Unexpected profit - Should I give a kickback?

One of the guys I regularly get scrap from has a business replacing water pumps, and tanks. About once a month he gives me a load of mixed scrap from his business. I estimate the weight of the load and give him half of the shred value. This leaves me with a decent profit after processing the scrap.

The last load was very small and only about 200lbs, so I gave him $10. One of the few items in the load was a submersible Gould's pump that he told me still worked. I looked it up, and saw that they sell for $700 new, so I put on the local classifieds. I stated that it was believed to be working but untested, and said make me an offer. I ended up getting $150 for it. Now I'm wondering if I should kick back some of the profit to my source, or just stick to our standard arrangement.



Thanks for your input, and sorry this post was so long.

Personally, I would. It will concrete your relationship with him and that's what it's all about in this business. Just like you found him, someone else is looking for him and a 50$ bill leaves you with a nice gain and still shows him you appreciate the deal and that your honest. I live like that, because Karma can be a sweet lady sometimes. Others will have other opinions...

split the profit it will come back around tenfold

Yup.. Broken Record here... Split it with him.. He will have an even more keen eye to find things for you.. Heck he may know an HVAC contractor, may have a buddy who owns a body shop.. possibilities are endless.. you don't know who he knows and networking in this game.. is a huge part of getting things flow your way!

One more vote for flipping him some extra cash. Karma is good. I always do that with my suppliers. I will flip them something extra when I get more than anticipated. It keeps them coming back.

I would generally say no! However, as long as he understand that this is not a normal thing that generally happens, I would do it.

Like everyone says...it will come back to pay off big!

gb, why would you generally say no? im just curious

Originally Posted by corycouch

gb, why would you generally say no? im just curious

Simple really. 99% of the time, you buy something with the knowledge that you will make x $ in return for buying the item. You give the seller your price and they accept. You turn around, and sell it to a local buyer, ebay buyer, long distance buyer etc for more than you expect. Let's say you buy for $10, and expect $15 from selling, so you make $5, and then end up selling instead for $50. You just made an extra $35 more than you expected to make. We would all consider that awesome.

Now regardless of what type of person you are, just because you made more than you thought, is no reason to go back to the seller and say "O hey, I made $35 more than I though, so here is an extra x amount $. There is no point or sense. Your deal with them is already done. They know you will sell for a profit, they are not going to care if you made more or less than you thought you would.

Sorry, if this is a tad bit confusing. I am really tired, and going through a lot of ewaste to list on ebay.

PS. Not looking to start a big debate or anything else. I can see where the OP is coming from, so regardless if he decides on a kick back or not, good for him.

deal is a deal. your word is your word. a split is a split. at least offer him his share, Karma is a bitc*.

You only get one chance to prove that your word is good and no matter how quietly you said half to the guy you put it in type right here.
There is no amount of money that could take the place of my word.
I was given an opportunity last year by a neighbor that is just a nice guy who is near retirement but still works hard every day during the farming season even though he is quite well off.
First he asked me if I could get rid of an old 3000 gal steel upright liquid fertilizer tank which I torched down enough to get on my trailer with his help. I turned down his offer to pay me for my time and told him I made enough off the scrap.After showing me around the farm he accepted a very low dollar offer that I made on a portable feed grinder that I thought might work well for grinding plastics.I paid him the agreed amount of $200. later that day which he tried to decline but I insisted and after I gave him the money he insisted that I take all his scrap and would not take a dime more.
There was well over $500 worth of steel that I hauled in and other stuff that I still have out here.
He goes south for the winter and as the months went by I found that the buyers do not want ground plastic and also that the hammer mill is in perfect condition as well as all the hydraulics and sheet metal so I list it on CL for $1500 and the replies start coming in. it took a few months but one offer came stating that they wanted to send me the money sight unseen.
My words to that person were "As much as I would like to take your money I think you need to see the machine and if you still want it you can pay me , it will be right here til you have the time to come get it".
He spent 5 minutes looking at it and cut me a check on the spot. it was over a month before he was able to get back to pick it up.
I just saw the guy I got it from and told him how much I sold it for and that I owed him something more, he laughed and told me the locals (our other neighbors) had come around wanting it but wouldn't even give him the $500 he was asking for it.( he never told me a price but asked me what it was worth and what I could pay for it)
I now have his tractor listed on CL for him an 84 Stieger for $22000.oo and when it sells I will not take a dime.
There is way more to life than money