took a little scrap in today and w2as reminded.

had some comp customers call yesterday to pick up som comp scrap and needed a little cash. I didnt want to take a whole loasd so I gathered up a couple of half full tubs. one was all heat sinks (extruded alu) one was cast alu, and a few lbs of #2 copper.

I suggest every one on this board do this, it will bring you back to reality, and the plight between small sis scrappers and those larger operations.

wqe need to work to gether so this will help us understand each other so w can better work together.

I usually dont go to Panama city yards because since there are only 2, both bulging at the seams, they always pay about 30% or better under the real going rate just because they can.

now thes people dont recognise me because I dont use them often.

first question, been here before.
secound thing out of his mouth, just throw it all in one tub we will take care of it.
my responce , no thats alright

after waiting through a line of can sellers and guys with a lb or two of stuff picked up along the road came my turn. the loader grabs the half bucket of copper out of the bin then weighs the extruded and cast together and punches the ticket, and hands it to me.

10# of #2 copper @ $2.25 there was actually 13# +

47 lb of cast@ .30 it was actually one tub 22# of extruded @.50 and one tub of cast @.35

as soon as he hands me the ticket I hand it back and tell him to do it right. his coment you had it all mixed together. my responce: uh if I had it all mixed together what are these three SEPERATE tubs at your feet there. he snatches the ticket out of my hand and grumbles ill fix it.

he ends up not changing the copper but pays me .50 (extruded price) for all 47 lbs.

the point of all of this is people are treated differently according to what they have. the weigh man makes a judgement on you based on that. Scrappers deal with different problems according to the size of their operation. one size does not fit all so one salution will not fit all.

this is where moral code comes in the price should be the price and not based on wether the guy is an alky off the street. or the deacon of his church. if a yard wants to pay a bonus for a truck load that is one thing and is common practice.but to screw someone just because they are struggling just because they can is immoral.

By the way these yards were buldging at the seams 10 times the scrap I have ever seen at either before, to me thisa verifyes my theory the proce drop is dictated by the vast number of new inexperiences scrappers not the world wholesale market.

Great point. I ALWAYS ask the price before they put there hands on it.

The scrap yard is out to make money first. They aren't out to make you rich at the same time. That's my saying and I am sticking to it.

If I was a peddler and taking in buckets of material at a time. I would put each grade of scrap in a separate bucket. Then on top of the bucket I would grab a piece of paper and write on it what I think the grade of the material is and tape it to the top of it so they can see it. Then if there's a dispute they come back to you and say no this isn't cast aluminum this is irony aluminum you will at least have a say in it before they give the final grade and print out your ticket. Just a thought. Remember if the guy running the show see something like a screw or a different grade of material mixed in with your load he is automatically going to downgrade the material to the lowest price. Then as soon as you leave out comes the piece of downgraded material and the rest goes into the proper gaylord box at an upgraded price. Hence you get the shaft and they get the profit.

you neede to read the post, it was grqded and in seperate containers, this was a case where th yard thought I was a noob street picker, and intentionaly tried to screw me. I have delt with this same yard when I was active with big loads and had no such problem.

I am very familiar with poundage and tonnage, TLs and car loads, and I under the profit structure of each. there is no profit motive that moraly justifys any yard to try to screw even the lowliest street picker out of $10. WE have a port here and access to ship loads, sooner or later some one with the bucks will open an honest yard here and get rich the right way. in fact the name of the yard that tried to screw me was Lewis metals in industrial ave in Panama city. sue me Lewis metals.