Scrapping hardware to get it off the books

From: Mike Ford <mikeford_at_socal.rr.com>
Date: Fri Nov 30 04:48:57 2001

> In one warehouse we rented in NW Portland over a decade ago we used to
>roll out pallets of valueless stuff (filmstrip projectors, school
>electronics, old terminals not worth taking apart) and leave it on the
>sidewalk overnight. We would then go up several floors and watch people go
>by,

> If you are interested in purchasing some of his scrap, offer him twice
>the scrap value. If you or anyone on the list needs help establishing
>scrap values please contact me offline.

Lots of smaller scrap places do that, leave stuff in the alley etc. The
trouble is that many scavengers strip the item and leave a mess, ie screws
all over.

Isn't there some kind of industry wide price list for scrap? Most of the
time seems to me the haggling isn't over the price, but what grade your
junk is. Buying stuff you have to hit the happy medium, offer too much and
you make people curious, offer too little and it isn't worth their time.

My most recent purchase has been insulated wire, first batch was a mix of
misc wire, cat 5, and some computer cables with connectors. We started at
$1.50/lb, but I found a bunch of stuff in the pile so I ended up with 40
lbs, and talked the guy down to $1/lb. Second batch was 180 lbs of wire on
spools, mostly 20 guage hookup wire, at the same $1/lb. The way I figure it
now we paid a premium on the first batch (lower grade scrap), and got a
steal on the second, but in actual value terms to me the first batch was
worth more than the second per pound.

I've seen companies go both ways on scrapping stuff to get it off the
books. The hardline view is that stuff must be trashed and not recovered,
but in almost all BIGGER operations selling stuff as scrap is the normal
practice. I gotta figure a lot of times the Monday after some hard nose
dumps all the old stuff and puts a lock on the trash bins, that there boss
does a You Did What!
Received on Fri Nov 30 2001 - 04:48:57 GMT