Searched the forums a little for this I really didn't see anything that pertains to this.
I found my"niche". It involves buying from scrapyards. Mostly smaller yards. I have a cover story which is half true and I'm only buying 100 bucks a crack. But I've had a couple yards refuse to sell me anything. Doesn't cash talk anymore?
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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Originally Posted by Gangel
Maybe they're seeing through your half true cover story.
I would be curious to hear more about your niche.
Not gonna give that awat. Some people here know what I buy and I hope they don't say anything. They don't know what I do with it yet. I just found a small side to the thing I was doing. Doesn't pay me much right now but it keeps me out of trouble.
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I asked about buying certain escrap from the local yard and got a maybe and I will get back to you. Better than a no straight up. The scale guy is also pushing for me.
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I havbe found that most scrap yard owners are like pawn shop owners, hard headed and tough as nails to deal with, in their business they have to be.
but keep worken on them it took me over a year to get the 2 yards I have. And Im still tryin to train them to seperate the way I want.
"anyone who thinks scrappin is easy money ain't doin it right!"
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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100.00 at a time??? That really isn't buying, that is them doing you a favor.
Cash does talk, you just aren't offering them any. Offer to buy 5k or 10k.
I always figure 100 bucks purs it into "tip fund" account. I'm paying a little more than what they get for it when they sell. It's just a small time operation at this point.
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The trick is finding a way to make them an offer they can't refuse. I have a few yards I am in good with, who let me root around and look for certain things. In turn, I pay them well above what they would be getting as scrap. Offering double scrap value for something gets their attention.
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If you are attempting to purchase e-waste from a scrap yard that is anywhere close to a refiner who deals with e-waste, you are probably going to get turned down. Even in Northern California the scrap yards that I know of refuse to sell any of their e-waste.
You might want to check with the people who are actually collecting the e-waste, the ones advertising for curb pickups, etc. Or you might consider doing it yourself. I believe there are plenty of experienced people on the forum currently doing so, who could probably provide you with pointers.
The less distance you put between yourself, and where the e-scrap is actually originating from, the better profit margin you are going to make.
Have you thought of collecting the scrap yourself, and selling what you don't cherry pick to your local scrap yard instead of trying to cherry pick them?
Scott
At the heart of science is an essential balance between two seemingly contradictory attitudes--an openness to new ideas, no matter how bizarre or counterintuitive they may be, and the most ruthless skeptical scrutiny of all ideas, old and new. This is how deep truths are winnowed from deep nonsense. -- Carl Sagan
I don't do ewaste. Matter of fact that stuff drives me nuts.
P.S. I can't offer 2x scrap price. The price they charge me out the door leaves me just enough room.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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Cash talks just fine. It just depends on the type of deal your trying to do. This is just an opinion but what are you bringing to the table buy wise to set yourself apart? What benifit to them is there in working with you? They are grabbing from peddlers and selling to bigger yards and taking a cut out of the middle. Guy walks in with some BS story and a hundy and your upset they won't work with you? They spent man hours and dollars setting up these buying/selling relationships. To break into that, you got to stand out and above somehow. Believe me, your not the first guy that's approached them with the next great selling opp. for them.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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One yard I use will sell me anything in the yard. The problem is that I want to buy ewaste and we are just a little apart on price. They want .27 a pound for shred, which I don't think is unreasonable. The problem is it would be a flat rate, they would set all the computers they get to the side and I can come by once a week to pick them up (no cherry picking). It doesn't sound like a bad deal until you consider that many computers could be missing hard drives and memory and I would be paying roughly 6.50 a piece. If you have a yard you use all the time and build a relationship many times there are deals to be made.
Yes I agree a 100 won't get you far I've been working on a yard for about a yr and I just finished my first deal I bought 1 Gaylord of e-waste for 5,985 and they were happy to do business so happy that they recommended me to 5 other scrap yards and a deal is in the works. I know a lot of people don't have thousands up front. So sometimes that's a problem but I didn't start off with thousands matter of fact I had to borrow money to ship that pallet off. So in other words shoot for the stars and land on the moon or shoot for the moon and land on your backside. Go big or go home.
Last edited by unitsngold; 03-28-2013 at 11:03 AM.
It's not that big a deal.... I've got 15 yards give or take within an hour. Just bugs me the one that won't sell to me ia three blocks away.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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Scrap yards are in the business of making money. They are not a charity. If you can't offer 2x the price of the scrap they may actually be LOSING money when you consider the overhead. Why do you think they would do that? As I posted before you are asking for a favor, not really to "buy".
Consider yourself lucky that you have even 1 yard that is helping you buy selling you stuff. If you are making money at your venture, you need to:
1. See if you can be more efficient and lower your costs so you can pay more and buy in volume.
2. Look for other avenues to get material.
I wouldn't sell you anything for the same price I paid for it. I'd be losing money no matter what it was and most of my overhead would just be gas.
I'm getting it for the same price they get for it, supposedly. Which I'm not doubting. Speaking of double, you really think a yard gets 400-500 a ton for short when they sell it? I was under the impression short pays the bills, non ferrous makes the profit.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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yes they do. 3 times the money that they invest in material is what the local guys here sell for, and the broker/large yard that is putting it on a barge to china is only a hour north. by the time you figure in trucking which runs roughly $3. per mile each way + yard overhead + margins + time money is tied up in material in the yard. spending more than 33% of your budget on material is not good business sence. i watch the local stocks (in the pacific north west) to see where shtizner steel is and i can guess fairly good where ferrous is going to be for the next couple weeks. and i watch the LME london metals exchange for non ferrious pricing. the larger yards have software that does all this and forcasts what they can spend and still make thier margins.
Believe anyone is getting 3 times what they pay. If that were the case you'd see banks buying scrapyards.
Metal Recycling Entrepreneur
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i dont want to start a pissing match but who do you think is investing in schitzner... from thier web site
Growth
Over the years, Schnitzer Steel has grown from a one-man scrap metal operation to a global leader in the metals recycling industry with over 3,600 employees and $3.3 billion in revenues in fiscal year 2012. Over the last decade, we have become one of the world’s largest processors and exporters of recycled metals. We have expanded our business footprint and geographic reach by acquiring new operations and investing in strategic capital improvements to enhance our existing operations. Growth is a large part of our success and a large part of our strategy for the future.
On the acquisition front, we have gained additional metals recycling facilities, deep water ports and auto parts locations that have provided us access to new sources of scrap metal, additional processing capabilities and new customers in new regions. Our management team has developed expertise in identifying, acquiring and integrating new businesses and we continue to explore new opportunities that complement our existing operations.
At the same time, we are constantly investing in strategic improvements to our existing operations. Examples include state-of-the-art mega-shredders and nonferrous recovery systems at our metals recycling facilities that are increasing the processing throughput and end product quality while improving energy and labor efficiencies. As a result of this application of technology, we have grown our revenues and increased the profitability of our operations while helping the environment by diverting more materials from landfills and using less energy. Similarly, other process improvements have increased production and efficiencies in our auto parts and steel manufacturing businesses.
Going forward, we intend to follow our successful strategy of growing our company through value-creating acquisitions and additional investments in processing and manufacturing technology improvements.
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