3 Steps to Widen Margins with Scrap Metal
Profits are for enjoyment, quality of life, and success. Scrapping metal seems difficult and dirty, but that is the charm of a niche industry that has wide margins of profitability. In truth, scrapping is and will always be about maximizing profits, like any good business.
Well, your job might not be to run around in search of precious metals thrown out like so much garbage. But, in your work as a plumber, electrician, or contractor, there is a goldmine of scrap. So, by knowing your metals, their uses, and prices, you can turn a pile of apparently worthless scrap into a fat check.
In this post, we lead you through three steps to increase the profits of your business by turning your scrap into cash. Therefore, you have a roadmap to increase profits for your business. Use it to learn how to increase profits through scrap metal collection.
Know your metals.
Firstly, imagine this. That rusty-looking faucet your client is throwing out could be copper! If you took it off their hands, you would have started your collection of paying scrap, but you blew it because you thought scrap was scrap. No, scrap is cash.
In fact, in the world of scrap metal, there are at least five big players:
- copper
- aluminum
- iron
- lead, and
- brass
And, pretty much any metal scrap you can imagine is made from one of these metals. As a matter of fact, each carries a different market value. But, first, you have to know how to identify these currencies.
To do so, you can read any one of our guides to finding and identifying these metals in your business right here on our blog:
- Where to Find Copper
- Where to Find Aluminum
- Where to Find Scrap Iron
- Where to Find Lead
- Where to Find Brass
Watch market prices.
A turn in the market means profit or loss. It depends on the day, the month, and greatly by the season. As a result, the price of a metal is always in a state of uncertainty as prices rise and fall with supply and demand.
Still, there are some general rules to observe when it comes to watching prices. Firstly, copper is king. Secondly, the summer is the season to sell.
Now, you are already familiar with the metals above. So, you might be curious to learn what your industries store of iron and aluminum can yield for your business. To do so, you can learn all about prices for each of the scrap metals above through our blog:
- What is Copper Worth?
- How Much is Aluminum Per Pound?
- Iron Price Per Pound
- Lead Prices Per Pound
- Best Brass Prices Per Pound
Collect and sell.
If your business turns out shavings, fittings, pipe, wire, faucets, and more—you could be ready to sell once everything is collected and appraised. But, remember that scrap pays by the pound. And, in some cases, like with wire, it is sold by the foot.
So, you will want to have a strong method of sorting and categorizing your scrap beforehand. This will give you an idea of when you are ready to cash out.
To help with your categorization and collection, we have published a series of posts on the most common places you can find each metal in your industry. Therefore, there is no reason that you can’t turn scrap into cash for your business. To learn more, you can find them here:
- Uses of Copper
- Uses of Aluminum
- What is Iron Used For?
- What is Lead Used For?
- What is Brass Used For?
What to do next
Now that you have a basic idea of how scrap looks, what it pays, and where to find it, you are prepared to sell. Once you have collected your copper, aluminum, iron or brass, contact your local scrap yard to see if they will appraise it and give you a quote.
For example, Scrap Gators offers full-service residential and commercial scrap services in Port St. Lucie. You can give us a call at (772) 203-7391 for a consultation on your collection.
If you have more questions about profiting from your scrap, you can email images and questions to wally@scrapgators.com.
