Word of mouth in this business can make or break you. Reputation and image are KEY. My motto has always been "function over aesthetics...unless aesthetics are part of the function."
Be likeable
Be presentable
Keep your car/truck clean
Be courteous
Be clean
Be efficient
Be professional
Be punctual
Be reliable
Say please and thank you
Say Sir, Ma'am, Mr. and Mrs.
This is a business where word-of-mouth can be your biggest ally or your biggest enemy. If you rub someone the wrong way because you were careless or snarky when taking a busted dishwasher out of their house, you can bet your bottom dollar (and it will be) that they will not give your name and number to a friend or neighbor. In fact, they'll probably just tell them to avoid you altogether. Likewise, if you show up as "some guy off of craigslist" but you introduce yourself, shake hands, have a smile on your face and handle the job like a professional, you're going to blow their MINDS. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to grab a small item and ended up with a truckload, simply because I was a "good guy." The other day, I was doing a junk-removal job (more on that in a sec) and the guy whose house I was at said he gave my name and number to a whole bunch of people stating "He's a reliable and he's a nice guy." In fact, I'm going back to that same house for another job this week. A little effort will go a long way.
As for junk removal, don't necessarily shake your head at it. Find a local dump, figure out what it costs to dump certain items and/or cost by weight and quote it from there. If it'll cost $50 to dump their junk, quote them $150. It's a foot in the door to get to the metal and working/resellable stuff. Why do people have garage sales? Because they want to get all of their crap out. Chances are, if you offer low-cost junk removal, they'll say "please just take all of the stuff, here's [what you are charging]." Having a garage sale is a pain in the @$$. Haul the stuff out, set it up, price it, stick around all day, haul it back in. Much easier to pay some guy or girl with a pickup and a trailer to just get it out of sight. You get metal, resellable items, and cash just for doing the job. Labor is worth a lot of money (just ask my mechanic!).
And be safe. Wear gloves when scrapping and goggles/faceshield while your cutting anything up. Wear boots, good jeans/pants. And holy crap, sunscreen, bug/tick spray. Protect yourself!
Keep gas in the tank. You won't make it to the yard on fumes.
Don't be afraid to negotiate. Aim high when selling and low when buying.
READ THESE FORUMS. Wealth of knowledge here (also, the scrap room membership is well worth it...it'll pay for itself with two hauls, I promise.)
That's what i got so far. I'm sure I have more to learn and I'm going to keep on doing it. Happy scrapping!
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Originally Posted by miked
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