| Author |
 Topic  |
|
|
Ardent Listener
Administrator
USA
4841 Posts |
 Posted - 07/30/2006 : 19:57:40
|
HOW TO MAKE MONEY SELLING SCRAP
You too can break into the scrap metal business on a shoestring and turn someone else's
junk into gold. Start out by becoming a "local junk dealer." All you actually need to get
started is a couple of empty boxes and either a pickup truck or a station wagon. Any
metal that you'd find is worth money these days.
Check with local machine shops, plumbers, electricians, roofers, and building
contractors. And be sure and check in the neighborhood trash containers and service
stations. It's a good idea to contract with these sources to remove their metal on a regular
basis - most of them will just give it to you, it saves them hauling it away. Sort out the
metal according to type - copper, steel, iron, tin, brass, aluminum, etc. Separated, it is
worth $30 a ton more. Your next step is to search the yellow pages for scrap metal
processors - they are anxious to purchase all the scrap that you can provide at the going
rates.
Check your daily newspapers to keep in touch with metal prices. Also subscribe to the
"AMERICAN METAL MARKET", "IRON AGE", AND "FIBER MARKET NEWS".
Put up signs in Laundromat and bulletin boards all over town. Distribute flyers house-to-
house.
Let people know that you are in business of "recycling" scrap metals - most folks will
give you what they have free. You can even establish your own "recycling center,"
providing separate bins for each metal. People are super ecology-minded these days and
will gladly bring it to you Newspaper is worth about $50 per ton, cardboard $40 a ton,
and old telephone books bring about $150 a ton.
Contact businesses and pick up their paper on a regular basis. Hundred of fortunes have
been build in exactly this way - simple, low-investment beginnings. Perhaps 9 out of 10
giants of the industry started in exactly this way, and so can you. After you've gotten your
feet wet, jump into the big time, the "junk automobile" business.
This is the best source of scrap metals. It requires a pretty good investment for
equipment, such as tow truck, mobile crusher, and a yard to store cars to do the crushing.
To begin, rent the yard, purchase a used tow truck and crusher, and contact your County
Clerk for insurance and licensing requirements. Tow in wrecked and abandoned cars,
buy old cars for say $25 each and strip them for usable parts - then crush them for scrap.
Body shops, garages, and service stations are prime markets for used and reconditioned
parts of all types. You still sell the scrap metal to processors or even brokers. Here are
several publications you should consider to help you get started in this highly profitable
business:
AMERICAN METAL MARKETS, 7 E. 12TH ST., NEW YORK, NY 10003;
SCRAP AGE, 6311 GROSS PT. RD., NILES, IL 60648;
INSTITUTE OF SCRAP, 1729 H ST., WASHINGTON, DC 20006;
ASSOCIATION OF SECONDARY MATERIAL, 330 MADISON AVE., NEW YORK,
NY.
________________________
If you can conceive it and believe it, you can achieve it. -Napoleon Hill
|
|
|
Ardent Listener
Administrator
USA
4841 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2006 : 20:04:31
|
Current News Releases
Search News Releases
PSU | CAS | ICT | News | News Releases | News Archive You are here.
News release archive from Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences. If you would like to receive our news releases via electronic mail, send a blank e-mail message to join-agscinews-l@lists.cas.psu.edu, or call 814-865-6309 for more information.
This page last updated Wednesday, November 30, 2005 .
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
October 16, 1998
'HEAVY METAL' MIGHT MEAN PROFIT ON OLDER FARMS
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Farmers may harvest profits from scrap iron, steel and other valuable metals contained in old vehicles, equipment and products that have not been removed from the farm, according to two researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
According to James Garthe, instructor in agricultural engineering, farmers can clean up their acreage and reap a small profit by marketing their scrap metal to interested dealers. "The amount of money gained from selling scrap metal is nowhere near enough to retire on, but it will bring a decent price if the metals are separated and handled correctly," Garthe says.
Although farmers may not believe they have enough metal to make a cleanup worthwhile, Garthe says "farm steel," a generic term for any scrap metal from farmsteads, can add up quickly. Salable metal items include abandoned vehicles, old tractors and equipment, engines, farm gates, appliances, fencing, wire and building materials.
"A typical farm easily can have several tons of scrap metal," says Jennifer Shufran, research associate in agricultural engineering. "Most farmers will not want to plan an intensive cleanup. The best approach, from a labor standpoint, is to pick up scrap metals during winter down times, or as you clear a field or work other jobs on the farm."
Shufran says the more initial work the farmer does, the more profit is harvested from scrap metal. "If you gather everything into a pile and call the scrap dealer to pick it up, you'll make money," she says. "But you can get much better prices from dealers if you separate each type of scrap metal, and an even higher price if you haul each separated pile to the dealer."
Garthe lists different metals and a few products made from those metals in an approximate descending order of value.
--Copper: Wire (worth more with insulation removed) and plumbing pipes.
--Brass: Wire, plumbing fittings, radiator cores.
--Aluminum: Farm gates, roofing, siding, engine components.
--Stainless steel: Tanks, fittings, bolts.
--Bulk steel: Rods, pipes, structural components, shafts, gears, pulleys, chains.
--Sheet metal: Siding, drums.
--Cast iron: Bathtubs, transmissions, gearcases, wheel hubs.
--Zinc: Handles, fixtures and various castings.
Garthe emphasizes that large and small items should be dismantled if they are made from different metals. Cars, however, usually are taken without any dismantling.
Shufran suggests farmers establish a long-range plan for collecting scrap metal, encouraging employees and family members to collect and separate metals as they tackle other jobs.
"Most scrap metal is scattered over the farm and along field edges," she says. "Farmers should establish a central staging area to collect and separate the metal, then add to it over time until the farm has been cleaned up."
Garthe suggests looking in the Yellow Pages under "Scrap Metal" or "Scrap Yards" to find dealers that evaluate a farm's scrap metal.
"In the scrap business it pays to shop around for prices," Shufran says. "Some scrap dealers may pay double what another pays for the same metal. If you're hauling the metal yourself, it can really make a difference in price."
Garthe also points out that farmers should clean up their scrap metal if needed, removing plastics, glass, rubber, insulation and draining all fluids, such as oils or gasoline, from equipment. "Some materials may require a certified professional to remove it," Garthe says. "For example, a heating, ventilation and air-conditioning technician must remove CFC refrigerants from refrigerators, freezers and bulk milk tanks before they can be sold."
"Cleaning up scrap metal has incentives other than money," Shufran says. "It increases the value of the farm, makes the farm safer for workers, children and neighbors, and improves animal safety and health."
###
EDITORS: For more information, contact James Garthe at 814-865-7154. Jennifer Shufran can be reached at 814-865-7154.
Contacts:
John Wall
jtw3@psu.edu
814-863-2719
814-865-1068 fax
________________________
If you can conceive it and believe it, you can achieve it. -Napoleon Hill |
 |
|
|
n/a
deleted
44 Posts |
 Posted - 07/31/2006 : 20:37:43
|
| Excellant, thank you for these. |
|
|
| |
Topic |
|
|
|
How to make money selling scrap.
Forum Locked
