Scrapping Spots

So, I've heard a lot about different places to go for different scrap, so let's see if I can get it all into one thread and then we can add more if I forget any. We can have a one stop shop for new locations when needed.

Auto Shops / Buying Junkers - All manner of metal, cores, catalytic converters, rims, and parts for possible resale. May cost money to buy, but good consistent source of scrap. A+ for longevity.

Farms and Countryside - Well known for large and many piles of scrap. Old tractors, metal roofing, etc... Good for possibly tons of metal. A+ for quick cash, but need to keep hunting for longevity.

Construction Sites / Contractors - Getting in with contractors can be a big win! They are always building, renovating, and making scrap. Good for iron and copper pipes, HVAC tubing/vents, furnaces, hot water heaters, copper electrical wire, etc... Make friends, take them some beer (or whatever they like), and reap the rewards. Caution: many builders are entrepreneurs, and as such may already be taking in their scrap. Good consistent source if you get in.

Local Businesses - Check with local businesses. Get some business cards, dress up a bit, and do some good old fashion meet-n-greets. Nothing like meeting people face to face to get the word out. Be clean and polite, and you will find scrap and referrals! (referrals are as good as gold in this business.) May not produce a lot of scrap up front, but can be immeasurable for more down the road.

Craigslist, Facebook, Internet - Use the internet! Craigslist is free, and used by millions! (facebook too) You will find many leads for both free stuff to pick up, as well as responses to ads you can post. Use it! It's free, easy, and someone else will get the scrap if you don't! Essential for longevity.

Just a beginning. I will add more later, but feel free to post some of your spots and what you find there. Happy Scrapping!

Furniture Stores-A lot of used furniture stores and some new ones will throw away metal furniture that can be picked up. Many of them like to have scrap haulers on speed dial so they don't have to fill up their dumpsters.

Appliance Repair Companies-Good places to find some doa appliances, motors and other assorted scrap

Ive done well looking for scrap in the woods near shopping centers and railroad tracks and dead ends... Really well....

Friends and family should be tops on the list. They will give you stuff and pass the word to many more.

Just my 2 cents.

Also:

Garbage Days - Do some hunting on garbage days/nights. Many people put out garbage the night before, and you never know what people will throw out! (just read the forums for some stories) "One man's trash is another man's treasure!"

Colleges / Apartments - Constant rotating cycle of people moving in and out. And of course, things always get thrown out when you move! Apartments may be better consistancy, but colleges are lots of people moving out all at once. I'd say longevity for both, but apartments are spread out more during the year. (don't forget college off campus apartments too!)

Hardware stores - May be a good source of scrap, especially if they deal in appliances. The one I work in takes away the old one when we install the new one. (The owner at mine scraps them for the business, but others may not.) Also, we do get tools tossed out by those buying new ones, and returns on items that don't work! Could be a good source for someone who can get in it.

I don't know about other states, but most cities in Indiana have a Spring Cleanup where people can throw out just about anything but hazardous waste....Normally a lot of scrap to be had during that weeklong period as long as you can stay ahead of the trash trucks.

I live in Indiana and Spring cleanup is a GREAT time. If you can beat others to it

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Originally Posted by ComputerScrapper

I don't know about other states, but most cities in Indiana have a Spring Cleanup where people can throw out just about anything but hazardous waste....Normally a lot of scrap to be had during that weeklong period as long as you can stay ahead of the trash trucks.

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Take this a step further and have your own day setup at the local schools. Advertise what you will accept and at what times in the paper and people will bring it to you. Better than paying dump fees. Do it once a month or every six or once a year opposite Spring Cleanup.

Thrift store dumpsters

When using craigslist, what category should I advertise in?

When looking around, I don't see anything in my area.

Thanks.

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Originally Posted by c4f5

When using craigslist, what category should I advertise in?

When looking around, I don't see anything in my area.

Thanks.

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Small Biz Ads under "Services".

Excellent, got it. Thank you very much. Found several in the Denver metro area, but I am 185 miles from there. Nobody else is listed in my area. That can only be a good thing. Thanks again.

