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bought 54 lbs brass and copper

PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 1:45 pm
by cyberdan
Last Saturday was very productive got 54 lbs brass and copper. Even went to a Goodwill and gathered all the brass pieces they had and put them in one spot. I found the manager and told her I would buy all at $1 each she said OK.

At a yardsale bought a set of brass Masonic bookends $2 (6 lbs) put on ebay last night and already have a $25 bid.

going to the recycler in one hour with everything I bought in the last few weeks.
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update got back from the recycler. Turns out i had 58lbs total of metals and I am $117 richer.

Did spend about $42 on the metals tho.

Re: bought 54 lbs brass and copper

PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 10:06 pm
by thunter
Nice profit! Can you provide a link to your Ebay auction?

Re: bought 54 lbs brass and copper

PostPosted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 11:19 pm
by Heartkill
It takes money to make money, good profits. I buy a lot of brass to scrap at Goodwill also. It seems they've been doing better lately on their pricing.

Re: bought 54 lbs brass and copper

PostPosted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 7:02 pm
by cyberdan
thunter wrote:Nice profit! Can you provide a link to your Ebay auction?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=130481616485&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

Re: bought 54 lbs brass and copper

PostPosted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 10:14 pm
by Dr. Cadmium
Unfortunately, the Goodwills around me overprice everything, are very picked over and will not haggle. Example: $5 is typical for a 6 oz brass candlestick.

Still, if you spend a lot of time at thrift stores and tag sales it makes sense to add base metals to your shopping list.

Re: bought 54 lbs brass and copper

PostPosted: Fri Feb 04, 2011 5:46 pm
by blackrabbit
I've scored a bunch of base metal stuff at thrift stores for less than melt. My problem is I like looking at the stuff and can't bring myself to scrap all the cool usable items so I got crates full. I should do a spring cleaning and go convert most of it for cash, but it is still gaining value just sitting in my shed. I should just fee-bay the cooler stuff and scrap the rest.

Re: bought 54 lbs brass and copper

PostPosted: Wed Feb 09, 2011 8:37 pm
by Verbane
My best base metal finds come from church/charity type sales. End of sale specials are where you can make money.

I have a big Once a Year, 5 day charity sale nearby. I used to go the last day, and it would be a mad house, "Fill a bag for 50 cents!". This past year I went second to last day, (a Tuesday). Fill a grocery bag for $1.50.

I scored:
7 bags of brass (candle sticks and such) = 121 pounds
1 bag of copper (decorator items) = 14 pounds
4 bags of aluminum (souvenir plates and other items) = 28 pounds
Total spent was $18.00. The aluminum went to the scrap yard for $0.50 a pound. The brass and copper went into the hoard.

Re: bought 54 lbs brass and copper

PostPosted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 4:53 am
by blackrabbit
Wow the 5 day charity sale sounds fun! That is a lot of bags of metal you scored for next to nothing! :)

Re: bought 54 lbs brass and copper

PostPosted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 8:47 pm
by Verbane
I went to the sale for 4 years on the last day, I would find 2-3 light bags, but finds were very slim, heavy competition. This past year going on the second day was last minute. A co-worker who knows about my metal habit had stopped at the market during lunch, and mentioned that bags were only $1.50, and there were all kinds of brass candle sticks. I didn't hesitate, took the rest of the day off.

Re: bought 54 lbs brass and copper

PostPosted: Fri Feb 11, 2011 10:03 pm
by thunter
cyberdan wrote:Last Saturday was very productive got 54 lbs brass and copper. Even went to a Goodwill and gathered all the brass pieces they had and put them in one spot. I found the manager and told her I would buy all at $1 each she said OK.

At a yardsale bought a set of brass Masonic bookends $2 (6 lbs) put on ebay last night and already have a $25 bid.

going to the recycler in one hour with everything I bought in the last few weeks.
===========================================
update got back from the recycler. Turns out i had 58lbs total of metals and I am $117 richer.

Did spend about $42 on the metals tho.


Nice job on the Ebay aution at $35! :D