i was wondering how many on here do thsi full time 40+ hours per week
what are some of your biggest obsticles to overcome?
is it worth it?
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i was wondering how many on here do thsi full time 40+ hours per week
what are some of your biggest obsticles to overcome?
is it worth it?
fulltime yes
the biggest obsticle for me is the learning of making it through the highs and lows, a few weeks back we were only getting a couple cars a week and one week we only got one, last week i got 8, and am scheduled to pick up 4 today unless they cancel. after several weeks of only a couple cars which is my primary source of scrap coupled with buying the extra truck we got way below our comfort zone, we try to keep the better vehicles to sell as projects or to strip parts. saying this we had 10 or 11 cars the end of the week before and we have 16 now, all have enough potential to keep for parts or projects. today we only have enough hard cash to get diesel and to buy the first car and breakfast of course, today shouldnt be an issue as all the cars should be undesirable, a 97 voyager, transport, sable and an achieva, so we can do a rush job on these just pulling the easy parts and hauling off the cars for scrap, at the end of the day i should be up 4 digits. if one of the cars we get today ends up being a keeper we have to decide what to crush instead. when i had a job i didnt worry about much, not saying i do now i just have to be a little more careful.
is it worth it? i think so but it will take a few years to see if i made the right decision
i'd love to be back to full time, but right now my wife's job has the benifits so i am home with my boys. like cory siad, it's the high's and lows. having the discipline to not spend when the money is rolling in and save it for the slow times was always my problem. when i was living out at the farm i could stockpile scrap to haul later, but i still had problems.
Well not technically a full time scrapper, I have a full time job, but Im betting I put in 30 hours a week scrapping, biggest problem I have is there isn't enough hours in a day
I did it full time for about a year out of necessity. My biggest problem like cory posted was the highs and lows. You do need to really budget. If you start out doing it full time and have a nest egg to allow you to weather the highs and lows it is a lot easier to be successful. You also need to have a good business model. I knew exactly what I needed to do to make xxx.xx amount of money and I did it no matter if it took 40 hours or 80 hours. For me personally, the hardest part was the pressure of knowing if I didn't get things done I didn't eat. When things are slow, it's a lot of pressure.Quote:
Originally Posted by Libertytow
I personally think if you start the right way and run it as a business it certainly can be rewarding and worth it. If you have a truck and are just going to drive in circles it can be a tuff road which is why you often see guys doing scrap come and go.
My full time income is from scrapping, but I'm a bit lazy and only part time it. I don't need much to survive.
I do this full time all the time. I keep my. Little girl home two days a week and she helps me pick up cans. She appreciates the toy she gets to buy a lot more when its her money she uses. It is definetly worth it to me. But then again I'm on a big project so don't have to worry about any low times. But biggest problem I have is sun sets when there's still money laying in the dirt.
I have not seen a 40 hr work week since I started scrapping about 5 or 6 years ago.....More like 80 hrs a week....I love it and don't worry about my hourly rate as it would be nothing.......As far as being worth it Hell yeah......I can pretty much do anything I want when I want due to scrapping.....It makes me laugh to myself when people live on a tight budget at a regular job and have to really think over buying a computer for $50 or $100.........If I want something I get it and the money all comes from scrap and re-sale which has increased due to this forum
Hey congrats on going fulltime Cory, I didn't know that you had. I'm sure it was a tough call to make, but I know you made the right decision and it will be proven out over and over again as time goes on.Quote:
Originally Posted by corycouch
Yes, I'm fulltime as well. For myself, while I also hate the lows/slow times, I view it as time and opportunity to find new clients. Personally, my biggest obstacle is winter. A foot of snow last week and -15C today, bah humbug! Trying to drive around the city the morning after a fresh snowfall is very frustrating. Doing 3 stops in the same time it will take to do 10 in good weather sucks! Or having an out-of-town run planned, and then having to cancel and reschedule customers. Not to mention being soaked and frozen at the end of some days.
