Need honest advise

Ok so I have a situation and I really need your advise. I am 35 years old and from the Midwest ( 30min west of Green Bay ) I make 14.00 an hour working in a foundery however with child suport taxes and all that fun stuff I only net 350.00 every two weeks. Obviously this is not enough to survive and need a supplement income. So what are my options? Work part time some where on my days off, possibly pay more child suport and this would yeild maybe 400.00 more a month. Or I could scrap!

The problem I see with scraping is that I live on a small town 10,000 people. Yes Green Bay and a couple other bigger city's are with in an hour a way but that is a lot of gas and travel time. There is one guy I been watching build his scrap business from a small shop and a truck to a shop three times the size of his original, a handful of trucks and several employees.( so I know there is money in this ) but I am afraid he has control of the whole town. And if it is not him there is this huge company called harters that take the scrap from my place of work and other businesses ( plumbing shops ext ) so. Really don't know where I fit in the mix. Taking stuff on garbage day would work but would not produce the income I would need. Also being a father of a 10 7 and 2 year old I don't have all the time in the world to make this work.

My level of experience is beg. I don't have a truck but I could purchase one. I feel like this journey is hopeless but then I think of that guy who build his business to what it is today. In the past when I had a truck I drove an hour a way and picked up a bunch of tv's and monitors I remember after the gass and time it took I did not really make that much. I feel like I am missing something here how can some people make money and others don't? The only other problem I foresee is that my future wife does not want a bunch of junk laying around even though we live in the country she does not want a junk yard. Given the following serum stances do you guys think I am cut out for scraping or should try another adventure? I think e waste ( even though I know nothing about it ) sound right for my situation. I know you can buy bulk lots of stuff on line but can you really make a couple hundred dollars a month by doing this say 15 hours a week ( about the amount of hours I would work if I got a part time job )

Thanks for listening to my rambles and please forgive me for any spelling or grammar mistakes. I work third shift and its been a long night! Thanks again for your honest opinion.

How much did you make from scrap last week? How much do you anticipate to make from scrap this week?

currently, how much per week do u make out of scrapping, in average?

i think u should speak to people around you & explain your situation to them.
u might be surprised at the number of them who will support you in scrapping
many members here have neighbours, friends & relatives saving stuff for them.

maybe even speak to your employer
ask if u can take the metal scrap

First things first you need to read a lot of previous threads on this forum to see what goes into this kinda work. Then ask yourself if it's something you want to do and can do. The amount of money you make depends on what you put into it. Your yard doesn't have to look like a junk yard unless you want it that way their are members on here that live in apartments and make it work. I have 4 kids and i do this full time. I made over 6,000 last month. If you shoot for the stars you will land on the moon if you shoot for the moon you will land on your behind. Read read read

The fact that you live in a town of 10000 only means there will be less competition. I live in a town of 4000.

I guess I wasn't very clear on my current situation. I do have a pile of scrap sitting on the side of my house. Washer, dryer, bike, a few pumps and rain gutters ext. I estimate 40.00 in total. I get exited when I start to take stuff apart but almost always come into problem areas. A bolt that won't come off, not the right size wrench ext. that is partly why the stuff is still siting there. I am sure if I purchase a cheap electric grinder most of my troubles will go away. I just am unsure about scrapping. I honestly only took stuff to the yard a half a dozen times. Another problem I think I may have is over doing it. When I get something I usually have to take very single screw out. I notice other people don't disassemble half as much as I do. My goal with scrapping would be a couple hundred dollars a month. I realize at the point I am at now it is not possible but on the other hand I don't want it to take a year to get to that point. I have read stuff on this site off and on for over a year now I guess I get discouraged when I can't figure out what kind of metal something is or not be able to take it fully apart or get busy with other things. I Know I really have to step up my game if I want to make this work but do you guys think a smaller town that already has a lot of scrapers in it would be able to get me to my goal of say 3 to 400 a month. Do you think buying lots of e wast is worth a one time try to see how that goes?

You are right about the amount of metal my foundery throws out. We probably have 50 grinders per shift and every grinder has a stainless steal wheel kit that weighs prob. 2 lbs I would ext. at least 5 a day end up in the garbage. Not to mention the amount of monster cans that you can get .10 for in mich which is 2 hours from my house. But might be worth a yealy trip.

I guess what I am saying is I am ready to get serious about this if you guys think a small town with a lot of people already doing this can suport the amount of money I need to make from this.

