Best Approach When Negotiating with Local Yard

I have setup negotiated pricing with a few local yards using many of the tips on this forum. So far my prices have been good, but they are a factor above the daily regular guy price. For instance, I get daily price + "X" on my ferrous and daily price + "Y" on my non-ferrous. This works out well for lower valued non-ferrous like dirty Aluminum and electric motors but doesn't make a sifnificant impact in my pricing for copper, etc. Any suggestions on how to better approach negotiations? I am hoping to approach a new yard soon and would welcome your suggestions.

By the way, I am a part-time scrapper and work a white collar job that does not give me access to scrap. Despite that, I do move a fair amount of material averaging $1, 600 per month paid out by the yard. Not bad considering I work by regular job 6 days a week typically 10 hours per day with a 3 hour daily commute round-trip!! I have a 4 day work week through the summer (starting end of May) and I plan to at least tripple my volume as I have been networking with mechanics and other folks to get more jobs lined up.

I would say just by talking to a buyer you can usually procure a higher amount. Also be prepared with competitor's pricing, and ask them to match prices.

Remember that the more volume you do, the more you will likely get paid. Try to use only one yard, instead of using several different ones.

Also remember the old adage "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar". As a buyer myself, I prefer to deal with people with a positive dispostion as opposed to entitled butt holes.

i agree with everything here,

1.clean up, stand out above the others, this is the hardest for me to do as sometimes i can go a month without a razor
2.being parttime you wont be able to make daily trips, when i started i tried to make a trip a day just to keep me on their mind, i would ask questions, let the guys get to know you, eventually and it doesnt take long you will meet the manager.
3. ive been in my managers office more times now than i can count, in the last two weeks ive picked up two cars from calls they have gotten,
me and my manager have become friends and im smart enough to know my limits and also keep our business relationship and our friendship separate.
4. show your appreciation to the yard, some guys here don't do this but some do, take them sodas or donuts or something just to say thank you.
5. its all in your nature, treat them the way you want to be treated and the prices will take care of themselves, like freon says don't sweat the small stuff but don't let them run over you. it sounds silly i know but thank yous your welcomes yes sirs and no sirs go a long ways

Originally Posted by Libertytow

tips bring food spend the $$ up front make your pitch and wait

be firm and remember your word is all you have don"t make rediculous promises

i told my nephew this tonight, i told him a man without his word didn't have anything, great advice liberty

Thanks for all the feedback guys. These are all good tips and all ones I have implemented and had good success with. I was hoping for more suggestions on what types of arrangements can be worked out. Is "regular guy price" + "X" a good way to go about things or coukd I try to broker a deal for each type of metal? Or could I set up pricing that is based on the yard's profit margin on each metal? In these cases what is the best way to structure the deal? What kinds of deals have you guys worked out?

i get no set deal, my prices depending on the metal, copper or brass usually 10% over the price sheet, steel, batteries aluminum, motors typically 20 to 25 %, on breakage i have gotten over double the price sheet, he tells me its all on the market on my prices since im considered a high volume dealer. the only price of mine that stays consistent is car bodies which runs a little over %20 which is great for me, 5 cars equals a free car if i was on the price sheet. based on my limited experience so far you may be able to ask for a flat rate % raise just as you would at a normal job, ask him how much you would need to bring a month to get a 5% raise and a %10 raise and so on, that way you can know what he expects from you and what you can expect from him

You guys get mad at me when I WANT to give scrapyards money... but get all positive when you can take more from them? Do you go into McDonald's and tell them you'll come in 5 times a week if they upgrade your fries? What I really wonder is.... Do you give back the extra money if you don't meet the expectations of what you agreed on?

As a buyer, I would like to point out that showing up constantly is good IF you bring quantity. Coming by every day with a tiny load can cost the buyer money. Every transaction costs the buyer money in terms of time and labor. It costs the same amount to cut a $5 check as a $5,000 check. If you bring in a lot of small loads, they will likely not want to raise your price. Better to take a larger load less often. Making sure the higher ups know you are coming more often though is a good idea.

If you really want to make your buyers happy, find out when they are slow and show up then. Friday afternoons tend to be really busy for most buyers. Promise to show up when they are slow and that may help a lot. Not showing up when everyone is at lunch helps too. Buyers who constantly show up right as we are getting ready to close do nothing to encourage me to give them better prices. Put yourself in the buyer's shoes and it will go a long way to getting you better prices.

i agree. we usually show up with non ferrous once a month, usually the first of the month. we also get there between 8 and 10 am. we have everything presorted in its own drum and dolly them right up to the scale. We do get better prices on select items. Usually on insulated wire and batteries

I concur with the above statements about NOT showing up right before closing. This will most likely not get you the best price. A couple times a month I have someone call me up an ask me if we can keep our gates open to accomodate them. If there is extenuating circumstances (not just "I got caught in traffic"), or if they are a particularly good customer I don't mind doing it. However, if it is just Joe Scrapper with 20 pounds of copper and 50 pounds of aluminum I tell them we open again at 7:30 a.m.

If we were to stay open late for every guy that calls and says he will be there 30 minutes after close because he got lost, then we would have a lot of discgruntled employees.

The core buyer I use pays more if I have over 500# of any item, this is thiere policy not mine. I try not to go to that yard(or any yard) on mondays or fridays and try not to go around noon or late in the day, these are times they seem to be the busyest.

Originally Posted by Gangel

Do you go into McDonald's and tell them you'll come in 5 times a week if they upgrade your fries?

The problem I have with your comparison is that McDonald's posts their prices for all to see on a menu. I can easily compare McDonald's prices to Wendy's prices to Burger King's prices. In the scrap metal industry finding out pricing is sometimes difficult and time consuming. But, if you don't do it you're not getting the most value for your time and effort. If I know I can cut a deal with one local yard to use exclusively and know I'll get the best price then it's time saved for me, money in my pocket and consistent metal in the door for the scrap yard owner. Another problem with the fast food analogy is that McDonald's does discount when you buy in bulk. A 6 piece McNugget is $2.65 but a 20 piece is $5.85. I think they were doing some type of March Madness promotion and were offering a 40 piece nugget for about $8-9. No, you don't have to go 5 times per day to get those deals - but it is also not all that uncommon for other stores to do promotions where you get a card that gets punched every time you come in, and say - get 10 haircuts and the 11th one is free!