E-waste deal: I need your help negotiating a deal.

Hello,

I need your help. I've picked up cardboard for this document shredding company a couple of times now and today went good. I dont make much on the cardboard but, I usually get hooked up with a new client. Today, I pickup a truck bed full of e-waste that I wasnt expecting to pickup, which was worth way more the cardboard.

The document shredding company wants to get into ewaste because they come across it often and they have some big government contracts and also hospitals that they could get ewaste from. He wants to stay focused on document shredding and get a little money on the side from e-waste. The shredding company knows nothing about ewaste but, it seems that he could get a literally tons of it.

Im trying to figure out what angle I want to take with this. Here are some the options I have thought of:

Option 1: I could provide cardboard pickup at his job sites (sometimes it is hard for him to find someone to pick up the cardboard), pay for computer towers @ $4 each (w/o hd) and pay for other high end ewaste, and pick up the other ewaste for free.

Option 2: Just focus on the ewaste and split the ewaste profits that I make 50/50 (after subtracting gas and shipping costs). He will supply the ewaste and I will process it and do all the leg work.

Option 3: I could just make a bid on the stuff that he has when he fills up from time to time.


So ya those are a couple of options that I was thinking about. I dont have much experience buying ewaste, I usually pick up for free.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated

thanks

I would go with option #1, but if your going to pick up the cardboard and process it all for him, then I would pay him perhaps a little less for the electronics.

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Originally Posted by GeorgeB

I would go with option #1, but if your going to pick up the cardboard and process it all for him, then I would pay him perhaps a little less for the electronics.

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Thanks George, Yes if I provide the service, it will make his business run better and in return I can buy his ewaste for cheap. The only drawback would be that I would be spending a lot of time picking up cardboard which is my least favorite thing to recycle and I would have to potentially dedicate a good portion of my time picking up cardboard. This would take me away from clients that call me up through the week. They have a lot of clients and are shredding everyday. But, I think I will try it for a couple of weeks maybe months and see where it goes. Im going to get some gaylord boxes tomorrow so that he can store ewaste in his workshop to show my dedication. I found some on CL for only $3 each.

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Originally Posted by mrsamsonite

Thanks George, Yes if I provide the service, it will make his business run better and in return I can buy his ewaste for cheap. The only drawback would be that I would be spending a lot of time picking up cardboard which is my least favorite thing to recycle and I would have to potentially dedicate a good portion of my time picking up cardboard. This would take me away from clients that call me up through the week. They have a lot of clients and are shredding everyday. But, I think I will try it for a couple of weeks maybe months and see where it goes. Im going to get some gaylord boxes tomorrow so that he can store ewaste in his workshop to show my dedication. I found some on CL for only $3 each.

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If nothing else, source out the cardboard to another recycler that can promise to keep up with the demand, and kill 2 birds with one stone.

I know there is a few guys here that recycle nothing, and I mean NOTHING but pallets. Last time I heard, they only get $1/pallet, so not worth it for me, but you be surprised on how many places have tons of pallets just laying around lol

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Originally Posted by GeorgeB

If nothing else, source out the cardboard to another recycler that can promise to keep up with the demand, and kill 2 birds with one stone.

I know there is a few guys here that recycle nothing, and I mean NOTHING but pallets. Last time I heard, they only get $1/pallet, so not worth it for me, but you be surprised on how many places have tons of pallets just laying around lol

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Ya I had thought about dropping a helper off to break down the cardboard (this is another thing the boxes need to be broken down first which takes awhile) and then we can load it together. I also pick up pallets ( should probably start another thread on pallets but, we are on the topic), where I live there are $3, $1, and .50 pallets. The $3 pallet are 4way pallets (40" X 48"), these have notches on the sides where you can go in and move the pallets from the front or sides. $1 pallets are pretty much 2way regular sized pallets and .50 pallets are the smaller coke size pallets.

So ya I will go ahead and see what he thinks about me picking up cardboard and try to buy his ewaste for cheap.

