Teenager New to Scrapping, Help Please

Hi everyone, I am 16 years old and wanted to start scrapping. Mainly because I don't have a job and want some money. Now I was thinking of getting on craigslist.com and then findind cheap washing machines and other medal materials to sell at a junk yard. Now does this sound like a good idea? Or will I just lose money? And if I do do this should I tear the washing machine apart and get all the iron copper and other metals out and sort them into 5gallon buckets? Or whats the best way to make cash as a new scrapper?

Also, would it be worth it to buy laundry machines, freezers, fridges, dryers, stoves?

And at what price should I shoot at to get them and turn them over for best payback?

I think starting out like that, just go for what you can get free. Paying for stuff gets tricky and there are so many factors where you can lose money. Possibly, a lot of money. Also, it'll depend on what you're using to haul the stuff - a car, pickup or a truck and trailer. Stay away from freezers, refrigerators, air conditioners or anything with freon. What kind of area are you in - rural, small town, city etc? How far to a scrap yard?

Craig's List - maybe. If you list under Small Business ads. Scrappers usually get flagged off the "Wanted" section.

Watch the "free" section of craigslist. People are always giving away appliances.

Did find a free dryer under appliances, so may want to watch several categories.

If you're handy, look the item over to see if it's repairable and sell it for more. Otherwise tear it down for any wire, brass, copper, aluminum, motors, etc.

On ovens, dryers, etc I've been pulling the elements. Am told it's a mix of nickel and something else and that there's $ there.

I wouldn't pay for appliances. They want it gone, and you're solving their problem in getting rid of it.

There's a guy on the local CL saying he'll pay 10 bucks for any appliance. I fail to see how he makes anything.

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Originally Posted by IdahoScrapper

There's a guy on the local CL saying he'll pay 10 bucks for any appliance. I fail to see how he makes anything.

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Some people have more money than brains. They usually wind up with neither.

I'm also a teenage scrapper. Here's what I do:

Most of my metal comes from my father (he's a commercial plumber and gives me most of his old furnaces and other things).

I'll occasionally hit construction sites and grab their scrap. I usually average about 5-10 buckets of stuff and the occasional large item. This can be pretty profitable, especially after they do the wiring and electrical work. Contact local construction companies about doing this. Leave some buckets by the dumpster and ask the workers to put all the metal in the buckets.
Leave the buckets there in the morning when the workers first get there and come back later when they leave to pick up the buckets. If you have time, ask the workers about going around the site and picking up scraps. The next day, start over. You'll want to stock up on buckets. You can usually pull a few out of dumpsters.

Drive or walk around on garbage day and grab any metal. Start early in the morning.

Save anything you think might be worth more than scrap value and sell it on craigslist

Here's what I'd do if I had a truck:

Get in contact with electrical, remodeling, auto shops, and plumbing companies about removing any scrap metal they may get. Tell them you'd be happy to pick up the stuff for free.

Put an ad for free metal removal on craigslist. Also check the free section every few hours for metal.


The key is developing your own routine and sticking with it. Do what works for you

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Originally Posted by Mick

Some people have more money than brains. They usually wind up with neither.

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Maybe I should strip my appliances, then sell to him. haha.

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Originally Posted by IdahoScrapper

Maybe I should strip my appliances, then sell to him. haha.

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If he'll give $10 for any appliance, I've got a bunch of stoves, washers, dryers etc stockpiled that I'll sell him. I've even got some toasters, coffee pots and a bunch of stuff. I'd be willing to relieve him of that awful burden of carrying around all that money.

Aaaaaaaa man hahaha

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Originally Posted by Mick

I think starting out like that, just go for what you can get free. Paying for stuff gets tricky and there are so many factors where you can lose money. Possibly, a lot of money. Also, it'll depend on what you're using to haul the stuff - a car, pickup or a truck and trailer. Stay away from freezers, refrigerators, air conditioners or anything with freon. What kind of area are you in - rural, small town, city etc? How far to a scrap yard?

Craig's List - maybe. If you list under Small Business ads. Scrappers usually get flagged off the "Wanted" section.

