Buying and selling lead-acid batteries - Page 2

How much are you paying now per pound Mick?

Originally Posted by Mick

I pay "per battery":

$4 for car and lt trk
others prorated.

Are you getting a lot of batteries at that price? I have heard ads on the radio from the auto parts dealers such as Auto Zone advertising in store credits in the amount of $5.00 for each junk battery you bring in.

$5.00 per battery only works out to be $.14 per pound on a 35 pound auto battery which is still pretty low considering what scrap batteries are selling for at today's prices.

My last drop off to interstate battery here in Tulsa Ok paid $0.27/ lb and that was about 3 weeks ago.

What is the best way to buy scrap batteries?. from junk yards?.

How do I win the lottery??? Im a newb n need to know^^^

A buddy of mine used to work at a scrapyard and he told me that the owner would open up car batteries and fill the reservoir with water before palletizing and sending a semi trailer load off to sell. Not sure how much weight he could have added but i guess a nickel is a nickel.

I stoppped by an Interstate Batteries on monday and they said they were paying .38# for car batteries if you had 500# or more. They are paying .33# for sealed lead acid batteries like you get in a "UPS". If you make sure the car batteries are filled with water you will add wieght to them. Water wieghs 8.4# per gallon.

Well now im making sure my batteries are filled ...only have five though, but its a start

I sell my batteries to a core buyer that usually pays $10-12 each for full size car batteries, and adds up the smaller ones to equal full size.

Hi, I'm not a dealer. However I have about 32 batteries. They are 100 pounds each. The make and model is UPS 12-540MR High Rate Batteries... Are they worth any money, I live in South Florida, Miami to be exact. They are all in working condition, however the rules at my company say that they must be changed out every 5-7 years so we have just done so now I need to sell the old ones.. Thanks, Jbiscuit

Originally Posted by sollozo45

Well now im making sure my batteries are filled ...only have five though, but its a start

The scrapyards know this trick. While it might make you a few cents, every time you go in they will check check and double check your metals.
I did dump some batterys off once and they picked one up and gave me a second look and double checked all the batterys to see if I had added water to them,
Then they mentioned the 'filling up with water cheat'.
I said at that point."****, forgot, I wanted to keep all the sulphuric acid for electroplating and forgot to pour it out as I was in a rush".
Aftr checking the batterys he was OK with them as they had not been topped up.

Later on I clicked that one was a 'Marine battery', them and 4WD batterys are made more solid to take the punishment of all the crashing around. Heavier plates.
But they don't last anywhere near as long as normal car batterys do.

Old post but still going, love it ....

Well lead car batteries is where I'm making my re-entry back into the scrap world.

I buy batteries for cash and I also sell the ones I can recondition and I scrap the rest.
Those I sell batteries to provide a trade in battery or they pay a $10 core fee which has not yet happened.
Right now my local interstate dealer buys my scrap batteries for $8 each or .27lb when I have a truck load. (so I try to wait).

I sell my reconditioned batteries to consumers for $40 with a 12 month warranty (prorated towards another battery) plus I get back the battery.
I have a small stash of batteries right now for sale and initially I was only selling one or two here and there but in the past few weeks, some good local flyer placement, craigslist ads daily and reaching out to a few key local and lateral business types has made this a business :-) worth working.
The other big thing I started doing was delivery and install within a local range this has almost doubled my sales @ $50.

For now I am working out of a storage unit but as soon as I can find a safe spot in a bad neighborhood (you hear me right) I am moving.

Aside from more buyers the thing I am on the hunt for is better lead scrap pricing......

Anyway there's a few more things involved but that's where I am at.

Geaux Scrap

I'll be a wet blanket here

if you do anything but one for one trade-ins legally you are a second hand dealer and have to abide by all the legalities of you locals law enforcement.. such as: holding periods, checks only, fixed location, licence, and permits etc. and yes, in some locals there are no regulations

be cautious do your due diligence, battery theft is on the rise, and you really do not want to end up a felon because the local battery shop considers you competition, and calls the police on you... yes they sell you a $300 truck battery you can become a felon even if you only pay $20 scrap value for it.

now for those half full glass people Exide is required by law to provide law enforcement with their purchase records, so you cannot expect to just "stay under the radar"


V/r HT1