Anyone pick up and sell scrap metal? What are prices like? (people)

[Racelady88]

My husband recycles metals. If you want to make real money at it you need to spend the time to break things down.

For example, you can recycle a vacuum cleaner as steel for .11/pound. If you cut the cord that becomes insulated copper wire and if you strip the cover off it is #2 copper, both paying over $1/pound. If you pull the motor it becomes an electric motor, currently paying over $2/pound.

As you can see, you will need A LOT of scrap to make $$$$. Most trips to the recycler he sees right around $100. Scrap prices change all of the time. I have seen steel as low as .08/pound and as high as .17/pound.

A couple of years ago he was pulling in over $2K/month doing this. Scrap prices have gone way down since, and there are a lot more people doing it now.

[harry chickpea]

Originally Posted by jamaicabound60565

First off its hard to take people seriously when they try to act tough over a computer.

Secondly garbage is on the parkway which is city property not your property so it has nothing to do with property lines.

Thirdly if you did pull a gun on somene you would be arrested and have your foid card taken from you for being an idiot.

And lastly its not theft, garbage pickers come around all the time, its actually better this way as the scrap metal gets recycled rather than just thrown into a dump. Its also not stealing as once its on the curb its public property.

Have an idea what your talking about before you start typing.

I always do my research before typing.

First of all, I've already had thieves who played "scrap pickup entrepreneurs" steal batteries and equipment from my property. I suggest you take me VERY seriously, because it makes me VERY upset when I see someone around in a junker pickup with neighbor's items on board. Furthermore, I suggest that you not wander onto any property in my area. We ARE armed around here. The sheriff is aware, and many of us have CC permits for when we have to go into the city.

Secondly, I live in the COUNTRY. If the nearest city owns property out here, it would be news to me and them. And it isn't a "parkway" but a property easement for the road and utilities that go through MY property. In Alabama, you have a legal right to drive through, but NOT one to stop - even to look or check your tires. Have an idea of what YOU're talking about before typing.

Thirdly, having a gun out is no big deal here. Home turf, fear of bodily harm, castle doctrine. And... I regularly have (legal) target practice on my property and am often openly carrying. So are my neighbors. One has a holster on his ATV handlebars, so it is nice and convenient.

Lastly in response to your latest post, stuff on the curb is NOT public property. Areas may be relaxed about items left out for pickup or not. There was a man arrested in a nearby town because he took a couple of car batteries from the town recycling center. In some areas, if you go through the dumpster of a business or trash on the street, you WILL be detained and arrested. Laws vary.

As I said, your idea is ill-conceived at best.

[BigMunch]

right on jamaicabound60565

[maschuette]

This idea is common where i am from, in Southern Illinois. people go through trash looking for cans and stuff like that but also we have more of what your talking about. They drive around in old trucks and usually have a torch. They go from farm to farm and ask if they have any junk they dont want. I did it for a little bit when prices were sky high. I would get about 500 bucks for a ton of steel. Scrap like old appliances are sold at tin prices. Prices are low so i dont think you would make that much money, especially if you have to pay for labor. This is something you should do on weekends yourself, or just cut your buddy in on the proffit. If you did it together with your tools and truck i would give him 1/3.

[theirrationalist]

I scrap metal as a main source of income. It IS a lucrative business and it IS legal!

Taking things from another person's private property is in no way legal, but pulling things from the public easement on garbage day is a law managed by individual states. In most states, it is completely legal, and was held up by the supreme court

As for the guy who would shoot somebody picking up an appliance on the side of the road; My next door neighbor's nephew was murdered by a man who shot him as he was picking up a refrigerator ON THE CURB. If you boast about doing that sort of thing, then how dare you. I think there are plenty more people who would much rather see you go to the electric chair, then some teenagers picking up a broken refrigerator. You should rethink the way you disregard human life, because one day it may be you.

btw, the man was charged to life in prison.

[ShelbyCop]

I know a poor guy that goes around every trash day collecting cans and anything larger he can find. I talked to him one day while he was rummaging through trash bags and he said a pound of cans gets him $0.75. Did I mention he's poor?

He has a truck, a trailer, and a buddy. It is rare that he collects anything large enough for a big payout. These guys do it full time, and the passenger doesn't make enough money to pay his fines so he can drive (his license is suspended).

[treasurekidd]

If you came around here, I would meet you at the property line with a quick discussion of how much the lead in my bullets were worth. You would be allowed to see them down the tube of something I'd be holding in my hand.

Over garbage? Are you kidding me? I understand if you're refering to someone stealing your property off of your land, but garbage? Come on. And don't give me that that taxpayer crap either. In this terrible economic environment, why would you begrudge someone worse off than you the few bucks they could make off something you're throwing away anyway? Have a heart man! Screw the wasteful town governments anyway, they're the biggest thieves going.


As for you jamaicabound, I say go for it. I don't collect scrap metal myself, but I did recently haul in a copper shower pan and some aluminum shower framing that we tore during a bathroom overhaul and got about $80 for it - not bad for a 10 minute drive to the scrap yard, especially since it was something we were trashing anyway. Money is money, right? Try putting an ad up on Craigslist and see if that helps. It's tough work, but it you hustle and represent yourself the right way, you should be able to make some good side money doing it. Good luck to you!

[xnzn]

[LEFT][color=#000000]I live in Puerto Rico and I have a scrap metal recycling business and I got to say that it is very lucrative depending on how you go at it. Around here it is not illegal to pick up stuff that is at the curb-side and people rarely make a fuss over it and those that do are because other scrappers often leave a mess after collecting their junk (very bad practice). I leave the place exactly as I found it, if not better and often times organize the place to leave a good impression, because of that people have even started saving up appliances and other scrap for when I go around the area every week.

