These 'we buy cars for cash' scrap type outfits...
Discussion
PoorCarCollector said:
Not sure if trolling.........??
It's like any buy/sell business, they buy something in the hope of selling it for a higher price
I'm not trolling.It's like any buy/sell business, they buy something in the hope of selling it for a higher price
I'm wondering how much more would a scrapyard pay the middle man on a scrap vehicle than if the original owner was to just scrap it themselves...
They come to your house and often will pay £100-£150 for a broken down car/ MOT failure that people just want rid of because it's unsightly and even just taking that same car to a breakers yard will probably make them a couple of hundred pounds.
If they decide to start stripping the cat's off first and doing any other type of similar work (car dependant) they can make a good chunk more out of it.
I've sold at least two cars to this type of operator over the years because I couldn't be bothered to do anything with them myself.
I would caveat it by saying make sure you get your paperwork in order with them because they often will try taking the logbook and "offering" to do the paperwork for you but it never works that way.
If they decide to start stripping the cat's off first and doing any other type of similar work (car dependant) they can make a good chunk more out of it.
I've sold at least two cars to this type of operator over the years because I couldn't be bothered to do anything with them myself.
I would caveat it by saying make sure you get your paperwork in order with them because they often will try taking the logbook and "offering" to do the paperwork for you but it never works that way.
D1on said:
I'm not trolling.
I'm wondering how much more would a scrapyard pay the middle man on a scrap vehicle than if the original owner was to just scrap it themselves...
So, not the original question you asked at all then. I'm wondering how much more would a scrapyard pay the middle man on a scrap vehicle than if the original owner was to just scrap it themselves...
Are you thinking of starting a business doing this? What do you need to know?
D1on said:
I'm not trolling.
I'm wondering how much more would a scrapyard pay the middle man on a scrap vehicle than if the original owner was to just scrap it themselves...
If you're the owner of the car, how are you going to get it to the scrapyard to scrap it yourself if the car isn't taxed/MoT/insured/drivable?I'm wondering how much more would a scrapyard pay the middle man on a scrap vehicle than if the original owner was to just scrap it themselves...
My assumption is that they come along, offer you £100 for the car, tow it away, remove the headlights/catalyst/anything else that easy to sell and then take it to be weighed in and get £3-400 for it
At the moment, scrap car prices are very low. They've come down about 50% since the start of the year
https://scrapmetalprice.org.uk/cars-monthly-scrap-...
https://scrapmetalprice.org.uk/cars-monthly-scrap-...
I scrapped my last Mondeo. It wouldn't start without a new ECU, therefore it was far easier to phone a scrap man. Got £150 for it, which is what it would then weigh in for.
He got a set of decent wheels with some barely worn Michelin tyres and the cat as well. How many other bits he took off the car to sell I neither know nor care
He got a set of decent wheels with some barely worn Michelin tyres and the cat as well. How many other bits he took off the car to sell I neither know nor care
D1on said:
The ones you see on Facebook with an old beavertail recovery truck collecting scrap cars ten to the dozen... How do they make money? Where is the money to be made in doing this...
They take all the valuable parts off then weigh the remaining body in for scrap.Even something as mundane as a ford focus will get you about £30 for each light cluster, similar for various electronic modules, then there window motors, wing mirrors etc etc. Bumpers will be around £100 each.
All bits you could remove with a few simple tools, and sell on eBay.
I'm surprised how much scrap metal sells for. A friend had 3 old engines and a bit of copper pipe in his shed that he wanted clearing but didn't want scrap men around. We put them in my trailer and took them to the local scrap metal place - £200.
I was doing it as a favour - I didn't expect £200 out of it!
I was doing it as a favour - I didn't expect £200 out of it!
Synetiq do this at scale on a conveyor type system i.e. car goes in one end of building, stripped of parts which are catalogued and sold to dealers and ebay etc, whatever is left of no value gets scrapped, though drive past their site and they have entire body shells piled on racking....
https://www.synetiq.co.uk/
https://www.synetiq.co.uk/
I would imagine it’s one of those murky markets which is defined by the lowest selling price as this sets the market price and in this case the market is full of cowboys. Very limited opportunity for repeat business so there is no loyalty or incentive to offer a quality service, people just want rid of their broken cars for the most amount of cash.
So route A is join the cowboys and do things like cut corners, dodge taxes and you might make some money.
Route B is follow all the rules (vat, very erroneous environmental laws which are costly and time consuming, income tax, don’t do anything dodge with a log book etc) but you won’t make much profit for a lot of hard work.
Is a business opportunity to buy a tow truck / van and combine this work with some normal a-b transport of vehicles. Ie your main business is the a-b for places like garages and if you spot an opportunity to lift and process a scrap vehicle then take it but don’t rely on the business.
So route A is join the cowboys and do things like cut corners, dodge taxes and you might make some money.
Route B is follow all the rules (vat, very erroneous environmental laws which are costly and time consuming, income tax, don’t do anything dodge with a log book etc) but you won’t make much profit for a lot of hard work.
Is a business opportunity to buy a tow truck / van and combine this work with some normal a-b transport of vehicles. Ie your main business is the a-b for places like garages and if you spot an opportunity to lift and process a scrap vehicle then take it but don’t rely on the business.
D1on said:
The ones you see on Facebook with an old beavertail recovery truck collecting scrap cars ten to the dozen... How do they make money? Where is the money to be made in doing this...
Not to the scale you describe, but years ago I was into FIATs and Lancias. I would buy one, and another on the cheap for spares and once the (rusty) bodies got beyond economical repair, I would break them (especially the 131 Supermirafioris) and often make more money than what the car was worth. A chap down the road from me had a Lexus LS400 and I rue not asking him to let me know if he ever wanted to move it on. One day I caught it being loaded onto a breaker's flatbed. It was a runner and probably worth more in spares.
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