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4 Factors Which Affect The Price You Receive When Recycling Scrap Metal

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It is quite amazing the amount of material which can be recycled when you are renovating a home. As someone who is always conscious of their impact on the environment and desirous of making sure their discarded building materials don't end up at the local dump, you are considering recycling the scrap metal you discard during the renovation. However, as someone who has never recycled scrap metal before, you have heard myths and rumours about how much you can expect to be paid for this product. There are a number of factors which impact the amount a scrap metal recycler will pay you, and here are four of those factors.

1. Seasonal Demand 

During the winter, many people prefer to hang out inside the home where they can keep warm rather than tackling chores around the home or heading into the back shed to create something new. Because of this hibernation, scrap metal buyers pay less in the wintertime as they have more stock on hand than over the summer months. When the stock is flying off the shelves once the temperature heats up, then you can expect more interest in your renovation material. If you want to get paid more, consider holding onto the metal until spring arrives.

2. Your Location

The location of the scrap metal makes a difference in how much you are paid. This is because of transportation costs. If the scrap metal buyer needs to travel quite a way to collect the goods, then the amount they are willing to pay you is eroded by transportation costs. To counteract this, either look at transporting the metal yourself or get a transport company's quote on how much it would cost to deliver it to the buyer.

3. Amount Of Scrap

The more scrap you have to sell, the more you can negotiate on the price you wish to be paid. A scrap metal dealer makes a living off of buying and selling scrap metal, so the more you can provide them, the better the amount of profit they can make. To take advantage of this system, wait until you have finished renovating the home to find a buyer for your scrap metal rather than selling it in dribs and drabs through the building process.

4. Quality Of Scrap

If you want to get the best deal for your scrap, then you need to present it to the buyer in a desirable condition. For example, if the scrap metal is hidden under a layer of foam insulation, then the buyer needs to spend time cleaning up the metal. If you do this cleaning process before you offer the metal for sale, then you will get a better price.

You can make money and protect the environment during your home renovation by recycling your scrap metal. How much you make depends on the four factors outlined above.


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