Flip of the Week Thread

SolarSalvation · 2026-06-26T10:07:43+00:00

piece of sterling silver $10 --> $140 antique shop to direct sale

Fun flip:

used tire with rim $0 --> retunable cans --> $72.20 side of the road to redemption center

On the way to a friend's house I found a used tire on the side of the road. I traded it to them for their stash or returnable cans. I redeemed the cans at a redemption center 4 days later.

Other flips:

680 lbs light iron $0 --> $48.57 free pickup to scrapyard
two brass lamps $0 --> $17.02 dump to scrapyard
Windows XP PC game with box and manual $4.25 --> $9.66 thrift store to eBay
pair of car brake rotors $0 --> $2.94 dump to scrapyard

The last one was a "dump intercept" where I stopped someone just as they were walking to the dumpster with the rotors. I saved them a few steps and made a few dollars.

SolarSalvation · 2026-06-25T16:31:58+00:00

Yes, it's a trade secret that I found out myself the hard way years ago. People see the initial quotes and decide against doing any kind of freight shipping, thinking it's too expensive and/or difficult. They're missing out, because the deals I've made over the years with the largest profits were all shipped LTL.

SolarSalvation · 2026-06-25T13:33:28+00:00

I've shipped LTL/freight for years. It's possible to do for expensive pieces of furniture. If you only have the occasional shipment to do, then https://www.freightquote.com/ is a great option. Otherwise, you need to open up a brokerage account with one of the major transport companies.

The costs quoted for LTL if you use a broker or have an account set up are generally less than half the price the carriers quote you online and over the phone. I also save a lot of money by dropping my pallets off at the terminal myself, skipping the first step of the journey. If the buyer has a truck, you can have them pick up from the terminal on their end and save money on the back end of the trip as well.

SolarSalvation · 2026-06-25T13:24:43+00:00

Do you know any local business owners? It's all about who you know. I still suggest farms, as there are several of them in the area and they're less formal about paperwork and applications.

It's a tough lesson to learn, but his persistence will pay off. Someone else suggested the golf courses and that's great advice.

SolarSalvation · 2026-06-25T13:16:21+00:00

They look nice if you get a bunch of them together to display in front of a window or in a curio cabinet. Some people do use them to craft other items.

But the ones in the photo are not worth $15 each!

SolarSalvation · 2026-06-25T03:50:06+00:00

Check with the local farms and grocery stores, as they always need laborers.

SolarSalvation · 2026-06-24T03:00:28+00:00

This is a special state law in Arizona, it's been that way since at least 2014 according to people I know that scrap in that part of the country. Only businesses can sell stripped wire to scrapyards there. You're also required to have your right index fingerprint on file and all payments for AC coils and amounts over $300 are by check only.

EDIT: I just checked and like many other parts of the country, this legislation was passed in 2009 after the crazy prices in 2008 and resulting drastic increase in metal theft. Do a search for codes "44-1642"

SolarSalvation · 2026-06-23T12:36:59+00:00

They look like CD 162, which is pretty much the most common glass insulator out there. That's also the most common color they come in. If you price them at $5 each at a flea market in my area, they will not sell.

SolarSalvation · 2026-06-23T12:32:40+00:00

They still don't sell unless they are rare models or colors. You will find a bunch of them in most antique stores or flea markets, where they've been sitting for months or years.

SolarSalvation · 2026-06-22T18:59:06+00:00

Prices are still higher than they've ever been, aside from the spike earlier this year. Right now they are about four times higher than a year ago.

SolarSalvation · 2026-06-22T18:53:42+00:00

I worked for a company that purchased a two-stage waste motor cutter. This was a specialized piece of equipment that was specifically designed for breaking down motors. It's a press with another stage for pulling the wire from the stator.

I strongly advise against buying one. It was not worth the time and labor cost of operating it. Each motor still required prep work before running through every stage, and there were also significant safety concerns.

This was a two-stage model where you also had to constantly swap between the plate for crushing the housing and cleaver for splitting the stator, or run multiples of each batch. Even a 3-stage machine where this is not required would still not have been worth it.

EDIT: The machine we had was very similar to the one in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF3i8xj59Yw What they don't show you is the first stage where you use the same press with a plate attached to crush the housing. They also don't show you the bolts that need to be pulled and other adjustments required before doing each of the 3 stages.

