So what's the plan guys? Haul light iron and hoard non-ferrous?

That's about all I've been doing. Breaking down what I can as small as I can and keeping my aluminum/brass/copper as neatly as I can. I haul in the shred trailer when it's full.

When my phone rings about scrap I've been saying no a lot lately. Just got a call that sounds somewhat promising. 2 water heaters and "30lbs of copper pipe". I'm not holding my breath but I'll show up tomorrow and see what's going on. If it really is 30lbs of copper pipe it'll go in the shed and get a lock put on it. #1 is selling at $1.75 here. That's a tough price for me to stomach right now. I know other parts of the country are worse, but I miss the $3.75 days.

So I guess I'll continue to hoard what I can store without making a mess and hauling in the shred for gas money. Just broke down 36lbs of brand new faucets. They have been on and off ebay...some missing parts, some banged up. Some brand new. I still have some I need to get back up. Some sell like hotcakes..some don't. But I have $42 worth of plumbers brass that's going in the shed. I wish they were worth closer to $100.

Anyways, hope everyone is doing well. I'm slowing down. I used to run all around town no matter what so I could hand out business cards and provide great, on time service. I'm pumping the brakes now. If it doesn't sound like a solid ($50+) score, I hold off.

Working my day job doesn't help either. They keep me busy and scrapping/junk hauling is something I do to try to help me get ahead. We'll see what the future holds.

I have a feeling prices will continue to drop for a while. Maybe by the time I can get $2.25 for plumbers brass I'll have 1000# of it! ;)

Keep on grindin',
Spencer
CTS Solutions

I sell it as fast as I get it...I SOMETIMES g\hold onto some small items like CPU's from ewaste...but even then, the opportunity cost of the money being essentially "tied up" really bugs me. Even with the scenario you mentioned...$1.75/lb vs holding for $2.25/lb (say copper)...that is only a 22% rise in price...I could have used the money and flipped it 2-4X or more by the time that comes back round...I would have made well over 100% on that money most likely. Moral is, I don't time markets,I sell what I get and let the money work for me...smaller % turned over faster is far greater than waiting on markets that take months to change significantly...IMO

PS Yes, I know there is a "limit" on how much you can realistically turn over like this (in terms of $$$)...but I will happily deal with that problem once it presents itself ;)

I would say to sell off the steel and alum. Hold on to copper, Wire, and brass. If any motors or Transformers, I would strip the copper. Steel takes up too much room and also does alum for its weight. I look at it like, A garage full of appliances is ok, But in that same garage, I'd rather have full totes of copper, wire and brass. And no my garage is not full of copper or brass :/

Just my opinion. Problem is we all deal with different amounts of Volume.

What I am doing is this. The yard I go to has a punch card after 10 trips the next trip you get + $.10 bonus pricing on all items. Take 10 loads of steel then my bonus trip is when I bring in all my other stuff. I am kinda afraid of hording the good stuff as prices keep falling...

Personally I prefer that safety deposit box to be full of 100 dollar bills not a shed full of scrap

Just hoarding for now, but my lively hood is not dependent on scrapping (nor do I get extra scrap materials from my job). I'll hoard until I have no room left. Space may become an issue eventually but I'll jump off that bridge when I come to it.


Break down, separate, and maximize your profit (if you have the space and time)

I guess I'm lucky that I own an abandoned rock quarry. So I have a nice big hole in the ground where I can store junk and no one can see it to complain about it. I'm selling almost nothing. Just piling stuff up. I'm no longer dependent on scrap for my livelihood, so I can afford to stockpile it. All the steel goes in a big pile outside, and the non-ferrous is sorted in barrels or buckets or whatever and packed into a box truck body.

Time, space, and ability to survive all figure into the equation. As a history buff, my position is the dead mans bluff. Since I have the time, space and ability to survive I will continue to collect and store. I am learning more because I have the time to break things down without the need to haul. It is also great entertainment.

