Not all scrap is...well....Scrap ??

Hello all !!

I am new here so thought I would contribute something to the site. Hopefully it will be useful info to someone.

I was getting my cell phone repaired not to long ago and was chatting with the guy doing it. He asked what I did and I said I was a metal scrapper, he said really, I have some stuff just a few blocks from here at my house if you want it. I asked what....blah blah blah you know how it goes ;)

Went to his house and loaded a bunch of stuff up, as I was getting ready to leave he asked if I wanted this piece along his back fence? I went and looked and said sure.

It was a piece of solid steel 3/4" weaved rod, I loaded it and headed for home. As I drove home I thought, "I am not scrapping that, I am going to see if I can sell it"

So my point to the title is, as many of you know, not everything you come across should be sold to a scrap yard. Many items you can sell on Craigslist or by connections for much more money then you will get scrapping it.

I listed the item as a "Grate..sift...large piece of screen ??? " on Craigslist and sold it for 50.00 in a couple days. More then 5 times that of what I would have got scrapping it.

So keep an open mind on stuff !!

Here is what it was:

Happy Scrappin !

http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f2...S/PICT0017.jpg

Brilliant.

Good advice. I regularly sell the stuff I get that way. Sold a bathtub for $100 to the same guy I'd just sold two old-fashioned wringer washers. I've got a buyer for all bicycles I get regardless of condition. Another for lawn mowers. I pick up biweekly from a body shop and put some pretty good stuff on Craig's List. And on and on.

Very good advice!

Usually as a good rule of thumb, I will not sell something outside of the scrap yard unless I am getting double the price I would get for scrapping it. I guess I could bend that rule if the something in question is over $60 or $70. I tell myself that my time spent selling the part as used is worth at least the scrap value of the item being sold. This way, I do not waste time selling things when I could be out finding more scrap! Keeping these types of rules for yourself keep scrapping as lucrative as possible.

When I am picking up appliances and lawn mowers I always ask if they know what is wrong with them. I sold a riding mower engine for $75 a metal video game cabinet for $50 and I have a person who buys appliances for $20 each non working and more for working. I also got a John Deere riding mower for my self that just needed an oil seal. I agree that not all scrap is... scrap.

There's lots of stuff I've gotten as scrap and not had the heart to part with. I do some welding, and if it's something that looks like it might be useful later on, I'll set it aside and hold onto it.

A few months ago, I made a nice set of metal sawhorses out of some 2" galvanized I beams, which were old cyclone fence posts before pipe became the norm. I have no idea how old they are, but I reckon they've been in my possesion for more than 20 years.

I have a piece of plate, 2 feet square and an inch thick, that I dug up a couple years ago. I look at it and see a thumb for a mini excavator in there. I just need the time with the torch to set it free. For what it would cost to go and buy that material new, I'll hold onto it a while longer.

Hell, I can't go into a scrap yard without seeing something I want to bring home with me...