Where do you find the most recyclable/scrappable stuff?
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Where do you find the most recyclable/scrappable stuff?
I "shop" in a rich neighborhood and usually find 4-600 lbs a week. Just depends on the people living in there. There's another rich neighborhood that is 3x bigger close by but I hardly find anything in there.
i think its a 50/50 hit, i have a buddy who does forclosures majority in bad neighborhoods, well all the bluky scrap he calls me up for, because when he gets the dumspters at the location it's all about the weight so anything bulky, he calls me up stoves,ovens fridges, just anything weight or bulk wise i get it, i was thinking of getting into that business myself, from what he has told me its a gold mine, i also posted some ads in my neighborhood and got some good items 3 cast iron tubs, a bunch of #2 copper from this old lady, her old man was a plumber and passed, she was cleaning up the house and got my info from her neighbor ( the one with the 3 tubs) so she called me yadda yadda so i made out with 75lbs #2 copper not a bad day she said she would call again if she comes up with anything else.!
I get more scrap metal from poorer neighborhoods. But there's this one really rich neighborhood that I drive through every Wednesday night and you wouldn't believe all the nice stuff they throw away. I have a list a mile long of the nice things in working condition that I've got from there. The best thing was last summer someone threw away about 20 bluetooth wireless headsets unopened in the original package. I got home and googled them, turns out they sell for $19.99 apiece. I put them on e-bay and made over $300.
yeah those are people that just spend money on things they never open or use lol good ideas though
This is typically one weeks worth of Bulk trash day metals. Found the hand truck in the garbage too.
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I live close enough to each so I get the best of both worlds. I'd have to say lower middle class households are the best on trash night. I haven't figured out why, though.
Rich areas seem to be best for finds you can sell, while I find middle class suburban areas have the most scrap finds. This is of course in Ontario.
for garage sailing the poorer or older the neighborhood the better it is for computers, scrap. i've hit several in the last month along my normal scrap pickups that i first ask i they have any old computers, then say, I buy them for metal salvage. 90% of the people make the connection and their next question is, so you take scrap metal? sometimes, but only when it's offered. <--- instant confediance that you're not there to rip them off. i find rich neighborhoods are better for freebies, mostly calls on my craigslist ad, they just want to recycle and curbside service won't pick it up.
50/50 both are equally throw-a-way individuals, lol.
for cars i get better deals in poorer areas your middle class thorws away the most metals but the highest resale comes from the highest earners
Like others mentioned, I find that the areas that have higher disposable incomes are a lot more wasteful with re-saleable items. The "poor" neighborhoods are better for shred weight, I imagine they aren't able to pay people to haul away their junk and they are not knowledgeable of the scrapyards in their areas.
Of course, laziness can affect a person of any financial status, so they'll just throw everything away, rather than deal with fixing, selling, or sharing with others.
I'll chime in:
Richer Neighborhoods have good-resalable stuff. Also you are more likely to get washers/dryers etc. Because they usually don't have trucks to haul Fridges to a yard.. nor the desire to do so! They also have the disposable income to Buy something new when things break instead of having them repaired!
Poorer Neighborhoods are divided into 2 categories:
A. "The scratch to get by Poor"
B. "The Gov't assisted Poor"
In "The scratch to get by Poor" You will get NOTHING.. They will hoard, keep and a lot of things and/or times turn in things themselves. You'll get very little "good pickins" off the Curb in this neighborhood.
In the "The Gov't assisted Poor" neighborhoods, you will find some real gems. My standing contract right now doing rehabs is in a low rent duplex community. These folks have free money coming in on a regular basis. And they throw out or leave all kinds of great things "Easy Come, Easy Go" mentality. I have gotten Laptops, Brand New furniture, Brand New Vacuums (Read: They moved out and the BOXES for the Futon and the vacuum were in the apartment!!) Rims off Jeeps (Alum- high value) Pots and Pans that are nicer than in my house!, Lamps, Computer monitors, Washers, Dryers, Dehumidifiers, Refrigerators, Heaters, Wooden Bedframes, Dressers, Tools- Hand and Electric) You name it- they leave it, because THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO WORK TO BUY IT!
I'll add that the size of the homes has something to do with it. Rich or poor, people with 1960s era split-levels or 1950s ranches simply can't store as much junk as people can in overblown, 10,000 sq ft McMansions.
I've been in some McMansions that are so big, when you go down into an unfinished basement you can see the curvature of the earth. They have piles of well organized stuff here and there that most people would've thrown away, but in those giant basements the stuff is hardly noticed. When they move, they pay their landscaper to throw out their stuff.
trash night go to a neighborhood with upper middle-class money and modest houses, and you'll find their burnt out microwaves, clogged vacuum cleaners and out-of-style patio furniture every time.
I found a nice Bolens string trimmer stickin' straight up out of some rich folk's recycling bin. Got it home and found out what was wrong with it. Out of fuel. :))
So yeah, good resale stuff in the richer hoods, better shred weight from the poorer. In general, anyway.
For me its 50-50. I get more sweepers and tv's and general stuff from the average neighborhoods but more keepable/resellable stuff from nicer neighborhoods.
Twice a week at my 'day job', I drive right past the homes of folks like Mark Cuban, Jerry Jones, Ross Perot, Don Henley, and many others rich, famous, or both. If you do happen to see something on the curb at these type homes besides lawn bags from their landscapers, you can bet it will be nice. Finds in these 'hoods are rare, though.
