Possible eload - Page 2

Originally Posted by mikeinreco

Thank you finally someone with a little sense!!! This is an obvious no brainer

I have plenty of sense. However, I know what my time is worth to me, I know how far away the area in general is for me, I know what it will cost me in fuel to go to the city itself, etc.

Like anyone, I have to look at more than just how much money I will get on a per item basis. I have to calculate in short term and long term cost, and determine if it is worth it for me or not.



Some people jump on every single dollar they see. That is all well and good, but I like jumping on stuff that will make a profit. Some people like a simple $10 profit, others want $1,000's of dollars. Me? I simply want it to be worth my time and effort.

Originally Posted by corycouch

http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/showt...hp/7378-My-Day

this thread is new today too, same situation yet everyone is prasing her load i dont get it

I don't see how hers is anything similar to this one. For one, she has the stuff loaded, sitting in her driveway. I haven't even done nothing more but email the people to ask them for a quick inventory list (mainly of the monitors) and when I can pick up.

If it all works out, then I hand them a business card, and tell them that in the future just call or email and I can offer same day pickup.

Originally Posted by mikeinreco

I'm going to retire from this thread....LOL good luck George I hope it works out whatever you decide

Thank Mike. Same to you as well.

Originally Posted by corycouch

george she went up in a attic to carry that stuff down and load it herself?? i understand it has to be worth your time i really do, i try to read every thread on this site and ive got a long ways to go to get where i want to be. my eventual goal is to quit my full time job (which is really good by the way) and just do this. first of all what im about to say isnt intended to offend anyone. there are guys on this forum that i read about every night digging thru dumpsters(im even guillt of it myself done it the first time last week alum storm doors) running around on trash nite, you could get in 30 minutes what it takes them a week to do and not even break a sweat. we all have different goals here and thats understandable, some are retired, do this for extra money some its a full time job and others its a business. this is for me and whoever else it relates to, for me to reach my eventual goal i get out there and hustle ive yet to lose money yet mainly because i try to take advice from ALL the guys and gals on the forum, anyway my advice go get it like i say you can work on it a t your leisure whenever you get ready. hope you get it and make bunches of $$$$

I am not or wasn't saying that what she did, wasn't good. However, her situation is obviously more different than this one. Her thread was describing her day, and what she was able to accomplish out of her day.

This thread was regarding a craigslist add for some free escrap, and me asking for other's opinion if it would be worth it. Just because it is free, doesn't always equal it is worth it.

Before I changed my company name, I did everything for free. I never charged no one for pickups. Unfortunately, after 6 or 7 months, I was realizing that I wasn't making any money. Seemed like I was, but after calculating in all my costs, and then what I made at the yards, sometimes I was out of pocket in the negative.

That is when I had to decide, whether to start charging or quit. This is one of the fewest companies I have started that I actually enjoy doing. I am able to charge a decent price for pickups, even junk jobs, and save my clients plenty of cash, and actually be making cash now myself.

I used to do dumpster diving myself. I don't throw the idea in the trash. Unfortunately, over the last 2 years there has been so many scrappers joining the scene that it is **** near impossible to get anything anymore, unless you have that relationship with the dumpster owners.

Plus, I started hearing about all the theft, and didn't want to get caught in the middle of all the drama. So now, I only deal with people who contact me or that I am able to contact.

Personaly i would go get them if they are free. If you dont want to mess with the monitors then just give them to goodwill for the right off. My last load I picked up from my scrapper guy I took the monitors straight to goodwill because I didnt have the room at home to store them till I could break them down. I dont pass up computers period because you never know what you will get from them till you get there. I drove 40 miles one way here in denver to get 3 computers from a CL ad and when I got there all three of them had 200gb hard drives in them and dvdrw drives that I turned around and sold on ebay for a nice profit. Yeah it cost me 10 bucks in gas and 2 hours of my time but from those 3 comps I cleared over 100 bucks just on resell parts alone. Only you can answer your original question george because only you know if its worth it to you.

Originally Posted by PartTimeScrapper

Personaly i would go get them if they are free. If you dont want to mess with the monitors then just give them to goodwill for the right off. My last load I picked up from my scrapper guy I took the monitors straight to goodwill because I didnt have the room at home to store them till I could break them down. I dont pass up computers period because you never know what you will get from them till you get there. I drove 40 miles one way here in denver to get 3 computers from a CL ad and when I got there all three of them had 200gb hard drives in them and dvdrw drives that I turned around and sold on ebay for a nice profit. Yeah it cost me 10 bucks in gas and 2 hours of my time but from those 3 comps I cleared over 100 bucks just on resell parts alone. Only you can answer your original question george because only you know if its worth it to you.

Thanks PTS. I unfortunately keep forgetting the fact about the hard drives, dvdrw etc, as well as chips and other stuff that can for the most part be sold on ebay for a hefty profit.

Just waiting for them to email me back now. Unfortunately no number.

Originally Posted by IdahoScrapper

Even though the ad is still up, I would venture they're gone by now.

I am not holding my breathe. 90% of the time I email, even 1 minute after the ad is viewable, no reply at all.

Either way, I tried.

As we're sitting here arguing about "Opportunity cost" and "Wasted Time" Someone else is loading 2 Shrink Wrapped pallets into their Truck.

Let's assume there are 3 Monitors and 3 PC's per pallet.

