Just a little nervous I guess

Hello everyone - Today is my first local scrap yard trip and I find myself a little bit nervous. Top contributors to this would be 1) This is my first time with a decent amount to sell. 2) Still a little hazy on how I should have it sorted, how far it should be broken down, what some things are, etc., 3) the fact that I am a female. (Not to mention a female that is shooting straight to this yard right after my office job so I am dressed business casual) What approach should I take? Obviously the timid, unsure of herself scrapper that I sometimes find myself appearing outwardly is just going to get me ripped off or cause some sort of other trouble (like when I fly off the handle because some one asks me if I know how to check my blinker fluid or that's not copper - that's colored steel or something to that effect) I'm over exaggerating of course but hopefully I've made my concerns clear. Any help advice is always appreciated!!!

I know I need to just suck it up but I appreciate the tough love approach too! No offense will be taken!

Hehe blinker fluid.. Used that one on my wife one time... also to rotate the air in the tires :)

You'll be fine.

Good luck . the guys at my yard always treated my wife and daughter very politely

blinker fluid's easy, i just pay em at the shop to check mine :) I'd suggest taking it slowly at first (not taking Everything at once) Maybe just your various copper piles today, Aluminum tomorrow, etc. I saw another suggestion that is advisable too, he recommended weighing the higher grades first, which is a very good way to do, because anything they say is lower grade, just say ok, and toss it into the next bucket ; )

Good advice from Bear.

Let them know that this is not a onetime trip and that anything they see that can make you more money next time would be appreciated.

you will be fine, just dont ruin your nice clothes. Also when your putting a bucket or tote of lets say Alum sheet on the scale, I always say what i got. If it was sorted wrong they would seperate it. I messed up with Alum sheet and alum extrusion back in the day, all mixed togeather. That was my second or third trip to the yard. Good luck and have fun

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Originally Posted by rca987

Hehe blinker fluid.. Used that one on my wife one time... also to rotate the air in the tires :)

You'll be fine.

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You know what always gets me no matter what? Point to the ground and say "you dropped your pocket" - I'll be looking at the ground (not necessarily for my pocket but for something)- never fail. One guy I knew in school just pointed to the ground and i would look ~ skipped out on the vocals just pointed.

Don't worry about it, Julie. Just have the stuff "rough sorted". Tell them this is your first trip there but you did the best you could to sort stuff out. Don't try to act more knowledgeable than you are but don't "act dumb". Listen and ask for clarification to anything you don't understand. Above all, try to get somebody you can understand. I'm used to smaller yards that WANT to help you, so really can't help with the type of yard I see some on here dealing with.

Go slowly, don't get excited and if you have a question about how something is graded, ask. If they give you any crap tell them to put your stuff back into your vehicle. Oh yea, ask the grade/price before they toss it into a big pile never to be returned. If they really give you a hard time stop them and ask for the boss. Don't take any crap you are the customer. I don't expect they will because pretty girls are hard to find at the salvage yard, Mike.

I wouldn't sweat it Julie, my wife makes runs to thr yard all the time for me and gets along well. You learn all you need to know in time, none of us learned all of this in a day and started out with bout the same amount of knowledge you have now, good luck and don't let em push ya around

You'll be fine. Yard guys will be falling over each other to assist the pretty girl. I witness this all the time (not just at scrap yards).

I agree you will be fine my wife also goes for me all the time never any probs. Actually i think she gets paid more than i do. LOL

That's one thing you can do - tell them your husband/boyfriend sent you, but that you're interested in learning. See what they'll tell ya.

So... how did it go?

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Originally Posted by Julie

You know what always gets me no matter what? Point to the ground and say "you dropped your pocket" - I'll be looking at the ground (not necessarily for my pocket but for something)- never fail. One guy I knew in school just pointed to the ground and i would look ~ skipped out on the vocals just pointed.

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Oh no! My pocket has a hole in it and I think it may have fell out today!

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Originally Posted by Julie

Hello everyone - Today is my first local scrap yard trip and I find myself a little bit nervous. Top contributers to this would be 1) This is my first time with a decient amount to sell. 2) Still a little hazy on how I should have it sorted, how far it should be broken down, what some things are, etc., 3) the fact that I am a female. (Not to mention a female that is shooting straight to this yard right after my office job so I am dressed business casual) What approach should I take? Obviously the timid, unsure of herself scrapper that I sometimes find myself appearing outwardly is just going to get me ripped off or cause some sort of other trouble (like when I fly off the handle because some one asks me if I know how to check my blinker fluid or that's not copper - that's colored steel or something to that effect) I'm overexaggerating of course but hopefully I've made m concerns clear. Any help advice is always appreciated!!!

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I felt this way the first time I had to get my vehicle weighed in.
After I got weighed in, unloaded and paid I felt silly for being so anxious.

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Originally Posted by rca987

Oh no! My pocket has a hole in it and I think it may have fell out today!

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Where?!?! I'll help you find it!!!!

