Picked up a pile of batteries... Now what?

As far as batteries go about all I know is Li ion are worth something and so are car batteries. The haul I brought home from work today was these.... From a bit of googling they are lead acid... Right? Same as car batteries right? So it appears they will be worth something.

Can anyone tell me what the next step would be? Should I just call a yard and for ind one that buys them and ask? Do they pay per pound or per batt. Should I open any of them? These are just a few... I have over 100 pounds of them in my trunk.

They are from emergency exit lights. None of these will hold a charge anymore

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/...psa1d9c0fc.jpg

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/...psd5743085.jpg

As always.. Thanks for your time and comments!

They are small gel type lead acid batteries. You can tell because they say Pb, the symbol for Lead. Sell them with your car batteries.

Some yards are by the lb. while others are by the batt. You'll have to call yours to see how they roll.

My yard pays car batteries for those. Most any yards will accept them, if you have so many that its a pain to load them I would call ahead to make sure your not doing work for nothing if they don't take them. Good luck

Thanks for the confirmation everyone! I'm glad I can just bring them in like this. Another good thing to start asking the other hotels for :))

Around here they go for about 25 cents per pound. Wear gloves: they contain sulfuric acid, either liquid or gel.
I like them: They always make a good payday when I take them in.
They come not only in emergency lights, but computer UPS units as well.
I guess you could say I get a charge out of scrapping batteries....

my yard don't take batteries. and they have to be removed before i take in a junk car.
luckily there is an interstate battery store down the street from the scrap yard that does take batteries.

Look to see if you have a CORE BUYER in your area. Yards pay puny. My Core buyer would buy them at .38/lb Look to see if you have an automotive CORE BUYER near you!

I took in a set of ups batteries and a few car ones and got around $30, my yard payes out good for batteries.

i get the equivalent of 39c per lb for those.

i like them cos they are heavy & the weight adds up quite fast.

yeah call around and get prices.

Hmm hmm HMM

I called my three yards and they were .25, .25, and .26 per pound. I did my best googling to find someone in the area here. I live in the Minneapolis / St. Paul metro area so I would really hope there is a core buyer somewhere. I found one company that looked like they bought cores, but after emailing I found out they are only at .28/lb

OH! Anyone have a guesstimate at how many pounds I would need before I would ask for any different pricing? 100 pnds? 250? 500? 1,000?

What sort of companies do you guys get the .35+ at? I am going to throw a CL out there to see if that will help me find a better buyer on them. When googling for a core buyer I am using "core" "lead acid" "battery" recycling, reuse, refurbish". Are there any keywords or strings anyone could suggest?

You can also try places that recondition car batteries.

let me apologize in advance of any hurt feelings. This is not aimed at any one in particular, BUT. Every now and then we all need a wake up call. I understand the desire for quick easy answers. (part of whats wrong with Amerika today) Every now and then the forum gets clogged with innate or common sense questions this thread is a great example. If some one dosen't have the common sense to know what to do with batteries, two things come to mind.

One, they read, no, none, nada, old threads, or used the search function, or even googled it. Two they have no common sense and will run into trouble scrapping. THE #1. TOOL IN SCRAPPING IS YOUR BRAIN.

Why is it fair to us who give thousands of hours of free time to this forum trying to help others advance their knowledge of their craft, be it chosen or out of necessity, when some wont spent one minute on the search function.

Sry it's raining today so your stuck with me.( }:<{) >.

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Originally Posted by olddude

let me apologize in advance of any hurt feelings. This is not aimed at any one in particular, BUT. Every now and then we all need a wake up call. I understand the desire for quick easy answers. (part of whats wrong with Amerika today) Every now and then the forum gets clogged with innate or common sense questions this thread is a great example. If some one dosen't have the common sense to know what to do with batteries, two things come to mind.

One, they read, no, none, nada, old threads, or used the search function, or even googled it. Two they have no common sense and will run into trouble scrapping. THE #1. TOOL IN SCRAPPING IS YOUR BRAIN.

