Do you get the big picture in the business

I want to offer my opinions and business stragiteries that have worked for me and should work for you, now I am not talking about the guy that wants to make a extra fifty to a hundred bucks when you need to I am talking about the guys that what to own and operate there own business that makes you a nice living. I read thru the posts and I have to ask myself why do so many limit them selfs to what they get for free? Now I am not saying that once in a blue moon you will run into a nice score, but we all know that those finds are far and to few, you are in the buy and sell business, if you do not have any thing you can not sell it. My business has many different let's say area,s and it does not matter if you are a junk car guy or a e-waste company, you have to have a steady flow of material/scrap coming in steady to servive. If you are just starting out and have a limited bank roll you might want to offer buying appliances on say Craig's list, there are many that offer Free Scrap Metal Removal Of Appliances but I still offer Five bucks apiece, for appliances, and get calls all the time, when you pay for them you can say all appliances must be unhooked and in the garage our outside ready for pick up we do not go in houses for them. Most appliances are still working and when cleaned up can be resold for good money witch we do, we pay five and sell for a hundred not bad. We pay for auto parts, like rims batteries, starters, from repair shops, I buy commercial and Residencial air conditioning units from air conditioning company's, and now I buy escrap from yards and who else has it to sell, granted some items require manpower and equipment to remove and in some cases we charge the customer, but what I am trying to say is you must pay to get a steady supply of scrap, I do not pay a lot but, I provide a good dependable service and spread around a few bucks, try it. Happy scrapping 1956.

Up until a couple weeks ago I hadn't compensated anyone for the items I was receiving. Most places I pickup from one of the hotels my management company owns, or family/friends, or the few locations our family business operates out of. I tried to offer all of my contacts a few dollars here and there, but all of them originally said they were happy with me just getting the stuff out of their way. Although I have been receiving a large amount of scrap from these locations (large to me) I have also noticed the surprise when they continue to find out more and more items I accept. I decided to force a payment onto a few of my main contacts recently... not a lot.. just $50 each, but to get them to take it I basically had to leave it on the ground and walk away. I told them how much I appreciate them contacting me, and how I appreciate them taking the time to store these items and calling me when I know its easier to just throw things away. I can tell you with 100% confidence that this has made an impact on the amount of calls I am now getting, and also the texts/calls asking "do you want xxx item?"

I second the post from 56'. It's the way I differ from my competition. They all want the free stuff. Me? I'm willing to pay. An pay I do. It keeps me busier then I like at times but hey..I like making money to.

Also..like 56, while I pay, I don't pay a lot. I set my prices an they can take them or leave them. 90% take them, as I'm the only game in town that pays to play.

I firmly believe in the motto..it takes money to make money. An it's true. Yea you can do well on free stuff, but you can do even better paying an free. :)

You new folks or folks new to this game, take note of these posts by 56. He knows what the heck he's talking about.

56..I'm thinking you need a thread titled..."56's thoughts" or something. Or Admin..maybe this could be an new feature, offer a recurring 'column" if you will for some folks to make these kinds posts. An SMF blog if you will.

I think I'll go post all of that again in the forum suggestion thread.

Sirscrapalot - If you make listening and observation your occupation you will gain much more than you can by talk. - Robert Baden - Powell

^ agrees with this , gives a extra incentive to make you the guy to contact. just work on beating the cable guys 2 hour window time frame and network network network , be fair honest polite and true to your word oh go raiders I'm mean Ravens

Just for that last line, I'm going to be holding hostage any good selling nes/snes games I come across till you admit your really a closet Oakland fan.

Sorry 56, I couldn't ignore the Bawl-some-mor fella. ;)

Metal I'll see you in another thread. :p

Sirscrapalot - Metalabestos made me do it.

have to ask myself why do so many limit them selfs to what they get for free?

Full article at Scrap Metal Forum: http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/scrap...#ixzz3HsNvj3I4

Capital time and the economy , could even me the massive supply of broken / obsolete electronics,cars . Twenty years ago people had type writers and pagers , our society has had a new must have gizmo mass produced every year for 2 decades , each one replacing the obsolete previous one . I'm looking at you Sony playstation . This is evident in phones computers alarm clocks and nearly every aspect in our day to day life . Not even the recession IMHO has affected this train of thought

So how many of us pay more most of our material, and how many don't and are you full time scrapers or week end warriors?

I do pay for most of my material. I find that when I pay, the interest level increases greatly. And that leads to more material. I either pay directly to the business that I receive it from, other scrappers that stumble onto ewaste that don't know what to do with it, or I pay non-profit groups to help with collections. All three have been great resources.

Full time? No. I do have a full time job. However, I make pickups almost every day either during lunch or after work. Right now, I have the equivalent of 3 53' trailer load of material waiting to be processed.

I pay for most of the scrap I pick up. It has worked well for me for years, sometimes I have even been known to pay over board prices on some stuff! (Board prices are prices posted at the scrapyard for walk-ins).

