How profitable is the scrap metal business?

[Motherfucking_Toast]

I've always wondered, how much profit is there to be made by offering free removal of scrap metals, then selling it to a junkyard? have a lot of free time on my hands lately, a 3/4 ton pickup truck, and nothing better to do.
After you factor in fuel costs and the number of people with the same thinking as me, is there really any profit to be made in this, or will I just be wasting my time?
Anyone gave this a go before?

[CitizenUzi]

I dunno about full-timing it, but I did this a few times.

You won't make much. #1, 2 and 3 copper (stripped wires, 'clean copper', and unstripped) top of the list. Fuck stripping.... trash fire! Prices fell IIRC to about half of what they were.

Aluminum is #2 (again IIRC). Good luck getting a lot of weight unless you're into stealing ladders.

The problem is that 98% of your scrap weight will be counted as light iron. That's 10 cents a pound. I even stripped my crashed motorcycle so I could get aluminum prices on some stuff, "Irony aluminum" they called it and paid out 35 cents per.

If you know tradesmen, electricians, or small auto shops they will sometimes let you haul their spares (lots of goodies here), especially if you offer to give them a kickback- and take the rest of the shit too.

[B2 Stealth Bomber]

It was good before everyone and their momma jumped in. Factories used to be gold mines. I was just helping them dispose of their unwanted garbage. If only I had a forklift.

[ZappaFan]

Me and my father have done this alot since the economy has been in the tanker. Fortunatly, our family have had a landscaping business since the late 50s. We had plenty of scrap steel, aluminum, etc., from dumptrucks and heavy machinery that wasnt worth fixing. If you have a lot of steel to scrap, this can be quite profitable at times.

Im not sure how it is in your area, but look around in your area for other scrap yards. Every place has a different price and it changes constantly, so a little research can get you more money.
Aluminum is one of the best things to scrap when it comes to making money. However, the scrap yards I have been to have what they call 'clean' and 'dirty' aluminum. Clean aluminum pays more, but it may require you to take time to remove other metals from aluminum. I've had to remove screws that were in an aluminum sheets for example, but it would pay almost like 40-50% more if its clean.

Copper pays good and so does bronze. I found 5 gallon buckets full of bronze shavings. Just from those shavings, I got over $500.
Good luck.

[FrY]

Really it depends on how much metal you have, last summer steel was at an all time high, I made some good money. although I am not sure what it is go for per ton atm.

[CountBlah]

[Vigilante]

I'm a scrapper, and really.. It depends on how you plan on making your buck, because believe me.. there are a lot of aspects to the market.

First off, what;s your aim? Short-term cash, or long term payday? For the past 2 years I have saved aluminum soda can, picked up cans regularly by the road-side (doing my part for good ole mother earth), rinsed and saved steel coup cans, got both my family and my fiances family into saving cans, and all the while.. keep on the lookout for metal dumps that I offer to free of charge, clean up and take off the person's hands.

For instance, the new place I just moved into was quite the little treasure trove. There had recently been a trailer sitting where my place is now, and it was destroyed and burned on sight.. but not before the owners stripped and piled loads of aluminum and copper wire. I asked about the wire garbage in my yard that laid hidden under the fall leaves, and they said I could have it.. Doesn't take long to make a Benjamen when your scrapping copper. The difficult part for me is stripping the thicker gauged wire.. simply put, there is no easy way to do it.. atleast, none I have found. but I can't say this enough.. don't burn the wire.. you wont make shit when you go to sell and it's just all around bad for the environment.

Then here I am again lack week, foraging through the woods (found some nice old dried out tree roots and drift wood that ppl love for thier flower beds) and I run upon multiple 10ft sheets of tin under the leaves.. Further on I walk, and find an empty pond with multiple air conditioning units and old 100 lb propane tanks. I'm still pulling them out, was earlier today... after a cold beer with the neighbor and asking around about the old pond.. mentioning I scrap metal to make side money.. He was more than happy to let me take it off his hands.. Also got 8 perfect glass windows and an old sink that is pristine and just needs a nice oak cabinet built around it to make it a nice piece. Some things are worth recycling yourself.. when i build my own house, shitty expensive windows wont be so damn burdening..

Having a truck also helps.. and networking. Even if you don't have a truck, arrange a deal with someone who does and you'll be able to buy a cheap $1000-$1500 truck off Craigslist in no time.

[eesakiwi]

Search the net for 'scrapmetal' theres a lot of info out there.
How you do the job (& how much yuou make) depends on what tools you have.

[ZappaFan]

Originally Posted by eesakiwi

Search the net for 'scrapmetal' theres a lot of info out there.
How you do the job (& how much yuou make) depends on what tools you have.

This.
Its a no brainer, but its very true. This thing has really saved my ass