How to make money with scrap metal

Selling scrap metal can be a lucrative business. In order to make profits by selling scrap, you will need to

equip yourself with the required knowledge. There are several factors that you need to know about dealing with these shards of metal. Some of the factors that play a role are dismantling, loading and knowing about the selling rate.

Here are some tips that can guide you dealing with scrap metal.

Choose a good vehicle

A good vehicle like a pickup truck, for example, can load lots of scrap. An open truck will make it easier for loading and unloading and will hold a high amount of scrap metal. While dealing with scrap, you should keep in mind that the more bulk you collect, the better price you will get. When you choose a good transport vehicle with an open top, you can easily fit higher mounds of scrap metal.

Choose the scrap

Scrap comes in several varieties. Some kinds of scrap metal fetch a higher price. Some metals, like steel, copper wires and brass mix, can fetch you higher prices. Do not go for bulkier one piece, as it will fetch you the same price as shards of steel more or less.

Know the metals

When you are choosing your metal, knowledge of metals is very important. There are two types of metals like ferrous metals and non ferrous metals. In order to know your metal, you need to separate these metals first. The best way to separate them is using a magnet.

If the metal tends to stick to the magnet then you have ferrous metal. This could be steel or iron. Ferrous metals usually do not sell for a very high price because it costs more money to recycle them.

If the metal does not stick to the magnet then it is a non-ferrous metal. It could be anything, like aluminum, brass, bronze, copper and stainless steel. These metals fetch you a higher price because they can be easily recycled and also reused in several ways.

Things you should know

One thing you should keep in mind is that all metals that you sell in scrap will be recycled.  The kind of metals you choose should be easy to handle by the recycling company. Bulk metal like huge pieces of machinery is not very valuable. They can be considered as dead weight. While choosing the metal, you should know which would sell faster and whether it is a higher priced or not.

Always do not decide by the price of the metal. Even though the metal you choose is higher selling, it need fetch you a good price. Bulkier items are difficult to process by recycling companies. They will have to spend more money breaking the metal into pieces.

Know the industry value of the various metals. Prices in the market differ than the price that is being offered by the scrap metal buyer. You should know at least an estimate of how much each metal is selling at to sell it at the right price.