I respect all opinions because we all have different cards (circumstances) we must navigate. For those with limited space, hauling shred as needed is reasonable. For those close to scrap yards, quick trips seems reasonable. For those in high crime areas, turning your profits quickly seems reasonable. For those that need the turnover for survival, turn and burn is reasonable. None of these apply to me.

The worst scenario for me is if I loose the dead mans bluff, my kids have to clean up my mess. If they wait long enough it might be a nice inheritance. If I live long enough it might pay for a day in a nursing home. The goal of this post is not provide advice to anyone. It is to remind members of this forum that we need to share insights and apply information to our own situation.

My fear about hoarding is who will start buying scrap metals again... China? United States (our hand are tied on what we can process here)... India, or some nation in Africa. Reuse, Repurpose, Resell all look better than the scrap market lately.

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Originally Posted by Patriot76

Time, space, and ability to survive all figure into the equation. As a history buff, my position is the dead mans bluff. Since I have the time, space and ability to survive I will continue to collect and store. I am learning more because I have the time to break things down without the need to haul. It is also great entertainment.

I respect all opinions because we all have different cards (circumstances) we must navigate. For those with limited space, hauling shred as needed is reasonable. For those close to scrap yards, quick trips seems reasonable. For those in high crime areas, turning your profits quickly seems reasonable. For those that need the turnover for survival, turn and burn is reasonable. None of these apply to me.

The worst scenario for me is if I loose the dead mans bluff, my kids have to clean up my mess. If they wait long enough it might be a nice inheritance. If I live long enough it might pay for a day in a nursing home. The goal of this post is not provide advice to anyone. It is to remind members of this forum that we need to share insights and apply information to our own situation.

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Words of wisdom well stated.

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Originally Posted by hobo finds

My fear about hoarding is who will start buying scrap metals again... China? United States (our hand are tied on what we can process here)... India, or some nation in Africa. Reuse, Repurpose, Resell all look better than the scrap market lately.

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You hit the nail on the head, nobody knows until this economy situation sorts it self out. ac
IN 2008 our economy took a dump "because of a 16% housing mortgage bubble" dad says China is sitting on a 54% housing bubble. KAI

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Originally Posted by EcoSafe

You hit the nail on the head, nobody knows until this economy situation sorts it self out. ac
IN 2008 our economy took a dump "because of a 16% housing mortgage bubble" dad says China is sitting on a 54% housing bubble. KAI

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serves them right for trying to manipulate the currency exchange markets....karms can be a BIT#$ when she rolls back around. LOL

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Originally Posted by hobo finds

My fear about hoarding is who will start buying scrap metals again... China? United States (our hand are tied on what we can process here)... India, or some nation in Africa. Reuse, Repurpose, Resell all look better than the scrap market lately.

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Your insight is accurate and I do sell items for more than scrap value as well as using items for scrap metal art. Bartering seems more profitable than any other strategy. Less than 3% of my collection falls into these categories. Best guess is the U.S. will be the biggest purchaser of scrap in the future because we got into a pissing match with ? This assumption is based on the history of WWII. Based on this assumption, Israel, Canada, Japan, Australia and India will be big purchasers of scrap. England, France, and Spain will be right behind.

Regardless of a pissing match, countries will realize it is cheaper to recycle than to fill landfills with metal. My other prediction is that scrapers will be more valuable in the future, but we will not be more respected.

I was talking to one of the Chinese guys at work. He's sort of a short-timer at my place, in between finishing his education and his more permanent career path (probably); completing a substantial needed task and resume building. Economics is not his specialty but he's a smart guy and can read a situation pretty fast.

Anyway, I was having lunch with him after a meeting we had both been in and I happened to bring up the issue of the Chinese gov not letting the yuan float in world currency trading. I said us Americans want the yuan to trade at its real value vs. the other fiat currencies. His eyes got real wide and he said no, that can't happen, because the purchasing power of many of the Chinese would be greatly reduced if their currency was more expensive. And that might cause...unrest.

