This has been the best Christmas for me in a very long time.
I started scrapping six years ago out of necessity. I had a somewhat decent job that I was forced to leave in order to take care of my family when my wife suffered from a stroke. It’s kind of ironic. My wife has since then made a near full recovery and started working again, but I haven’t been able to find any kind of traditional work anywhere for six years.
Scrapping paid the bills, fed us, and kept a roof over our heads; but it wasn’t easy at times. I think everyone should at least once in their lives find out just what it takes to make money appear out of thin air.
I used part of my last aluminum load to buy scratcher lottery tickets for everyone for Christmas. My wife won $35, my 17 year old son won $55, my 14 year old daughter won $128, and I got skunked; but I received a phone call on Christmas eve from someone offering me a job!
Its part time work that pays more than my last full time job did, work absolutely stops at 5:00 pm, I’m not required to work more that my assigned hours, it’s a large non-profit organization that’s been around for 100 years & will probably be around for 100 more years, and I can see myself staying around long enough to retire.
Will I still scrap? I probably will (it’s in my blood now and I can’t get it out). I’ll still pick up abandoned stuff that I see on the street, but I don’t think I’ll advertise any more, and I’ll probably hoard & cash in my stuff twice a year instead of once a week.
Christmas has been good to me, so I thought I’d hand down some pointers for the newbies. This worked out well for me, so maybe it’ll make part of your life a little easier too.
1. Find your niche
Every business survives by finding at least one thing that their competitors don’t do, and they do it well. My niche was being known in some circles as the guy who could find anything. You’d be surprised at what people need and what they’re willing to pay for it. Most of the stuff people needed was the stuff that I was scrapping anyway. On the flip side, I was also known as the guy who could get rid of anything. My phone constantly rang off the hook with people wanting to get rid of stuff, for free. I never paid anything for the scrap I collected.
2. EBay as much as possible
Do the research; grab a handful of components and check to see how much it sold for on eBay. EBay lets you view completed auctions to see what they sold for. Use USPS flat rate shipping boxes (they’re free from the post office and they’ll even deliver to you) so you don’t have to deal with calculating shipping costs (eBay’s online shipping calculator isn’t accurate and you’ll always get screwed) and the postal service will even pick up you packages. Just remember that eBay & PayPal fees average about 13% per item sold and you may have to pay for some packaging material, so make sure you have at least this amount in you PayPal account at all times. Pack every item as if you were shipping it to yourself (buyers really notice how something is packed), and be completely honest in describing the item. I averaged about $26,000 a year (part time) in eBay sales as a one man shop without breaking a sweat while also scrapping.
3. Check your local Court House
Everything that’s filed at the court house is available to the public. Find out who’s filing for building and/or demolition permits and check their location for scrap. Check for foreclosures and see if the place needs to be hauled out. Also, check to see if any buildings are being condemned. Most condemned property isn’t being condemned because of an unsafe structure; it’s because too much stuff has accumulated on the property and it’s unsafe to live there anymore. These people have run out of time, don’t have time to haggle over prices, and desperately need a haul out.
(A friend taught me about this one)
This isn’t for getting scrap, but you can get some really good deals. Check to see who’s filing for divorce. Most divorces end up being a huge messy ordeal. Most of the time, both parties can’t agree on how to divide up their assets and the court will force them to sell it all off. Most of the time, it’s in the form of a garage sale. Figure out who owns what and approach the other party for a price.
One time, I approached the wife for the price of a $3,500 Bang & Olufsen stereo (husband owned it), and she sold it to me for $50. I approached the husband for a price of a near new $2,000 Italian leather couch (wife’s recent purchase), and he sold it to me for $40. The stereo came with an extra remote that I sold on eBay for $150. The stereo also sold on eBay for $2,200. My wife loves the couch, so I didn’t sell it. Knowing how much I paid for it, she encourages me to go to more sales
4. I don’t know what you’d call this, but it also worked for me
I did some brief contract work for an e-waste recycler. One thing I noticed was many women dropping off some very nice hi-tech gadgets, electronics gear, and stuff that wasn’t even e-waste related.
One middle aged woman dropped of 2 new Tag Heuer watches, 3 iPhones (near new), a laptop (still in the box), and some scuba gear. I asked her why she’s getting rid of this stuff (because it’s almost new), and she replied “My boyfriend just dumped me for a 19 year old college student and this is all the crap that he left behind.” Most women that end a relationship will view their ex’s stuff as a reminder of how badly things ended. It’s of no value to them and they just want it out of their life.
Every now and then, I ran a Craig’s List ad that read:
Roommate split on you?
Husband or boyfriend dumped you?
Have they left their crap behind?
Don’t want to deal with it anymore?
I’ll get rid of their stuff for you for free. Hell, I’ll even throw in a bottle of wine if you tell me how much of an ***hole they were.
This ad usually keeps me busy for a week hauling out stuff. Most of it is some pretty nice stuff that gets good prices on eBay. One time, a woman offered to give me her ex’s car.
Merry belated Christmas everyone and I hope that everyone’s New Year is starting out as well as mine is.
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Originally Posted by KC-SF
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