Get Big Money for Scrap Batteries

I just got paid $300 cash for two dozen old lead-acid batteries. Here's how.

A lot of readers are asking: Where do I get dead batteries?:
I mostly got these batteries by seeing and asking for them. New cars wreck batteries pretty quick because the car computer never really turns off. So if the car isn't driven regularly it'll over-discharge and sulfate the battery.
I tell my friends to give me their toxic waste and I'll get rid of it, cuz I hate seeing buckets of drain oil left out in the rain. They give me their dead batteries also.
I picked up a few behind service stations and parts stores where people had orphaned them. A few came from my marina next to the dumpster, more came from the marine supply store. I told them I was experimenting with desulfating batteries and they told me to help myself to their scrap pile. Some came back to life from various magic treatments and I gave them to friends or built them into projects.

Those projects included as welders and power storage for solar welders, running power tools off them, as well as starting and lighting batteries for the Free Yacht.

I finally got around to taking the bad ones to the scrapyard and damn!
Here's what the robo-cashier at the scrapyard gave me for my load of toxic waste!
Batteries are worth real money now, if you can find the right buyer.

Step 1: Check the Market

The market goes up and down. Right now the dollar is low and China and India are buying scrap like crazy to sell it back to us as products. That drives up scrap values. Our military shooting and attracting bullets all over the world doesn't hurt the value of lead either.

Check the values online or in your paper, if it has a commodity markets listing.
You'll get less than this, because you're not selling a train car full. Unlike retail economics, in collection economics smaller quantities are worth less per pound.
If you're in a city with a port that ships to China, expect to get a higher price than elsewhere.
If you have a huge quantity, bargain up for a higher price. The yards that load ships won't usually bother with you unless you've got truckloads, but if you do, they'll pay accordingly higher.

"TL" means "Truck Load". "LTL" means "Less than Truckload".

Comments

[sherwil]

hi sir stepno ihave a hundreds of junk batterys here in the philippines iwill send to the photos of my garage that full of batterys later becouse its already 4 a.m here in the philippines...this is my email [e-mail].

[stepano]

we are looking for the scrap batteries, if you have please send me the photos to [e-mail] thank you

[aurenda]

i have to batteries for sale call me make me an offer not sure of the size but its just a bit longer then a reguarl batterie ill give u more information when the phone rings my name is andrew u can call me at 714 391 2454

[robotman9]

do AA work?

[jdollar843]

I am a golf cart dealer in myrtle beach sc and have around 4000 lbs of batteries looking to sell the whole lot to one buyer please email me at [e-mail]

[Wayne Williams]

CALL ME AT 919-464-1968 IM INTERESTED IN BUYING BATTERIERS

[danmoore]

Our company, Service Battery Inc. pays the most money in the industry for used batteries. We have been in business for over 40 years because we are fair and not greedy. We have never taken advantage of anyone or any opportunity. If you want to sell your batteries to us and put the correct amount of cash in your pocket, e-mail me at [e-mail] . Thank you for your time and consideration.

[stellazoe]

We at My Battery Recyclers provides most satisfied recycling services across US. Visit us at http://www.mybatteryrecyclers.com/

[mikeys]

I also buy batteries in any qty. [e-mail]

[cardboarddude]

Do any places buy alkaline "AA " batteries? Because I have several pounds and dont want to just throw them away.

[kevinjg]

Hi ok. Im kevin, and im a Big buyer of junk Automotive batteries in The midwest. The prices being paid or projected on here do not even compair to what i pay. Im paying more then 20 cents a pound, and the price is currently down. I would love to do business with anyone willing. I will help with shipping as well. call kevin at [phone]

[rogier_jansen]

Hi Kevin,

we are looking for someone to send our car and truck batteries to, we ship 25 ton in a 40 feet container, all batteries are empty and drained of acid.

if you are interested in buying you can contact me at this e-mail adres
[e-mail]

thanks

[tradecam]

i am having about 1000mt of use car battery so interested buyer should contact [e-mail] for more inquiries

[asaldarriaga]

We have a battery recycling shop in Mobile Alabama, Pensacola and sorrounding areas. Our business name is The Battery Shop Recycling, you can find us on Facebook as cash for junk batteries. We pay top prices for your junk auto battery and we also pick it up from you. Be part of the solution, help us save our enviroment.

[tradecam]

you can get back to yours through our company email address: [e-mail] for more inquiries

[rkusumo]

im from Indonesia.
and we have lots of dead batteries here....for about two dump trucks...
how can i send it to you??
thanks

[asaldarriaga]

Hi we are from USA we are very interested in buying your batteries but don't really know how much it cost to send it to here, is it possible for you to find the shipping information to pensacola florida o mobile Alabama? Thank you very much

[rkusumo]

i've found the shipping information now...
its about $700/container to USA.

so is that possible to you paid the shipping's cost??

thanks,,
u can email me at [e-mail]

am waiting for ur reply.
:)

[vishalnathwani]

hi rksumo,

i'm interested in buying the batteries from you.....send me photographs, if you [e-mail]...

