Mel White gives us the scoop on scrap at FriendsInBusiness!
After checking out a board recommended by Nathan Haines a few message threads south ( clicky-link) , I discovered that yes by golly there IS a market for scrap metals and there’s recyclable metal in a lot of things. What surprised me most is that people will buy scrap gold on Ebay.
The material there varies from computer circuit boards (which can be picked up at any municipal auction or corporate auction for Not Much Money) to old jewelry (which could be picked up by the astute flea marketer.) I kind of blinked at some of the prices people were willing to pay (check it out for yourself. Do a search for “scrap gold” on Ebay.)
While there is MORE money in refining the gold and metals into nearly pure bars and selling those, that requires some equipment and knowledge and setup.
In order to run this business, you have to be able to:
* identify and certify gold and know the difference between HGE and karat gold.
* have an electronic jeweler’s scale and a good camera
* do some research on the market, particularly on local markets.I think it’s too labor intenstive to make a working wage at it (unless you’re buying and selling scrap jewelry and then you have to know what’s good and what isn’t.) If you get serious about the business, you’ll have to buy a refining setup (or find and price refiners.)
You DO want to be careful, though, because some of the materials and some of the ways to recover the gold involve chemicals that are Not Very Good for you or the environment. If you have severe allergies or autoimmune diseases (fibromyalgia, etc) then the refining and processing end is NOT something you would want to go into (though you could buy and sell scrap jewelry.)
Check the boards Nathan recommended for some starting places.
I have been in the jewelry business (and my parents were also) and if you can locate several locals who are casting their own jewelry, you can probably keep busy and earn yourself some decent spending money with this kind of home business.
Some related links (no endorsement implied)
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