What to do?

[IHMSA]

I just had a printing company offer me 2200 lbs of linotype in slugs.
I went and looked at it and it looks pretty clean. (I've been in the printing business for over 30 yrs.)
What would you guys do?
How much should I offer?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

[SciFiJim]

Let them make the first offer. Don't suggest a price. FYI today's market price for Scrap Linotype is 46 cents/lb delivered to a recycler. Using that as a basis, $1000 and you haul it off would be a fair deal. If they ask for less, Take It. If they want more then bargain with them.

[SciFiJim]

Be sure to post here how it turns out!

[crabo]

Shoot all you can and sell the rest. (BlueBell ice cream motto revised.. We eat all we can and sell the rest)

[WHITETAIL]

IHMSA, Welcome to the forum!:drinks:

[IHMSA]

Thanks everyone. I'll let you know how I fare.

[anachronism]

If they won't tell you a price, shoot them a lowball offer. They will get to their price really quickly from that point. Remember, they approached you.

[jdgabbard]

I would offer them .30 a lbs to start, they may take it if you haul. If not then barter...

[HeavyMetal]

Are you the only one they've asked to buy this stuff?

I can't imagine they have no idea of current value.

If your not the only "bidder" they may be thinking to "e bay" this stuff in the hopes of driving the price up.

Be aware that to low a price from what they expect may get the door slammed in your face, never to be opened again!

Had I the money, and was local, I think I'd go .38 a LB. and strongly speak about current cost of fuel to do the hauling.

This will open the door for further bargining.

Do not be surprised if they think this stuff is worth $2.00 a lb!

The real question is: What do you think it's worth?


Curious as to how this works out, please post the final results if you can.

[Trey45]

Ask them how much they'll pay you to haul it away for them. :)

[GLL]

Take $100 bills with you when you want to deal with them ! :) :)

Ben has a great influence on some deals ! :)

Also consider recovering part of your investment by selling off some in 40-50 pound lots right here !
You might end up with a 1000 pounds for yourself for free or close to it! :)

Jerry

[Jim_Fleming]

I'd bet a weeks pay that if you can't use it all, you'd be able to sell the lion's share of it right here on Group Buys...

LMAO @ your good fortune!

[IHMSA]

I'm going to call him this morning and offer him $0.46. If that is the fair scrap price, that is what I'll offer him and hope he bites. I don't want to cheat him, but don't want to pay too much either.

He said has been waiting for the "scrap house" that buys his aluminum plates and uncoated paper to give him a price for several months now and they obviously haven't gotten back with him on the Lino.

I know I'll have to haul it away in my personal truck. Not going to spend the time to turn it into ingots as that would take forever with my 20lb furnace.

What would be a fair price for me to sell what I don't need?

[SciFiJim]

Here is the website that will give you the market price for different types of scrap lead.

http://www.metalworld.com/a/0137.html

This is what recyclers would pay for you to bring it to them. Selling it in individual lots would entail additional work (like hauling & packaging) that would have to be accounted for in the price. The mark up that you choose is up to you. Buying it at the price you set is up to everyone else.

[zomby woof]

Our local scrap yard pays $.10-.15 per pound for lead.

[BruceB]

IHMSA, for whatever my experience is worth, I don't think you'll have to convert the lino to ingots.

A good friend of mine bought a printing business, and a number of TONS of linotype came with it. Some was in 22-pound pigs, and a lot of it was in the actual print strips ranging from a single character up to strips several inches long.

My furnace at the time was a 10-pound SAECO, and the strip stuff was clean enough that, apart from a bit of smoke from the ink, no difficulty was encountered. We cut the pigs into chunks with a Skilsaw-type hand saw.

Good luck with this venture. Linotype is a truly fine alloy as-is, and can also be alloyed with pure lead or wheelweights for various purposes. If you get it at a decent price, you are one fortunate caster!

[GLL]

IHMSA:

Leave it in letter-strip form and pack it up in 40-50 pound Flat Rate USPS Flat Rate boxes. Sell it here on the Forum for $1.00/pound plus shipping.

