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Tell me, why do you scrap?

| A Day in the Life of a Scrapper
  1. #1
    snorton1 started this thread.
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    Tell me, why do you scrap?

    Over these past four years, I have been reading remarkable stories of successes, failures, highs, and lows. So now I ask, "Why do you scrap?"
    I have changed my own story to this. I plan to save every scrapping cent I make for a solid year to pay for a three week dream vacation/camping trip to New England and southeast Canada.
    This goal will help me gain focus. It gives me a reason to successfully navigate in a business to provide for the trip of my preretirement dreams.


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  3. #2
    Sirscrapalot's Avatar
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    No particular order...


    1. I like money.
    2. I like working for myself.
    3. I have a very big cooler, an beer an beverages don't grow on trees!
    4. I like breaking ****.
    5. I like breaking ****
    6. see 3.
    7. See 4 & 5.
    8. See 3, 4 and 5.
    9. It's fun.
    10. It lets me do fun things like...take the wife to Disney, or wherever she decides we're going.
    11. It's cool being "that" guy at a social function an when they ask what you do you can say..."I break **** for a living." an it's true! An a good thing.
    12. I was going to put another one here but hell...thats to much work, see 3, 4, 5,..ah screw it..just reread the list.

    Good luck with your goal. Always good to have goals. I'm betting the trip well be worth all the hard work.

    Sirscrapalot - Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal. - Henry Ford

    Bonus quote! - You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream - Les Brown

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    This is a great idea for a thread.

    Since I am not a tree hugger, do not believe in global warming, and love the outdoors scrapping allows me to contribute to the environment. I love challenges and most of my scrapping involves new challenges and learning opportunities. I took early retirement and wanted to start my own business that I could do what I wanted, when I wanted to do it, and still be outside.

    The ferrous money made from scrapping is reinvested into the business allowing for bigger/better equipment and the non-ferrous is being saved as a retirement gift for my wife.

    The real reason I scrap is to be able to control my lifestyle.
    Give back more to this world than we take.

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    I am a very small time scrapper just scrapping computers.
    I do this because I consider it free money, and by free money I mean I don't have to pay any money to make this money. Just my time and a little gas in the tank.
    I like the extra spending money. I learn a lot of stuff especially on this forum. I even payed for my subscription here with my scrap money.
    Since I have been scrapping I tent to think outside of the box, when it comes to fixing things.
    I also like #4 and #5 of Sirscrapalot's post.

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    To keep some stuff out of landfills and other stuff in my pocket while controlling my own work schedule.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Patriot76 View Post
    This is a great idea for a thread.

    Since I am not a tree hugger, do not believe in global warming, and love the outdoors scrapping allows me to contribute to the environment. I love challenges and most of my scrapping involves new challenges and learning opportunities. I took early retirement and wanted to start my own business that I could do what I wanted, when I wanted to do it, and still be outside.

    The ferrous money made from scrapping is reinvested into the business allowing for bigger/better equipment and the non-ferrous is being saved as a retirement gift for my wife.

    The real reason I scrap is to be able to control my lifestyle.
    Ditto on Patroit76's post. Also I started out as a "rehab" to help recover from kidney disease side effects. I stayed for brain activity needed to succeed in this business, even on a small scale. 73, Mike
    "Profit begins when you buy NOT when you sell." {quote passed down to me from a wise man}

    Now go beat the copper out of something, Miked

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    I got started by loving the idea of cleaning up the woods by my parents house and getting paid to do it. Picked up more skills and advice from this forum making it easier and more profitable and helping to pay off my student loans. Yes the money helps but more so I love re-using/ recycling other peoples "trash". I hope I don't see it but I think if not in my life time than probably in the next generations we will see a collapse of some sort in society due to lack of resources from over-consumption and the greedy lifestyle we live, especially in the USA. If everyone had the attitude most scrappers do, it would be much less of an issue. Also its very therapeutic breaking scrap down.

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    The why do I do it is a pretty simple answer: found money.

    The how did I get started, and why do I enjoy it so much is probably more to the point of your question.

    First off, the "real" job I have is pretty much the dream job for a curbco scrapper: I go to 35-50 residences every day Monday through Friday, and scoop up the dog poop from my customers' yards. I make a bit more than you might think at this endeavor, but who isn't looking for more income?!?