I do it full time and it is worth it. Like others have said the biggest obstacle is getting through the slow times. Not every week is the same amount of profit or inventory coming in. It's been hard to create a steady pattern but it is slowly happening. Is it worth it? I will let you know in another year or so. For now it pays the bills and that's what is important.
Scrap and resell is my only income. The hard part is probably the same as any independent contractor, competing with people who will work for for pretty much free. High gas prices and gas guzzling truck. Working alone, so I'm a scrapper, salesman, repairman, mechanic, advertising man, security gaurd, truck driver and chef to my wife lol. But the motivation is the people who laughed at me before for scrapping are sitting around broke and can't FIND a job. I MADE my job.
Full time and love it. Love the flexibiltiy it gives me as well. We have 8 kids in the house and there is always something going on. I would definitely say resell is a huge factor and becoming even a bigger factor in our day to day operations. We pretty much stick to computers as well.
To be successful at scrapping fulltime you have to treat it like a business. I don't know anyone that owns thiere own business that only works 40 hrs. a week. It's more like 60-80 hrs. a week.
I have been a full time scraper for 25 years,the main thing about scrapping is to have a steady flow of material,we do a lot of commercial a/c units IN Seasson but you have to eat every day,the body shops i have keep the money rolling every week the profit is not as good but you can still eat,if you want to work 40 hours a week this ain't for you,when its slow we work more not less,we do all kinds of scrapping the e-waste is just another thing we do besides junk cars,a/c's, body shops,industrial accounts,and any thing else that comes along.One thing I would recommend is start to put a retirement plan together when you are young,To be honest with you,my friends that took city jobs and retired after twenty years are better off than me
Oh well live and learn,I will be scrapping till i can't scrap no more,because i have to!!!!!
Full Time Recycler. Like everyone the challenge is to stay busy but most weeks are fine and I figure if I'm to slow I'm not trying hard enough.
Its great to be able to have some say about the schedule you keep and be able to spend time with family at times when most can't.
full time scrapper here ... like everyone else says stay busy and ... have more than one hustle .... 40 hours per week isn't possible doing this full time
Full time also. I work alone, unless the wife is off and wants to help. Now and then I'll hire on a buddy to help me break down things, like tvs. It pays the bills and keeps food on the table. I don't drive a huge gas guzzling truck, and make it work with my minivan. I focus on ewaste, and other niches. I find having a steady stream helps a lot in regard to staying busy. I've got contacts with most of my local thrift stores, cab drivers who constantly drop stuff at my house in the middle of the night. Go to walk the dog in the am, and see several tvs, and other electronics always makes me happy, specially since it was free. I also got ins with the only 2 pawn shops on my sandbar. They deal exclusively with me and me alone.
Is it worth it? A resounding Yes, from me. I moved away from my full time online business to scrapping. I enjoy the traveling, breaking down things vs the sitting at home working exclusively on the computer all day and night. Now I do the scrapping gig full time and the online part time.
I'm working on developing something with my mechanic in regards to cars. We're still in the planning stages with that so I won't say anymore on it, in case I jinx it..lol.
I'll never go back to a regular hourly gig working for the 'man', long as I can do this. This past week has been the toughest yet, mainly cause of the weather, I tore up my entire upper body being a dumbass by riding the bicycle in 40mph winds, so I've been taking it easy. Will it put a dent in my income or behind on bills? Not really. My bills are all paid, fridge and cooler are stocked. An I've got plenty of 'rainy day' funds saved up for times like this. Another day or two and I'll be good and back in the full swing of things.
I'm even considering buying ewaste from folks in my area(NC/SC). I don't think I'll pull the trigger on that decision until later in the year. Or maybe Next year. No rush on my end. I got a full enough plate. I'll be doing more resale's on ebay this year to.
So again..It's hard work, there is never enough time in the day to do all I need to, but at the end of it, it's all worth it. I enjoy it and it pays the bills with a little left over. I will say on the hours in a day..I might sleep 4 to 6 out of 24. I have sleeping issues but I make the best of it and work during those times.
