Should You Charge A Fee For Scrap Metal Removal? - Page 2

Ive never charged a fee, but I have been asked what Im willing to pay. My reply has always been "I dont buy scrap". Sometimes I get it sometimes I get the boot.

this is exactly why i dont go in peoples houses anymore. knuckle marks in a stairwell dryway and free pick up requires it to be easily assesable. in the driveway or side of house. if i hear its at the end of the driveway i wont go out of my way. chances are itll be gone by the time i show up. everyone remembers 290 a ton...they dont understand 130 or less

Originally Posted by matador

Don't forget vehicle upkeep!

My truck gets a wage. Just like i do. Fuel and time

Of course, a charge is fair. All things need to be taken into account, not just the time

Think about it this way. Its not worth much these days, yes there is a 'price value' to it....

But so has wood, if you cut it down, cut it up, dry it, stack it, transport it and sell it for firewood...

Not much difference with scrap metal, its the time, the tools and the knowledge that you put into it that makes it worth something to someone.

It depend's on country.. If you want to remove any scrap metal in Australia it's perfectly free and even the removal company will pay to you for your metal.

if i ever even dream of charging, forget it- i wont get called for anything that ive picked up so far.
actually, i had PAY for scrap once but it was VERY profitable.

i did get paid once for cutting up & removing an old car that the owners wanted gone from their property.
after i showed them that my costs incurred was almost equal to the the money i made off the metal from the car, they gave me another US$ 220.

what i do though, is NOT to make a special trip for a small load- if the ppl dont want to wait, then theyre free to dispose of it themselves.
however, many of the ppl i pick up from are known to me & they generally wait for me until im in their area- they understand that i cant be spending more on fuel than what their scrap is worth.

I saw a guy on youtube that has a little metal recycling business.
He puts up dropoff bins for specific items people want to throw away.

Wouldnt it be better to have those pickup points, to limit a lot of variables, and have more consistent scrap?

Nice charge list.........

We ve never charged but we only travel
Within a 1 hour radius and only beyond 20 min for larger loads. We also include in our ads that we will buy scrap ! Only been asked that twice in about a year ,one was for about $500 in copper that we paid $200 for and it needed very little processing . We also have success buying at an auctions ie old farm equipment , industrial items etc . Easy peasy as they usually load it for you !