Hoard Hoard Hoard.... NOT!!! And this is why...

This is why I believe hoarding is a really bad idea.

1)Every serious business advice I have read on scrap and related businesses highly recommends to turn and burn your stuff.
Money in the pocket is always better than money tied up somewhere.
2) You will have a cluster f%%% of a mess if you start piling stuff. Unless you have a really big place that allows you to efficiently store stuff you create a monster that will eat your productivity away. TIME IS MONEY! Don't waste either.
3) You have NO IDEA where prices are heading. And if you want a real scary bit of information. Check out investmentmine.com. Check the commodities prices for the last 26 years. You will see that until around 2005-2006 prices were stagnant for a LONG time. Then China went all crazy and prices ballooned. Actually today's ****ty prices are generally still HIGHER than they were before the boom. I do not expect any increase for YEARS unless we get another fake boom. Then temporarily it might go back up.

I personally make 97% or more on better than scrap. Resell, repurpose whatever. I actually give my shred away right now as it takes me almost an hour to go through the local SIMS stupid procedures for a $25-30 scrap load.

I do actually stockpile (sounds so much better than hoarding) my copper and copper wire for these reasons. I only get 30-50 bucks worth a week. So if I turn it in it makes no difference in my wallet. It takes up very little space, so I will stockpile it. In one year I will have app. $2,000 saved up at current prices. Now THAT makes a difference when I cash it in. If the prices drop another 40% the $1200 will still make a difference for me. And maybe I get lucky and prices go up. But I don't count on it.
I literally call those tubs my piggy banks.

Aluminum, stainless and other bulky stuff I have the scrapper I give my shred to turn in for me. He gets a cut and we are both happy.

Hoarding almost never makes sense. There may be a few exceptions, but I would not do it.|
Keep you space neat and clean. There is always more stuff out there.

When prices started to get real bad back in march, I hoarded for 52 days without going to the scrapyard. Bad idea. More and More i would find and people would keep calling me for pick ups. Copper/Wire/Brass are good to save. Easy 30-40 lbs in a five gallon bucket. The way I look at it is, Scrap or Quit.

I think a lot of it has to do with bulk. Volume-wise, you could fit $10,000 worth of RAM (At current prices) in a storage locker. To do that with shred, you would need a field.

I load shred onto a trailer that doesn't get moved until it's full. Shred pays nothing at our yard, and it's 50 miles away. Once the trailer is loaded, I'll haul it in when I'll be near the yard with a truck anyways.

It depends on how you sell. eBay scrap RAM prices are around $14/pound. That's not much of a decline. How people make money at those prices is beyond me, but that's not really my problem....

Alright, what they probably do is go through the lot, and try to test for working sticks that can be resold. But, still....

Not sure if this counts as hoarding but I did a farm cleanup recently and instead of hauling everything to scrap, I hauled it home to sell off piece by piece. By my estimates there was 40 to 50,000 lbs. At $30/ton that’s $600 to $750. I made $1,400 off one piece alone. Then I’ve been parting out a few tractors and vehicles. $20 here, $50 there, where had I scrapped them, it would have literally been pennies. For instance, someone bought a steering pump. Say it weighs 15 lbs. That’s not even 25 cents. Think I ended up selling it for $20. I do that all day, every day.

We all figure out our path. What works for one, may not work for another.

I paid everything off, including the house last year, so all I have are the regular stuff like gas, electric, food, insurance, etc. and it’s all fairly cheap where I live. Now just trying to sock away a bit for retirement.

Quote:

---

Do Squirrels Ever Forget Where They Put Their Nuts?

---

Yep, that's how a lot of trees get started...

This squirrel knows where his nuts are.

Thanks for sharing there blackgold12. Its been a while since I've squirrel hunted but I was always amazed how well they were endowed in the nads department per body size...

Market prices aside, its driven by supply and demand. If everyone hoards, supply drops and demand goes up, prices would get a bit better.
Then everyone cashes in and supply goes up, demand is met and prices would drop or pan out.
Personally there is nothing wrong with hoarding if you can do it. My Yard held out for 3 years with copper (but they had storage space) and bought heaps at low prices
and did well when they picked back up. Steel is not worth hoarding at any price so that kept the ball rolling. i'll hang on to anything that's worth more than 50 cents a kg, until i run out of space. plus no point in making a $100 run unless i'm desperate. Depends what works for you i guess

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by huntersarrow

Market prices aside, its driven by supply and demand. If everyone hoards, supply drops and demand goes up, prices would get a bit better.
Then everyone cashes in and supply goes up, demand is met and prices would drop or pan out.
Personally there is nothing wrong with hoarding if you can do it. My Yard held out for 3 years with copper (but they had storage space) and bought heaps at low prices
and did well when they picked back up. Steel is not worth hoarding at any price so that kept the ball rolling. i'll hang on to anything that's worth more than 50 cents a kg, until i run out of space. plus no point in making a $100 run unless i'm desperate. Depends what works for you i guess

---

You hit the nail on the head. If you need the cash, turn and burn. If you have the room, study the markets, and are flexible, stockpile not hoard. Take the insights of others and apply it to your situation. There is not one strategy to all situations.

