Fun thought experiment that I’m going to over analyze.
Near me iron seems to go for ~$180/ton at scrap yards. If we call the average pan weight 8lbs, that’s about 4k tons so scrap value on the lot is ~$720k. The question would be how likely you could sell these not as scrap and net beat the $280k spread. The scrap value per pan would be ~$0.72, so if you can sell each pan for more than a dollar you’d theoretically come out ahead, but to make it worth while you’d probably want to target $10 or more because processing, storing, and moving that many pans isn’t going to be free. Budget new pans go for $20-30, used can be lower or higher than that depending on quality and condition.
tl;dr: Depends on the condition and quality of the pans and it sounds like a lot of work but I’d say the optionality is skewed towards taking the pans if you were willing and able to put the time in to make it a business/job for yourself.
Personally I don’t have the time and I’m doing well financially, I’d take the money.
Fun thought experiment that I’m going to over analyze.
Near me iron seems to go for ~$180/ton at scrap yards. If we call the average pan weight 8lbs, that’s about 4k tons so scrap value on the lot is ~$720k. The question would be how likely you could sell these not as scrap and net beat the $280k spread. The scrap value per pan would be ~$0.72, so if you can sell each pan for more than a dollar you’d theoretically come out ahead, but to make it worth while you’d probably want to target $10 or more because processing, storing, and moving that many pans isn’t going to be free. Budget new pans go for $20-30, used can be lower or higher than that depending on quality and condition.
tl;dr: Depends on the condition and quality of the pans and it sounds like a lot of work but I’d say the optionality is skewed towards taking the pans if you were willing and able to put the time in to make it a business/job for yourself.
Personally I don’t have the time and I’m doing well financially, I’d take the money.
Thank you, saved me the work. Although what I did read makes it sound like the scrap yard near you gives a good rate.