What ever you do don't quit what got your foot in the door to begin with. Otherwise it might get cut off. Like George said try to find another recycler to outsource the cardboard to. Last thing you want is for them to go out of their way to get rid of cardboard because your are more worried about the more profitable items.

I wouldnt go 50/50 if your the one doing the break down and the pickup, there wouldnt be enough meat on the bone to make it worth ur time in my opinion.

I have to think that option #1 is the best play. It keeps you in contact with the company and available to pick up ewaste along with the cardboard, Mike.

If he already has a facility I would talk to the owner about their level of interest. This may be a great option for you to set the hook and get a nice amount of funding. I would suggest he invest in your business offer him 12% on his money for five years. Tell him you will pay him a high % of what you get paid for his e-waste. Get $10,000 -$25,000 from him and open up a wharehouse that buys e-waste and stop chasing the scrap and let it come to you. The only thing he can say is no. H e will still respect your motivation as a business owner to try to get to the next level.

I would be willing to help you with some ideas on how to present this to him. If he is receptive you'll need a business plan. I could help there too. Good luck and try to hit a home run.

I would go with number three and unless you are going to get a large volume on a regular basis, I wouldn't pay more than $3 per tower.

option #1 looks best to me but have you thought about getting one of those storage pods dropped off at each site that you you have locked storage on site then they can call you when its full or you can make rounds, i dont like the idea of scrap and high grade boards being left out in the open in a cardboard box. I would pay a little more to make your business look professional. And it would saye you alot on gas because you wouldnt have to make rounds nearly as often.

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Originally Posted by Scrapette

I would go with number three and unless you are going to get a large volume on a regular basis, I wouldn't pay more than $3 per tower.

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That is the idea, I would be getting a large volumes. He has lots of big accounts, government contracts and was talking about getting ewaste from hospitals. This could be big.

Thanks for all the feedback everyone. I will definitely pursue this diligently. I think the idea is that I should take care of him and make it easy for him to make some money from the ewaste. I liked how miked mentioned that if I do the cardboard it will keep me connected and tapped in with the company.

I think I will go with option one: pick up the cardboard and buy the ewaste for cheap. There are a couple ewaste recycle yards by his workshop that pay .05 per pound for ewaste. I was thinking I would offer him .07 per pound for all ewaste. That way I beat the guys down the street and take care of his cardboard. There is usually a good portions of it computers, printers, etc. so, I will be paying .07 per pound for low grade stuff and I will also be paying .07 cents a pound for high grade stuff.

He doesnt want to get that involve with the ewaste he just wants to make some extra cash from it because I think he is already charging the clients to pick up the ewaste.

What do you guys think about the .07 cent per pound for all the ewaste plus I will provide cardboard pickup service?

Id go a flat 10 cents on the low grade stuff, that is what shred is going for. You will make out ok at that price unless it is all printers. 7 cents would be a good number to start negotiations at.

Don't under estamate brinters, every printer I've broke down has mid to high grade boards, there not big boards but worth alot more tham low grade. Alot of desk top copiers have high to mid grade boards and silver memory. I would go with optio #1 but would pay .10# for all e-waste

Another thing I think I have to take into consideration with how much I pay for his ewaste is that I will be hauling away crt monitors also. I can get 12-13 cent a pound for CRTs but, I have to document who, where, and a phone number from whom I got it from. Later the company I take them to has to call each person I got a crt from to verify that it came from a Ca. address. So the ones that they cant verify I dont get paid for. so that 12-13 cent per pound could be less.

So if I pay .10 cents per pound I need to take into consideration that I will be getting:

.12-.13 /lb. for CRTs (maybe less)
.06/lb for tin metal from printers/ computer case/ etc.
.05/lb for keyboards/mouses/ etc (after I cut the cable off)

So a lot of the stuff I will be recycling will be less than .10/lb so I will have to hope on getting the lots of high grade stuff from printers, computers, and other equipment which should be likely.

Im thinking I will offer .08/lb