Two Questions, Shopping Carts & Amp it up!

So I'm still trying to get the hang of all the different metals and everything that is srapable, doing pretty good so far, but haven't made much more than the price of my gas. Still it keeps me occupied. I am having fun!
First question, I noticed about 2 dozen shopping carts all around just this morning, is it legal to pick them up from around dumpsters and ditches and scrap them? If not does walmart or any other place pay a finders fee if you take them back? And two, how do i amp it up? I'm addicted I need scrap!

You have to have a bill of sale before you can recycle shopping carts. As far as getting a finder's fee from the stores, you will have to ask each store manager on their policy. Banging on doors is going to be your best way to amp it up. Remember to always look and act like a professional when you're out networking and don't be afraid to pay for scrap. Good luck!

My yards now have signs posted you cannot turn in any containers used by food places, food / drink trucks like the racks and pans used by pop and beer and food trucks.

they also told me once, if yuo have one to turn in it was stolen so unless you bought them I'd leave them be!

I assumed it would be a no go. But I always see them, miles away from the nearest shopping location and I started seeing dollar signs. Thank guys! I put up a Craigslist ad and designed some flyers, got our days cut at work so im gonna hit it hard on Friday. Pounding pavement. Thanks again.

Best of luck 41.

When I was in the grocery business, I used to drive around looking for my carts. It's a tough business to be in, grocery. It really used to piss me off when I saw people driving around with my shopping carts in the back of their truck, or when I went by the recycle places and here they were using my carts, for their purposes.

It's hard to prevent people from walking off with your carts, specially if you run a discount grocery store. It's not the store owners fault that people walk off with carts and dump them places.

Grocery carts are expensive, even used. We bought ours used, I would purchase 100-200 at a time, old carts that had been used and abused for years. I would have a guy come out and refurbish them for me. Even at that, used carts were costing me $80 each, and that's money right out of my pocket.

I never gave anyone a finders fee for bringing my carts back, if you start doing that then people will take your carts, hold them for a few days, then claim they found them to get that finders fee. The grocery business is already way too difficult to make money at, without having to pay over and over for the use of your own carts. Or the very people who walk off with your carts with their groceries in them, will bring them back and ask for a finders fee. No way, why do I have to pay for people walking off with my carts? That is insane.

If you do find a grocery stores carts, you might just load it up and bring it back to be nice. Who knows, you might get a stack of pallets out of it, or a free loaf of bread, this is what I would do if someone went through the trouble. It bothers me that people would even consider it legal to take another person's property that is in good order, and scrap it. It's not legal, you can be fined and arrested for it, I have called police out when I found people stealing my carts, or in the case of a welding shop, they had a few of my carts they were using to sort their scrap, and refused to give them back to me, so I not only called out the police and got my carts back, but I also pressed charges against the thieves. They were literally right next door to me and thought nothing of stealing my grocery carts for their own purposes.

Please, if you find grocery carts either leave them alone, or return them to their rightful owners.

Scott

In no way was i saying that it was right for the people that took them to have them in the first place, Scott. I was only saying that, while i do consider myself a decent person, i would not spend the gas money driving around and returning stolen grocery carts for free. I was only asking about the ones that seem to be stolen and discarded. I don't see any Wal-Mart employees driving around picking up their carts and i do know how much they cost having worked in Grocery all through high school. It just seems to me that around the lower class areas of town there are loads of them! If i were paid by Wal-Mart to drive around and collect them then i would. If i got paid for taking them to the scrap yard i would do that as well.

1 unless directed to do so it is illegal to scrap shopping carts

as fasr as ramping it iup

fliers

craigslist
backpage
knock on doors
business cards
networking
t shirts
and at teh very least word of mouth

Haha..finders fee??? Havent you ever seen trailer park boys?? Lol

It NEVER hurts to ask! Years ago I could get a buck for every cart that I brought back. 1) they made more than a buck the first time it went back through the line full. 2)At the cost of labor, a buck to have someone they trust go through the neighborhood and return them IS CHEAPER than a paid employee out looking. 3) At the cost of replacement, a buck is cheaper than paying for another one to end up 10 blocks away, anyway. 4) talk to a owner/manager and see if they have, or would like, somebody like you to provide that service, and, (I am working on this with a large store now) if they would like the broken shelves, carts, etc removed AT NO COST TO THEM. And if so, ask that they provide you a letter, on company letterhead, to provide to the yard. (and keep a copy in the truck)
What works for one, may NOT work for another. But if you NEVER ask, when you have an idea like that, it will always...NEVER work!! my 2 BroJer

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Originally Posted by scrappy888

Haha..finders fee??? Havent you ever seen trailer park boys?? Lol

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NO,,,

I do understand they are stolen property, I also understand they still technically belong to the company. Speaking primarily of Wal-Mart, their carts are everywhere! A smart store manager who wants to pad his bonus should be more than willing to pay for returned carts. A finder's fee is no joke. As stated previously they are extremely expensive to replace.

Thanks to Brojer's advice about it never hurting to ask, I found out that Wal-Mart does indeed pay for returned shopping carts. Price varies from $4-$12 dollars per cart depending on location. You must be licensed and insured and have a contract with them to do so. Since i am a small time new comer with no license its a no go for me.

-So, I went ahead and called the walmart home office and they told me to call my local walmart store and talk to the manager. I talked to the manager and she said they have a company that does it for them. So, it seems that you could sign a contract with a store and charge they a certain amount per cart returned.

-I have a friend that has called the store number on a shopping cart left by his house and let them know that they have a shopping cart that needs to be picked up. So the store sent a truck to go and pick it up. A phone call would be a lot easier than hauling them to the store yourself.

-I know in California, there is a shopping cart law that is written on most shopping carts that say that is illegal to take the shopping cart off the store property.

-In las vegas at a Dollar Tree store I went to, they had a devise on each cart, if I remember properly, that prevents the wheels from rolling if the cart goes outside of the parking lot area. Pretty crazy.

-As for amping it up, dont be afraid to ask people for their scrap. Some people will look at you weird and others will be so greatfull that you stopped by.

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Originally Posted by Mechanic688

NO,,,

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Well, you Sir are missing out..get Netflix, watch, n enjoy..