    So, basically, all day every day I drive a pickup around through neighborhoods where people by definition have disposable income and are not frugal with it.

    I had been doing this for a while, and one morning several years ago I was sipping coffee & surfing the net before work and I found this article about copper. Copper prices were on a meteoric rise at the time, pushing $4 per pound and some folks were saying they were going to $10 a pound. I filed the info away & went on about my day.

    As I was heading up the alley to one of my stops that day, I saw a beat up, taped up, frayed orange 100' extension cord sitting on someone's trash can awaiting the trash dudes to come & haul it away. My mind flashed back to that article, and then I kinda realized that I was always driving past heaps of thrown away stuff like that. I stopped & grabbed the cord, not having ANY IDEA what to do with it, only knowing that there HAD TO be a few bucks worth of copper in that thing, and SOMEONE SOMEWHERE would probably pay me for it.

    So I came home at the end of my route, and a few internet searches later I found this forum, and set to reading. Then, as now, there were a brazillion threads about "is it worth it to...." one of which was "strip extension cords". It didn't seem that there was a clear answer, so I tied one end of the cord to the trailer hitch on my truck, stretched the other end down the street, and set to scoring the orange insulation with a utility knife. Once I (FINALLY) had the black, green, & white strands freed, I tied one to the trailer hitch & set about trying to score it. I went back in the house I read a little more on the forum. I went out to the garage, cut a block off the end of a scrap 2x4, drilled a hole through it for the wire to run through, screwed a sharp pointed drywall screw into it & went back out to my wire to assert my dominance!! ..... not so fast. It didn't exactly work very well, kept binding and tearing and catching on the strands of copper. Many cusswords were uttered!

    Yeah, other than the easy find, my introduction to scrap was not peaches & roses. I finally got that extension cord stripped to bare copper... it probably took me 4 hours or so of researching cussing & working.

    Over the next several years, I've branched into many other arenas of scrapping. I've scrapped hundreds of tube TVs, but now I won't touch them unless, maaaaybe it's a Sony Trinitron. I've made some very unprofitable auction purchases, I've made some lucrative ones. I've put together a booth for attending earth days, community garage sales, etc handing out business cards & recycling peoples' old computers. I've injured myself so bad I'll feel it for the rest of my life while being careless with a loaded server rack. But bottom line, I've gained a skillset and knowledge base that will provide at least the basics for me for the rest of my life if worst comes to worst.

    One other thing that doesn't get much mention is re-use of scrap-found things. I've quit even picking up lightbulbs since I have a 18 gallon bin on a shelf out in the garage FULL of used but working lightbulbs. A few months back our fridge/freezer in the kitchen quit working. I had three (yes, THREE) mini fridges in the garage that I'd found left in alleys for trash. WHY anyone would throw one of these away is beyond me!! I bleached the insides of those three fridges & moved all our stuff into them, then I fixed the fridge, which necessitated laying it over on its side. For three days, we used those mini fridges and the only thing we 'lost' was one of them was set too cold & froze/cracked a couple of eggs. After three days I plugged in the big fridge & (knock wood) it's working fine. I can't imagine how much food we'd have lost without those minifridges. The faucet in our master bath came from a curbco find. Apparently, these rich folks like to remodel a lot! And they throw away their old fixtures when they do. (Actually, they hire it done & I'm boggled the contractors don't scrap/resale some of the stuff they haul out!)

    I really enjoy branching out & learning knew things. I think that America is a VERY wasteful nation. That's a bad thing on the whole, but it does provide a lot of opportunity for someone with some gumption & hustle to turn some of that wastefulness of others into a pretty decent revenue stream for themselves.

    OK... enough jabber from me. Today is the day I bust out the sawzall & take care of that bin of pipes that have some soldered joints but also have decent chunks of #1 on either side of the joints... and cut the headers off those 2 pool heater heat exchangers. I love those things!