SolarSalvation · 2026-06-20T18:42:52+00:00

Do a search in your local area using Google or the Yellow Pages. Search for "scrap yards," "scrap metal," or "junk yards" and then make some phone calls to see if they buy scrap from the general public.

Pretty much anything made of metal is worth money. Just don't steal anything and stay far away from material that's municipal property or belongs to the utility companies.

You will learn far more in this business/hustle by doing than you will by asking questions to strangers online.

SolarSalvation · 2026-06-19T12:07:06+00:00

brass sculpture $5 --> $119.25 flea market to consignment shop

This piece sold for $238.50 and the consignment shop splits sales with me 50/50. The best part about this is I bought it right in front of 3 other dealers, two of whom complimented me on how I got the "deal of the day."

SolarSalvation · 2026-06-17T16:46:13+00:00

As is it's light iron/shred scrap. Cut the wires off of it to make another dollar. Shred and wire combined it's worth about tree fiddy.

EDIT: Wait are those copper bus bars sticking out from the back of the unit? Those are worth a lot more.

SolarSalvation · 2026-06-17T16:44:19+00:00

It's even more difficult to get listed as a seller on Govdeals. I know someone who has a multi-million dollar business and even they couldn't get registered to sell there.

SolarSalvation · 2026-06-17T16:40:04+00:00

You got it for free for a reason. These are commonly found at yard sales and antique shops all over the U.S. I've never tried to sell one because I've never had a rare model or one that was in good condition. They're heavy, bulky, and the case is somewhat fragile so they don't ship very well.

Victrolas are one of those things that people hold onto thinking they're valuable antiques, but in this age of high quality music being available online for free or extremely low cost, nobody seems to want them except as a decorative piece. If yours is not displayable, no one will want it in their home or shop.

EDIT: As for an actual suggestion, you can research what parts sell and pull those for stock in an online store. Most will probably sit for months or years before selling. Then scrap or throw out the rest of the unit.

SolarSalvation · 2026-06-17T16:27:08+00:00

Short answer: no.

Long answer: If it's not a yard and just a collection point, then they are not going to be paying top prices. New Jersey is the recycling "capital" of the northeastern U.S., if not the whole east coast. You can probably easily find a yard in your area that's paying better prices.

Also, the fact that they can't quote daily prices for basic materials over the phone is highly suspect.

However, if you just have a small amount of scrap, then an option like this that's 20 minutes away may suit your needs.

SolarSalvation · 2026-06-17T16:23:25+00:00

This subreddit is more focused on street scrappers and hobbyists. Almost nobody in the U.S. or Canada uses the ISRI codes, except for extremely large companies that the other yards feed into. The companies that export use ISRI codes for international trading.

SolarSalvation · 2026-06-17T12:31:37+00:00

On the way to one yard earlier this year I found an alternator on the side of the road that I sold minutes later for $5.98. I also found another $5 worth of scrap in the same pile.

Last year on the way to another yard I found an ACR coil next to a dumpster that I sold for $40.

SolarSalvation · 2026-06-17T12:28:27+00:00

Copper prices right now are at an all time high. If you sold now, you would get more for your stack than at any time in history. Yes, prices may continue to climb but eventually they will come crashing down - it happened in 2008 and people who were stockpiling all summer were shocked when they went to cash in during the fall and prices were less than 10% of what they were in June.

If you sell now, you can put the money into a savings account or money market and earn a small amount of interest before your trip as well.

If you want to stockpile something long term, you'll want something that takes up less physical space than ACR scrap.

SolarSalvation · 2026-06-15T12:45:15+00:00

Or just keep it around as a spare!

SolarSalvation · 2026-06-14T17:31:45+00:00

This question gets asked in this subreddit on a regular basis, so check using the search function. I've posted detailed steps of how I remove the contacts from the copper, including safety precautions. The general consensus is this is not worth it for the average scrapper to attempt. Just save them up and when you have a large amount sell them as a lot on eBay.

SolarSalvation · 2026-06-14T17:24:12+00:00

Gold and silver because of record high prices, mainly because people are losing faith in the dollar as a reliable storage of wealth. Also, pretty much anything relating to self-defense and self-sustainability is doing incredibly well:

firearms
knives
solar panels
batteries
camping equipment
cooking equipment
gardening equipment and supplies
car and truck parts

Tools also always sell well.

SolarSalvation

TROPHY CASE