help with my pitch to Scrapyard..

[eroc]

First of all thanks for letting me join the forums.

So I got my first lead with a recycling company here in the Northeast, the guy told me to call back in a week with a proposal once he took stock of what he had. I told him I would be interested in Ram, CPU, PCI cards and such, he wanted to know how much I would pay per pound. After being shot down time after time by other companies I clammed up a bit and didnt know how much to offer. Basically Im just getting started and have been experimenting with my pile of hoarded parts (bye bye CPU collection LOL!! Pentium Pro, WUTT??) and just put out a few feelers as directed by these forums.

Basically my crude pitch was that I would pay him more than the refinery he's using now, because "those guys always rip you off".. Since I was on the spot I seemed to remember that 12$/ pound for ram was about right so thats what I said. but how much for premium ceramic cpus/ pound, pci cards/ pound, and what else should I make offers on. what other angles can I use besides pizza and beer? Right now we're doing AR only.. My dad is a retired chemistry professor so he's in charge of that for now, I have to find the raw material. I just want a few gold coins, is that so wrong?

i guess there is always EBAY!!!

 

[MMFJ]

This topic has been covered time and time again on this forum (take a bit of time and read the previous posts - you will learn a LOT...), however, the 'crux' of it is that no one can tell you what price to pay, but there is one HARD AND FAST RULE to follow;

Know what you can sell stuff for, take a bit off for your time/effort/profit (there are formulas for calculating all this, but anything is better than nothing...) and make your pitch at that rate.

You will either get the deal or not. The one thing you won't get is a deal where you are working for nothing, which is the WORST thing that can happen!

 

[eroc]

found the link to boardsort, that helped alot as far as establishing values.. As far as computer scrap goes, its getting harder to find in my area, with the state basically taking over the process, thus no traditional metal scrappers get computers anymore, nor do they take cases unless you have 500lbs or more. I used to "find" computers at the dump every time I went, and for some reason started collecting cpu's with no knowledge of their recovery potential.. by dumb luck I now have a stack of decent ceramic cpus and a shoe box of ram.
I did spend considerable time reading the forums, and have found a lot of opinions and conflicting information, which is fine, everyone's situation is different, and the only way to calculate a yield is to do it yourself, I get it, trust me. Of course this topic has been discussed before, but times and situations change. A post from 2010 may or may not be relevant in 2012. IF other people can simply go to a yard and snap up old boxes for 3$ each then you are lucky. In my area that is a pipe dream.
The point I was trying to make is, I finally got a legitimate contact, and dont want to mess it up. This is just a hobby, but that hobby depends on acquiring material. I need to get this guy to work with me, and have one shot at it a week from now. I guess then, my question is, should I negotiate by offering cash for parts, or offer a percentage of the yield?

 

[MMFJ]

found the link to boardsort, that helped alot as far as establishing values.. As far as computer scrap goes, its getting harder to find in my area, with the state basically taking over the process, thus no traditional metal scrappers get computers anymore, nor do they take cases unless you have 500lbs or more. I used to "find" computers at the dump every time I went, and for some reason started collecting cpu's with no knowledge of their recovery potential.. by dumb luck I now have a stack of decent ceramic cpus and a shoe box of ram.
I did spend considerable time reading the forums, and have found a lot of opinions and conflicting information, which is fine, everyone's situation is different, and the only way to calculate a yield is to do it yourself, I get it, trust me. Of course this topic has been discussed before, but times and situations change. A post from 2010 may or may not be relevant in 2012. IF other people can simply go to a yard and snap up old boxes for 3$ each then you are lucky. In my area that is a pipe dream.
The point I was trying to make is, I finally got a legitimate contact, and dont want to mess it up. This is just a hobby, but that hobby depends on acquiring material. I need to get this guy to work with me, and have one shot at it a week from now. I guess then, my question is, should I negotiate by offering cash for parts, or offer a percentage of the yield?

Your statement isn't making anything more clear in order to give you any sort of 'hints' (can't give 'advice' until a LOT more info would be gone through, including your total goal, time-frame, commitment level for various issues, etc. - something that takes hours of discussion with my consulting clients before we even get started talking about the actual work!)

What I find confusing is that you say "no traditional metal scrappers get computers anymore", yet "I finally got a legitimate contact" and told us it is "my first lead with a recycling company" - if 'nothing' is available, just how is this guy getting anything? And, (the important question), just HOW MUCH ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT HERE?

That important part is another part of the confusion - you say "This is just a hobby", but any "legitimate contact" that has "a recycling company" isn't looking at a few dozen computers a year......

If this really is a legitimate contact with a recycling company, your bigger question is not 'what should I offer', but "am I willing to take everything he has?" - because, to him, a few computers here/there is just a waste of time.

As for your negotiation question(s), the main thing in any negotiation has little to do with your questions, but EVERYTHING to do with the other party's answers! You should be focusing on a list of QUESTIONS to ask him, while also having an idea of where you have to be in pricing to make it work for you.

Again, this has been discussed many times (I feel like I'm repeating myself - don't want to get chastised for double-posting! .... - very recently (in fact, on the 3rd..... - http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=14122&p=141811#p141811) - do a search for 'bidding' 'offer', etc. - you will find a lot of helpful info, though as I said, no one can really answer your questions on "what to do" other than yourself.

 

[joem]

I never believe that it is so closed down. Make links with charities, if the government is taking over use it against them like taxes (everyone hates paying taxes), use boardsort for prices and offer under, offer to take the bad with the good ( I recycle one store's cardboard boxes because they would have to pay too much to do it), go door to door if you have to, have an ewaste event of your own ( I am), get a website, advertise online for free, put lettering on your vehicle, there are many things you could do just follow the advertising thread in my signature. It's a bit of a read but well worth the learning.
Keep at it and it will work out like many newbies here on this forum.

 

[eroc]

thanks to both of you for your quick reply and insight... we will see where this journey takes us..

 

[etack]

I get all mine from scrapers. Talk to them and pay fair they will collect it for you. I pay mine in metal from the computers.

Eric

 

[nickvc]

If as you say this is a hobby try a different approach to your potential supplier, try offering to refine the easier items, visible gold, with the idea that you return a good percentage of the gold to him but keep enough to cover costs and time and a small profit, most people like gold and maybe he might just like the idea, be very honest with him and it might just work out nicely for you both.

 

[eroc]

thanks again nick and eric.. i was thinking the same thing.. what percentage do you offer as a return??.. I have seen other posts indicating 25%-40% is reasonable..

 

[nickvc]

If you aim for the easy stuff first I think your going to struggle to get your customer to go for that sort of percentage, remember this guy knows what he can get selling as is, you need to compete not beat the return but very close, gut feeling says a 75/25 split and see how it goes, your going to have to work at this to make it work for both of you.