Sorry for being long winded..ok not really but..:)
Sirscrapalot - Wears many hats, and keeper of the traveling cooler.
Bonus tagline!- “It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress.”
― Mark Twain
Pretty much describes my situation to a "T" except I'm just a one man show so I don't quite pull that number of autos. Not enough hours in the day.Quote:
Originally Posted by corycouch
full time here I will say this anyone who thinks they can get rich quick in this business are wrong it takes hard work and long hours and some times you work for free just to keep the lights on in your warehouse. Here in Florida the biggest problem I have had is competition everyone and there brother scraps for $$ here so i recycle everything lol
If the part time business holders getting a enough from scrap business... then for the full timers having a wast to grab a market with a huge profit.
Thanks for telling it like it is 1956!! Greatly appreciated !! Guys who are "really" making it are the scrap yards themselves !! Guys I talk to at the yard say there are a few cashing in 100 -200 daily but as we all know #1 "consistantcy" is the key !!
Full time here as well and been going that way for 2 years now. I eat a lot of peanut butter sandwiches and I will never say no to Ramen Noodles. That being said, if you're going to do this full time, be prepared to fail and fail hard. It took me a good year just to get the proper connections to keep my income cyclic and steady. If I were as estimating man, and I am a lot of the times and fairly good at it, I'd say you'd need to do this full time for a good 4-5 years just to get out of the middle class income bracket. I mean I've had weeks where I've made 2300 bucks, days where I've made 1100, and I've had whole months where I've only made 1000. I'm no stranger to working a 16 hour day and then coming home covered in grease and filth to fall asleep with my shoes on and then to wake up, shower, and do it all over again. You get from scrapping what you put into it and it's a job where your success culminates and derives from your overall experience.
You have to a lot to learn and you'll never learn it all; such as:
1) What to scrap,
2) What to tear down for higher value at the yard.
3) What yards pay (better for certain items).
4) What you can resell.
5) What you can refurbish.
6) How you refurbish it.
Now take the above points and factor in your time into all that on the occasions when you're really busy to decide whether or not it's really worth it. For instance, Vacuum cleaners? Bagless are an easy resell for 10-15 bucks on Craigslist. You can cut the cord for 80 cents, and take the electric motor out with a hammer or hatchet for another quick dollar (more like 60 cents). If you drag your feet while taking one apart, you've effectively made 2 bucks in 15 minutes, which is making 8 bucks an hour. McDonald's employees work less for the same pay. Want to make the most of your time? Find a yard that accepts Vacuums, test them at home when you get them, if they're good then resell, if they're not; cut the cord, toss them aside until you get a load to haul in. It took me the better part of a year to get that down. Now apply the same logic to everything you pick up on the job and you inadvertently become a walking encyclopedia of scrap, resells, and refurbs.
That's just the hauling and cleaning aspect of the job. That's what I consider the easy part. It gets much more complicated when you factor in taxes, advertising, dealing with clients, the unpleasant social stigma of the job, the ever fluctuating metal market, competition, and the fact that you can't sue yourself if you get hurt on the job... It seems daunting and it can be overwhelming at times, however, you need to realize that this is a career that offers you complete freedom and independence and becoming adept at this job will aid in becoming a person you never thought you could be and give you a sense of pride and self worth you never thought possible. I can run a business, design a website, put a new transmission in my truck, build a computer, fix a washing machine, and bench press 300lbs. What's my point? Scrapping taught me all the above.
How you solve your problems, your work ethic, your tools and materials, and your connections. When it comes to possibilities, the sky is the limit, only you don't have a parachute. Do I regret my career choice? No, because I love what I do. If I died tomorrow, I wouldn't regret a single thing about my job, the people I've employed, the experiences I've had, or the knowledge I've gained. Somewhere during my last breath, I'd like to think a small part of me would be fulfilled enough to know that I made this life and this living for myself with my own two hands and I never once dared to look back.
So you ask, is full time scrapping really worth it? Hell yes it is. Just my 2 pennies.
Well put Fatman.