The next tier down, millionaires but not ULTRArich are always a good bet. Nice mix of resellable/reuseable items.
Upper middle class, on down to middle-middle: decent scrap finds but little re-sueable.
Lower-middle on down, oodles & gobs of absolutely worthless garbage. TONS of it.
These are my observations around the Dallas area... YMMV.
It's not so much a matter of rich or poor really, so long as you're hiney is out there the night before trash night. You have a multitude of dwellings in a metropolitan area. Apartments, Condos, Private Homes, Housing Additions, Low Income housing... The difference between rich or poor isn't necessarily the things they own. I know some intrinsic rich folks who straight up jack ketchup packets from McDonalds to save money. Check with your trash companies in town and get their dump schedules and run the night before. Here is what I can legitimately tell you from years of experience, rich people hate clutter, and poor people don't care about it because having anything (even if it's broke junk) is better than nothing. Spring cleaning is your friend and it's fast approaching. Don't limit yourself to a few neighborhoods, do the work, get the money after. I'm a genius, I know.
Well Put Fatman!!
my exsperiance is mostly with appliances,the less wealthy areas seem to use theirs until they cant use them no more,their ready for scrapping.i suppose the wealthier folks replace theirs more often, really dont score a lot in those areas,maybe the company delivering the new one hauls off the old one? i do find some good building materials and home decor type stuff in the nicer neihborhoods,guess they can replace that more often also. i do seem to find lawnmowers and weed eaters in those areas,and for the most part they dont require much to get them running,sometimes just adding gas is all it takes.
Middle class seem to have their appliances hauled away when they get new ones..apartments is what I seek out..i know a few managers..poorer class works for me...every trash day is ok with me..there is a gem on,occasion
where there are people (of any class) there is scrap
Ok.....i find middle class buy more disposable things, lower quility. I brake v my route up into 3 parts , buildings, under 400k and the million dollar homes, the houses worth between 300 to 600 throw the craziest stuff out, but the best calls come from the 600 plus, re decorating means changing out perfectly good re sellable scrap
this may come of as sounding stupid but i actually think the closer to a industrial area the better the scrap from the homes never figured out why though
When I used to curb shop(I don't anymore) I would go out early in the morning before the trash guys would come around or try to stay just ahead of them. I did just as good in the rich hoods as I did in the poor ones.
we go out the night before after 2200Quote:
Originally Posted by happyscraper
i live in a yuppie town an hour north of Toronto where property values are through the roof, we get the most from the areas where the homes are worth 500k or less. its hard to find a place worth under 250k here. the places worth 500k to a mill i still cruise but its not very often we see things worth stopping for on the curb. i dont stop for a tin mop handle. but most my calls from online ads or mail box flyers come from the 500k+ houses, and I've made the most money reselling appliances I've removed from them aswell, now just to get my new cards and flyers figured out and I'll be set.
i always cruse the apartment building every other day just so i have something to strip. there always good for tvs and appliances or bbqs
http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/scrap...ess-cards.htmlQuote:
now just to get my new cards and flyers figured out and I'll be set.
thanks already read it. my frustration my the 3 boxes of brutaly bad cards I got from staples, I won't be or,dering online unless its for a re print. There are shadows around the text boxes and images, they looked photo copied, id be embarrassed to hand ether of the designs I came up with., the small print shop next town over will be getting my money.Quote:
Originally Posted by Mechanic688
This is an old thread, but I had to chime in. The difference in the amount of scrap for me is not the income level or wealth, it has to do with age. Older generations value their hardwork, younger generations value their lifestyle.
Well put. ^^
i find alot more resale in newer neighborhoods with high end homes than i do in the older neighborhoods, find more scrap on my route in front of the older houses
and make sure you hit the day after they have had a garage sale, moved in/out
Good topic for a thread, and it has been a while since anyone added to it- so I'll add my own comment.
In the neighborhoods with, say, half million dollar plus homes up to perhaps $1.5 million or so, it seems like there is a lot more competition from other scrappers. I say this because those neighborhoods have lots of homeowners who can afford to and do hire others to do their yard work. Those others typically have trailers with them and I've seen that many of them are scrappers in addition to being landscapers.
I don't judge ANY pickup based on geography.
I got some of the nicest **** out of the hood and some of the worst garbage from so called rich neighborhoods.
I really haven't noticed a difference.
I have noticed that businesses have the most and best scrap. Just about every-time I go to ONE stop and fill the truck to the point where I am worried I have met or exceeded it's weight capacity, it's almost always from a business of some kind.
They are about even for me. But the way you approach each has to be a bit different for it to work out that way. I used to find a lot of stuff in the poor areas just by driving around. The rich people would have stuff out on trash day only. then the garbage companies changed everything and now its all craigslist or pure luck unless you already know the person or someone gave them your number. the poor areas in my area usually get their trash picked up in alley's and theres a lot of competition so you kinda have to out smart/out work the other guy to find stuff there. And by out smart that would also include cleaning up the crap the other guy leaves behind because he just doesn't think its worth his time. I've had people fly by me at 100mph on tight ass alleys cause they wanted to be the guy in front to find the big stuff first. thing is the small stuff they passed up was worth way more than that dryer they found after an hour of speeding around. That guy got like a dryer and a lamp and I got my truck over weight just cleaning up behind him.