Quote Originally Posted by matador View Post
I think you'll want to slow down and look at the numbers.

First off, how much money is a box truck (Will depend on age and make of the truck, of course). Now, what's the registration, insurance, and upkeep costs?

Second, how much do you plan to make per tube? how much for a refrigerator? A windows A/C unit? A....

Now, how much stuff per month will you need to make a living?

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I'm on the refurbishing side of E-Waste, so my situation is a little different. If I sell 10,000 computers per month, and make $10 per computer profit, I'm making 100k per month, right? Not exactly- Microsoft Excel can make anyone a millionaire on paper. It cannot count for limitations. There is no way that I could process this much, or find buyers for that much. What's your limit? Realistically.

As for trucks, as my refurbishing division grows, it will need a truck... maybe. How large will it become? I don't know. So, I can go into debt $15k for a 24' box truck (The going rate out here for a good Ford or Chevrolet- Freightliners are even higher), or I can start with what I have: a 1/2 ton pickup truck.

I'm going for the latter. When I outgrow the F150 I have, I'll be making about $7000 per month in profit. I can easily buy a 3/4 ton truck at that point, or a box van. But, there will be no debt, and more importantly, I won't be purchasing equipment for a business that isn't happening yet. I've seen a lot of places go under for that reason.

With my refurbishing business, everything will be paid for by that division. I will not leech money from other sources, sucking the other parts of my business dry in hopes that this works. If refurbishing can sustain and grow itself with no external cash input, it's likely a sound and reliable business.



I think that's where you need to start. Get a cheap truck, start in your home, and make some money. Then, as it grows, foster that business into something larger.

Someday I may be driving a 24' box truck full of laptops. Best of all, I'll have paid cash for it, and I'll always be in the black. Will I get there? Who knows.

matador: "Plant the seed. The crop will grow at it's own rate."
I understand where you're coming from. I'm more on the dismantling side of things. I'm not actually able to make any money on tubes as they cost money to process correctly. If refrigerant is removed, I can make money on fridges and a/cs but I won't touch those items until I can get enough saved up for proper equipment. I feel like i'm in a series of catch 22s. I do have a truck I've been using but the bed's literally falling apart and after the last haul, my help and I agreed that we need some sort of lift-gate or something because the truck sits high for stock height(98 f150), but I also know lift-gates aren't cheap. That's when I came up with the idea for a box van(like an ex-uhaul van) they have the loading ramps on em to make loading appliances and electronics easier so no one busts a knuckle or gets hurt, but I know those aren't cheap either.

I also understand that from a certain point of view this whole thing is silly. Silly because everyone had to start somewhere and keep at it till something gave and silly that someone would even propose such a thing(probably what Junkfreak was talking about). I don't think it's silly - I take it very seriously and still feel that with a little bit of help, alot of good can be done.

-Matt