Scrapping and adapting

I'm a knowledgeable Street Scrapper ( recycling ) I'v been selling scrap long enough to of experience monetary High's and Low's
But the most recent price's have been disheartening .
Is it nation wide ? You Tell Me
My final disappointing adapting
mix Steel is at .07 per pound That I consider OK considering
what I've seen as Hight and Low's
BUT let's get to the Bread and Butter of a Street scrapper that works out of a Van , Pick up or less
Electric motors .10 cents
Copper bearing .10 cents
Dirty AL .08 cents
AL is down But that's OK
Busting out vacuums to the tune of 100 pounds to make $3 more then just Mix Shred NOT WORTH IT
now I just cut off the bulk of plastic so as not to be excessive plastic to metal and sell as mix
copper bearing I might or might not bother
Dirty Al - HA HA HA there is your answer on that
So the bad is obvious to a street scrapper
The good is , it's LIBERATING pack truck with out worry
Clean AL - Copper & Brass are the last hold out's
So i'm still in the game BUT I feel some thing fake going on here
after all I see the yard still has organized Gay lords of
Electric motors
Copper bearing
Dirty Al
Well it was a great run !!

Mixed $.05/lb
Dirty metals about the same as you
My biggest money maker is wayyy down #2 insulated is now $.25/lb I get $.30 due to volume but it doesn't make it much better when it was $.80/lb not long ago.
Ehh well guess we're averaging out those good years

Well as a secondary source of income it's still fine , but as it once was nope
Not sure it's coming back . This looks like a restructure of pricing .
For sure I wont wish on a massive war for us to earn .
Still I think I will save my Vac motors for a wile and see what they deliver in a few years
worth a shot .

Prices down here are changing as well. Shred has bounced between .05/lb and .055 a lb, which is not horrible but it has forced me to start taking things apart to make up the difference. Short steel is still doing well at .0825/lb. Aluminum is down to .30/lb and breakage floats around .06/lb which is not worth separating. Motors are around .08/lb. Prices are dropping and it's a little scary to see where the market will be 6 months out. The new regulations and tariffs have severely affected "dirty' metals and low value stuff like motors, copper bearing, and copper wire. My yards now require plug ends and any trash cut out of wire whereas three months ago it was okay to leave them on. Very frustrating but there is less competition. Still making okay money in the long run and still turning a profit which is all I care about.

As a part-timer I was doing good till I took off the dash to replace my heater core on my truck, but then I knew this is going to be a near week long after work project, that and my career comes first and there have been some fires I needed to put out and projects to complete after hours.

I have adapted cause I was a newbie when prices for shred were 145/ton and did almost all ferrous weight scrapping, as much crap as I could fit in the truck then dump it regardless of the aluminum, wires, copper and brass i had on board - I cringe now thinking of it. Prices went down then I started paying far more attention to non-ferrous and better ways of collecting scrap metal quicker and closer to use less fuel. My last non-ferrous cash in was for ~70$ with only ~110lbs of material. Not setting any records or anything but it's very good for me as a part timer with a mid-sized truck.

We have been threw this before guys......Remember 2014 - 2015??? What our neighbors to the north say, "Way she goes". just hoard the good stuff unless you really need the money. Still getting 145 for shred, so there is still alot of competition around here. Still remembering the 270/ton shred days

$ 270 a ton is like remembering youth

Originally Posted by greytruck

just hoard the good stuff unless you really need the money.

Or if you don't have room to store it/want a back yard for use.

Originally Posted by DakotaRog

Sounds a lot like the wild fur market. There are still a few bright spots, such as heavy northern prairie coyotes. but much of the rest is at "restructured prices".

After dinking around for 4-5 years with various micro gigs bundled as a "second job", I'll be looking for a steady 10-20 hours a week pay check after Christmas. My garage will end up being cleaner which will make the wife happier and I'll pick and choose only the juiciest little side gigs to do that return the best coin in the least time. Its been a long time a coming, but it has arrived.

Sounds like retirement. That is when I got into the game. Retired and loving the scrapping so lower prices will not slow me down.

Would have taken 1160+lbs of scrap/shred to have made what I did with 84lbs of material. Yeah the prices are lower than before but focusing on more valuable metals has helped me as a part-timer (lately very part time).

What is with the ATM fee...

Originally Posted by hobo finds

What is with the ATM fee...

You can choose a check with no fee no matter the amount, or for every $50 they charge $1 if you use the ATM. 0-50$ ATM = 0$ fee. I can accept $1 for the convenience of cash - far less expensive here than actually using a bank ATM from somewhere besides your own bank chain.