Hi, is it worth it?

Just started out but don't see the money yet.
Drove around the city got 2 stoves and a few hundred pounds of steel, burnt $30 of fuel and considering scrap steel is only worth $80/ton in Calgary, Alberta I think I'm already in the negative here
Please correct me if I'm wrong

darn, .04 cents a pound. Must be some high transportation costs out of Calgary

Welcome to the forum!

ONLY YOU can decide if it's worth your time. And not to be a jerk..but..if we had a lazy thread of the day this one would likely be it. Maybe it's just me but the title just rubs me the wrong way of this post. lol.

Olddude said it right, lots of posts here, take the time to look around and find out if it's worth it for YOU. We got a few of you far north folks about, a little research and you'll find who they are and what they do to make it worth it for THEM. Not a sermon, just a thought.

Sirscrapalot - Willing to point folks to the water, isn't gonna drink it for them to.

Well said nothing comes easy in scrapinland! Alot of yards I deal with Here will play ya ....play them back even harder! I Do Not use the tough guy route either I do completely opposite and they almost don't know what to do. I also after I get paid AND KNOW THEY SCREWED ME! will drive out and cone back in with my cash ticket and just ask the to explain and afterwards I get more money? ??? After a few trips they wont short me .... my 2

Originally Posted by Sirscrapalot

Welcome to the forum!

ONLY YOU can decide if it's worth your time. And not to be a jerk..but..if we had a lazy thread of the day this one would likely be it. Maybe it's just me but the title just rubs me the wrong way of this post. lol.

Olddude said it right, lots of posts here, take the time to look around and find out if it's worth it for YOU. We got a few of you far north folks about, a little research and you'll find who they are and what they do to make it worth it for THEM. Not a sermon, just a thought.

Sirscrapalot - Willing to point folks to the water, isn't gonna drink it for them to.

Well I am a little bitter so sorry for sounding like a douche lol

I wasn't just driving around, I was picking up the stuff I had lined up with customers(or whatever you wanna call them) from ads I posted online. I don't live in Calgary so that's one costly thing plus I wanted to dismantle the stoves before going to make that big $20 I'd get for 500lbs of just shred scrap lol
I called a few places and $80/ton was the highest...
I'd be far more enthusiastic if it were $220!!!

Plus it was decent weather out on Monday(t-shirt temps) and by Tuesday it was and still is -30C
Now I've got a bunch of people wanting me to come pick up their washer, dryer, microwave, stove, treadmill and I don't think it'll be worth the fuel cost, plus I've only got a shortbox truck
So I don't know so far it's not going well...

Yeah, with that price, you would have to get people to deliver their junk to you. Maybe some will just to get rid of it?

I can tell you this first-hand: If you really want to give it a go, read through this forum seriously. With the terribly low price you're getting for shred, it will be worth your while to arm yourself with knowledge.

I've been scrapping for about 4 or 5 months, for a little bit of beer and gas money. I'm not making a living off of it, like so many here do. With that said, I still want to maximize my earnings for the effort I put into something. In the time I've been doing this, I've learned enough from the posts on this forum to easily double (and sometimes triple) what I used to get out of a van load of scrap. I've learned what to break down, what to leave alone, and how to sort things. I've found a good buyer for escrap that pays an insanely larger amount than my local yard. I've got a section of my basement absolutely chock-full of tv sets and vacuum sweepers, and I've learned to break those suckers down fast.


Once you let scrap get into your blood, you see money everywhere you look.

Hemi,

I hear where ya coming from buddy, wasn't trying to be douche myself, but we see this question asked a lot, and usually it's a lazy bones asking. I do apologize if I came across that way, but the best answer is only you can decide if it's worth it. I know some of our fellow scrappers up there do everything from AC/heaters to cars, and ewaste. Sounds to me like, as Olddude said..Ewaste might be your answer.

On the bright side you have customers and are doing pickups. An yea..your yard is screwing you on 80/ton. I cant' say thats normal for up there but i know down here in my neck of the wood I'd be screaming.."Thief thief!" at the yard. lol. You just gotta find your niche and what works for you. If picking up normal scrap ain't cutting it, time to find something that will.

