A popular side business for many handymen is to buy broken washers, dryers, and dishwashers to repair and resell. This can turn a decent profit if you know what you are doing and are in a location where these appliances would be plentiful. Sometimes, there may be no way to repair the appliance without putting in more money than the appliance is worth. If this is the case, then you may be left with a pile of broken metal. You can sell this for scrap metal with a little bit of knowledge.

Break the Appliances Down

One of the biggest misconceptions about selling appliances for scrap metal is that you can take them in whole. The truth is, most scrap metal yards will not take them whole. If they do decide to take them whole, they may give you less due to having to breakdown the appliance to remove plastics and other items that are not accepted by the scrap metal company. You can avoid that by removing plastics, copper wire, and other items that are not ferrous or non-ferrous metal.

Know Your Metals

There are two types of metal that are normally taken by scrap metal companies. The first is ferrous metal which includes structural metal, automobile metals, and metals you would find on demolition sites . The second type is non-ferrous. This type of metal includes copper, brass, stainless steel, and aluminum.

This will likely be the most common type of metal you will be dealing with through selling scrap appliances. Once you know the metals, you can separate them and have them ready for the scrap yard. This speeds the process and helps ensure you are only taking metals they will accept.

Know the Current Pricing

You can keep up with the current prices for various scrap metals through various online sources. One way to keep up is to check the site of the scrap company you will be working with. Most do keep a link to the current pricing indexes. This will let you know your profit for the scrap metal sales you want to make.

It will also help you determine profit if you will be buying some broken appliances from people and paying them small amounts for them. This way you can see the total profit for yourself and gauge if now is the time to sell or if you should wait for a better price range.

By keeping these key points in mind, you can turn the broken down appliances you aren't able to fix into a scrap metal side income. If you think you have some scrap metal from appliances, and you want to put the basics into action, contact your local scrap metal yard. You can schedule a time to bring in the appliances and have a hands on experience of the scrap metal selling process.