Get Yourself A Picker Benny As A Contact

I've been doing pretty well with my online classifieds lately, 2-4 pick ups a week. About 2 weeks ago someone replied to my ad saying he would buy flatscreen lcd, led and plasma off me for more than scrap, $15-$35 a unit. I told him no problem. Haven't cashed in on this yet but it made me think "why not reply to a similar ad for something else? I don't do mowers, feel bad tossing them in shred but don't have the interest/time/experience to repair or tear down. So I contacted a guy that fixes mowers and, what-do-you-know, he will buy gas mowers off me for $10-$25 depending on make and condition! Going to sell him my first 2 tomorrow for $25 vs about$10-$12 shred.

Hope this helps someone else.

Oh and hope Benny doesn't mind me using him as a reference...and he doesn't cry for too long over those mowers already gone.

I actually wound up with a yardman wood chipper/leaf shredder for that I don't have any use for. I couldn't get it started even after flushing the tank/lines and changing the oil and plug. Didn't have any obvious issues and looked to be in pretty good shape. So instead of scrapping it I took it over to a lawnmower repair guy and asked him if he would want to take a look at it and see if he could get it running. He said he'd give it a shot and I left it with him. He called back about 2 hours later and said it was running like a champ, and asked me when I wanted to pick it up. I said kinda jokingly "never, that **** thing is heavy" and he without missing a beat said, are you looking to sell it? OF COURSE I AM... but I just hit him back with "depends on the offer, I don't NEED it, but I don't NEED to sell it either"... he offered me $150 cash instead of coming to pick it up and pay him $30 for fixing it. DONE DEAL. was much easier on my back stuffing the green into my wallet anyway. Fall is a good time to dump wood chippers. My guess is he will sell it for $300 and double his investment (pretty sure he didn't have any parts into getting it running, he called me back too fast) - So further proof, the scrap yard is the last resort for most things. I would have gotten $12-15 for that thing at the yard.

if I were to cry itd be of happy tears giving the mowers new life lol. but yes I used to be that person who would pay better than scrap for mowers and in return I always made profit. still do now that I think about it. anything with a small engine except weed eaters a small engine guru would pay cash for

You may find the guys you sell to will have scrap you can purchase or trade for. Great example of making contacts and making it it work for you, Mike.

Wow thanks for this thread. Gave me something to think about, and just sent some emails to a few ads on Kijiji that were advertising small engine repair, asking if they would buy units for parts. Hopefully gonna get some replies

Very good point. There are so many things that go into the shred pile that could be going to someone who will not only pay more but will get some use out of your junk at the same time. One man's junk is another man's treasure that's for sure.

That's the way to do it! I do E-Waste, but know people who do other things.

Networking is key. In our yard, the things that I see are astounding.

Somebody even sent in a 2003 Suburban for scrap. Everybody seems to have taken lawn mowers in.

There should be a glut of lawn mowers, it seems.

Why do people scrap stuff that's nicer than what I still use?

People are wasteful.