Prices on buying scrap metal?

So I am moving into a house next month and I'm trying to get my prices all together since everyone is broke. It $135 a ton how much should I change per pound if they waNt to sell there scrap.

Bear, $120? we're in the same state but the prices are drastically different. It's at least $160 here in Tulsa.

Looks like no one read the question

We'll say roughly it's 120/ton try and offer 50 as an open bid and try to explain the gas factor, time, wear on truck, etc I've also found it useful by offering to take away so e of their trash for free.heck whatever works for you

At these prices how can you offer to pay for it at all? If it takes you all day to clean up and load the stuff, and you barely make a hundred dollars at the scale, and you give them half, subtract $20 for gas and other expenses, so you've made $30. So... they've got $50 and a clean back yard, and you've maybe got a flat on your trailer and more miles on your truck, and $30 to show for it.

I pay 50% of the shred price. So right now I would pay $90. Then I sort, clean and prepare and make a lot more

Originally Posted by Bear

At these prices how can you offer to pay for it at all? If it takes you all day to clean up and load the stuff, and you barely make a hundred dollars at the scale, and you give them half, subtract $20 for gas and other expenses, so you've made $30. So... they've got $50 and a clean back yard, and you've maybe got a flat on your trailer and more miles on your truck, and $30 to show for it.

How long have you been in the scrap business? When I started I was selling shred for $60.00/ton. But I still paid something for what I picked up.

I was selling it for .04-.05 a pound around 04 and 05, now it's .06 a pound here. Not a real big payday but this last job I did take one free load of old wood and trash that I can put on the brush piles and burn when the drought lets up, but did have to say any loads to the dump I'd have to charge (but would only charge them $50 a load, and from the consensus I've seen here on some posts an average going rate is $125+ for smaller loads than I carry), and they pay the dump fee. When it gets to the point where I have to pay them to clean up their back yard and sheds, guessing I'll just stay at the house (it's where I'm at most of the time anyway lol)

Originally Posted by kcscrapper

So I am moving into a house next month and I'm trying to get my prices all together since everyone is broke. It $135 a ton how much should I change per pound if they waNt to sell there scrap.

Reading your post it is hard to even figure out what you’re asking.

From what I gather you are trying to figure out what to pay whomever you pick up scrap from. But your question could also be taken as how much you should charge someone to pick up their scrap but you misspelled "charge" and wrote "change".

In this day of high scrap price you will be lucky to charge someone to haul away their scrap metal if that is what you are thinking. There is another guy just around the corner that is willing to haul someone’s scrap metal for free or even pay for it.

If it a case of trying to figure out how much to pay for someone scrap, you will just have to test the waters. If there was no competition (the other guys scrapping) in your area then you can pretty much set your prices low or not even pay for scrap at all. If you have a competitor that is paying for scrap than you will need to see how much they are will to pay for certain items. The easiest way to that is to call your competitors and ask what they are paying to clean up a garage full of scrap or to haul away some trash. See if they will pay for metal and how they go about doing it. Some scrappers will pay halves on what they make, some will pay per pile and some will pay so much a ton.

Good luck.

The only thing I pay for are computer towers and high grade computer boards, and sometimes the towers are free. I will not pay for any steel, too much free stuff out there.