Revolve given the arse for Aussie Junk

And the link is… http://www.revolveact.org.au

If you’re interested, the revolve website has a template letter so you can protest the closure, as well as their perspective on things:

hi guys revolve also SELLS ON EBAY the user name is watermelon_rose and have been for two and a half years.

hi guys revolve also SELLS ON EBAY the user is watermelon_rose and have been for two and a half years.

If it’s all about reducing landfill they should be concentrating on large items, not small antiques.

I’m not sure I understand why there needs to be transparency in the disposal process, jb … are Revolve/Aussie Junk acting on behalf of the ACT guvmint?

If so, then your call for transparency is apt.

If not, then isn’t it just a buyer/seller transaction – how the goods came into the hands of the seller, is irrelevant, as long as the acquisition was legal. Is there a requirement under the arrangement that all scavenged goods are made available for sale at the tip premises?

As bonfire stated early, does it really matter who gets the choicier items as long as they don’t end up in the landfill?

I was referring to transparency in the disposal of the choicer items.

I think people are entitled to expect transparency in the process.

… do you have info on untoward behaviour in the tendering process, jb?

On the surface it seems that the guvmint decided to tender for a “recycling” arrangement at Mugga and that in keeping with the appropriate clause in the tendering process, the unsuccessful tenderer has cried foul …

53. Allegations by unsuccessful tenderers

53.1 All “we wuz robbed” allegations must be submitted, with supporting evidence if available, to the appropriate sections of the media, preferably on a slow news day, but in any event before it ceases to be of any newsworthy value.

53.2 Submissions will be treated with contempt by the responsible minister and successful tenderer, unless the supportive evidence actually has some substance, in which case a go-nowhere investigation will be initiated.

53.3 The media will run with the allegation on as soon as possible after receipt, particularly if it is a slow news day, but also reserves the right to shelve the submission and resurrect it for action on any given slow news day in the future.

PS I have no preference for, or alignment with, either Revolve or Aussie Junk – I’m just a cynical bastard!!!

I agree with bonfire – it’s about avoiding having stuff, that people are basically throwing out as junk, finishing up in landfill.

The fact that the Steptoe and Son won’t take your junk or won’t sell you someone else’s junk is irrelevant.

This thread takes trash talking to a whole new level 😉

I think people are entitled to expect transparency in the process.

And Bushpig, how come the ABC keep saying AJ are gold coast based?

aussie junk is local and do support canberra people with good prices and good sevice.

these arguments are all canards really.

what was the policy objective ?

to recycle objects of any value.

so does it matter how they are recycled ? who cares if an antique shop in sydney gets the lace doily etc. at least its not going into landfill.

all these other arguments are all about your greed.

plain and simple.

“Its obvious that the support it not with revolve”

Given that they won’t accept saleable goods, they try to charge ridiculous prices, and they are obviously manipulating their little market, why would Canberra want to support them. Just because they’re local doesn’t make them good.

Stephboyl ,Obviously you have insider knowledge of this issue and a personal agenda, I suspect your name starts with the letter K (or at least you are associated with them) and your main source of information is an ex Aussie Junk employee who plays in a band and sells on Ebay for you.I shop at both locations every week and hear all the stories from both sides.I know most of the employees by name and most are nice people, the problems are with management.I have had problems with both business at times (mostly from not being able to buy the items I want at the cheapest price possible – yes I’m a tight wad).I don’t really like the quality items being taken away for Ebay,but at least there are still good items for sale at Aussie Junk and I have an opportunity to buy them on Ebay if I desire.But only one is making steps to improve and create a better quality environment for the customers.
Aussie Junk is a Canberra business who employs local people.Yes they sell on Ebay and openly tell customers there user name.Why doesn’t Revolve tell the public about there Ebay selling activities – a bit hypocritical isnt it? (your Bathurst slot car set and Denon amplifier sold well last week)
As far as your comment that we will see less quality items if Aussie Junk take over,where are the quality items?
Where do all the antiques at revolve end up? Sydney antique shop? They are not for sale at the shed as they are constantly whisked away from the public before anyone can ask to buy them and when you do actually see something of value (by sticking your head around the drop off corner before anyone sees you) you are accosted by the staff and told it is not for sale, doesn’t really back up your supporting local community argument does it.Does all this money from interstate sales or the regular garage sales stay in Canberra or go to another bushpig.

