E-Scrap Refining

Communication with your buyer is key. I have personally spoken with buyers here before I send a shipment (large or small) for the first time. If in their ad it doesn't state that- don't be afraid to ask.
I know one large buyer- that pays the price on the day of landing. If they process your order and it goes up. It stinks, but terms were disclosed. If prices go down during processing, you get the advantage on that one.

Bottom Line: Communicate with your buyers, talk with them, call them, email them, PM them. I have yet to find a buyer here on the forum that refused to answer my questions or refused to speak with me.
This is a business relationship- and must be treated as such. If you are scared to make a phone call, and go into things without asking questions.. you have learned a lesson, that maybe the next round- you will not make.

On a note of On Topic of the "Dead Sea Scroll" Topic- I spoke with the Account Manager/Business development guy on the phone at Sipi today for approximately an hour and a half. He explained the process, he answered every question I had. Whether I decide to ever go this route is only a consideration.. with nothing set. It appears things have changed there since 2013 (Time of this Original post) I have his name, cell phone and an open invitation to ask questions and probe he said. I have been offered an invitation to Chicago to see the inner workings personally, see the furnaces, spend time in the lab, watch a batch from start to finish. Note that I have spent a lot of my life around Sales People- and he is a sales person- so I take information with some hint of exaggeration and puffery.

So at the moment the gathering of information was a wonderful education today.

Originally Posted by sledge

Communication with your buyer is key. I have personally spoken with buyers here before I send a shipment (large or small) for the first time. If in their ad it doesn't state that- don't be afraid to ask.
I know one large buyer- that pays the price on the day of landing. If they process your order and it goes up. It stinks, but terms were disclosed. If prices go down during processing, you get the advantage on that one.

Bottom Line: Communicate with your buyers, talk with them, call them, email them, PM them. I have yet to find a buyer here on the forum that refused to answer my questions or refused to speak with me.
This is a business relationship- and must be treated as such. If you are scared to make a phone call, and go into things without asking questions.. you have learned a lesson, that maybe the next round- you will not make.

On a note of On Topic of the "Dead Sea Scroll" Topic- I spoke with the Account Manager/Business development guy on the phone at Sipi today for approximately an hour and a half. He explained the process, he answered every question I had. Whether I decide to ever go this route is only a consideration.. with nothing set. It appears things have changed there since 2013 (Time of this Original post) I have his name, cell phone and an open invitation to ask questions and probe he said. I have been offered an invitation to Chicago to see the inner workings personally, see the furnaces, spend time in the lab, watch a batch from start to finish. Note that I have spent a lot of my life around Sales People- and he is a sales person- so I take information with some hint of exaggeration and puffery.

So at the moment the gathering of information was a wonderful education today.

The process is not different, I'm not that far away in Michigan, and got the same offer back in the day. The Sales people are there to be sales people, and convince you to use them to refine there.

I would use them again. But only if I had representation that I trusted. The system is stacked against you unless they really value your volume. If you've got massive quantities that are sorted and represented properly, you'll probably be ok. If you're sending in a random Gaylord Box here or there, you're probably in trouble.