The caveats of riding someones coattails

Question for the hivemind. Mods please move if this is the wrong forum.

I see various "drop off your ewaste for free" events and most of the time these are held in the parking lot of a retail chain.

Has anyone parked thier truck in the same area and with a sign offered to pay for ewaste that people are going to drop off?

An acquaintance of mine said he used to do the same thing back in the day when a buy your silver and gold company would visit an convention center.

He would hit up the lines and offer to buy anyones precious metals at a higher rate. Then he would take the loot to a nearby refiner and profit.

This is not meant to be a troll or flamebait, but I am fishing for some cons of doing such a thing.

I'm sure that this would not fly. In our area, a common thing to see is CEAR events at Home Depots. They have an agreement with Home Depot, and you would actually be on private property as well. You wouldn't last long set up there.

Also, keep in mind these collection events are usually fund raisers for non-profits.

Now, if you were on another property, that would be different. I'd suggest having required permits and licenses for this though.

They sure aren't going to like it if you try to get ahead of them. Why not work with them. Let them collect the stuff for free, then be the guy that buys it all and benefits their charity/drive. You might be surprised at the deal you could make with them.

If it's a big corporation, it may be tougher to make the deal as they probably have contracts in place.

I have thought about that also.

Ok well I am not into much e-waste but if I was I would seek out Boy or Girl Scout troops in your area most of the organizations are run thru the house of worship in your area, set up a meeting with the troop leaders, propose a deal to them that you would handle all the aspects of the e- waste collection drive and they would share in the profits, or a set price for different items it's a win win for every one these troops have hundreds of members so I would have a bunch of Gaylord's set up in the parking lot separate each item in it s own Gaylord when it's donated will save lots of time for you. There are also many sports teams and leagues that would be open to the same type of fund raiser. Also look at all the after the fund raiser business and recognition your company would get.

Perhaps contact the organizers prior to the event and ask permission to participate. Mike

I'm sure you can come up with a more original idea . What your suggesting is taking items and donations away from young children .
Be original start your own drive or go to gov deals and buy a nice lot . A lot less work and face to face time debating profit sharing and what I buy what u want ? Seriously there is tons and tons of ewaste in this country . Be innovative and try looking past your nose.

Sickens me when people try to take advantage of youth groups and volunteers who are trying to do the right thing . Go find your $5 computers somewhere else . If I saw you parked there I would approach you and tell you that you were trespassing any response other than your apology and dismissal would warrant a phone call to the police . I'm sure they look down on what you think is a great idea

He would hit up the lines and offer to buy anyones precious metals at a higher rate. Then he would take the loot to a nearby refiner and profit.

Full article at Scrap Metal Forum: http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/scrap...#ixzz39uVwjoYn

You should have seen the line at the Washington mint for those 3/4 oz gold franklin half dollars last week . I saw people in small field trip organizations that were herding people and paying them $100 to stand in line for a coin that cost $1240 . I was offered $200 above what I paid and declined . They only had 100 available Thursday am when I went for the adventure and you were only allowed 1 per person .

BAD IDEA ALL THE WAY AROUND........Not sure if this behavior is condoned on this forum

The guy said upfront he was looking for cons to make money........Very interesting this thread is still open

I believe he meant he was looking for the cons as in "pros and cons"

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Originally Posted by mikeinreco

BAD IDEA ALL THE WAY AROUND........Not sure if this behavior is condoned on this forum

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That's why it never got past the I wonder if part of my mind.

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Originally Posted by MattInTheHat

I believe he meant he was looking for the cons as in "pros and cons"

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that makes sense

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Originally Posted by mikeinreco

The guy said upfront he was looking for cons to make money........Very interesting this thread is still open

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Apologies Mikeinrecovery, but this was very funny to me. I never would have thought someone would have taken it that way. Especially with the word "Caveats" in the subject.

Thank you all for your various viewpoints.

Offtopic:
I do believe that some (not all) of those who are considered "cons" deserve a chance back in society. Also, I am pretty sure there are quite a few posters on this board who have had thier share of run-ins with the law.

I am a convicted felon (best thing that ever happened to me)......Couldn't find regular job turned to scrapping.......Next best thing that ever happened to me........

