My fellow scrapping brothers (sisters)

I got an email today from a scrapper. He was replying to my cl add for buying dead computers and laptops. He said he comes across a bit of electronics and wanted a price list from me as to what I buy. I offered fair pricing I would say, basically half of what I can get for the items, some less if I have to dissect the item to get at the goodies. I have to process, remove, ship, hold up my cash to get a return. I shouldn't feel guilty that he does not know how to maximize profit from his loads right? He currently tosses computers/electronics into the shred pile right now, so in his own way he is trying to maximize his profits by wanting to sell to me for more $. I guess if he doesn't know how to break the parts down or where/how to sell the e-scrap then I guess I shouldn't. Just want to be kind to my fellow scrappers but at the same time I need the business.. I just need to be careful not to say oh... "I just turn around and ship this to so and so and double my money"... which is only half true anyways. Stripping, sorting, shipping is all a hassle and part of the job, and most people don't want to deal with it. Anyone else feel this way, are you protective of your knowledge and skill-sets, trade secrets? I think you would be crazy not too I suppose, especially with the amount of competition out there.

If they where ambitious enough they would get on the net and find this forum.
I got a batch of telecom boards that fed-ex dropped off today. I took them out of the box, removed some brackets, put them in the same box and shipped them to Ohio. Paid $50 shipped, I shipped to Ohio for $23 and I estimate getting around $125 to $150 maybe more. Normally I would send more but I wanted to see how much was high grade so I know how high I can go with offers.

Originally Posted by Immulmen

If they where ambitious enough they would get on the net and find this forum.
I got a batch of telecom boards that fed-ex dropped off today. I took them out of the box, removed some brackets, put them in the same box and shipped them to Ohio. Paid $50 shipped, I shipped to Ohio for $23 and I estimate getting around $125 to $150 maybe more. Normally I would send more but I wanted to see how much was high grade so I know how high I can go with offers.

Agreed, people who are hungry will do research, ask q's and make phone calls. If you take the time to educate everyone, you wont have time to work! Personally if I don't want to fully break something down and I sell to another person, I expect them to make more money. The one that puts forth the most effort, etc (to me) deserves the bigger bucks. Sounds like your seller is on a learning curve and may change how he sorts and sells eventually. If he does step up and ask q's, then I would answer honestly and with no apologies, you are putting in more work. Just my opinion and I am new to scrapping.

You need the business he wants to make more money. Supply and demand. Some folks think you toss in truck take to yard. You are supplying a service to the other scrapper.

As others have said on this forum, don't educate your customers or they will blow you off. ---if they are interested and willing to do the value add that you are doing---- some don't care.

Jon.

Originally Posted by jiffy117

I got an email today from a scrapper. He was replying to my cl add for buying dead computers and laptops. He said he comes across a bit of electronics and wanted a price list from me as to what I buy. I offered fair pricing I would say, basically half of what I can get for the items, some less if I have to dissect the item to get at the goodies. I have to process, remove, ship, hold up my cash to get a return. I shouldn't feel guilty that he does not know how to maximize profit from his loads right? He currently tosses computers/electronics into the shred pile right now, so in his own way he is trying to maximize his profits by wanting to sell to me for more $. I guess if he doesn't know how to break the parts down or where/how to sell the e-scrap then I guess I shouldn't. Just want to be kind to my fellow scrappers but at the same time I need the business..

I completely get what you're saying -- I often feel or observe that same conflict between competing (or just surviving) in business and being "kind" to others. If you think about it, though, you're basically asking if it's OK not to share your trade secrets and your customer list with your competition. Well, you're a business, and businesses don't do that. It would be like passing the ball to the other team -- that's not how the game is played. So you can just look at your work as a competitive sport: You're allowed to run with the ball if you've got it -- that's what you're supposed to do. As long as you abide by the rules, don't cheat or play dirty, and treat the other team with respect, there's no harm and no foul.