Surprising Business Model.

**ElectricLiquidators** · 03-23-2015, 05:41 AM

I recently was in another state, and saw something that kind of surprised me.

I'm not going to list the location, but it is a facility that charges individuals to drop off there E-scrap.

For Example: Joe comes into facility and wants to drop off 27" TV and some cables and a Laptop. The facility charges him $1 per inch for the TV ($27) and they take the laptop and cables for free.

They do however buy stuff that has been processed at low prices (boards, cpu's, ect)

I was super surprised at the line of people waiting to drop stuff off. (25+ people an hour) Not only were they giving away lots of valuable items, they were paying this company to take them.

I'm not just talking CRT's and stuff like that. I saw the company charge a guy to take his copper wire and the customer happily paid them.

I know a lot of states have strict E-waste laws saying you can't put any of that stuff in the trash. I thought this facility had a great idea, but I was also surprised to see so many people giving valuable stuff away, and paying someone to take it.

I know a lot of people run facility's like this, it just amazed me at the amount of volume they were doing. I didn't know people were so eager to get rid of old electronics, and on top of it, pay someone to take them.

**travistemple202020** · 03-23-2015, 08:01 AM

I guess I know the the eagerness of people wanting to get rid of valuable things as everyday I pick them up since there is such an abundance of waste out there I can see people paying to give people money on a larger scale companies charge for it removal mainly because of insurance purposes

**logansryche** · 03-23-2015, 04:55 PM

Originally Posted by ElectricLiquidators

I recently was in another state, and saw something that kind of surprised me.

I'm not going to list the location, but it is a facility that charges individuals to drop off there E-scrap.

For Example: Joe comes into facility and wants to drop off 27" TV and some cables and a Laptop. The facility charges him $1 per inch for the TV ($27) and they take the laptop and cables for free.

They do however buy stuff that has been processed at low prices (boards, cpu's, ect)

I was super surprised at the line of people waiting to drop stuff off. (25+ people an hour) Not only were they giving away lots of valuable items, they were paying this company to take them.

I'm not just talking CRT's and stuff like that. I saw the company charge a guy to take his copper wire and the customer happily paid them.

I know a lot of states have strict E-waste laws saying you can't put any of that stuff in the trash. I thought this facility had a great idea, but I was also surprised to see so many people giving valuable stuff away, and paying someone to take it.

I know a lot of people run facility's like this, it just amazed me at the amount of volume they were doing. I didn't know people were so eager to get rid of old electronics, and on top of it, pay someone to take them.

Interesting you mention this as this type of model would work here in ny if everyone wasn't out to screw everyone over. I myself tested something similar and was met with great success - the only downfall I see is if you're not processing what you bring in, you run out of buying money. It's no different then buying and selling through the forum.

**mnrecycler** · 03-24-2015, 03:04 AM

I think people are either uneducated or just don't care. I had someone drive 20 miles to bring me 20# of wire for free. He could have easily found a yard closer that paid...Not that I'm complaining mind you.

**Geiser093** · 03-24-2015, 07:03 AM

In Pennsylvania you have to be R2 Certified to collect e-waste from individuals. I looked into a DEP Permit and as long as R2 is in process you are good. The problem is being open to the public opens one up to the liability of Gov. Regulation at a different level. Anyone that gets mad or feels threatened can turn you in and cause a bunch of problems. Getting an area to operate of is easy, doing it in a manner that reduces the potential disasters that could occur is a lot tougher. Operating capital requirements alone are at least $10K. Then you need to take in and process enough material at a profit to make money. Consistently every month. Add to this that as you do so you need to be working with R2 certified downstream in order to become R2 certified and stay in business.

I even considered open a store to BUY Electronics for resell. Sell the good stuff for more scrap and recycle the rest. Then I would be in a grey area as a reseller not a recycler. I could then purchase for resell and recycle the resulting useless material.

I have given this a lot of thought and performed the research. Honestly even on a shoestring I can't seeing getting out of the basement with less than $25K to do so. What do you guys think? I would love to take the next step but do not want to generate fines and legal consequences that will follow me or drive me into failure. Running a business is a lot different than having a hustle. I like the hustle and just don't know if the next step is a business or if the stress and responsibility would be worth the effort.

**ElectricLiquidators** · 03-24-2015, 07:50 AM

I know the R2 process is pretty difficult, but its one of those things where "if you applied, you can kind of operate like you are already certified". If you want to be R2 certified, you better set aside 25K somewhere and keep it there.

If you want a building, equipment, purchasing funds, ect, I would have no less than 100K Liquid to get going.

**DevinThaScrapper** · 04-02-2015, 10:12 AM

I know of a small town my neighbor used to live in charged like $25 to get rid of appliances, or any type of large metal items, and they would wait till they got a truckload and the city sold them off for double profit. Crazy what some people do