Its obvious that the support it not with revolve, that people on this site anyway are happy that those jobs and more importantly money goes to some bushpig from out of town. re the no waste 2010 that has been removed totally from the ACT no waste agenda as they finally acknowledged it was
never going to happen.
All statistics can be manipulated and good on Aussie junk for getting away with it.
As far as ebay sales go, Aussie junk list up to 1000 items a week!

It is a totally cash business so corruption is ripe, it is not a public company so does not get audited to the same extent as revolve.

as far as the walking turnip comment, Revolve has employed hundreds of canberra people over the years, some yes may have been walking talking turnips, but the majority are now doctor’s lawyers and candlestick makers.

Good luck

Wow Stephboyl – if Aussie Junk is that bad and after being heavily inspected by the Government and the tender assessed by an independant company it only leaves one question really – How bad must REVOLVE be????

Revolve went to shite at about the time that the no haggling policy came in.

Prior to that it was fun, and I would often wind up taking home more than I was delivering. So it was kind of a blessing that it went pear shaped.

Argh, if aussie junk is cheaper I might go back to my old habits and my significant udder will be really pissed off.

ROSES ARE RED VOILETS BLUE IF YOU LOST TO AUSSIE JUNK YOUR FACE WOULD BE RED TOO HA HA HA

Bushpig, along with a stuck caps lock key, neglected to mention their own involvement with Aussie Junk.

COME ON AUSSIE COME ON LETS HELP OUT THE ACT. NO WASTE BY2010

it’s all so good for AJ

But for as little a dollar a day, they could also be fed, sheltered and educated (as well as work to earn that dollar). What a great tax write off Aussie Junk could do with that one !!

Perhaps we need to import a hoarde of small African children (as per those tear-jerking World Vision ads)to pick over our garbage and onsell anything vaguely useful. I think they would be more cost effective and thorough than Aussie Junk or Revolve.

i prefer aussie junk.

its more organised and in a large shed.

revolve at belco used to have everything out in the open.

revolve at mugga lane have unrtealistic non-haggle pricing.

i think 5 bucks is the most ive paid for anything at aussie junk.

often a buck.

It does seem a bit mean to take their successful business model and give it to someone else though.

There is a yahoo group called freecycle which is good for giving away useable stuff throughout Canberra.

Revolve is a good example of a great idea with crap execution. Maybe if they had lifted their game a bit, things would be different.

I have thought for a while that they were skimming all of the good stuff for sale on e-bay…

Good bye morons.

Do they still have toasters?

Whenever I have tried to use Revolve I have found that they won’t accept resellable stuff that I don’t want and don’t have time to find a new owner for, and want ridiculous prices for the crap they have collected. But for once I haven’t had to bend over, because I discovered that the gate for the tip opens at 7am, but revolve opens at 7.30am. Because the human turnips that work there don’t turn up until well after 7.30am, on several occasions I have turned up with potentially resellable stuff (old couch, bookcase, tv, etc), and simply left it in front of their gate at about 7.15am.

Cop that, you corrupt bunch of zero-business-knowledge wankbots.

In the words of Principal Skinner: “I’m a small man. A small, petty man…”

I-Filed what welfare payments what cash payments. this sound serious and probably should be reported? You obviously have had some close contact with workers and the organisation?

that site sould be given the Ass.
Even REvolve wouldn’t try to use it, or resell it.

So, Stephboyl… worked for any certain junk recycling companies lately?

No, stephboy, I am not and have never been a dealer. And I know about the pocketing of massive incomes of untaxed cash on top of welfare payments directly from Revolve employees at the time.

If I had the time today, i’d do a customer review of the two operations. But I don’t 🙂

Jb – your surprised because….. ?

new user suddenly has an axe to grind….

I-filed, Let me guess, Are you a dealer? Let me just set you straight about Revolve and its beginnings. Revolve was an Idea that took 7 years of lobbying and negotiation to even get off the ground. The first people that worked and ran revolve Often worked for little or no Pay, It was the first place in the world to even attempt to do something like that. Now they have sprung up all over the world using The model Revolve created. Workers used their own private vehicles and to say they were corrupt is just ill informed.
Yes there was a few shonk’s out there over the years but did you ever think that the antique in question may have been valued and bought for a fair price?

I imagine the true story was you wanted to buy the Chinese ceramic for $1 and sell it at a great profit yourself , you missed out on a quick buck and to this day you still hold a grudge! How do you know how much they were getting paid anyway?

