Distence your self from the rest!!!!!!!

Well when times are as they are now, no jobs or low paying no where dead end jobs, men and women alike will seakout ways of providing for there family's. Scraping is one of those ways and a good way to put the bread on the table, the competition for scrap increases and profits shrink.I have been in the scrap business for thirty plus years well now that I think about it closer to fourty years, and my father was a scrap man when he had a horse named Lacy that pulled his wagon. Well before computers or the new different types of materials that are being recycled today for profit.I believe that having a nitch in this business separates the more successful scrapers from the rest, if you are in the e- waste end, or the a/c recycling, or the alternator starter compressor end, or just the white goods part of the business try specializing in one or two aspects say rebuilding a computer tower,or sell the alternators to a core buyer instead of the scrap yard, or just striping all the nonferrous out of a fridge rather than just dumping it off in the tin pile
We know that it's a daily struggle to get a load on the truck every day, and you pick up all and any scrap to make the day, but always try to go back to your specialized area it will make you more money and give you a reputation in your area so that people will look for you when they have that type of scrap.We specialize in a/c recycling and have a good rep for that in my market but we will also pick up the white goods every chance we get.I hope this tread makes sense to you, find your niche and run with it happy scraping.

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Originally Posted by 1956

Well when times are as they are now, no jobs or low paying no where dead end jobs, men and women alike will seakout ways of providing for there families

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Hard times? Come to the Dakotas. Yeah, the winters suck, yeah the wind blows, yeah the towns are small, and don't have all the big city stuff. But; if you work hard and keep your nose clean there are ample opportunities here! Looking through the local paper there are 4 pages of help wanted ads. Help wanted in the windows all over town too. Some people don't want to work, just suck on the taxpayers teet. Too political? Oh well.

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Originally Posted by pjost

Hard times? Come to the Dakotas. Yeah, the winters suck, yeah the wind blows, yeah the towns are small, and don't have all the big city stuff. But; if you work hard and keep your nose clean there are ample opportunities here! Looking through the local paper there are 4 pages of help wanted ads. Help wanted in the windows all over town too. Some people don't want to work, just suck on the taxpayers teet. Too political? Oh well.

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Pjost, I respect the heck out of you here on the forum and won't get into the 6.3 % unemployment rate (supposedly) that is today's going rate because even though you make a good point, the OP is talking about scrappers making the most out of scrapping. I'm not going to get ''political'' because that is not the nature of the OP and the ''teet suckers'' are for another thread/forum altogether.

1956, I was just talking to a friend tonight about maximizing on what we both find and fix up and starting to go to flea markets because that seems a better way to make extra money on scrap in my area rather than putting something in my front yard and risk someone stealing it or (for me) sitting by a phone or computer checking emails to see if something sold when I don't have that kind of time during the week. I already sell on CL which doesn't take the kind of time that selling on EBAY would (again, for me) but I could make the time on a weekend to sell at flea markets and maybe make some contacts for what I/we specialize in.

It all boils down to word of mouth (IMO) and I have so many now that I'm forgetting to pick things up from people who are *thankfully*, understanding and totally chill about it. lol, I don't think I can expand any further than I already do without more helpers which is a whole 'nother story!

I am at the tipping point and this is from deciding 5 years ago to make scrapping my full time job because I wasn't ready to go back into ''public'' sector due to stress of taking care of elderly grandparents in my home for 3 years prior to my first scrap run. I put the same effort and courtesy into scrapping as I did my public job and that is what has set me apart from the rest in my area. Again, that is just my opinion but, I'm pretty **** sure I have passed out my name and phone number more than any of the competition.

Joining SMF has also set me above a lot of the local scrappers IMO because I have been asked by a few ''what do you do with such and such'' and believe me, I don't mind helping a fellow scrapper out but, IMO, if *I* had to do the research so should they. It also reminds me that I can take this job as far as I want to and I have (albeit) cyber watchdogs, reminding me not to lower my standards nor expect any less from others I see driving around because scrapping is a job we all have to ''prove'' isn't a bad thing to be doing.

OP, I believe we are ALL success stories here at SMF and have set ourselves apart just because of the fact that we set ourselves to a higher standard and created a forum in which to help ourselves as well as others ''distance ourselves.'' :)

No disrespect intended to you 1956. Sorry if I came off that way. It was for sure not intended for anyone on this forum either. Just a rant. And thanks Newattitude for pointing that out. :D and I agree with you 1956. Since being on this forum, you guys have inspired me to break things down that I used to pitch.

Edit: I think my rant was directed at my lazy neighbor. I can look out the window and see him flipping steaks on the grill. I think: "he's on the teet, and I'm sitting here eating ramen noodles."

Hey Pjost; I see your from South Dakota, do they drill for oil there as they do in North Dakota? Is there any scrap at the oil rigs?

I'm originally from North. Been in South about 4 years now. I've never seen an oil rig here. Was up to the oil patch last summer near Tiaoga, ND not scrapping tho. Doing my photography work. I'm sure there is lots of scrap up there for the taking. The oil patch is a good 7 hrs from where I am, but probably be a good opportunity for someone. Problem is there's nowhere to rent or live. The place is kinda crazy tho. All you see is semis and 1 ton trucks. Constant stream of them. We had to move 2 combines, and two heads on trailers 23 miles through all that. At 23 miles an hour, there was probably 5 or six miles of trucks stacked up behind us. Two lane road all the way. One semi tried to pass and almost wrecked into a combine. The rest just putzed allong with their flashers on.