[TLuker]

Originally Posted by clr8ter

To OP: Uhhhh, "Kilo"? How much over spot is that per POUND? LOL

Axxe, I disagree. Is it possible that with SHTF, people might need to store or save their wealth, and not in some food/fuel/whiskey/ect. form? Also, if the price of silver & gold were to go WAY up, maybe copper could step in to act like a medium of exchange for small things, like buying bread.

You mean like pennies?

That's a pretty good thought you had there. It's obviously happened before. Its also interesting that copper has increased in value so much that pennies can no longer be made out of it.

[clr8ter]

Sure, pennies would be the obvious thing. But also I'd collect/keep scrap copper. If you look hard enough, you can find it for free. If you were wicked lazy, you could just go to the scrap yard and buy it for a few cents over spot per pound.

[dragunovsks]

Who will buy it from you? In a shtf scenario the economy will be in the sh**ter which means lots of industries will be closed including the recycling industry. Now you can sell scrap iron, aluminum, copper and brass but with the steel mills and smelter plants closed you'll be stuck with it. That's why scrap prices fluctuate so much, well one reason other than cost of fuel, the mills buy lots of it till thier yards are stocked up then they may not buy for a couple months.

I collect and horde all valuable scrap materials for a rainy day. Last time I was jobless I had enough scrap iron piled behind the barn to keep a little cash coming in till I found another job. It wasn't comparable to the $15/hr job I had before but nonetheless it was better than nothing, not to mention I also drew unemployment for the couple months I was off.

Also, I highly doubt youll find a scrap yard that is willing to sell you anything they intend to sell as scrap. My company has contracts with several local scrap yards, we haul to the steel mills, we also haul for demo companies that sell to the scrap yards. I've tried numerous times to buy things I've seen at those yards, most of the time they won't let us even if we grease the wheels abit. Last week it tried to buy a Ford escort zr2, the guy selling it was right in front of me in line for the scale. He said the head gasket was blown, hell I've got the means to get that fixed pretty cheap. They wouldn't let me buy it and I watched as they crushed it like a beer can.

[clr8ter]

Also, I highly doubt youll find a scrap yard that is willing to sell you anything they intend to sell as scrap.

So, judging by your story, your scrap guy is a retard. Why would anyone be "obligated" to sell their stuff to one person/business? That's just bad business. Most scrap guys I know will sell to whoever pays the most. Now, you might not get the same low price as the milll who's buying all of his 30 tons of it......

Also, who says that we will/won't need/want to have metals or other goods to barter with at some point in the future? The SHTF scenario is just one out of many, we just don't know. I personally have not chosen to collect copper, but I can see the point.

[dragunovsks]

Originally Posted by clr8ter

So, judging by your story, your scrap guy is a retard. Why would anyone be "obligated" to sell their stuff to one person/business? That's just bad business. Most scrap guys I know will sell to whoever pays the most. Now, you might not get the same low price as the milll who's buying all of his 30 tons of it......

Also, who says that we will/won't need/want to have metals or other goods to barter with at some point in the future? The SHTF scenario is just one out of many, we just don't know. I personally have not chosen to collect copper, but I can see the point.

I never called anyone retarded, just saying the scrapyards in my area have policies against that sort of thing, believe me I've tried. I'm not saying no scrapyards will just not the ones I've been to or haul out of or into.

And I don't relegate myself to selling just to one yard, ill call around and find out who is paying more and factor in the driving distance.