Good luck. I agree - being the only one in an area is a benefit. I've had real good luck with Craig's List.

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Originally Posted by c4f5

When using craigslist, what category should I advertise in?

When looking around, I don't see anything in my area.

Thanks.

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I've gotten good results for posting pickup ads under the appliances section. Just post professionally, and you should do well.

Dump Spots are great- yesterday I found one that had 61 car batteries. Bingo.

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Originally Posted by Saroro

I've gotten good results for posting pickup ads under the appliances section. Just post professionally, and you should do well.

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Thanks. I'll do that, too. My area is quite rural, but creative writing comes easily.

Hello scrappers, im brand new to scrapping, so out of curiosity are appliances good to pick up for scrap ??? like washers and dryers ? what about tvs and vcrs ???

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Originally Posted by newinnj

Hello scrappers, im brand new to scrapping, so out of curiosity are appliances good to pick up for scrap ??? like washers and dryers ? what about tvs and vcrs ???

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All of that. Do some looking around on here. All those can be broken down, depending on how much work you want to do.

In reply to the original topic, I had a thought today while going thru town, what about checking in with the rental shops that rent out tools and such. They ought to have a fair amount of breakage and/or updating their equipment as it wears out. Just hadn't seen that listed as a possible, yet. Add it to your list guys,,, Mike:cool:

My dad had 2 rentals become available. I helped on the cleanup and there was metal at both rentals. Might contact landlords/apts in your area to do cleanups when rentals become available.

I'm sure this has been talk about but neighbors are a great source. My neighbor saves his family's cans for me. While I was out in the garage tonight he brought over a 33 gl trashcan full and he was looking in my garage and says "you scrap more than can's?" Well he just replaced a bunch of windows and a screen door says your welcome to them, so I went over to get them and started talking. He has a lot of screen windows and a few electric motors he wants to get rid of. So tomorrow I will retrieve them from his basement. I guess I need to ask more of my neighbors.

This spot I found to be different. I recently picked up a daily route, just so happens to be one of those 18 wheeler trailer donation places. Turns out anything left outside of the trailer over night, cannot be taken as a donation, and is regarded as trash. Other trailers could be different, so ask before you take anything.
I've been given permission to take anything I want that sits outside of the trailer. (It saves them money for when they have to pay a trash removal company to pick it up every Monday).

I realize this falls under that "donation box" category from a few weeks back, but at the same time, if it's going to the dump anyways, that shouldn't matter what I do with it.

And a side note- Something to think about if you happen to get one of these gigs....They were intended to be donations, that means most of the discarded "junk" has a good chance of working, if you're into reselling, or re-using.

Hmmmmm...Interesting. Let us know what kind of stuff you get from that. It could be interesting.

I have already gotten TV's, CRT's, Electric Grills, Clothes, Toys, Books, DVD/CD's, jewelry, tools, scrap metals. It's located somewhat close to a richer neighborhood, and I usually fill up truck bed every other night.

I get a lot of leads off craigslist. I also post 10 - 15 responses per day on blogs with my contact info. Another method I used is http//search.twitter.com Run a search like Scrap Metal, scrap,recycling (and your city). It's instant and up to the second. I've gotten 3 leads in the last 2 days from scrappers in Florida off twitter.

Just thought of another one. car stereo installers. The stereo I just took apart last night looked like it had some high grade computer board in it. Not to mention any other lasers or small motors that may be sellable? Anyone have experience with this?

I was wondering the same thing on stereo equipment and amps. Anyone know if they have gold in it?

Typically, the only gold in electronics is used for solderless connect such as ram chips and connectors, pci cards/slots, flex cables, etc. Hopefully this is some help.

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Try real estate agencies, Properties that go up for sale often need clean up services. Never know what you will get .It speaks for itself but please act professional when approaching other businesses and have solid contact info. Do not have some stupid ringtone on your phone or some goofy voicemail message.

