Negotiating to haul away somebody else's scrap

As my username implies, I'm an excavator. I've handled a lot of scrap over the years, but mostly stuff I've dug up, or retrieved from the dumpsters on jobsites we've worked on. A different opportunity presented itself today, and I'm not sure how to approach it. I know some of you have done things like cleaning up a farmer's accumulation of used up equipment and scrap, and had some sort of a deal worked out with the owner. This would be similar.

We looked at a demolition job today, for a client we already do business with. There are several buildings, full of...stuff. Also, scattered across the site are some used up cars, trucks, and construction equipment. The current owner is supposed to clean up the site, and empty the buildings before the sale to our client. Some of the stuff might be saleable as-is. Some of it might have "more than scrap value", and some of it might have fit one of those two classifications 20 years ago, but is too far gone today to be anything other than scrap. No matter which, there's going to be a lot of effort involved in getting it gone. We haven't met the owner, and don't know whether he'd even be interested in having help, or if he's willing and able to handle it all himself.

This is all very preliminary, but the time and equipment is available right now. We're liable to be too busy in a couple of months.

The best case scenario would probably be he says, "haul it all away and keep whatever you can get for it", but I doubt that'll happen. At the other end of that spectrum would be that he wants an exorbitant amount of money for it, more than it's worth. (Assuming he's not planning to do all the work himself anyway.)

So, what's a good place, and a sound strategy, to begin negotiating to make it worth our while?



Thanks in advance for sharing your wisdom.

If the current owner doesn't have the equipment to remove it then they will be paying someone to do the cleanup and hauling anyway. Either way you're providing a labor intensive service doing a site cleanup. Further, old cars and trucks laying about are likely to be without titles which means more effort beyond the removal labor itself. Point being not only should you expect to get the material for free but it's reasonable to expect payment for the service you're providing. Make a list of the machinery necessary (presumably roll off dumpters and forklifts at a minimum) to do the job safely and professionally and the amount of labor you expect to deploy just like for any demo bid. Include the disposal of the non-metal trash in your proposal as doing any full site cleanup is gonna cost you something in waste disposal fees.

I would assume whomever owns the property would be more than happy to have you clean it up for free knowing what it will cost them to do the job renting equipment or hire it out . Buildings are routinely full of old landfill bound junk and unusable old furniture. In Arizona that's $45 a ton at the local Indian run landfill. Old cars and old equipment implements are basically shred unless there is a collector value attached but most vehicles with value are not abandoned and there is no value to old farm equipment unless it is fully functional. Here in Arizona cars cannot be accepted by scrap yards without a title. A bill of sale won't do it. Citizen's here cannot legally sell a catalytic convertor either thanks to all of the scammers and thieves. If the vehicle is cut up in pieces they will take it go figure. But the cost of cutting torch gases makes the idea of doing so a huge loss in profits even if you use propane. Anyone that scraps on a part time basis like me knows how the scrap market fluctuates. One day it's up $25 a ton but the next day it's down $25. I'd say cut deal to clean it up and keep what you get from the scrap yard but also make it clear you will charge a nominal fee to cover any overhead such as landfill costs, wear and tear, labor and energy costs. I don't know about you but when I clean up someone's metal hoard I don't do it to break even. I have to at least cover my overhead.

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