As you already know, you can make a decent amount of money selling scrap metal. Now you need to learn the game of scrapping metal. Collecting scrap metal might seem daunting at first but once you know the bobs and weaves it will be like second nature. First, we need to know when and where to locate and get scrap metal. There is an endless flow of scrap metal being thrown away everyday and its your job as a scrapper to keep your eyes peeled. For example, you can find scrap metal on the side of the road, in dumpsters, junkyards, or even auctions you just need to know its value so you can buy it and sell for more. You must collect everything if it is worth it, and if its free TAKE IT.
Think about how much scrap metal you could get, no one wants scrap metal they think its trash, but their trash is your treasure! Just think of it like this, what if every garbage day someone throws away a dollar worth of scrap metal, what if you went through one street of 50 houses, that's already 50$ worth of scrap metal in one street! It's like picking up free money on the curb, this is how you should think as a scrapper.
Once you find out the trash days in your city, every morning or afternoon before the trash is collected go around and go collect the precious scrap metal people are throwing away. Pick up anything that you think is worth it, from aluminum pots and pans to microwaves to bigger appliances like refrigerators or dishwashers. Don't be afraid to get out and grab the small pieces of scrap metals, I mean if you keep jumping out your car every trash day and grabbing these small pieces it will eventually add up to some big cash.
Many scrappers drive around with trucks, but you could use a small car to collect too, just attach a trailer
to the back so you can pick up more scrap and don't spend too much on gas for too much trips.Also, look around your house for some scrap, I bet you'll find some things you don't need like old computers or phones which can be scrapped for gold! I'll explain how to scrap these in another post.
Now you know what to do so go out and start hunting for some scrap! Find out when your garbage day is in parts of your city, and find out the best times to go collect it.
Selling
So by now you should probably have collected a lot of scrap metal, the next step is to sell it. Sounds easy right? Well it is, but there are some tricks on how to get the most money out of your scrap metal.
The first thing you need to do is sort your scrap metal. Separate your metals into ferrous and non-ferrous piles, ferrous is latin for iron, which basically means iron and non iron scrap piles. Some examples ferrous metals are steel and iron, and some non ferrous metals are copper and aluminum. An easy way to sort these out faster is to get a magnet
, whatever doesn't stick is non-ferrous and whatever sticks is ferrous.Once you've separated your metals, sort them out even more by sub-categorizing them. For example, put all the copper into one pile and all the steel into one pile and so on. By doing this you maximize your profits even further. It might be hard at first, but once you start doing it more you'll have more experience and start sorting it way quicker, it will be like common sense.
Now you've got everything all organized, it's time to sell it! Before selling your scrap, you should call your local or give them a visit and ask them questions, the more questions the better. Ask them which metals they take, how much they buy each metals for, and what are their standards and procedures are.
So now your 100% prepared and ready to make some money, take note when you go sell scrap at the scrapyard they might or might not ask for identification. Some states by law, require this to look out for metal theft. Next, they will weigh your scrap metal and probably give you a ticket which says what type of metals you brought in and the quantity, and you bring it to the payout window and get paid! And remember no taxes taken out your pay!
Once you get that satisfaction of selling your first scrap metals and get your stacks of cash, I hope it motivates you to sell more scrap metal or have more respect towards scrapping! You don't have to stick to just scrapping metal, you can scrap bottles, cardboard, cans and much more, if you have plenty of access to these materials, might of well sell it right? You just need to find the right buyer, as you did for the scrap metals.
All in all, I hope these steps helped you getting started in scrapping, to be successful you have to stay committed, whenever you see scrap metal don't drive past it, pick it up! Search for auctions for great deals on scrap, tell everyone you scrap so they can give you their scrap, once you've mastered this, your career in scrapping, or even if its a side job, will be a major success! Welcome to the scrapping community and happy scrapping everyone! :)
