[Exhibitman]

I purchased a lot of several thousand items of paper ephemera and photos at an estate sale. About 10% were clearly family photos of the deceased with no commercial value. i contacted the estate sale manager and arranged to return the photos to the family. They were very appreciative. Now, had they been of commercial value, I'm selling them, but random snapshots and the like, i give those back if I can.

If it is a situation where I cannot give them back, I don't chuck them. There is very little that is truly worthless. I bundle leftovers like that with other ephemera that I accumulate from acquisitions and eventually wholesale or trade the whole bundle to another dealer. Some people will retail thousands of random old photos; I don't have the patience. I will retail interesting subjects like military, automotive, tourist sites, beaches, etc.