I have pretty good sucess with local businesses. I usually offer to purchase it at right around 25-35 dollars a trailer full. I currently pick up from the local Habitat for Humanity resale store, lots of office buildings (mainly computer and office equip), schools, computer repair shops, and similar type places. I generally dont look for scrap metal per se but rather for computers and electronics. I look for office buildings, call centers, and similar places with larger amount of computers. I carry business cards and recyle agreements and scales with me at all times.

Also dont overlook scrap yards themselves. I buy LOTS of circuit boards from scrap yards at 1 to 2 dollars per pound and turn around and resell for over 4 dollars per pound. One yard alone gets me 500-1000 pounds per month. The best yards for these kind of deals are the smaller yards. If your yard is currently not handling circuit boards its because the are unaware of the value. Tell them to purchase at .50 per pound and you will buy for 1.00 per pound. SOme of the yards around here will also let you buy anything in the tin pile for .25 per pound as well so when we go we cherry pick that for computers as well.

cell phone stores are a great place to go to as well. Scrap cell phones go for close to 6 dollars a pound. We purchase from St vincent de paul, salvation army and similar stores on a monthly basis for 1.00 per pound and resell for 6 dollars a pound. Last pick up from salvation army was 100 pounds. Most of these phones are to old or beat up for resale and they were just putting in the scrap pile. We also offer schools free cell phone collection boxes and they call us when they are full and we pay a dollar a pound as well.

Also Contact your local scrap yard. I often get calls from customers that have small quantitites and do not have the means to bring the material in. I gather their information and pass it along to a trusted scrapper. Its a win win since I still get the business and the material plus the scrapper makes a couple bucks. Works great!

Thanks, directrecycle, for that valuable information. Where do you cell the circuit boards and scrap cell phones? I mean what type of place as I doubt that we live near one another. Thanks for the help.

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Originally Posted by directrecycle

I have pretty good sucess with local businesses. I usually offer to purchase it at right around 25-35 dollars a trailer full. I currently pick up from the local Habitat for Humanity resale store, lots of office buildings (mainly computer and office equip), schools, computer repair shops, and similar type places. I generally dont look for scrap metal per se but rather for computers and electronics. I look for office buildings, call centers, and similar places with larger amount of computers. I carry business cards and recyle agreements and scales with me at all times.

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I never tried it, but I didn't think that Habitat for Humanity would give things away. Do you pick up from them for FREE, or do you pay them, like your do local businesses?

In regards to your recycle agreements, are you referring to an authorization form, or more of a contract, to where you get all their business? I personally haven't done contracts as of yet, because I know most people do not like being tied into them.

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Originally Posted by directrecycle

cell phone stores are a great place to go to as well. Scrap cell phones go for close to 6 dollars a pound. We purchase from St vincent de paul, salvation army and similar stores on a monthly basis for 1.00 per pound and resell for 6 dollars a pound. Last pick up from salvation army was 100 pounds. Most of these phones are to old or beat up for resale and they were just putting in the scrap pile. We also offer schools free cell phone collection boxes and they call us when they are full and we pay a dollar a pound as well.

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Don't forget about any type of electronic repair store. They also get any, any type of electronics that you can think of. Granted they might know about e-recycling, but I have customers that will contact me, just because they don't have the time or to lazy to mess with it themselves.

Regarding your school stuff, that is not a bad idea. Schools love anything at all to do with recycling. I am going to get in touch with the school boards around here.

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Originally Posted by Scrapette

Thanks, directrecycle, for that valuable information. Where do you cell the circuit boards and scrap cell phones? I mean what type of place as I doubt that we live near one another. Thanks for the help.

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Scrappette:

There is a few members on here, such as easyrecycle that buys them, and a few others. Also, there is a website called boardsort.com that buys them as well.

Spoke to my dad about circuit boards. Next thing, he's lined me up to take all the scrap circuit boards from the local plumb centre which has a lot of traffic. Gas men are always throwing the boards from heating systems away when in legality they shouldn't. He said they said I could put a collection bin for plumbers to throw away their boards. Only 2 things I would have to do was to empty them regularly and to supply my own dumpster. This would bring in a lot of low grade boards but I don't have the space to store that much stuff. Maybe someone else here would.