Items worth more as scrap

I'm sure this has been answered, but I couldn't think of the terms to search for to find what I was looking for. Are there any items you can easily and continuously buy for less than their scrap value? By easily I mean from a store or off of ebay?

Thanks a lot,
Al

Yes.

Aluminium pots & pans from any goodwill shop......

I use then when camping, on open fires & then just scrap them afterwards rather than clean them....

I think you are asking the question in an awkward way. "What can you buy to scrap and make money?" The answer is simple, but more complicated than you think.

The simple answer is what ever you buy and pay less than scrap value for.

The more complicated answer is you need to take the time to learn what things are worth. When ever you pay for something you HAVE to know what you are going to get for it. If not, you need to pass. Many times you will get lucky and make out okay, but it is the few times that you are wrong that can kill all the other profit.

I often buy with the intention of reselling, but I still rarely pay more than I can get in scrap. This means I often pass on things that others would buy, but I never lose money, I always show a profit.

I usually don't buy from ebay, there are too many people that are looking for scrap which drives the price. If I'm going to buy it is usually from online or local auctions. There is never one item I can think of that I could continuously buy and pay less than scrap for, but I always find a variety of items with a good value that people have no interest in. This changes from day to day and auction to auction. This week I picked up a ton of computers. Last week it was commercial equipment. Next week, who knows.

Do any of you buy from liquidation sites or anything similar? Any ideas on how to get bulk items that can easily be scrapped?

Originally Posted by Allen70

Do any of you buy from liquidation sites or anything similar? Any ideas on how to get bulk items that can easily be scrapped?

Most of the time I see bulk items that can "easily" be scrapped usually draws big buyers with big money. Often on DOD auctions I see large amounts of wire, plumbing supplies, firearms brass, ect.. and these items go for more than you would get in scrap at a local yard.

I buy in bulk (fill up my truck) but I couldn't say what I buy can be "easily" scrapped. I don't even consider taking apart computers "easy", it takes some time and work. There are many people here that will tell you looking at a huge pile of computers is less exciting after you are working on them non stop a day or two. Contrary to what many people think, what we do is the hardest "easy" money you will make.

It's great that you are motivated, but I don't think you are going to find anyone volunteer the answer to your question. The last thing I would want is to disclose a little known source of scrap to everyone. You are going to have to put in the homework just like everyone else did.

The one bit of help I would be willing to offer is find when the local colleges are having their auctions (usually monthly) and this is a great place to pick up a lot of items at a very reasonable price. Many of the colleges do very little advertising for their auctions.

I'm gonna be annoying and be an a-hole-lot of a meanie... and say "If it was that easy to just go out and buy stuff to scrap and make money at it, everybody would do it". Plus, I'm also a believer of not discussing the "easy" stuff so out in the open. You can almost bet nowdays that a competitor within 20 miles of you also reads this site.