Oh, and I learned I have a sorting OCD so I pay myself to sort stuff
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
|
Oh, and I learned I have a sorting OCD so I pay myself to sort stuff
Urban Mining: When people give you free money.
Rural scrapper
Great idea for a thread, wish I wouldve thought of it !Originally Posted by jord0690
Nothing better than turning something that people throw out into cold hard cash ! And it all helps the environment as well, waste not, want not.
Alvord iron and salvage
3rd generation scrapper and dam proud of it
|
I thought for sure someone had already made one but couldnt find anything. Then again i use the scrap metal forum app primarily and the search fuction SUCKS. lol anyway. Some great stuff here.Great idea for a thread, wish I wouldve thought of it !
Nothing better than turning something that people throw out into cold hard cash ! And it all helps the environment as well, waste not, want not.
If I didn't have bad luck, I'd have no luck at all...
GC Metal Recycling & Recovery
Barrie, Ontario.
|
I'm loving reading all the ''Why I got into scrapping'' stories, so many different reasons and thoughts. Love this thread!
Scrapper, Scrap Yard Worker, Horse farm worker, Cooler Puller and just plain ''tired''
|
No work so scrap
BUYING ALL COMPUTER SCRAP WORKING OR NOT
CHECK OUT MY BUYERS THREAD http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/scrap...nic-scrap.html
https://getjunk.net/Knox-County-TN-0...Recycling.html
Experienced Scrapper
|
I always had an interest in "trash" and ran a tiny recycling business trying to make it grow into a bigger company eventually. I soon learned that there was money in aluminum cans and plastic, so I saved those. After selling my first bags of cans to a landscape supply company for like .20 a pound, I did some research into what else I could sell and found that steel and other metals also brought in money, so I started collecting that also. I saved up probably 50 lbs of steel and thought I was going to make a lot of money. I called the scrap yard and was disappointed about the price they gave me (mostly because I didn't know what I had). So I gave it away to the city. I was stumped. Why did people want this stuff? In my research, I found this forum and lurked for a while. I scrapped my old "stainless" BBQ and got some old fans to scrap. I made my first trip to the scrapyard in May of last year and made $40. I was hooked even though I probably got ripped off. That summer, I cleaned out a junk pile at a local horse stable and made like $200 total. That really put the bug in me. Sometime in July, I made an account on here and here I am almost a year and a half later. I know, I know. I don't do this for a living or anything, but I make money doing what I do. So why do I scrap? Because it's fun, and it makes me money. I hope this will expand into something bigger in the next year when I finally buy a truck. Anyway, Thats my story, nothing too interesting.
Made in China, Recycled in the Republic of Texas!
"When the mind fails, brute force prevails" - CTSSolutions
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
|
Okay, I'm only 18, but since i was about 13-14ish I've saved all my cans to scrap, and once i got my license and needed gas money, i just toke in my cans to get the money, which was about 10 bucks or so. And my brothers started building houses and one of my brothers were walking and talking and he saw a piece of copper on the ground and said that its about 3 bucks a pound to go and scrap, and that got me thinking... And eventually expanded into taking CRT TVs and computers apart etc, and now that i have gotten a bigger vehicle, i now go around on big garbage day scrapping...
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
|
|
First hobby I ever had that MADE money
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
|
All in all I scrap to survive monetarily . I have come a long way from day one . I feel if one really wants consistency the real money is in cars . dismantling boilers and having customers from clean outs . Curb Co is very real but can dry out at times .
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
Because I have a seasonally restricted specialized skill that only allows me to work in my regular job about 6 months a year, I scrap for a little extra cash money $$. And to constructively fill the time for the other 6 months out of the year. And really it is because I get to break things down and not have to worry about putting it back together and have it work.
MikeD asked me that question in a post and it was a really good question to think about. As a result, I cut back on several things and became more focused to meet the reasons.
When I bought my first house, my dad told me to keep a bucket and throw copper in it whenever I got any. When it got full, sell it for $$. Luckily I remembered that when we put in a new water heater and I told the contractor to leave all the scrap pipe. I let that sit in my basement for nearly a year then during a cleanout, I found the scrapyard and took them in, not sure what I would get. I was suprised and what my 7 pounds of #2 copper was worth.
From that point on, I was saving every scrap of metal that came with the house and renovations. I made plenty of early mistakes like taking in 70 pounds of insulated wire unsorted. Half of it was romex and a quarter was #6. I also gave away probably 200 pounds of E-Waste at recycling drives or to goodwill to make room. I did a few runs a year to the yard getting 20 to 50 bucks per run. I was happy with the money, but always a little frustrated with how little I knew. I remember putting fan parts in a brass bucket that was probably 10 pounds with the fan, or 5 without. The guy pulled out a magnet and I got frustrated and threw the entire bucket in with the steel. I scrapped our washing machine that broke over several months.
When our neighbor moved out last year, I picked up their microwave and a few other things from the curb. I let the microwave sit for several months before I decided to take it apart. I remembered how much I had gotten out of the washer. Luckily I did a google for how to take it apart and found out about the capcitor and magnatron issues. That google is what really got me started. Eventually I found my way here, and nothing has been the same since!
I'm making 2-3 trips per month, bringing in arround 100/ month in just the standard metals. I'm making a few hundred a month in eBay sales. I love the paydays when I send a 65 pound box of E-Waste. I stick to the higher profitibility items like E-Waste now. Part of it is for the money. I had a binge of buying power tools last year that I'm working on paying back. We also have our 6th kid due in December, and just bought a new vehicle. A new house is down the road, but I'll need a little extra money to help with that.
To be honest, I don't HAVE to scrap. We get by on my salary alright. It's more of a hobby / puzzle. I think I'm trying to prove to myself that I am smart enough to figure this out and be successful. I think there's also a bit of a desire to overcome the scrapyard and be smart enough to be confident when I turn in my materiel. I'm light years ahead of where I used to be, but they still catch mistakes that I made in sorting from time to time.
There are currently 12 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 12 guests)
|
Browse the Most Recent Threads
On SMF In THIS CATEGORY. 
OR 
|
Posting Permissions
Register To Reply
Bookmarks