFun HQ for inventory and have packed you some of the best boxes we have ever made. Each one-pound box will only cost you $40 and it will contain various exciting items such as boards, LEDs, kits, and more. Keep an eye on our social pages to get a sneak peek at the exciting items that found their way into the dumpster! This is a great opportunity to score some amazing loot, so make sure to mark your calendars!
What's a Dumpster Dive? Between samples, customer returns, demo items and old stuff that’s been sitting on the shelves for way too long, we’ve amassed quite a few bins worth of various electronics. It ranges from one-off items, to items that are a little broken or ugly, to items that aren’t worth individually listing and selling. We didn’t like the idea of recycling them, since it could still be useful and worth getting into people’s hands. And so behold: the Dumpster Dive.
The 2023 Dive is live at 12:00 p.m. MDT - please be sure to adjust for your US time zone.
You will be able to find a link to the product on the Oct. 25th blog post, in the New Product Carousel, and on the New Product Page. Be aware that the product will appear on the post but won't be clickable until 12 p.m. MDT.
Rules for the Dive:
Product will be live until we run out! We will not be returning to the made-to-order format of the past few dives. No backorders will be available.
- October 25, 2023, at 12:00 p.m. MDT
- Limit one $40 box per customer
- One-pound boxes only
- US customers only
- Economy shipping only
- No combining orders
- No on-site sales
- No support or returns
- Box contents vary and nothing is guaranteed to work.
Please be aware that having a Dumpster Dive box in your Shopping Cart does not guarantee that you'll receive one! The only way you'll know that you are getting a Dumpster Dive box is to complete your order and receive a confirmation number.
Unfortunately, we were unable to extend the Dumpster Dive outside of the United States again this year. This decision is still based on international shipping restrictions, compliance complications, and material handling safety concerns. We were really hoping to open this year's Dumpster Dive up for international sales, but unfortunately we simply weren't able to make it happen.
As a reminder: The Dumpster Dive is a gamble and the contents are not guaranteed. We will not provide tech support or returns on any of the goods since many are not products we ever supported, or they might be returns with unknown defects. We will be getting orders out as quickly as possible, but cannot promise same-day shipping. Happy diving!
I absolutely hate hate HATE to be a negative nancy, because I love SparkFun and dumpster dives are awesome... but $40 seems really steep. Add in shipping and taxes and you are pushing $60 for what might be a box of junk. Last year they were $30 ($45 after taxes/shipping) and I was underwhelmed. In 2020 they were $20 ($29) and that was the last time it felt like a good price for a box-o-junk. Maybe if I had some stuff in my cart to push me over the shipping limit (does that actually work?). As-is I'll keep my money for some awesome new SF boards (which always seem underpriced for what you get!)
So good luck out there to whoever takes my place!
FWIW, the box I got last year I guestimate to have a value of over $200, several useful items. My previous success in getting through (back when they were about $20, though, was mostly junk -- though I've just thought of a use for it: making a piece of artwork by gluing it to a canvas.
I'm glad that they announced the time a week in advance, as I was able to rearrange my schedule so as to be at home at "H Hour". ;-)
I agree with you on the $20 boxes. I got a few promising things (if they work), but mostly junk, and nothing I would have otherwise needed/wanted to buy. I was able to use some of the cooler looking stuff for a LARP prop. The $20 price point (especially back when shipping was cheaper, not that that's under SF's control) was a fun gamble.
I just looked through my box from last year. I got an LCD screen that looks nice I can't find listed but it looks to be around $65 if it works. And a Pi-w which is actually worth more than its price because you can't find them in stock anywhere. The highest price items were probably the handfuls of yellow LilyPad LEDs. Which will be an awesome savings if I can find a use for them. The box from the year before that was mostly just cables.
But I've got to be real with myself. Both last years' boxes are still in my "electronics" shelf untouched 😬 Good luck and get the box I'm too cheap to try for this year!
My box included a cable I'd been toying with buying anyway. It also had a couple of handfulls of large 4-pin LEDs (likely RGB), but I haven't gotten around to testing any of them. And a pair of (bare) speakers that were clearly "engineering samples" for which SF went with a different supplier. And some other interesting stuff.
But you may find this amusing: the box itself is very conveniently located beside my recliner, and as I'm typing this it is serving a very useful purpose in that my coffee mug is resting on it rather than sitting on the floor. Speaking of my coffee mug -- "my cup runneth under" -- time to go for a refill! ;-)
Ha!
it's a shame that it's only for US customers...
Just to clarify: I'm assuming that "12:00 pm" is equivalent to saying "12:00 NOON". (In my nearly 7 decades of life, I've seen confusion over this on average of probably once a week.)
Correct! 12:00 p.m. MDT = Noon MDT.
Here's a countdown timer for your convenience!
Thanks! FWIW, American Mensa (the high-IQ society) has gone to using "11:59 PM" for deadlines to avoid any confusion about whether it's midnight that BEGINS or ENDS the specified date. Next time around you might think about making it "12:01 PM" to avoid the midnight/noon confusion!
BTW, it seems to be that next week will be busy -- Monday is the "official release date" for the Raspberry Pi 5. And I have some things in my personal life...