The Chinese leaders have a hard time getting off of the treadmill of keeping their fast growing economy going (if only to build ghost cities) and having the masses get poorer (with the true value of the currency trading) and possibly revolting. That is the greatest fear their leadership has, having another revolution with millions and millions dead. How long they can do their multi-balled juggling act is unknown. But it could get real ugly, real fast if the binders come off...

1. Despite the prices of scrap metals right now, I think there is nothing but a prosperous future in recycling anything. We (the world) can't continue to deal with our waste as we have in the past. Resources no matter how they are used, will need to be utilized in a resourceful way, getting the maximum potential from those resources. This will include the "end of life cycles" from all goods made and sold. We need to rethink our throw it away mentality, for no other reason, if not "be living with our trash", (someone will be).

2. China is a major force and will factor into all of our lives from now on! With that said there is nothing but problems there and probably more liabilities than beneficial factors. There recent industrial accident is just one of many problems, demonstrating they have a long way to go before they are on a positive path!

3. Do what's best for your level of scrapping. I sell my light steel when I have around a ton to sell, always try to get the best price I can. In my area I have more than three yards I sell to on a regular basis. I have twenty more yards within 20 miles if I want to try for a better price. Everyone's situation is going to be different, the only real common denominator for all of us, is prices are at there lowest in many years (2008?).

4. The only certainty is in time everything changes!

I know they say there are stockpiles of commodities like copper
but is there a stockpile of stuff? Refrigerators?, ACs? Brand new Romex cable?
They must continue to make stuff. If china won't because of their government policy
of getting away from exports then someone will step up.
They may say reuse but the shelves are still stocked at Wal-Mart. Car dealerships
will always be full of cars. The prices i think will turn around quicker than we think

Break it down haul it it and repeat. I go with the flow on prices, it is what it is. I handle as little as possible and am always finding new ways to make money. Just purchased a storage unit, and can't afford to fill it with junk and store it forever.

I break things down, separate and haul in iron and aluminum. I can only haul so much weight at one time, so the brass and copper I stockpile until I have enough weight to negotiate better prices at the scrap yard. What I mean is I can't negotiate #1 iron unless I haul 10k pounds at a time. On the other hand, 250# of copper gives me negotiating power.

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Originally Posted by greytruck

I would say to sell off the steel and alum. Hold on to copper, Wire, and brass. If any motors or Transformers, I would strip the copper. Steel takes up too much room and also does alum for its weight. I look at it like, A garage full of appliances is ok, But in that same garage, I'd rather have full totes of copper, wire and brass. And no my garage is not full of copper or brass :/

Just my opinion. Problem is we all deal with different amounts of Volume.

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Ditto for me. I am sitting on about 24 5 gal buckets of #1 and #2 copper (all separated), and 2 buckets of brass, and 18 50 lb paper feed sacks (35-40 lbs avg each) stuffed full of #2 insulated. I have an 800 sq ft work shop on my property, so I have plenty of room, and as I only do this as a side venture, I am not in danger of filling up my shop beyond capacity.

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Originally Posted by scrapdaddyj

I know they say there are stockpiles of commodities like copper
but is there a stockpile of stuff? Refrigerators?, ACs? Brand new Romex cable?
They must continue to make stuff. If china won't because of their government policy
of getting away from exports then someone will step up.
They may say reuse but the shelves are still stocked at Wal-Mart. Car dealerships
will always be full of cars. The prices i think will turn around quicker than we think

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I truly hope your right but,am afraid your not. as mentioned in an earlier post China like few other countries have an x factor, their population to keep occupied. Turkey IS also a much over looked factor in the world purchase of scrap and have often,in the past, been the largest buyer of U.S. scrap.

While China builds a Navy and empty cities Turkey builds infrastructure.

How long will we have to hoard copper for anyways?