If I find something like a car engine, batteries and other items that may have value for the average person, covered or not, I always ask if I can take it away just in case the owner has already had someone to pick it up. If no one is at home I leave my card and a note and pass later or the next day. Always use common sense, if it is too good to be true it probably is.


@ Harry,

it shouldn't bother you if someone is running around a pickup truck with neighbor's items as it isn't your property and the neighbor might have paid someone to haul it away (part of the business I do). And while I agree that if someone is collecting 'trash' if they are trespassing into your property it is thieving, using excessive force such as a gun is uncalled for and will land you in jail most likely unless you have pretty good contacts and a lot of $ (I believe the law is that you can only use deathly force if you or someone else is in danger of bodily harm and even if the other person has a knife if said person isn't in close quarters then the use of such force is uncalled for and you will be charged for murder).

It may be true that if you go to some business' dumpster you may be warned, but to be arrested is unlikely (unless you have a bad record).

And I(and almost everyone I know, policemen, government officials, etc) believe that if you put something on the trash (only if it is outside your home, on the curb) that it is fair game. If you still care for such an item then don't throw it away.

For the OP, this is a very lucrative business, but requires a bit of time. You have to pickup items, process them(taking out plastics, separating metals, etc) and then do your homework as to where you are likely to get best prices. Also need to plan ahead of time as gas is the limiting factor of profits and prices vary greatly.


People think that all scrappers are poor, probably due to them running trucks that aren't well-mantained on the exterior, having dirty clothes (comes with the job) and the usual stereotype that people that look through trash or gather other people's trash are bums. What most don't know is that you will likely make way more than a person working a typical 9-5 job while being your own boss and be less stressed.

As for the .75$ per pound of alum cans, that may look as pocket change, but when you have over 50 liquor stores that save you an average of 5 bags of 10 pounds each every day then you start to see it a little bit different .

So you all get an idea of the huge potential. 1 pound of aluminum is around 33 cans of the usual 10-11oz beer can. Decent sized stores will sell around the 1000 mark a day which is about 30 pounds @ .75$ each pound you are making 22.5$ per store times 50 =1125$/day. Even if you give out 50% for the store owners you will be making over 500/day without much work, just collecting, paying and selling.

GL on your venture.

[WyoNewk]

My dad was a scrap iron dealer and made very good money at it, but he didn't mess with garbage, appliances and the like. He bought leftover metals from manufacturing plants, purchased the steel from bridges that were being torn down, etc. He also bought (or was given or paid to remove) old farm equipment, cars, etc., and bought old batteries from retailers. He didn't have a scrap yard or anything like that, just a large straight truck that he parked at an industrial property every night. He normally made one trip per day to the recycler with at least 10 tons of metal. Cars and appliance would only be tossed on top of heavier metal in his truck when he was approaching his tag limit and he had plenty of room for some lighter, bulkier materials. The lighter stuff wouldn't pay for the fuel it took to haul it away.

For the most part he sorted the metals so he was paid more for them. Cast iron, steel, aluminum, brass, lead, etc. was all separated and sorted. (Cans were not allowed with standard aluminum, electric motors were worth more if the cores were sold separately, steel beams brought more than regular steel, etc.)

He knew a few people who collected junk the way you're considering. I don't believe any of them made minimum wage doing it. On the other hand, he became fairly wealthy doing it over a period of a couple decades. It was not glamorous work, but his income rivaled that of many professionals.

If you're going to do this, make learning the business your priority. You'll have to know your metals and what you'll be paid for them, how much fuel it will cost to deliver them, how much time it will take prepare them for sale, how much time it will take to load them on your truck, etc. (My dad usually bought the materials loaded onto his truck, so he was able to work into his 80s with a bad back.)

One final point. My dad could not have done this as a part-time job. His truck costs were not cheap -- original investment, license plates, insurance, maintenance, etc., so I'm not suggesting that you take the leap with a big new truck initially, but if that's not in your long-range plans, don't bother with the 50-cent junk. What you're proposing has lots of liability involved. (What if this guy you're hiring gets hurt or hurts someone else while he's working for you?) You'd probably do better flipping burgers in the evening.

[Coldjensens]

Prices bounce around like mad. A few years ago, I took a pick up truck load of cast iron steam radiators to the scrap place. They were glad to get them and paid me something around $400.00. A year later we needed some extra money and still had a pile of radiators. I took a load in. The guy said he did nto want scrap metal except copper. He said it cost him more to load a truck and haul it in than he gets for it. After a time he reluctantly agreed to take my load nd just stor it for later so I would not have to haul it home and unload the truck. I got less than $5 for the load and it did not cover the cost of the toll bridge and gas.

Hopefully it has gone back up. We have another load to haul in. Smaller items (and two remaining radiators), a lot of car rotors since it is generally more practical to replace them than to turn them nowdays.

I gave a drug addict a ride once. He wanted me to go scrapping with him since i have a truck. He said he can get $5 worth of scrap metal out of a TV and there are always tons of TVs. He said on a good day you can pick up and strip 100 of them in a day. I asked him what he did with all the left over garbage after stripping out the metals - "throw them in the river or dump them in a field"

Yeah those scrappers are really providing a service.

We scrapped a full sized conversion van last year. We got $450 for it. (We drove it in, if they had to pick it up, it would be less). Of course I think they mostly sell the parts off and then scrap the remains.