Selling Metal for Scrap

I've added a new kind of recycling to my repertoire.

I sold this:

here:

 

for $7.02.  Since I bought it for $5, this wasn’t exactly the deal of the century, but I was doing it mostly as a learning experience anyway.

Here’s what I learned:

There is a rate sheet that states how much per pound the dealer will pay for which type of metal.

The rate for (cast?) aluminum with stuff that has to be taken off of it = .06 cents a pound.

The rate for (cast?) aluminum = .55 cents a pound

Moral: Take ten minutes and remove the handles, rubber seal, etc to dramatically increase your profit.

Luckily for me, Steve was passing by and authorized the girl behind the counter to offer me the .55 cent rate because the pressure cooker was good quality metal and as customer service gesture.  It weighed a whopping 13 pounds.  The young lady behind the counter also took it back to weigh it instead of having me drive around to the back.  Everyone at Alter Metal Recycling was friendly and helpful, in fact.  Someone at church had recommended them.  I did have to put my fingerprint on the sales slip, which didn’t bother me.

Bottom line: Selling stuff for scrap might be worth it if the stuff was getting thrown out and if you didn’t pay for it in the first place.  (For example, part of a lot at an auction that you didn’t want, but that got thrown in with something you did want, stuff left over from a garage sale.)   I would accumulate a pile to make it worth your while before heading down there.  I don't think I'd go out of my way to acquire metal just to sell unless you know what you are doing, or are OK with a learning curve.

The pressure cooker was from the 1940s.  It would be hard to risk botulism or an explosion by using something that old.  It was probably fine.  But I didn't feel comfortable using it.

I know when the family was cleaning out my grandparents’ house the scrap metal dealer gave them $600+ for random metal and two iron bathtubs, so obviously more is better!  (My grandfather did welding so there was probably a lot of random metal.)

Has anyone had success with selling scrap?