Why is it fair to us who give thousands of hours of free time to this forum trying to help others advance their knowledge of their craft, be it chosen or out of necessity, when some wont spent one minute on the search function.

Sry it's raining today so your stuck with me.( }:<{) >.

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I agree 100% with Old Dude on this. What we do is a business and I have been doing it for 20 years now and it frustrates me that the Internet has blown up this business so anyone and everyone is doing it. I refuse to contribute to most posts because people are lazy and just looking for the quick fix or the easy way out. If people want the quick fix or the easy answer maybe they should inform us on all the ins and outs of their business or trade...

I will also add this....dude this is the CLASSIC case of "a nickle holding up a dollar"....you got 3 friggin prices on batteries... .25/lb is what they are going for....even if you have 100 pounds (and you MIGHT if you have the 5 or so I see in the pic), you will get $1 (YES ONE WHOLE DOLLAR) per .01 someone else pays you....1000 pound of them is a WHOLE $10 more.....just take them to your yard and get on with it. These are nothing special (lead acid batteries just like car batteries)....I probably have 200-300 pounds from the last set of power backups I picked up last week from a client....just take them and get you r money TODAY, and go buy more stuff that you can flip again in a day or 2....THAT is how money is made...not fighting on a $1 here and there.

Sorry, but someone just needed to tell you. If you got like 1000 pounds a week, then by ALL means shop it or squeeze your yard for a higher rate (ie get into their next payout bracket based on amount your bring in)....but it just isn't going to be much higher than what you were quoted in your area based on the 3 quotes...

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Originally Posted by olddude

This is not aimed at any one in particular, BUT. Every now and then we all need a wake up call. If some one dosen't have the common sense to know what to do with batteries, two things come to mind.
One, they read, no, none, nada, old threads, or used the search function, or even googled it. Two they have no common sense and will run into trouble scrapping. THE #1. TOOL IN SCRAPPING IS YOUR BRAIN.
Why is it fair to us who give thousands of hours of free time to this forum trying to help others advance their knowledge of their craft, be it chosen or out of necessity, when some wont spent one minute on the search function.

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olddude... If I hadn't read many of your posts from the pasts and seen the knowledge you have helped spread I would have taken this the wrong way. We all have bad days and maybe your having one =/

I know many of you have done this for 10+ years and I appreciate every one of you taking the time to share the knowledge you have gained during that time. I myself have done this for 6 months, BUT I plan to do it for the next 15+

Prior to this load of batteries I had never had a reason to go out and research them. Once I got this load I got online and was able to find out they were Lead Acid and that they were worth some $$, but also encountered people taking them apart - stockpiling pallets full - bringing into scrapyard as is - etc. I currently have 100+ pounds and I assume I will encounter MANY more of these in my next 15 years. Many people on here told me to find a CORE BUYER to get a better price. If that difference is .38 instead of .25 and I already have ~150pnds I think it would be very worth my time to find a CORE BUYER and establish that relationship for the future. I think ignoring these facts and just bringing it into my first scrapyard would be an amateur thing to do...

Again, I genuinely appreciate the help I receive here and thank everyone that helped point me in the correct direction on this, but if someone doesn't want to respond... then don't...

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Originally Posted by manchvegassalvage

I agree 100% with Old Dude on this. What we do is a business and I have been doing it for 20 years now and it frustrates me that the Internet has blown up this business so anyone and everyone is doing it. I refuse to contribute to most posts because people are lazy and just looking for the quick fix or the easy way out. If people want the quick fix or the easy answer maybe they should inform us on all the ins and outs of their business or trade...

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Sorry... for me its a hobby. Its fun. If you had any questions regarding the hospitality industry, where to go for the best rates, how online booking systems work, how our target market currently is, what determines a daily rate, etc I would be more than happy to share the knowledge I have gained.