One important point would be to double pack it so the Post Office could not destroy the box. They REALLY try !

One seller here wrapped the type in some pieces of old blue tarp, taped it VERY well, and then put it in the Post Office Flat Rate box. They smashed the box but the type remained safe inside surround by the tarp material. GREAT JOB kingstrider!

Jerry

[AZ-Stew]

IHMSA,

Considering that the scrap dealers haven't gotten back to the guy for a couple of months, I'm betting the current owner is getting desperate to just get rid of it. Let HIM suggest a price, and negotiate down from there. So far, he hasn't gotten any interest in it, so take advantage of your position as an interested party. When he hears your low bid to get it out from under his feet, the worst he can tell you is "no." I think you're in the driver's seat on this deal. Make the most of it.

Regards,

Stew

[Wayne Smith]

IHMSA,

Considering that the scrap dealers haven't gotten back to the guy for a couple of months, I'm betting the current owner is getting desperate to just get rid of it. Let HIM suggest a price, and negotiate down from there. So far, he hasn't gotten any interest in it, so take advantage of your position as an interested party. When he hears your low bid to get it out from under his feet, the worst he can tell you is "no." I think you're in the driver's seat on this deal. Make the most of it.

Regards,

Stew

I'll ditto this, especially as you are willing to carry it away. That has value as well.

[PatMarlin]

Offer him what the local scrappers pay. And- you'll be picking it up for him. Win-win.

[mold maker]

Scrap Metal prices have generally fallen in the last few months. Several big salvage companies are all now paying .47/lb., at their door, in less than truck load lots. Since that is several pickup loads and the price of gas is increasing, that has to figure into what you offer.
Anything less than .50 a lb. will make you a good profit
on what you chose to sell.
Frankly, If I could afford it, I'd dry store it for the future.
The political wind may turn Linotype into GOLD, in the not too distant future. When primers and powder are once more on the store shelves, casters will be hunting in vain for wheel weights. Linotype has always been in demand and is no longer being used in printing like it used to be.
My wife asked me, if i didn't think, I had enough, Soft Lead, Wheel Weights, and Linotype.
My answer was that, There is NO such thing as "enough".

[jdgabbard]

Personally, if it was me, like I said before: Offer a low bid. If he is asking you for a price and he has been waiting on the scrap yard to get back to him then he knows the market isn't desiring Lino right now. Explain what the market price is, and then explain what the gas prices are, and the fact that hauling 500 to 1000 pounds at a time is going to guzzle a lot of it. Especially if you have a ways to drive.

[mdi]

IHMSA:

Leave it in letter-strip form and pack it up in 40-50 pound Flat Rate USPS Flat Rate boxes. Sell it here on the Forum for $1.00/pound plus shipping.

One important point would be to double pack it so the Post Office could not destroy the box. They REALLY try !

One seller here wrapped the type in some pieces of old blue tarp, taped it VERY well, and then put it in the Post Office Flat Rate box. They smashed the box but the type remained safe inside surround by the tarp material. GREAT JOB kingstrider!

Jerry

I would be glad to purchase from a forum member. I don't use a lot of linotype compared to other types of lead, but I could use some. And you're right about the Post Office apes; I got a 50 lb box of WW lead with a hole in the side, covered by SCOTCH TAPE! Only had 35 lbs. in the box!

[IHMSA]

Did the deal. He knew exactly what he had. We agreed on $.47/lb.
I think I'll probably offer up a box on the "donations" thread. :drinks:

[leadman]

You can order USPS flat rate boxes online for no cost to you. You can pay the postage on-line when you are ready to ship. You can go on-line to schedule a pick up also.
This will cut down on you having to make multiple trips to the post office and burning your gas and time.

[jdgabbard]

I would probably be interested in a little lino if you do sell some... For alloying with my %99 to get it up to WW...

[fredj338]

That's a very fair price. I payed $1/# shipped a couple years ago. It's going to come inhandy when I start melting my tape wts down.

[TCLouis]

I'll bet he jumped at $0.47 a pound. Again look at scrap prices DELIVERED to the scrap yard.