Our Story: How I Got Started In The Catalytic Converter Recycling Business
The Beginning
It all started from a small car lot we had where we would advertise for junk and unwanted cars. Truth is, I wasn’t necessarily interested in junk cars. I was looking for cars at junk prices that we could fix up and sell for a profit. We would put in money for repairs, swap out parts if needed, and then sell the cars on the lot once they were repaired and inspected.
Out of the many junk cars we came across, only a few were actually worth fixing. For the rest, we would salvage the catalytic converters, aluminum rims, good tires, and batteries. Everything else on the car would be sold to a salvage yard. Over the course of about four to six weeks, we ended up accumulating around 80 to 100 converters.
My Experience With Code Buying
This led me to become familiar with the code buying process, and I realized that it put us, the sellers, at a big disadvantage. The system was not transparent, and we couldn’t determine the actual ounces and grams of precious metals in the converters. We were only given a price, which at best was based on an “app” evaluation and not the true content value. In addition, I discovered that the code buyers had apps where they could manipulate the prices, reducing the value of the converters right before they showed me “their” price.
The whole code-buying process was incredibly time consuming. My son and I would spend hours searching for codes, peeling shields off, writing down codes, and then researching the prices using different apps and forums. We would also encounter converters with no codes, resulting in a 50% reduction in payment because we couldn’t determine their true value or completeness. This meant I was losing around $1,200 to $1,600 per month just on codeless converters alone.
Furthermore, I realized that the code buyer was essentially acting as a middleman, making the process even more costly. They would purchase the converters at a reduced price and then sell them to larger code buyers who would ship them off for processing. It got me thinking, why should I use a middleman when I could deal directly with the processing companies?
Finding a Processor
When I looked into getting the converters processed, I discovered that the major processors required a minimum of 500 to 1,000 converters at a time, and it took weeks, even months, to get paid. This didn’t work well for smaller collectors like me who wanted to get paid quickly, especially considering how volatile the market prices were. To get into the processing business myself, I realized it would require a significant investment of around $350,000 to $400,000, not to mention a substantial amount of time. There was no way I could do it just for myself.
I wanted a better solution. I wanted to be paid based on the true value of my converters, whether I had 15, 80, or 1,000 of them. Unfortunately, such a company or service didn’t exist at the time.
My frustration with the existing system led me to believe that there were others out there who felt the same way. My son even called it my “pissed off business venture,” suggesting that I entered this venture out of frustration with the lack of honest dealings. And he was right—I was frustrated and wanted to change the game for people selling converters, eliminating the wasted time and frustrations of searching for codes and dealing with middlemen.
A Company is Born
I realized that this problem wasn’t just a local issue; it was a national issue. With today’s cost-effective shipping rates, there was an opportunity to show converter sellers all across the country there’s a better way to sell converters. I wanted to help sellers get paid on their true content value, help them understand the process, and get paid what they deserve.
After two years of investigation, I found that it would take a significant investment and time commitment to start my own processing operation. However, I knew that if I couldn’t find satisfaction after five years of selling by code, there were many others who shared my frustrations. This realization motivated me to create a cost-effective and transparent solution for selling converters.
So, my family-owned company was born. We operate from an 80-acre farm in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Our goal is to be the most cost-effective processor for converter material. We have a payout system based on the true content value, and we process the converters quickly, aiming to pay out within two weeks. We handle shipping and provide bill of ladings for convenience.
We strive to make the process simple and fair, offering different payout percentages based on the catalyst weight/number converters. Our aim is to eliminate frustrations, wasted time, and reduce the need for middlemen, allowing collectors to get paid promptly and know the true value of their materials.