    So... I better quit writing books & get on with it.
    Last edited by auminer; 07-08-2017 at 08:45 AM.
    Out of clutter, find simplicity. --Albert Einstein

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    well my story may be the same as many..........I was an alcoholic and drug addict for approx 20 years........This ended up landing me in some trouble including prison time........This may have been the best thing that ever happened to me.........I met many great people there and was introduced to a LONG TERM RECOVERY PROGRAM within the prison walls......It was there that I vowed to change my life and have not taken a drink or drug for over EIGHT years now......When I was released work was not exactly easy to find for a "convict" with sporadic work history........I went back to the Labor Pool "LABOR READY" and worked fairly frequently...........Unfortunately because of my previous lifestyle I owed so much money to past debts I would work an 8 hour day and they would garnish my check leaving me with approx $20 a day after taxes..........There was a guy there who had an old beat up pick up truck and after getting to know him he made me a deal...........Take the truck and make him money........After expenses we would split all profits 50/50.........It took me a few weeks but I landed a job cleaning up construction out of an old mall..........In one day we cashed in over $800 worth of metal.......At this point we took all our profits and went "ALL IN"...........Many jobs and 1000's of miles later I no longer have a partner and currently deal in mainly Ewaste........This is a lucrative business for someone willing to do the work.......Sure I care about the environment and recycling but at the end of the day if this did not support my family and give me financial freedom I probably wouldn't look twice at things going into a landfill..........So to make a long story short I SCRAP for financial reward and to have a freedom of lifestyle that would not be available at any other regular job

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  19. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by sirscrapalot View Post


    1. I like money.
    ditto

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    I love to scrap.i go to auctions trying to find that goldmine most of the time its just ferrous. People look at scrappers as being beneath them.just imagine the country without scrappers.its hard work but if you enjoy it that helps.and it helps pay the bills.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Sirscrapalot View Post
    1. I like money.
    2. I like working for myself.
    4. I like breaking ****.
    5. I like breaking ****
    9. It's fun.
    Quote Originally Posted by Patriot76 View Post
    The real reason I scrap is to be able to control my lifestyle.
    All of these.

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    As I've told people that ask, because I can. $$$ and "unwind" are the principal reasons. I'll elaborate when I get around to doing an intro.

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    In two words - personality disorder.

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    I would say all of the above but the main reason is because of my full time job.

    Because I work on phone and computer systems customers give me a lot of their old equipment for free.

    I've never had to buy a computer, monitor, printer or laptop for myself or family members.

    I brought home a load yesterday and was able to upgrade from a Dell Latitude E5420 with a Core i3 to an Acer TravelMate 5742 with a Core i5.

    It's not the newest or the bestest but it's better than the one I had.

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    Can't stand the corporate structure. Also I feel better about my failures and accomplishments if they are truly mine. I started in 2013 because I was still recovering from an autoimmune disorder that was killing my large intestine. It's been a long road to semi-health since and that's what prompted striking out on my own. Prior to that I had worked for p&g and the army before that none of which I was too fond of lol.
    WI ITAD LLC, IT Liquidation Services, we remarket, buy and sell scrap electronics No customer too large or small!

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    My wife and I both have decent jobs, however we are getting close to retirement. We've been broke, very broke. Scrapping helped us get through some of those times. I've always wanted to save everything I've scrapped. Now, we don't " NEED " the money. Scrapping will be another type of savings account. I will buy some stuff to supplement free stuff.
    It's good therapy, and I am in the camp of those who like to take things apart and not have to put it back together.

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    I scrap because it's fun and you can make good money at it. As a full time worker, part time scrapper you can make pretty serious amounts of money. It has also raised extra money for my college tuition which I would call a win!

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  37. #19
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    Quote Originally Posted by alloy2 View Post
    In two words - personality disorder.
    I concur.

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  39. #20
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    Good stuff, good thread.


    I need to also add to my list..

    52. The People I've met. Whether customer/client, forum members, etc. I've gotten to know some very interesting souls. A lot of them on here, who I call friends to this day.

    53. Another thing is the unpredictability of this work. When I was in wholesaling/retail/shipping/whatever...I knew my day before it began. No surprises, lest not any good ones. lol. This scrapping/ewaste thing...whole other story. My day is as crazy an as unpredictable as I am, an I love it. No rigid schedule or deadlines.

    No matter why you do it, I hope you enjoy it.

    Cause at the end of the day..while I enjoy the money, the freedom, the ability to yes..break ****. I like the fact I enjoy an like what I do...vs being miserable an collecting a paycheck. An to me that is the cherry on the top.

    Sirscrapalot - Find something you love to do, an you'll never work a day in your life. - Or something like that.

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