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Originally Posted by webuyselltradestuff

I will also add this....dude this is the CLASSIC case of "a nickle holding up a dollar"....you got 3 friggin prices on batteries... .25/lb is what they are going for....even if you have 100 pounds (and you MIGHT if you have the 5 or so I see in the pic), you will get $1 (YES ONE WHOLE DOLLAR) per .01 someone else pays you....1000 pound of them is a WHOLE $10 more.....just take them to your yard and get on with it. These are nothing special (lead acid batteries just like car batteries)....I probably have 200-300 pounds from the last set of power backups I picked up last week from a client....just take them and get you r money TODAY, and go buy more stuff that you can flip again in a day or 2....THAT is how money is made...not fighting on a $1 here and there.

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You obviously didn't read my whole post... I stated in the first post I have over 100pnds+
Getting a better price on the items you already have sure seems like a better plan than getting rid of it cheap just to move on.
My pickup locations will always have more in the future now that they know I want them.

http://i1152.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3ab798e1.jpg

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Originally Posted by hobo finds

Nothing wrong with trying to find a better price... But in all reality how long are you going to hold on to them? If you can't find a core buyer, and many of us can't then what's left go for the best price you get!

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Thanks! Longest I would hold them is until Weds morning since that's the next free time I have to get over to the yard.

Nothing wrong with trying to find a better price... But in all reality how long are you going to hold on to them? If you can't find a core buyer, and many of us can't then what's left go for the best price you get!

yep missed that you had 100 dd pounds...again I stress the math on this $1 gained per .01 you get paid and you aren't even factoring in the time you spent to find the extra .01/lb...I would tell you to just go sell to your nearest yard (just like a load of steel) and move on...that money gained can be used to buy higher grade scrap and flipped by the time you find someone paying .30/lb for batteries....the point is to work SMARTER not harder and trying to get an extra few bucks while wasting valuable time doing it is not smarter....it's just advice...but time is what you need to value FIRST when doing this for a living or a hobby...how much is it worth to mess with it? For me, $30-40/hr but YYMV....if I wanted to work for $8/hr then there is McDonalds for that....that is what I meant...treat it like the time IS valuable, because it is...

Well you called and got prices.It may be hard to find a core buyer in your area.Like me my core buyer is a 200 mile round trip.So sometimes you have to travel.I wouldnt worry about it with 100 pounds.Now if you had 2000 then i would do some traveling.
But if you do find one that oay more it might be .10 per lbs but that would only be a extra $10.00.Not worth driving anywhere for that but up the street.

Also like the poster above saying he wont do it unless he is making30-40 a hour is stupid.Because if you had a real job it would be lucky to be 12 per hour.
Yes there is a mcdonalds for 8 per hour but would you rather work there for that or just do scrap for that money?

Me i am not worrying about making 50 per hour or nothing stupid.Really i could care less about hourly.As long as i am making something and can pay my bills and have money to do stuff then thats all i worry about.
I have been doing this for almost 8 years and do cars only.Sometimes i might make 12 per hour and sometimes i might make 30 per hour but it all evens out to be the same for me.

To each their own about how much they "make" an hour. Some people would be pssed with $20 an hour, some people would think that's great. Its all about your situation.

Sort of reminds me of a hunting story. Dec. pheasant hunting here can be very challenging. The birds are wild after being hunted almost 2 months, weather conditions can be tough. My bud is (was) A type A personality guy. Has to be winning, has to get his limit. Me, I just like getting a few birds that I know I put down. Cold day, ends up blowing like a banshee getting towards dark but luckily no snow. We end up getting 5 out of 6 roosters but the bud is sort of pssed because we probably should have gotten the full limit. I thought it was great day. He sort of grumbled about it the rest of the evening...

Here's an advantage you have scrapping cars over working at McD's even if you were making about the same. You don't have to put up with some pimple faced 19-year old asst. manager trying to tell you what to do just because he's been there a year or two longer than you (now maybe you have to put up with the same type of kid doing a job at the "yard" but at least a person only has to put up with those types for a short time of the scrapping gig). I did the rest. biz many, many moons ago. Done that, wouldn't do it again unless I was in charge. After I leave Uncle Sam's graces down the road a piece, I'll be my own boss (as much as one can). Or so the fantasy goes...

It's never worth opening a battery. Unless you know something I dont, I think your health is more important.