Honestly, you can succeed scrapping almost anywhere. You just have to want it. Take a week, read the old threads on how to break everything down. While you are reading, make a list of the tools you will need to make things go faster. Get a bunch of bins to separate your different metals into. Once you read the threads, you will know what metal is what just by the experienced guys on here spelling it out in their threads.
Once you have put in that work, the experts on the forum will be happy to help with any other questions.
Ewaste is the way to go for small storage areas. There is much more money for the space it takes up compared to steel.
make up some business cards and flyers. Talk to everyone you know and everyone you don't know. The key is you have to want it and work hard for it. There are plenty of guys on here who are very successful scrapping, and you can be too.
If you aren't willing to do this stuff, scrapping may not be for you.

I live in a town of less than 1000. I put a simple "Picking up appliances free of charge" ad in the local newspaper. I think it was $3/week for the ad. Of course the paper only comes out once a week. Ive made a couple hundred bucks in the last 6 weeks just doing that. I have since pulled the ad but I'm still getting calls. That's the nice thing about a small town. Betty tells Alice, and Alice tells Fred, pretty soon the whole town is calling you. and if I see something sitting outside someone's house I stop by and ask about it. Last week there was a giant cooler sitting outside an old restraunt that is being renovated into a bar. Nobody was there, so I stuck a business card in the door, and wrote a note on the back that I would take the cooler. Next day I got a call...they were happy to give it to me. Thing weighed 1500lbs and was $90 in my pocket.

I guess my point is find a niche in your small town. I had this newspaper ad idea because 1. It was cheap. 2. The city charges to take appliances. 3. This community is too old and small to use Craigslist.

Anyway good luck to you.

You can do this if you put the work in. It is not easy money.

But do whatever you can/need to get your name out there. Business cards are great and cheap. keep a few in your pocket/truck. I give one to EVERYBODY. Flyers at your local post office or pizza joint are great too. I still get calls from the post office flyers I put up once and the tear - offs are long gone.

And be better than the other guys. be presentable, polite and punctual. People talk, make sure they only have good things to say about you

You have an uphill battle if your (future) wife doesn't like it. You need to convince her that it is part of the solution to the money woes, not just an eyesore.

What do they say, "happy wife, happy life" ?

If you can show her that scrap = money maybe she will come around. After all, she can be your biggest supporter and encourager!!

Your comment about tooling--unfortunately, tooling is your best friend to maximize your profits. Others may take stuff in that isn't completely stripped because they have too much material and not enough time. Or they are ignorant of the extra money to be made. A small grinder with zipcut cutting disks is worth its weight in....well, copper! If you can get a little cash coming in you can keep an eye out for sales to buy the tools you need over time.

If you're only after a few hundred a month you will probably find a happy medium in how much you break down that works for you. How much you break down will also depend on the yard(s) you deal with. Some may be pretty lenient with how stuff is sorted. Some are pretty tough. You need to find the sweet spot that works for you.

I love your avatar!!

Jon.

From my personal experience, scrapping part time, I do mostly eWaste and I very rarely shop the curbs. I do a quick pass through about a 2 mile radius once a week and thats about it. Now keep in mind my schedule is ridiculous already. I work 8-5 mon-fri and then i have a 2nd business that i run out of my garage that comes before scrap. I put approximately 30 hours/wk into that. I have a wife and 3 kids at home that I can't be absent from ALL the time. My kids are 16, 9 and 2. I coach my 9 year old's soccer and softball teams. All of my kids live at home, I have been with my wife for 21 years (since high school) so there is no child support or every other weekend thing for me to worry about. But my time is very precious. I can't afford to waste a minute or I will miss out on something.

I am telling you all of this so you can see that even with a massive amount of other time commitment, but in spite of this I profited last month off of my scrap (and resale) over $1200. And that is after the $375 I paid out to acquire some of the stuff that I have sold (and some that I have not yet sold).

It's all about how much you put into it, the knowledge you gain from experience of your own, and reading the experiences of others on this forum. You can bypass a lot of the costly mistakes by learning as much as you can here before you set foot out your door. Eventually you will contribute to saving someone else a mistake or two, and that's what this place is all about. I have learned a lot more than I will ever teach on here. I think every single member would say the same thing. This is a full time gig for a lot of these guys (and girls) and a part time/hobby for others (myself included) but we all make each other better at what we are doing.

My biggest advice for a beginner - Start in 1 area. Learn it the best you can, and watch where it branches off. If you know most about appliances, focus on those, it will lead you to other parts of the business. For me it was eWaste, now when I pick up a few PCs, there is often some other stuff that rides home with it. Don't view other local scrappers as competition, view them as contacts. Trade with them if the opportunity is there. I buy from some of the local scrappers and pay them more than the yard does on the items I get from them. Why? because it gives them a reason to bring stuff to me that the yard grossly underpays for, and I can still double my money or better. Close no doors. There is more opportunity out there than any one of us has realized yet. There will come a time where you have to pass on things because you simply do not have the time or the space to deal with them. This is the problem you hope to wind up with. And there is only 1 road to it - Go to work.