Given the market, why are the newest scrappers even bothering?

I've always looked for and focused on sold more then scrap value items, over straight scrap items, but never turned down the opportunity to pick up free metal when it was $210 a ton here. Over the last year the only thing that has changed is I am getting rid of any shred items and keeping some non-ferrous until prices start to rebound. I can afford to wait 1-2 years frankly if that's what it takes, because my 90% of my profits are from better then scrap value items. Someone just starting to scrap could still do so profitably, if they focused on resale items, or they were willing to put forth the effort to acquire as much scrap as possible and have a steady supply. It's all a matter of your circumstances and what you're willing to put into it.