Reselling over scrapping?

I've been finding recently, that a lot of the stuff I find works, and could easily fetch a few bucks (likely 10x what it would be worth in scrap, even completely broken down). For example I have found many box fans, portable heaters, printers, DVD players, phones, tools, rakes, shovels, bikes, etc.... all in perfectly good working condition, and most of them pretty clean and resealable. Even though this is a scrapping forum, do most people try to resell first, and then scrap whats left over? Or do people here mostly just take things and scrap them no matter what without trying to resell? My town has a yard-sale day on a quarterly basis, Ive been thinking of just stock piling everything I find that works and could be resell-able, and just scrapping broken or not very useful/resell-able thing, and then trying to sell the stock pile of stuff at the quarterly yard sales (and then scrap whatever ends up not selling).

Originally Posted by kss

I've been finding recently, that a lot of the stuff I find works, and could easily fetch a few bucks (likely 10x what it would be worth in scrap, even completely broken down). For example I have found many box fans, portable heaters, printers, DVD players, phones, tools, rakes, shovels, bikes, etc.... all in perfectly good working condition, and most of them pretty clean and resealable. Even though this is a scrapping forum, do most people try to resell first, and then scrap whats left over? Or do people here mostly just take things and scrap them no matter what without trying to resell? My town has a yard-sale day on a quarterly basis, Ive been thinking of just stock piling everything I find that works and could be resell-able, and just scrapping broken or not very useful/resell-able thing, and then trying to sell the stock pile of stuff at the quarterly yard sales (and then scrap whatever ends up not selling).

Sell, sell, sell! In times like this year where scrap prices are very low and continuing to drop selling is the best method of making money. For items such as the ones mentioned above you may also want to try selling platforms such as facebook marketplace, letgo, mercari, etc. Craigslist used to be a good one, but it seems to lately be going downhill very fast. I usually give items 1 month: 2 weeks before I slash the price, 2 weeks before I scrap it. If an item is more valuable I may hold onto it for a few months longer. Just be very very careful not to get into the "nice stuff mentality"

What is the nice stuff mentality? Here in town there is a business that is called nice stuff (name has been changed). This business is one of the largest eyesores in Billings. Imagine an entire city block stuffed to the brim with items ranging from treadmills and old bathtubs to appliances and wooden doors, all outside. The owner was grandfathered into the current city ordinances which allows him to keep this mess without any penalties. When the owner is asked why he keeps everything he simply says something along the lines of "well someone will buy it eventually". Setting a timeline on items is important, and yes, eventually you probably could sell everything you get, but if your storage space is limited you could end up with quite a mess. Just my $0.02

Originally Posted by 406Refining

Sell, sell, sell! In times like this year where scrap prices are very low and continuing to drop selling is the best method of making money. For items such as the ones mentioned above you may also want to try selling platforms such as facebook marketplace, letgo, mercari, etc. Craigslist used to be a good one, but it seems to lately be going downhill very fast. I usually give items 1 month: 2 weeks before I slash the price, 2 weeks before I scrap it. If an item is more valuable I may hold onto it for a few months longer. Just be very very careful not to get into the "nice stuff mentality"

What is the nice stuff mentality? Here in town there is a business that is called nice stuff (name has been changed). This business is one of the largest eyesores in Billings. Imagine an entire city block stuffed to the brim with items ranging from treadmills and old bathtubs to appliances and wooden doors, all outside. The owner was grandfathered into the current city ordinances which allows him to keep this mess without any penalties. When the owner is asked why he keeps everything he simply says something along the lines of "well someone will buy it eventually". Setting a timeline on items is important, and yes, eventually you probably could sell everything you get, but if your storage space is limited you could end up with quite a mess. Just my $0.02

Yea, I 100% agree to set timelines on stuff. I will keep stuff for the quarterly yard sale, and anything left at the end of the day I'll scrap. So they longest Ill have something is a quarter (if I find it the day after the yard sale). For smaller, or more unique items, I have been using ebay and had some success. Havent tried facebook marketplace or let go yet. I have used craigslist many times in the past but would prefer to use.... anything else lol.

Better than scrap value?

Most definitely!

I actually pick up stuff with an idea of where and when it will go when I get it.

I junk everything, i dont care

Originally Posted by greytruck

I junk everything, i dont care

Lol I guess there is some comfort in the simplicity of that.... Just junk everything, no decisions to make

Originally Posted by t00nces2

I actually pick up stuff with an idea of where and when it will go when I get it.

Right, yea that is possible if you know what you are getting, but for curb-side picking, you cant know what you are going to get, you could find a fan and not know if it works. If it works, great, resell, if not, tear down scrap the power cord and motor. I just grab everything I can and decide what to do later.

Originally Posted by kss

Right, yea that is possible if you know what you are getting, but for curb-side picking, you cant know what you are going to get, you could find a fan and not know if it works. If it works, great, resell, if not, tear down scrap the power cord and motor. I just grab everything I can and decide what to do later.

I guess what I mean is that if I am going through the trouble to jump out of my truck to pick up something from the curb, I have a pretty good idea what it is I'm picking up and if I think it has any more than scrapyard value.

Originally Posted by t00nces2

I guess what I mean is that if I am going through the trouble to jump out of my truck to pick up something from the curb, I have a pretty good idea what it is I'm picking up and if I think it has any more than scrapyard value.

Ah ok, yea I get what you mean.

Most of my stuff goes to scrap but i do a bit of reselling as well. The main value i have found is in the new learning. I'll take a PC or a Mac in and put time & money into it. I've had a few with technical problems that took hours or even days to sort out. I might plow 50.00 - 100.00 $ into repair & upgrade parts into it. They usually sell okay when i'm done.

If you figured the time, energy, and money invested .... you don't make that much for your effort.

If you look at it as a learning experience .... it's priceless.