Donate 6 monitors to Goodwill.

6 Pc cases at $0.10 a pound is $6.00
6 motherboards at $4.05 # (Mixed MB pricing from EWASTED)=$35.72
6 cpu's at $8.75#= $6.56

You're at almost $50 for driving over...Depending on what your driving, gas cost, and how long it'll take you to get there. But keep in mind these folks Don't have an E-Waste guy. YOU could be it. On top of that $50 there's the pricing for:
6 power supplies ??
Floppies??
CD/DVD Rom??

Not to mention anything else you grab while you're there, and this doesn't take into accounthe $3-5 for each printer in scrap metal you'll get.....

And and and....

While everyone is debating the profitability of this single load....someone else already knows that this load is a "Loss Leader" for the next run....And the referral from this run to the next client, and so on.

I picked up 3 loads of stuff for free in January. ONE of those loads was 4 CRT's and 2 pc's. Took me an hour to pick them up. I'll make about $25 from that run. Is my time worth $25 an hour? No it's not actually.

BUT...That woman turned out to be the HEAD Tech Coordinator for all of the schools in my county. I have an appointment to look at a 2nd story storage room full of old Telecom Equipment, and two schools with some REALLY OLD tech that want someone to come take it away. Are those opportunities worth my $25 trip? Yes, yes they are.

Either you're self employed, or running a business. You really have to determine which one you want to be. Self employed people can't take risks and need to make a certain amount of money to make it worth their time. Business owners know that every customer interaction leads to future profit!

Originally Posted by thortek

Either you're self employed, or running a business. You really have to determine which one you want to be. Self employed people can't take risks and need to make a certain amount of money to make it worth their time. Business owners know that every customer interaction leads to future profit!

See this has always been a funny statement to me, but everyone who has always used it.

A business owner and self employed are one in the same. Someone who owns a business is self employed. Only major difference is, is that self employed who do not have a LLC or any other form of a corporation, doesn't have all of that cost. They will either operate as themselves, or as a DBA with their county.

Now to go into your statement a little. I in a way disagree. Regardless of how large any company truly is, they cannot always afford to take risks. I have worked with 2 different companies where the Pres/CEO decided to take "risks" and ended up costing them a majority of their company's to go belly up.

Whether you are one individual, or a company with several employees or larger, you have to weigh in all the factors before you make any decision. This is why every company has rules/regulations/price lists/and so many other things that have all been pre done to determine what is what.

There is a few companies here that won't do anything at all for their clients, unless certain documents are signed, sealed and delivered. Most times every transaction is unique and different.

If someone else got the load, and I did not, more power to them.

I, on the other hand, have multiple things that I always have to consider...might make be a better guy for it, and might make me the stupidest guy on the block. However, regardless of which, I take the time to ensure that I am not doing work, and not paying my bills and putting food on the table for my wife, kids, and myself.

I do agree, that sometimes a crappy load, will lead into more, profitable loads. However, who is to say when the next load will come in? Could be days, weeks, months, or even 1 or more years. Why I said, you have to weigh in all minor and major factors.

So many people get fixated on making that $$, that they don't take everything into consideration.

PS. Thortek, don't take what I am saying personally. I was mainly speaking in general terms. I am also stating how I operate and do business. This is obviously not going to be the same for everyone, as everyone is different, and I for one respect and honor that. I also like getting opinions and criticisms, so thanks!

Originally Posted by thortek

Either you're self employed, or running a business. You really have to determine which one you want to be. Self employed people can't take risks and need to make a certain amount of money to make it worth their time. Business owners know that every customer interaction leads to future profit!

Good post and I like the way you think...but you did loose me at the end there with every customer interaction leads to profit...Having been a self-employed business owner for over 20 years and a risk taker as well, knowing when to walk away from a customer is a must. Sometimes it's number crunching and other times it's just a gut feeling, there have even been times when I knew I could make some money but didn't want to deal with the brain damage involved.

Originally Posted by Kris Kringle

George,

The only thing I have to add to this is.

You keep doing whatever it is you're doing right, wrong or indifferent. In the end it is what you decide what is best for you.

Me personally I would not travel 50 miles oneway to pick up 1 washer or a dryer From a House Hold.

But if Sears called me to pick up one washer or dryer you can bet your A$$ I would be there.

What if Sears wanted you to pick it up from the household? Sorry man, just giving you a hard time.

I do understand what your saying, and I do agree. That is why I said, you have to take into consideration every single situation.

I have had plenty of repeat customers come from households, and I have had plenty of referrals from households as well. Businesses tend to keep the knowledge of me and my company to themselves and not really share, but that is fine, because when they call/email/go online, the trips are always worth it to me.

Don't care for the character Ray on Shipping Wars but I do like his quote, "Nickle holding up a dollar."

Originally Posted by ilyaz

GeorgeB, did you get any response from them? Looks like the original ad has been removed

Not as of yet, but that is the normal thing with most CL ads. I will email people when I see things that I want. However, even when offering to do it for FREE, you rarely if at all get a response.

I am thankful that I do get responses off my own ads.

Originally Posted by LadyScrappers

I guess I'm not understanding this post. I didn't mean to offend anyone.... and sorry if I did...

No need to apologize. No one was slamming you or anything else.

I forgot to reply to your thread, but good job on that nice haul, and removing from the attic. Not always an easy thing to do!