I am so small time since I am young right now I cannot offer much in this area but from my little experience with repeat people is they are so happy I am saving them the hassle of dealing with it they don't want compensation for it. Throw them some small gift cards of coffee or donuts here and there. But when I do get older and start doing bigger business I would start buying certain things such as pallets of escrap to dismantle. In the future I think it will become more of a buying and selling game.

I'm strictly part time/weekend warrior. I have a full time job with great pay and benefits, a company vehicle and all the overtime I want. I'm blessed. I've never had to pay for any scrap I bring home. I install phone systems and data equipment for a living so it's out with the old and in with the new. When I'm done there can be ten phones or 400 phones boxed up with the PBX and any switches that were swapped out. Removal is part of the job. Most of the time I get to bring it home to scrap. The customer is always happy to have it hauled off and while I'm there I talk to them about any PC's they may have laying around.

As a former scrap metal dealer I always had to buy the scrap to get the volume needed to get dealer pricing. You still would get a lot of free scrap people dropping it off to get rid of small quantities. Now I play with the grandkids full time and scrap as a hobby. I still do buy scrap if it is cost effective.

lack of space & theft is a big problem for me

i cant hold on to anything until i find a buyer.
its therefore best for me to strip & sell to the scrapyard

As 1956 said you have to pay for things to stay in bussiness . If you excpect to get free things all the time and stay in bussiness then you will soon realize you wont last . I pay for stuff and get stuff for free. People hear things and think there metal is worth millions so you have to work at it. I pay for scrap and ebay stuff.

We are a full time recycling company that employs 4 people. We pay for everything! That's why we stay so busy.

I do this part time and have yet to pay for anything

I've started to dip my toe into the "Pay for goods" world as well. Once I graduated to hauling cars the days of "Free" was gone. That led me to finding opportunities that.. yes.. sometimes you have to pay for.

I got a call a few months back from a guy who did some welding for me. He said his neighbor had a washer, a dryer, a dishwasher and 3 car batteries. Would I have loved to get all of that for FREE? You bet your butt... But- he wanted a few dollars. I did a quick calculation before I went and was willing to offer $25 bucks. He himmed and hawed but in the end I told him- "Listen I've got to make it worth my time and gas to break down and haul this stuff" I give you $25 bucks for the stuff and it is out of your life.. then it is up to me to work to make the money back and have it be worth my effort"

I made about about $60 bucks profit.. but without putting out the $.. I would have made nothing! So I get where you are coming from 1956!!!

This post is great, except for one thing...

You're assuming that everyone on here is a commodities dealer. I charge; because I can. We provide a service so there are other prices to pay. I think understanding what your business goals and motto are will allow oneself to differentiate themselves. One is right or wrong, just different. There has to be an understanding of target markets before you apply yourself.

I will just use an example for say... appliances. If you pay your direct profit margin is greatly affected. What you lack in margin you make up for in volume which affects logistics. Buy paying you are also bringing certain terms to your clients ( the appliances must be outside etc..) therefore you save time, labor, insurance, etc etc.

I can charge because we are not deciding the terms we are performing under someone elses terms. ( hauling fridges out of basements or down 3 flights in an apartment building; which takes time, experience, insurance,labor, equipment, etc etc. )

I don't think any angle that is used to bring business is bad as long as it is ethical and honest. I just think anyone should have the right idea about what their goals are and what their profit margins will look like. You can haul, charge, buy, pick up for free. If you dont understand what you're doing and crunch the numbers; you will fail.

Russell

Well Russell that was a very informative impressive thread ,and you are right not every ones business plan or specialty is the same, don't get me wrong we charge when the situation is right,
what i was trying to lay out was a business model that has worked for me and i was just trying to show the new bees that there is more to scraping then chasing dumpsters. The bottom line
is that you need material to sell in order to earn a profit. If what you are is a SERVICE PROVIDER than of course you have to charge for your services, this is the scrap metal forum and most of us are
commodities brokers. By the way i like your logo my kid brother is in the trash removal business they remove trash from luxury condo and apartment complexes and there logo is different but similar. Happy Scrapping 1956.

Most of the material in my line of work (auto core recycling), you have to pay for or you won't get it. I've expanded my business by offering to buy items that many would consider "throwaways".. keyless remote fobs, O2 sensors, things like that. These items are not a lot of money, but they add up to a few extra bucks for my customers, and everyone likes that.

Many other "core buyers" will buy converters and nothing but converters. They want the "easy money", and simply don't want to bother with low-margin items where they would make a nickel a pound and can't play games to boost their margins. Being a full-service (real) core buyer gives me a huge edge over these types of operations. If I can make a buck (or even a nickel) on it, I'll buy it.

I'm in Wyoming, so I'm in a unique spot. I buy some things, and it does help.

I can't really do the appliances thing, though. I'd love to. Out here, though, that would mean that I'd be driving 2 hours for a fridge.

Giving those that don't want the money makes a friend. I get tires for free from a fellow scrapper. He refused money every time. I mailed him a $20 bill in the mail. We've become a lot closer since then.

The problem with E-Waste is what's "fair". There are people that think their old Pentium III machine is worth $50. To them, offering $2 is a snub to the face. They are fine with free recycling, though. Go figure.