I have been "stockpiling" copper and brass for 4-6 years. I have over a ton saved (everything included). I call it my "emergency fund". I have a mental checklist when I will sell. When any of these items get "checked" it's time to sell.

Question: Approximately how much would a gaylord box of #2 copper weight?? Or a gaylord of yellow brass? (I doubt I have a Gaylord of brass though.)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Patriot76

You hit the nail on the head. If you need the cash, turn and burn. If you have the room, study the markets, and are flexible, stockpile not hoard. Take the insights of others and apply it to your situation. There is not one strategy to all situations.

---

Best comment in this thread, every word.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by nutpie

I have been "stockpiling" copper and brass for 4-6 years. I have over a ton saved (everything included). I call it my "emergency fund". I have a mental checklist when I will sell. When any of these items get "checked" it's time to sell.

Question: Approximately how much would a gaylord box of #2 copper weight?? Or a gaylord of yellow brass? (I doubt I have a Gaylord of brass though.)

---

My guess ( whats a 'Gaylord'? ) Is that a fadge would contain about 500 -600 Kgs of Copper #2.
Thats based on my '9 sacks in a fadge @ 55Kgs a sack'. Now a sacks not a full height ( of the width )
So a Cubic gaylord, or fadge, or pallet, would be a bit short of a Ton. Maybe 800-900 Kgs.

What did i win? :D

48 x 40 x 36” Standard Gaylord Size. 39 cubic feet.

Ah ha, i just found out a 'Fadge' is 700D x 700W x 1000H
So, 28 x 28 x 40 inches, thats quite a bit smaller than i thought it was.

A fadge is a polypropylene sack with 4 flaps, one on each side, each one will fold over and cover the whole top of it.
Its actually designed to hold wool & fits in a wool press, thats a double height wooden contraption.
The wools thrown in untill its full, then the lid is put on and a winch pulls the lid down, squashing the wool untill its 1/2 the volume, then somehow the flaps are folded over and fastened with metal hooks.
So with there being a lot of sheep here, a fadge has become a defacto standard sack like container of sorts.

A guy using a wool press, its hard work. About the best short video i could find
https://youtu.be/p0Vr80ACnrI
The women in the back ground are working the 'tables' where the wool is graded after its been shorn off the sheep & and rubbish & stuff removed before its bailed.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by nutpie

Question: Approximately how much would a gaylord box of #2 copper weight?? Or a gaylord of yellow brass? (I doubt I have a Gaylord of brass though.)

---

Depends on the sizes of the copper pieces. A full gaylord of copper flake can be almost 5000lbs, a full gaylord of copper granules from wire shredding can be 7000lbs. A full gaylord of #2 pipe can be less than 400lbs. It really does vary dramatically. if you post a picture or two of the kind of stuff I can give a better estimate. For brass too it varies. A full gaylord of small valves is around 4500lbs while an average box of mixed yellow brass stuff is closer to 1800-2200lbs but it can be dramatically lighter, as little as 800-1000lbs if there's a bunch of thin, hollow shapes like brass bowls taking up a lot of space.

Ah ha, i just found out a 'Fadge' is 700D x 700W x 1000H
So, 28 x 28 x 40 inches, thats quite a bit smaller than i thought it was.

A fadge is a polypropylene sack with 4 flaps, one on each side, each one will fold over and cover the whole top of it.
Its actually designed to hold wool & fits in a wool press, thats a double height wooden contraption.
The wools thrown in untill its full, then the lid is put on and a winch pulls the lid down, squashing the wool untill its 1/2 the volume, then somehow the flaps are folded over and fastened with metal hooks.
So with there being a lot of sheep here, a fadge has become a defacto standard sack like container of sorts.




Wool bale is what i know them as in aus....... we get cans full of them all the time from farmers and drunks. they have clip with pointy ends, almost like a broken chain like
to fasten them. im sure if you googled wool bale clips itd come up...

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by JJinLV

Depends on the sizes of the copper pieces. A full gaylord of copper flake can be almost 5000lbs, a full gaylord of copper granules from wire shredding can be 7000lbs. A full gaylord of #2 pipe can be less than 400lbs. It really does vary dramatically. if you post a picture or two of the kind of stuff I can give a better estimate. For brass too it varies. A full gaylord of small valves is around 4500lbs while an average box of mixed yellow brass stuff is closer to 1800-2200lbs but it can be dramatically lighter, as little as 800-1000lbs if there's a bunch of thin, hollow shapes like brass bowls taking up a lot of space.

---

Mostly copper tubing cut to approx 2 ft in length. I have most packed in smaller boxes for easier handling

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by nutpie

Mostly copper tubing cut to approx 2 ft in length. I have most packed in smaller boxes for easier handling

---

With smaller tubes inside larger ones and careful packing to increase density you might be able to get 1600lbs in a full size gaylord. My expectation when a box like that comes through the door is closer to 900-1200. #2 boxes that are heavier than that normally have a lot of very small pieces, solids, sheet or wire.