improvise, addapt, overcome

in these hard times it is something we must all do if we are to survive. for example do you realize what you have learned as a scrapper puts you one step away from being an old time blacksmith hone your knowledge, learn from others here, they will be glad to help.



volunteer one afternoon or morning in return for training in a skill you lack. learn how to cast metal. look for other more profitable ways to utilize some finds. another lost art is repairing small appliances, a used toaster is worth $5 in a yard sale .06 cents at the yard.

others please join this thread with other ideas.

Originally Posted by RLS0812

Unless you are a WELL KNOWN metal smith ( not a metal fabricator ) in a city with many wealthy people, that 'skill' will not get you anywhere. Most folks are perfectly happy with their cheap machine made junk !

As far as yard sales - people in my area won't buy anything unless it's given away for almost free !

Then you need to broaden your horizons. Get a bunch done and take them to the nearest larger city swap meet...sell on ebay (even parts...like say vacuum cleaner hoses, cords, and plastic pieces and craigslist. Get a bunch and take to an auction. I have NEVER seen a place where yard sales can't make money (unless you live in a very small town). My town in medium sized and the last one I did (and it wasn't all that big), I made $500 or so. Also sell on FB yard sale groups. ALWAYS an outlet, just need to find the right niche.

Money is EVERYWHERE, you just have to know what to look for and where to resell it. Hell, even buying form other pickers and taking the big load to the big city for resale...easy money.

I easily make as much money from selling old or desirable items as scrap. Wheelchair $5 scrap easy $50 used. Golf bag $0 scrap $20-$100 used.

If you can fix a toaster and sell it for five bucks, unless you took less than thirty minutes to fix it, you are probably better off getting an entry-level job selling coffee. At least you might get a decent tip. If you are doing scrap arbitrage, a better turn would be cleaning up vintage cast ironware. They are easier to rehabilitate and can sell for tens or even hundreds of dollars to a dedicated collector's market.

I don't fault alternative economic models out of hand but I see it time and time again that the first casualty tends to be the valuation of one's own time. I've been subject to the same fallacy. If you can't make ends meet with a $12/hr job, how could spending three hours to salvage an appliance ever be worth less than $40 to you, minimum? And if that appliance is a toaster, can you demonstrate to a consumer that your salvaged, refurbed unit is worth their $40 when they can get another, newer one for much less?

I hate being a Negative Ned but I was driving, yesterday, and I saw a 10-foot tow-behind full of satellite dishes and sheet steel in someone's yard. Probably less than a half ton but the nearest yard is an hour away from their house. $10 to show for two hours drive, thirty minutes at the yard, and however long that eyesore sits in front of your house. This thread just sort of brought it all back to mind.

What kind of appliance do you want? I have about 25 of each at any given time ..Washers, Dryers, Fridges, Stoves, Dishwashers.. $5 each. lol

`Buddy of mine hits up the yards near the sandbar, an buys their propane tanks to make pig cookers.(Big tanks, not the iddy biddy grill ones) He does well with it.

Another one does fire pits.

One can sell anything..as WBSTS said, you just need to know the outlets to sell them. My sandbar, yard sales can bring good business. Spring, Summer or Fall. Winter times not to many as we got some nice and cold winds out of the NE here. Not a lot of wind blocks on a sandbar.

If one is wasting their time spending 3 hours on a toaster...I'd have to say, you should find something else to fix up an sell. I know folks who spend time fixing washers & dryers, Fridges, Flat screen TVs, Cell phone screens, etc. They get a lot of the stuff as scrap. Washer & Dryer guy gets his stuff from the curb, or buys it from one of the yards here. Fridges..same deal for that guy. The Flat Screen tvs, an cell phone guy buys a bunch from me. Why I never have tvs to ship out. Heh. Cell phone guy buys phones from me(parts)screens, batteries, etc. I never know what he'll ask for, but most the time when he calls I got what he needs.

So yes value your time, pick things you can do fast. As one of our posters like to say...Turn n Burn. Not only applies to scrapping but to rehabbing/fixing items.

An thanks Eco/Olddude, for reminding me...I need to schedule some time with one of our blacksmiths down here. I've been wanting to do so, so I could learn about some of the things I'm interested in the smiths do. We've got a couple down here that know their stuff.

Sirscrapalot - Only you can decide what your time is worth, not me, him, her or any other poster. - One of our members.

"if your doing nothing with your time, then it dosent take long to figure out what your time is worth." mcw

Originally Posted by rca987

What kind of appliance do you want? I have about 25 of each at any given time ..Washers, Dryers, Fridges, Stoves, Dishwashers.. $5 each. lol

I sell my metal wash tubs to a guy for 10 bucks each and I keep the rest, You get faster and more efficient the more you do, I wait till I got at least 6

@breakage Were the dishes the actual dishes or was it the arm/LNB*?

Never take the arms/LNB to the yard. Pop them suckers open an pull out your boards..you'll thank me later. For those who not know what I speak of...I'm sure a forum search for LNB/DISH/Directv. I know I posted plenty on them when I first started getting them.

I never found dishes tho to be worth the effort of taking in. The steel attached to them..sure, but the actual dish, the ones I've dealt with weren't even metal. I think the ones I've had, have all been fiberglass. Only metal was the arm they were attached to for me, of course YMMV.

But yea..those LNB boards...lovely things. Bad thing - Their very light. Good thing - All the ones I've pulled with the exception of 2, have been plated. Search the forum for pics. An the two that weren't platted...were like some weird plastic/cloth hybrid. lol. Very hard to describe. I think I still have them somewhere, as a memento.

Love me some LNBs!

Sirscrapalot - We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. - Plato

* - LNB = Low-noise blocker