Scrap Yard Relationship

Ok so I wanted to post this as a yard owner and manager to give some insight on how to maintain maximum profits from most yards.

Separating and cleaning your metal is always a must for max profits, unless time consumption outweighs the benefit.

What most people do not understand is that your personal relationship with the yard hand(s) is also a key factor. Being rude and attempting to conduct business like you have something they want will not get you far. Scrap yards usually deal in hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of pounds of whatever you might be selling, so they tend to treat you as a number.

I learned a long time ago that a little extra courtesy goes a long way. By becoming friends with your dealer, and not being the "oh no it's so and so" guy, you are much more likely to gain better grading and pricing over time than a person the dealer does not like.

Example: I had a man recently become one of my customers that was very easy to deal with, wanted to learn the trade, and always helped me out if he felt I was in need of assistance. One day he brought me 250 lbs of #1 and #2 clean copper wire mixed.

I was very short for time and instead of separating it or buying it for the lower grade as I would normally do I bought it all for #1. I still made my share of profit, and since the man was so polite I had no problem doing it. I would not have done this for a rude or belligerent customer.



The moral of the story is, most yards will be short with you, even rude on occasion - but the workers are still people and usually can be won over with kindness and courtesy.

This won't work everywhere every time, but it's well worth the effort when it does.