Revolve has given hundreds of local people jobs over the last 18 years and ALL the money has always stayed within the company and within canberra

If Aussie junk take over (and its by far a done deal) You will see less quality items and the Canberra Community will see little or no Return

I think it Has to be one of the worst decisions this government has made yet! Aussie Junk are a private company owned by someone who has millions of dollars and lives on the Gold coast. All the money will leave canberra and staff will be bought in from outside. How do you tender an idea, their customers and good will?

The government never wanted revolve to start in the first place!

As for Aussie Junk

Staff have been paid directly from days takings in cash,These amounts have been as little as $40 a day for weekend work.

. No OHS guidelines

. No safety clothing or equipment for staff (gloves and boots must be found on the tip). no hep B injections for tip workers, no training of potential hazards.

.General testing of electrical items by unqualified staff and members of the Public is common

.Questionable record keeping of volumes Recycled (often don’t weigh rubbish and weigh reusables more than once) .

. Often do not pay or weigh waste returning to transfer station, this is done by either people on the weigh bridge turning a blind Eye or Aussie Junk staff driving around the the fence line to avoid camera’s and weigh bridge all together.

. No guidelines to what can and cannot be Sold. for example sell bicycle helmets, seat belts and car safety seats. as well as milk crates, beer kegs and poker machines.

. Do not accept marginal items for recycling only top end goods with top end market value.

. have unroadworthy and dangerous vehicles.

. Dumped Glass and other recycling straight to transfer station when It was their responsiblity to recycle.

. Drain car batteries, CFC’s from fridges and Air conditioning units on site.

.Drain contents of wall mounted heating oil tanks in rear yard.

.On more than one occasion have burnt copper wire and removed tyres from alluminium rims with angle grinder during business hours with customers on site.

. Do not have a current ACT second hand dealers license

. Do not employ Locals and are based and registered interstate.

and yes have a shit website

.

The Aussie Junk website is UGLY!

BUSH PIG UGLY!

They should sack the person that designed it and start again.

Revolve was totally corrupt and there was quite a cartel happening. Until the receipts system was instigated, employees had about 10 years in which they were pocketing thousands and thousands of dollars – the insiders among them were all on well over the average wage. I spotted an amazing Chinese antique ceramic out there, just in, and should have been available to the first comer (me). They made some llame excuse not to sell it to me, and then it turned up a few days later at an antiques shop in Yarralumla. At the time there was no official arrangement with any preferred buyers.

Damn spellcheck.

I obviously meant Revolve was too expensive not experience.

Aussie junk charges about half to quarter what Revolve does.

I second the experience Sammy’s with revolve. Too fussy when trying to drop off stuff and too experience when selling it.

Aussie Junk are great and cheap and achieve the objective of reducing landfill by selling the junk cheap and having a high turn over.

Revolve, good riddance to bad rubbish.

PS Who gives a crap about their website? Not enough youtube videos for you JB?

That website is the worst i have seen in a long time. I feel like im back in 1997! WOW!

Yeah, like I said, it appeared to me that Revolve had just stockpiled too much crap that they couldn’t shift.

I assume that some rules must have been in place regarding their ability to send stuff back to the general tip?

I think Revolve’s problem was that they accepted too much stuff at the start (eg CRT computer monitors, old fridges etc). You just can’t shift that stuff.

I’m not that surprised. The last couple of times i’ve attempted to take things to Revolve they’ve rejected them. This included items which I would consider reusable & saleable.

Case in point:

I attempted to deliver a commercial quality bookcase to Revolve, which I had previously purchased from ex-Gov furniture in Fyshwick. These things are built very solidly, and would probably survive a nuclear blast, along with the cockroaches.

Anyway, Revolve weren’t interested, as they already had enough ‘bookcases’. A quick survey of their site indeed revealed quite a number of bookcases, most of which were falling apart and generally crappy.

And so I was diverted to the landfill delivery point. Upon arrival at the security booth where you hand over your cash for disposal charges, the security guard in the booth says to me “hey, thats a nice looking bookcase. Are you throwing it away?”.

The guard offers to take it off my hands if i’ll help him load it onto his roofracks. Alas, we determine that his roofracks are not up for the job, and the bookcase ends up in the landfill.

From an outsiders point-of-view, it appeared like Revolve were stockpiling a massive amount of useless crap, and lately their business model seemed to be:

“Accept nothing, and attempt to sell everything”

Granted, i’ve seen some of the crap that people attempt to deliver to Revolve, such as:

* Three-legged tables
* Very old televisions
* One-wheeled bicycles, etc etc.

I guess the writing was on the wall as soon as this tender process was announced. What happens to all the junk that is currently at Revolve?