what to do with my cat?

Hey all I have a company that sells bmw parts. I buy the cars strip everything off and sell parts. Now I need help on what should I do with the cat?

they give me 150$ per cats at my local scrap yard

here are my questions ;

- should I remove the honeycomb and fill 55g drums with it ? if so do i break them in small pieces or just stock one big block of honeycomb for each cats
- should I keep selling them the the local scrap yard?
- also I read that if i do break them in pieces I need 2000 lbs + to be able to cut the middleman. any idea how many cats this represent?

I am in no rush to see my money back on those cars as my profit is in the engines interiors etc. the cats and the frame are just bonus and doesn't affect my cashflow negatively.
I dismantle 3 cars a week for now, going to try and up this number!
storing space isn't an issue I can keep drums or i can pile the cats.

basically just trying to maximize my profits and would like input by some people more knowledgeable then me. also what is a good price for honeycomb by the lbs? my scrap yard told me 7,5$ but i feel since my cats are high quality one it should be more?

thanks for any help!

Do NOT break out the brick and sell it that way. It has been discussed ad nauseam here. You will get FAR more out of the converter by the end buyer knowing what it is in its shell. If you put brick in a drum they will have to test and sample it.. you could have good ratio brick mixed with aftermarket brick.

My suggestion is find an automotive CORE BUYER. $150 you are getting is decent.. but depending on the model of BMW etc.. you could be losing a good bunch of change by selling each one at the $150.. you may come out even- some may be $90.. another may be $200.. you'd be at $155 so $150 isn't bad.. but if you have a core buyer- you get exactly what you should get for each cat.

I don't mind sending a sample to a company if I am to get a nice cheque at the end..! 150$ is decent i know but those are really heavy cat and I know they are top quality. I see them on ebay for 250+. I don't dismantle aftermarket exhaust system because it is not the kind of car I buy. If it is an aftermarket exhaust system it is a high quality one, eisenmann supersprint etc. so I don't scrap it. I would only put OEM BMW cats in the drums!!

thanks for the input for the core buyer, the place I sell them to is specialized in cats and they have their list and everything with actual price. When I asked what they did with the cats they said oh we only break them down into drums and ship them... thats where I tough why couldn't I do that too. Maybe ask them if they would pay more if i bring more at a time?

part # 11761716743 for the cats i have most of. (can't post link yet :p)

Your getting a good price now. To refine them you will be at the mercy of the refiner. Investigate all you can about refining before sending anything out blindly.
The refining industry in one that doesn't have mercy if they think they can get over on you. It is not my opinion but the opinion of many people that were and still are in that industry. An honest refiner is tough to find. There are ones out there, but the dishonest ones out number the honest ones.
If you do go that route you had better have someone represent your materials so they can be on site while the process is taking place.

There is an old saying " a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush" you have a bird now so why give it up?
A few people here have sent materials to refiners and were less than happy with what they got back in return.

Also keep in mind the going rate on a 2000# load to refine is going to be $1 per pound in addition to any other fees.

thanks thats really the kind of input I was looking for. So I should hold on all of them (anyways prices are low) and if I find someone who looks reputable sell them to him? I don't like dealing with fishy business owners and just by looking at the sites of different refiners I was having a bad gut feeling about them.

Also my uncle has a couple *foundry* ? I don't know the term in english but place where they melt down metal and make quality metal. problem is I don't speak to him much and he lives in the states while I am in canada. but would it be worth my time to contact him and see if he knows some people who refine cats or am I really wasting my time here and the price I will get if bringing to refine is only lets say 20% more then cats. If I can double my money by saving the middleman I would do it.

Anyways something is sure ... I am NOT dismantling the honeycombs for now

edit not sure i understand the 1$ per pound. They charge 1$ per pound to refine? I tough how the refiners did was like you mail a sample they check it out, then tell you we will give you X percent of the total amount of estimated precious metal. Then you ship what you have and they give lets say 50% of total value, they smelt it then they give the other 50% of total value so like that you can't screw them with the sample.

BMW, this gentleman has already been down that road across the border, maybe you can gain some wisdom from his experiments.

http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/more-...r-project.html

http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/misc-...onverters.html

http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/disma...onverters.html

thanks, nice read there. I must say I am curious to say the least and as I think in life the bigger the risk the bigger the reward I will probably end up crushing them. BUT before breaking them I will start shopping around because this seems to be the big red flag.

really appreciate the input and it confirmed some of the doubts I had concerning minimum quantities, sample procedures and price per lb.

i dont think the gus maxing you converter stuff is do able for most people.

I would love to have about 500-700 converters setting around to sale to a refiner.But then you have to wait to get paid so many days and such it is a real hassle.