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Selling Scrap Metal / Scrap Yards

bosco

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Anyone in the scrap business? How does the collection yards work? How do they make money? Who do the collection yards sell too?

Also with the price that copper is at right now, is it worth collecting and holding onto it until the price goes up?
 
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bosco

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Thanks for everyones input here. I am focusing on materials that I have reasonable access to. Copper, Brass, Aluminum, and some steel. Unless you have access to alot of steel its not really worth handling and warehousing it for .05 cents a pound.

I built a machine to strip copper wire and was thinking of buying wire from the electricians, etc.....have my retired father strip it and then sit on it until it goes back to 3 bucks a pound. only at a dollar now.

What I want to learn now is how to deal direct with the big yards and not the local feeder yards. Basically want to deal with the folks that all the yards deal with. If I did enough volume I am positioned to open to the public to startbuying but need to be able to sell higher to pay same price as the rest of the yards.

How much margin are they working on if they are paying a dollar a pound. How much do they turn around and sell it for? Do you think they also time the market and sit on inventory when it is low and sell it all when the prices go up?
 
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Excalibur

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I'm wishing I had held onto a load of copper I had. Sept 2009 I bought over 1,000 pounds from an IRS auction for $300 and cashed in for $1,900. Was in the scrap yard today and noticed it would have been about $2,770.

I doubt this will be a fast lane vehicle for me, but it's a decent ROT/ROI in my spare time.

I'm now thinking I should stockpile scrap as I come across it, then negotiate a better price when I take it in. I got a 5 cent bonus when I took the aforementioned load in. Not much of a bonus if you ask me.

Currently working on a load of stainless I need to cut up/separate to get clean price.

Glad to see this topic. I was wondering the other day if there was one on scrap metal.
 

Excalibur

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You're right bosco, steel isn't worth warehousing. I bought a lot of 232 5 drawer file cabinets last year. Original plan was to sell them for 10/15 bucks each. Would have resulted in about 2,320/3,480 bucks. Once we got into it, it was evident that moving and storing this many was going to be more hassle than it was worth. Ended up scrapping all but 20 or so, and sold those for 20 a piece. If I recall, I scrapped about 17 tons. The scrap yard was amused by this many cabinets...they even set a few out in their "for sale" pile.
 

Zamir_Kahn

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Anyone in the scrap business? How does the collection yards work? How do they make money? Who do the collection yards sell too?

Also with the price that copper is at right now, is it worth collecting and holding onto it until the price goes up?
Hey, bosco and other guys! If you want to pick up scrap as a side job, start with a simple one - aluminum cans. Collecting cans does not require special skills and additional resources. Selling aluminum cans for recycling has both its advantages and disadvantages. If you want to do it, then take note of some details. In my opinion, aluminum cans are worth to be collected for processing. The lion's share of aluminium scrap is provided by the automotive and construction industries. Aluminium scrap market is dynamically developing https://trade-metal.com/news-aluminium-scrap-market-leading-countries-and-price-11.html, therefore, aluminium scrap is in demand today.
Collecting cans for processing is profitable if you know places where they can be picked up in large quantities. Besides, you need the place for their storage. Aluminum cans do not require special cleaning and removal of impurities like other types of scrap. The main disadvantage of waste cans' is their lightweight and large volume. To earn some money you need to collect a large number of cans.
An excellent way out is to press the cans and make room for more. Before it, you need to find out at your collection point how the cans are taken: by weight or by the piece. Other members of this branch suggest you correctly. If there is a counting machine at your scrap collection point, then you can't press the cans.
The price of aluminum waste cans is not high. At the same time, it is easier to get and collect cans then expensive copper scrap, for example. As you are a scrapper then you know it! Aluminium scrap costs from $0.20 to $1.50 per kg. Aluminium waste cans can be sold for 33-38 cents per pound (1 pound – 32 cans). One can costs 1.7-2 cents.
If you want to pick up a lot of cans at once go to the nearest street concert venue. As a rule, music fans leave a lot of aluminium containers and bottles after the concert. You can get real cans' jackpot if a large street festival is held in your area. There you can collect quite a lot of cans in one place for a short time. In any case, no pain, no gain. Go ahead! Aluminium cans' recycling helps you not only also to earn some money but save the environment.
 
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