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Well we have 2 trucks I can use, and we are in a more rural area, outside of a city by 5 mins probably, and the scrap yard is other side of town so like 20 mins to get there.

What are some good items to get when your starting to make some profit?

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Originally Posted by Scrapboy

What are some good items to get when your starting to make some profit?

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Anything you can get

Scrap Man gave you some good advice yesterday. There is no magic formulae for what'll work. You have access to a truck and both rural and urban areas, so you should find good sources of scrap metal. First, go to the scrap yard and get a price list. This will give you a good idea of what you're getting is worth. Go around to repair shops asking if you can have their junk - like brake rotors, exhaust systems, old appliances, or anything. Have a place where you can store the stuff and strip it of its components. Get frequent updates to the price guide (they're constantly changing). Go around to farmers (other land owners) and see if they have old junk you can have. Learn the difference between ferrous (magnetic) and non-ferrous (non-magetic, obviously) metals. Carry a magnet - ALWAYS.

Read this over: http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/showt...-for-Beginners

Thanks, I wanted to know about tearing stuff down. If I tore stuff apart dryers, microwaves, washing machines, dish washers, what do I look for? And will the outside of the appliance be worth anything? Also would it be a good idea to setup seperate 5 gallon buckets and fill them with scrap?

And do you guys ever get free stuff then fix it to resell? If it doesn't cost too much of course.

Anything metal is worth something at the scrap yard. As far selling, I sell quite a bit but only if it can be done without "fixing" anything. It might not sell, then you're work has been for nothing. I'll usually put something on Craig's List with a picture and if it doesn't sell with the first ad, it goes in the scrap. I've got a couple guys who come by on a regular basis just to see if I've gotten anything they want.

If you tear stuff down, mostly you want to watch for copper. In the process, you'll find aluminum, stainless steel and about anything depending on what you're tearing apart. There are several threads on this site dealing with tearing down different things.

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Originally Posted by Mick

Anything metal is worth something at the scrap yard. As far selling, I sell quite a bit but only if it can be done without "fixing" anything. It might not sell, then you're work has been for nothing. I'll usually put something on Craig's List with a picture and if it doesn't sell with the first ad, it goes in the scrap. I've got a couple guys who come by on a regular basis just to see if I've gotten anything they want.

If you tear stuff down, mostly you want to watch for copper. In the process, you'll find aluminum, stainless steel and about anything depending on what you're tearing apart. There are several threads on this site dealing with tearing down different things.

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Do you guys have buckets you put metal in or what do you do with the small pieces?

1. Use them to "stuff" appliances.
2. Throw them in barrels or tubs.
3. Leave them loose on the trailer and the scrap yard's magnet will get them. Make sure light-weight stuff is being held down to keep it from blowing off. You don't want to hear the term - "Failure to Secure Load".

5 gallon buckets work quite well if you're short on space and you don't get so much scrap that you fill them up almost instantly. Or, you can get 55 gallon drums to put all the valuable stuff in such as aluminum, copper, brass, etc. It's up to you where you store the ferrous stuff. Keep it in a pile in the corner somewhere or store it in a shed, whatever works for you. Just make sure you don't throw the drums away.

About the "failure to secure load", make sure you secure your load. Put the light stuff in first, then put something flat on top and put ratchet straps across that. It really helps

I use a traschcan for scraping cans, I use just an array of random buckets for aluminum and one for coppers, and I have a box the weighs like 2 pounds filled with nuts bolts and nails. I dont use buckets for most steel because if i take it its usually bigger. also for things to take just about everything will work, I mean lawnmowers, old snowblowers, string trimmers, fridges, stoves, airconditioners, metal shops scrap peices, aluminum gutters, tire rims, bikes, copper wire,I mean i can go on for more posts thn you would read on things to scrap but those are some of the main ones, also if you dont mind me asking, what tools do you have? if you dont have either a sawzall or angle grinder, or both i recomend you find some tools, you can prolly go to pawnshop and find one for 50 bucks easy. hope i helped,
Matt

PS i just seen your post about stripping appliances, I look for motors wires and maybe aluminum pieces,and the outsides are worth something typically just as sheet metal.