Mixed feeling about the trip... I drove across town to a yard and they seemed nice enough - they waited for me to get there before they closed. Found out that they are starting to collect ewaste so i threw my best pitch in there for towers. Unsuccessful attempt but at least i tried! They're selling all of their ewaste to that CEAR company which lead me here in the first place. CEAR must have every resource anywhere near me locked down - and making a killing on it! Shouldn't be a hater if it isn't hurting me directly though. I took bear's advice and just took one type of scrap - the steel & aluminum (i guess that's 2 but still easily monitored). After waiting 30min (which wasn't a big deal) my boyfriend and I unloaded our truck, they weighed it and I made a whopping $27.02. Looking at the receipt I weighed in with 35lbs of dirty aluminum and 296lbs of tin. I was a little confused and when i asked their answer was "it doesn't count as steel because it's too thin - steel is thicker like you know..." not providing any example just trailing off. Is that true? Or did I get taken?

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Originally Posted by Julie

Where?!?! I'll help you find it!!!!

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My wife found it. She set it aside by the bottle of blinker fluid ;)

Thin stuff like washers, dryers, stoves, water heaters, computer cases, etc, etc, etc, is tin.

Heavy stuff like car/truck frames, rotors, drums, beams, etc etc is "steel", or iron. Some yards want to see 1/8"-1/4" or thicker to be iron.

The prices you got is about on par for what I get for tin and dirty aluminum.

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Originally Posted by rca987

My wife found it. She set it aside by the bottle of blinker fluid ;)

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Ah ha should've know...

I learn something new every day. I thought that tin and steel was the same but now i know the difference thanks a lot idaho scrapper.

i learned something too - I thought steel and tin were completely different metals. I thought tin was the metal that they make "tins" out of and put cookies or whatever in them; thus the name - tin. Sounds reasonable to me lol

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Originally Posted by Julie

I made a whopping $27.02. Looking at the receipt I weighed in with 35lbs of dirty aluminum and 296lbs of tin. I was a little confused and when i asked their answer was "it doesn't count as steel because it's too thin - steel is thicker like you know..." not providing any example just trailing off. Is that true? Or did I get taken?

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Actually Julie it sounds like you did very well. Here's what it would of looked like if I would have taken it in:

296# tin @ 0.06 =$17.76

35# Al breakage @ 0.12 =$4.20

Total = $21.96

My yards consider any ferrous less than 1/8" thick as tin. As you probably know after this run is that you need to try to maximize your clean aluminum and only sell the stuff that's too hard to seperate as dirty aluminum.

Tin is a seperate metal but tin is also a general term used for items that are made of thin steel.

I believe tin(the actual metal tin) was used to make many items that required a thin metal and it was easy to work with many years ago. Thus anything that was made of thin metal was termed "tin". When manufacturing processes were able to make thin steel tin was dropped mostly.

I am certain if you check you muffin tins with a magnet you will find that they are made of steel. And if you take them to the salvage yard they will pay you tin prices. Mike.

So i was kinda right... lol good guess though

The yard I deal with here in Minnesota pays about 8 cents per pound for tin. About 10 cents per pound for aluminun breakage.

Julie, I know how you feel. Usually, I am the only female in the yard when I take in a load. And, I was really really nervous the first couple of times I went in. But, after a while, you'll see the yard men treat you as just another scrapper. It gets easier every time you go. So, congratulations on your first trip and savor that $27. It only gets better from here.

KW

Not too bad, prices bout the same here in kansas. Quantity is the name of the game, usually take in not less than 5000 #, on my 18' car trailer.

I should have planned it a little better and brought a different combination of materials... possibly material that is going to bring in a little more money. I didn't know what to expect at all so i brought the least valuable stuff on accident and was worried that they ripped me off. lol

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Originally Posted by Julie

I should have planned it a little better and brought a different combination of materials... possibly material that is going to bring in a little more money. I didn't know what to expect at all so i brought the least valuable stuff on accident and was worried that they ripped me off. lol

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This is key! Deal in mixed weights above 1000#'s and you should get steel prices, not tin. Always call to confirm before hand.

Hi Julie.
You might have lose some money on the Aluminum...
1. Make sure that there are no screws or other metal on the aluminum. ( if you bring 200lb af Aluminum and they see 1 SCREW they will downgrade the whole lot.)
2. there are several different types af AL ( Sheet,cast, Extrusion, Old AL sheet, and a few others.)
3. always separate your Aluminum ie. Clean, painted , cast , ect.ect.

The main yard I deal with lists AL as Sheet, Cast, Extrusion, Dirty Extrusion,copper and irony. As long as most plastic and steel is removed you should get $0.40/lb or more for aluminum, except irony. My yard(I really like them) also pays HMS price for my tin because I don't have plastic or other debris mixed in. Develop a good relationship ask the scale person if anything seems off. You will do well once you realize they will help you and want your business although sometimes only after they know you. If you like doing this do it if you don't find something else. Good luck

Why was your alumium DIRTY????? If they see one screw they will downgrade the whole load you brought in...