Copper down to fresh six-year low after China market falls | MINING.com

The only hope of long-term construction that will need any materials will be Mars!

I actually have been keeping a lot of my steel, and selling the non ferrous, but that might be because I've been selling a good 50% of the steel I get at more than scrap value :)

Like it was posted by some, the story is different for all of us.

But at the end of the day we need to make money.
There is no way to predict when things get better (or worse). It might take a year or so.

About 12 years ago or so I started buying common silver for less than 5% over spot from the local coin shop. Figured it was a nice savings plan.
I also metal detect for fun and kept all my gold jewelry I found. I made good money back then and there was no need to sell anything.

Things changed and I needed cash for a new business venture. I took all my silver and gold and sold it about 4 or so years ago?!
I did real well. On pure accident I timed it PERFECT! I sold all my stuff on a Friday afternoon and on Monday the markets crashed. Silver lost 35% over 5 days etc.
I got paid for my silver based on $49 spot and most I bought at $4-7 years earlier.
The gold was all free finds and close to $1900 that day.

Pure accident that I timed it right.
If I would have not needed the cash I would still have the stuff. STILL worth less than what I got paid that day ... 4 years later.

On that same Friday afternoon while one of the guys tallied my stuff another guy came in with rolls and rolls of mint condition silver eagles.
I believe he walked out with over $5,500 in cash. But while his stuff was tallied another employee took the silver eagles and SOLD them to another guy that was buying on the believe it will go up more and more. Wonder what that guy feels like today. :)

The way I handle my stuff is, I turn everything in as I have enough for it being worth my while.
The only thing I keep is insulated copper wire.

I have maybe 250 lbs or so? I don't really know and don't care. I call it my piggy bank. Maybe I will sell it when I get 1,000 lbs or when I need some cash real bad.

Everything else I turn and burn.

Scrap accounts for approx. 1/3rd of my income. I'm scrapping by myself again. I'm no longer servicing the thrift store. All I'm doing now are water coolers.(like 2000+) and stuff I've been stock piling(read: too lazy to break down). Now I turn in when ever I want to/need to. Space to stock pile non ferrous is nearly unlimited. Ferrous, for me presents a problem. 35 miles to the nearest major scrapyard.($40 a ton) or 5 miles to a small yard in Carson city($10 a ton) now since I don't rely heavily on scrap anymore, I fill a 20foot trailer and haul it to Reno when its full. The front 8 foot has a truck bed with 6foot sides for small things, the back 12 feet Is a decked flatbed. Parts of cars, appliances, big bulky stuff in back. I'm averaging 6k pounds per trip with the 20 footer, of just tin. It goes about once a month.

I cycle through the steel. It just takes up too much room. I will also cycle through brass as it becomes too much to store. Much of my brass is bought at garage sales and to cycle it through just adds to the garage sale purse to buy more brass and other items to make money on.

I sell my ferrous when I have a car load full, which is around 500-560lbs. I get like $4/100 lbs right now, but it used to be $7.50/100lbs. Terrible, but not worth seeing it build up to unmanagable levels. I just bought 5 trash cans to hoard copper, small aluminum shred, motors, brass, and cuircuit boards. Not sure this was a great idea, since they are already nearing 1/3 full.

Also, compounding my issue is that ALL of the trash cans have developed an infestation of some species of moth. It cannot be good, because the moths get into my garage. I hate moth balls, but I might need to add a few to each can. Not sure, at all, why I've got these moths. I do live in Florida, and we've got more than our share of bugs. One time, at a gas station, I saw a bug / insect thing that had 2 fangs 3/4" long on its head. YIKES! The wife, not too crazy either about these moths.

BY the way - WINDEX kills bugs mostly on contact. Try it. You'll be amazed. It works.

Moths? Get some lizards or geckos, I have heard about a guy that bought a few geckos and had them live in his garage he did eventually put up a heat source for them for the winter. They lived a long time