I think the POINT everyone made was you should have thought through your question before asking it...."what if I take items that are being donated for charity where I can make a buck"....you should have answered your own question and said..."you know, that's not a good idea...MAYBE I should go organize my own FREE drop off instead of riding on their hard work".....sorry if that is harsh, but that is essentially what you were thinking based on your post...sometimes you can answer your own question if you think a second....just sayin.

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Originally Posted by webuyselltradestuff

I think the POINT everyone made was you should have thought through your question before asking it...."what if I take items that are being donated for charity where I can make a buck"....you should have answered your own question and said..."you know, that's not a good idea...MAYBE I should go organize my own FREE drop off instead of riding on their hard work".....sorry if that is harsh, but that is essentially what you were thinking based on your post...sometimes you can answer your own question if you think a second....just sayin.

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Ummm...

I already knew that there would be "cons" to doing so. The whole point to this discussion was to see if there were any other "cons" I did not think of myself.

I salient point a couple of you are missing is that not all ewaste drop off events are for charity.

Quite a few of them are for profit for corporations or for other scrappers such as yourself.

Am I advocating "riding someones coattails"? No.

Am I looking for any "caveats"? Yes.

I do not mind someone being blunt with me as long as they are not making assumptions.

Again thank you all for your point of views.

The joys of the internet.

In my area they all go to major recycling corporations. All the customers lined up on the road to drop off scrap and had to pay. So we sat in the parking lot on that road with a free sign and reaped the rewards. Is this wrong? No. We are simply providing a better and more cost effective service to the public.

I think the OP's idea would work if the OP was to buy the ewaste off the Scout group etc at a price that was slighty above what they would have got for it.
I'm getting the impression that the Scout group is just palletising the ewaste up and sending it directly to China.

By getting the ewaste at that point, the OP can generate income by knowledge and their own manpower.
I wouldn't be too keen to let Scouts scrap down the ewaste by teaching them how. Its a really dirty and unhealthy thing to do. All those germs in the power supplys taught me that, plus CRT glass vacuum imploding and sharp glass is a No No.

But nah, standing outside one of those ewaste drives and touting for business is a No No too.

My Father was a Scout leader, a REAL Scout leader. Real ski trips, week trips tramping, organising real stuff.
Every good keen Man I have met, was a Scout or Cub in their early years. People that look after the group, not just themselves.

I've not had much experience dealing with these mass collections, but the time I did, my work was DONATING to the boy scouts and I was only thinking about scrapping at the time so I asked a couple questions. He was rude and outright lied to me (as I now know from SMF) and I have now realized he was just a scrapper doing all the collections for the troop and would donate to them based on what he brought in. The man I met did not seem like the type to be upfront and honest with anyone. He tried to push me away from what is now my second income.

That makes him my competition.

So as long as I don't break the law trying to get ahead of him, that's just business and capitalism. I get why he doesn't want another scrapper in the mix but I feel he should have been vague instead of lying to me about the profitability of scrapping. "I don't know" is a lot more polite than quoting prices that are ridiculously low to discourage someone.

I don't think you're wrong at all for asking a capitalist question. When we are all trying to capitalize on the game. It's a free market. You may get yelled at or spit on. So bring your earplugs and some old clothes. You can always try and then find out what happens in real life. I doubt you'll get arrested.

theres a scrapyard by my house with tons of bikes going to the shred and a number of people outside the line trying to buy the bikes and if you sell the bikes to one these people the yard will ban you. its a shame cuase im friends with many of these bike guys who restore bikes for living or for collectors items, ive seen amazing antiques getting thrown into the shred, it is a horrid shame

Most of these events, the designated charity receives less than they anticipated and not happy about their good name being USED.

Why can't I see the updates on this thread?

Nevermind, they just loaded after I posted that

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Originally Posted by bigburtchino

Most of these events, the designated charity receives less than they anticipated and not happy about their good name being USED.

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I tell the scout leaders I deal with that delivered to my door it's $5 a piece on computers , they bring a nice load but always try to sell me things I don't buy . Sometimes I take those items as a favor . But really I don't have sympathy for someone who got free items and now is stuck with them . I.e. Printers,monitors

Advertise and network . I have more work than I can handle and that's from minor advertising and word of mouth networking .