There is many options out there to make it work for you, from your follow up post, it sounds like you'd be better off maybe trying to get into ewaste, an keep the regular scrap to add to your bottom line. It's what I do. I focus on ewaste, would prefer ewaste, but..I don't turn down anything for the most part either. You got a washer, I'll take it along with that big ass projection tv, and the computer. I have no shame. lol.

Far as your vehicle..I use a tiny ol' mini van, so you got me beat there. :P Maybe you can start storing things on your property/storage unit/etc untill you have a load big enough to make it worth your time. Scrapping ain't easy, and it can sure be tough when starting out. You've taken the best step so far, by finding this forum. Spend some time(hours and hours) reading up on past topics and it'll help you maximize that profit.

The folks on here are a fountain of information, and the knowledge they share with all of us is priceless. Use that search box and if you can't find your answer, start up a new topic and someone will likely have an answer you seek. Once again I apologize for assuming you were like others who come and post this same topic title, then vanish into the ether never to be herd from again, assuming we're all gonna just go.."Here is where you find the gold!"

Kick back and relax, and dig into some old threads my friend. You will thank yourself for it later. I know I did.

Either way..Good luck to you, and I hope things improve for you. Let us know how it goes, and get to studying!

Yea..I'm wordy today. Shoot me. :P

Sirscrapalot - Does bite, but only if you ask nicely.

Welcome from south of Chicago. At $80/ton is unkiller

Originally Posted by greytruck

Welcome from south of Chicago. At $80/ton is unkiller

Yes very unkiller....
Thanks sirscrapsalot and I totally get/got where you're coming from my first post.
I've brought in loads of scrap a couple years ago of automotive waste and made $400 but I had a bunch of transmissions and I think shred scrap was at least $140/ton and that was 3 years ago, so you can see why $80/ton now at the same yard I'm like WTF!
This weather is really putting a damper on things too as I don't have a garage or even a shed
If scrap was higher I'd probably just go get the free appliances maybe take a few easy things off and go directly to the yard, but at that price I'd need like 10-20 stoves to make a ton!!
Plus I don't live in the city otherwise the free stuff would be okayish as I wouldn't have to spend $20 in fuel going there and back. I am near a couple small towns but nobody locally has responded to my ads. Both towns bylaws are strict with putting junk at the curb or even alleyway.
Escrap might work but there's already a couple companies collecting PCs for "free" I think one place charges people to dispose of their computers, so I can see a small market there for me.
The local dump I'm sure is making big profits even though they may be getting ripped off. People bring in PCs, TVs, scrap metal etc, car batteries and the dump of course charges you and sells the stuff to multiple companies.
Other than charging a small fee for appliance pickups I dunno if I can sustain myself for the cost if fuel and I guess my own time.
Like how much Escrap can be made on the average PC? Average stove? Dishwasher? Etc
I've searched the forums but haven't found a clear answer, of course it varies but is there enough Non-scrap steel in an oven for example to make it worth the $20 in fuel to go get it?
I appreciate everyone's input and thank you all

You'll have to charge a 5 or 10 dollar pick-up. That might not be an easy sell at first, but if you learn to word it right it will sound a lot better. I saw some guy on a thread just recently say how he words it to his customers, and it didn't sound half bad. Sorry about my memory but can't recall who or what thread. It went along the lines of saving them having to load it up and haul it off

Originally Posted by Bear

You'll have to charge a 5 or 10 dollar pick-up. That might not be an easy sell at first, but if you learn to word it right it will sound a lot better. I saw some guy on a thread just recently say how he words it to his customers, and it didn't sound half bad. Sorry about my memory but can't recall who or what thread. It went along the lines of saving them having to load it up and haul it off

My worry is exactly that, people are generally cheap and often don't see the value you can provide by getting rid of their giant space occupying appliance. They also (often not always) don't realize the hassle they would have to put up with removing it themselves
Plus I worry if I start charging a fee I'll be considered a business which opens a new can of worms: probably need a business license, taxes might have to be implemented, people will want reciepts etc etc, can't easily do "nobody's home" pickups, some people may want to pay with credit etc

the thread was named "how do you charge", might follow it or post a question there. You should be able to find licensing ideas around too, and one could possibly pay off. I think here it would cost me about $45 if I chose to make it a business