How can some one make a profit if ...

There are a few guys around here and I think a small yard that is paying the same price for scrap as the bigger yard pays them. How are they making a profit? to me it sounds like a waste of time.

Are you saying that the small yard is paying it's customers the same price that it is selling it for? Or that the 2 yards pay the same?

I know a small place around me who told me they would match whatever price the big yard would give me. They get a few cents more a pound because their a business compared to me, who the big yard considers a "peddler."

Originally Posted by olddude

here is what I do. I have a yard up north 60 miles that pays $60 a ton more for iron then the local yards and .50 or better for copper. I pay the same price as the local yards minus $10 for fuel. I then take it to the yard up north. If I have a big load I can negotiate an even better price up north, also once they know they will see you at least twice a month they pay top price.

I also pay 7 to 8 cents for mixed loads and break them down. you would be amaized at how many so called scrappers have no idea what they are doing, or. don't care.

These guys aren't breaking it down they pay people the same price as the "big" yard does then when they get a dump trailer full they bring it to the yard. But then again I think there is a little more then scrap dealing going on lol.

Originally Posted by AuburnEwaste

Are you saying that the small yard is paying it's customers the same price that it is selling it for? Or that the 2 yards pay the same?

No it's one yard maybe from talk the other guys have nothing to do with this yard but buy from folks at the same price as the big yard does and then they take it there.

It depends on the pricing tier they're at. I can buy from locals at board price and make money running it to the same yard that they do because of the pricing tier I'm at, and I'm definitely not at the top tier.

I see thanks all.

Both yards cover the same territory and probably ship to the same mills. They can offer the same price even if they are getting 5 to 10 dollars less a ton because they aren't dealing in the same tonnage that the big yards are dealing in. The big yards have a spread they usually have to meet in order to make a decent profit. The smaller guy can still make a profit just not as big of one if you catch my drift. There is still money to be made by the little guy just not as much as the bigger yards.