Whether you are new to selling scrap metal or have been doing it for years, there are ways to get out the door on the right foot. Here are a few ways to do it:

1. Get Free Metal: If you can start your business/hobby/etc. with little to no cash down, then you are that much better off. Obviously, you have to have a way to transport the metal, be it truck or trailer, but if you can find free metal then that should be your only expense. There are multiple ways you can go about doing this. Craigslist often has people giving away scrap metal just to get rid of it. You can also go to businesses that deal with metal and ask for scraps. You can even hand out flyers letting people know you'll come haul their "junk" away for free.
2. Remove Attachments: Scrap yards are much more likely to pay more for your metal if you have removed all of the attachments from it. This saves them the time and energy from having to do it themselves so they're willing to pay more.
3. Shoot for Nonferrous Metals: While ferrous metals are more abundant, nonferrous metals are worth more per pound. If you're looking to make money quickly, then use either. If you're looking to make more money, look for more nonferrous metals, such as aluminum, lead, copper, brass, and stainless steel. You can also use a magnet to determine if your metals are ferrous or nonferrous. Magnets will stick to ferrous but not nonferrous.
4. Strip Your Wires: Most scrap yards won't tell you this, but they'll pay significantly more for stripped wire than non-stripped wire. The non-stripped wire has to be stripped, which means that you're not getting paid for the pure metal. If you strip it yourself your poundage is based solely on metal and you'll get more per pound.
5. Separate Your Metals: If you choose not to separate your metals before you take them to the scrap yard then you will get paid the value of the least valuable metal in your load. They love it when you do this because they get to pay you less for potentially really good metal. If you sort ahead of time then you'll get paid exactly what each lot is worth.

Having your own scrap metal business can be very profitable. Just remember to get your metal for free whenever possible, remove attachments, try and find nonferrous metals, strip your wires, and sort your metals. Do these things and you'll be making money in no time.

Contact a company like Cozzi Recycling for more information and assistance.