Profits - Hr Rate - Percent

If I'm reading your post correctly (please correct me if I missed it!), you started scrapping 2008. The world economy crash of 2008, perhaps, the lowest producing world economy in 85 years. So 2009 until 2014 would be more prosperous for most of this planet (call it a hey day compared to 2008).

As a curb hunter (Curb Co. scrapper), your product cost are lower than most scrappers (maybe). There is still cost associated with any task,, including curb hunting. I don't curb shop, nor do I have a huge problem with anyone that does. I'm not going to try and figure your cost to scrap with this method, I just know there are cost to everything. Put pen to pad, there always are cost to do business (some just not as obvious as gas in the tank). Scrap metal is a commodity, like most commodities the profits are made by knowledge and margins. I'm sure you have the knowledge, I hope you can harvest the "working" margins (someone needs too).

I come into the scrap business on the garbage side of economic necessity to reduce my companies trash bill. If I can cut my monthly trash bill $5,000 to $8,000 per month by 30% ($1,500 to $2,400). By reducing tip and trip fees through recycling, Iv'e added a value to my scrap materiel (internally) regardless of existing low scrap prices. It is not cheap though to process trash, doesn't matter who does it (trash co., me, or you). That 30% I saved by reducing my trash bill, is about what it cost me for one person (full time) per month. So for me the profit (if any) comes from getting the maximum return, from recycling commercial waste.

I'm going to throw out some numbers, concerning just the "trash" and recycling problems we all face. The scrap prices go up and down, always have, always (hopefully) will. Our trash problem is only one of many factors that give us "the perfect storm" driving scrap rates to all time low's (factoring in 2015 numbers). As a society, we needed to reduce waste and pollution, we started figuring this out in the 60's. So the "green movement" was needed, but what are the true cost? The myth that the recycling itself will offset the cost, to be "Environmentally efficient" is just not true. The big trash companies have built huge recycling systems, with the most technologically available machines, costing millions of dollars each. Each metroplex in this country has at least one of these "single-stream" recycling factories. Waste Management (largest trash company in the world) alone owns dozens of these Material Recovery Facility (MRF's) across North America. They have exclusive contracts with most large and small cities, giving them absolute right to collect, haul, process and sell all processed scrap. The average municipal contract is for 10 to 15 years, almost always renewed automatically, with contracts guaranteeing they profit (municipalities have to cover any projected losses - tax payers). In 2010 the USA recycled about 34% of our municipal solid waste (MSW), that is residential, schools and office-based business. Does not include factories, heavy industry, construction waste, agriculture waste and mined waste (these are our largest waste streams and same trash companies have most of this business too!). These trash companies have been buying recycling companies across the continent. They have closed the loop, controlling all aspects of business, just a few companies deciding policy and making billions in the process.

Now the good news, there's a lot out there for curb side scrapper or a dumpster diver. In 2010 our MSW not recycled was 65%. How much can be scrapped? I think most of it, but it's not going to happen if the "business as usual" and preferred methods of the large trash companies continue. From 1960 to 2010 our MSW more than doubled with a 70+% population increase. By 2060 with just under a 30% population increase, how much more trash will we produce? It's all in the numbers:

1960 the USA's total MSW output was 88.1 million tons, we recycled 5.6 million tons and landfill, incinerated or ocean dumped 82.5 million tons. (back then that was a lot of trash).
2010 (50 years later) our total MSW output was 205.9 million tons, we recycled 70 million tons and landfill, incinerated, or ocean dumped 135.9 million tons. (I don't want to think what 2060 will be like).

1960 USA population 180.7 million - 2010 USA population 308.75 million (70.86% increase) - 2015 USA population 320.09 million (3.676% increase) - 2060 USA population (projected) 416.79 million (29.68% increase)

Copperhead - The amount of "free" scrap at the curb is huge and trash company is only going to recycle 35% at best. You just need to do more volume. I guarantee of the 135.9 million tons dumped in 2010, not all of it was dirty diapers and last night's dinner scraps!

Rog - Can you sell the raccoon hides? I'll answer my own question: You can sell anything, if a market exist, then it could be sold.
What I wanted to know, Do you sell raccoon hides? How stable is the fur trade today, compared to scrap metal prices? What are the prices for say top three available hides in your area? I know there's lots of rural scrap metal yards, that buy hides and fur skins.

When I was in H.S. growing up in the Ouichita mountains (mid 70's), I used to go raccoon hunting with a friend of mine. We used dogs, my friend actually made more money raising and training "Coon Dogs" then he did hides. I can tell you a good dog team can be very productive in a night of raccoon hunting. I believe he got $20 a hide, some nights we would bag 10 to 15 raccoon's. What I always remember how smart those dogs were.

Burt- You must have missed my multiple postings over the 2nd half of 2015 that the wild fur market is basically in the toilet such as metal recycling. From near record highs (in 2013 dollars) in Feb. 2013 to much lower prices or no offers by the summer of 2015. My raccoon skins typically have high grades and are from the 2 most desirable coon "regions" for contemporary use. The prices I received in 2015 weren't overly bad but my clearances were low, only about 35%, meaning the minimum bid that the big fur auction house (largest in North America) thought they were worth weren't met. So the others remain in storage at their facility awaiting the first auction of 2016 in 2 months. The main problem is that the 2 largest countries that buy wild fur were either no shows in 2015 (the Russians) or didn't want to pay out what they did in 2013 and 2014 (the Chinese). Most of the guys in the East, South, and West Coast didn't even get offers for their coon fur in 2015. Right now, the only way for those guys to make any money over a buck or two for a raccoon is to charge or trade for ADC work or if they have an informal meat economy going on (which is non-existent here). Perhaps luckily what looks like a decent El Nino snowy winter may be limiting the harvest in the better coon regions and new fur for the other depressed species for the 2016 auctions may be limited as well. We'll see...

Here's a link to my newest thread about how scrap metal and wild fur are alike...

http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/off-t...-lot-like.html

I've been in the e-scrap business for about 5 years. In my conversations with local businessmen, they expect a 5-10% profit per year. The way it was said "for every dollar I put into the business I get 5 or 10 cents."

If you can double your money (expenses) for every 8 hours you put into scrapping you are making more than most of the businesses out there. It's just making sure that you are busy for 8 hours that's important

doppenscrappin- Is this guy a cousin of yours from California??

That one was certainly a fast crash and burn. I thought when ds came back from purgatory he was mostly behaving himself. I must have missed something. The "new guy" certainly was "interesting" in the short number of posts. I hope they (he) ditches his old lifestyle. I believe in redemption but if you've been locked up more than once, then you probably have issues that need to get resolved or it will just be the same merry-go-around over and over...