[asaldarriaga]

For more information call us at 2517671752

[cagdastr]

Hello;

I am looking to purchase drained lead acid battery scrap. I need 1000 m/t per month. Please contact me if interested with best price so we discuss further details.
Thanks
[e-mail]

[tradecam]

you can get back to yours through our company email address: [e-mail] for more inquiries

[infiniterecycling]

does anyone recycle rechargeable batteries that don't have lead in them? like you use on drills?

[tradecam]

We have all kinds of batteries that do not have lead on them

you can get back to yours through our company email address: [e-mail] for more inquiries

[asaldarriaga]

We have a battery recycling shop in Mobile Alabama, Pensacola and sorrounding areas. Our business name is The Battery Shop Recycling, you can find us on Facebook as cash for junk batteries or www.thebatteryshoprecycling.com. We pay top prices for your junk auto battery and we also pick it up from you. Be part of the solution, help us save our enviroment.

We are also currently buying catalytic convertors, air compresors, aluminum wheels, starters, radiators, alternators and BATTERIES...

[Koffitrade]

Dear buyers, we are major exporters of ACID DRAINED BATTERY SCRAP to any serious buyer on a long term supply contract base. contact us on [e-mail] for the full details.
Looking up to building a lasting business cooperation with you.

[ocealalimited24]

We are a Seller and supply OCC Paper Scrap with the following specifications, terms & conditions. Sales & purchases .


Item specifics

Place of Origin: London United Kingdom

Port: Tilbury Port

Brand Name: Scrap Batteries

white: black

Minimum Order Quantity: 100 Metric Ton/Metric Tons 150

Supply Ability: 500 Metric Ton/Metric Tons per Week Month



Specifications

Auto & Truck Scrap Batteries

Auto and truck battery, Drained Lead Battery Scrap (As per ISRI Code RAINS),and we ship globally. contact for more details

We are active in sales: Auto and truck battery, Drained Lead Battery Scrap (As per ISRI Code” RAINS"),and we ship globally. We have presently huge quantity of Drained Dry Lead-Acid Batteries (RAINS) at our yard.

*Drained dry whole intact lead batteries (free of acid liquid) (ISRI CODE: RAINS),
*Lead Acid Batteries of White color only with P.P. material.
*Not black batteries with ebonite material*

Interested Buyer should Contact us Direct our details.


OCEALA LIMITED
REG - 01669351 AQSIQ - A826080426
Address - Feldspar Close Warren Industrial
Estate Enderby, LEICESTER
LE19 4SD UK
Email - [e-mail]
Web- http://ocealaltduk.webs.com
Tel - [phone]
Fax - [phone]

[asaldarriaga]

We have a battery recycling shop in Mobile Alabama, Pensacola and sorrounding areas. Our business name is The Battery Shop Recycling, you can find us on Facebook as cash for junk batteries or www.thebatteryshoprecycling.com. We pay top prices for your junk auto battery and we also pick it up from you. Be part of the solution, help us save our enviroment.

We are also currently buying catalytic convertors, air compresors, aluminum wheels, starters, radiators, alternators and BATTERIES...

[asaldarriaga]

We are currently paying $8 per car battery that is currently more than 20 cent a pound and we pay more for bigger batteries in Mobile Al. We also sell used batteries for $25 w/core. 60 day warranty. Please call us at 251.287.5564 or check our web page www.thebatteryshoprecycling.com

[Vinsu]

Collecting scrap metals can be very profitable. I' ve been helping one guy couple of times when salvaging "valuables" from various places using a large pickuptruck. He had a buyer for everything we had gathered. He advertised on local newspaper about his collecting services: people called him whenever in need of removing some old iron farm equipment (plows, tractors etc.) from their land or when those three dead cars on side of the field just weren't a joyfull sight anymore. I don't know how much he got from it but once he almost started drooling when we were lifting an old wood burning stove, that was made entirely of iron and weight about 1000kg, on his truck. There was also bundles of aluminium and copper on many demolition sites we visited. The guy payed me 20€ per hour when in need of a muscular young man for a sweaty job, no funny thoughts there:P

[nutsandbolts_64]

That's a shocker.... lol, literally spewing out bills into your face. 2 dozen batteries you say? 24 batts. multiplied by the poundage of each = how much lead is in there, actually less because of the acid etc. It's just a rough approximation.

[Erik2011]

I recently sold my dead watch batteries to watchbatterybuyers.com and they paid me 50 dollars a pound and paid for shipping. i told another member on this site how i sold used watch batteries. i was surprised of how much www.watchbatterybuyers.com paid and how fast the turnaround was. they also took some AA batteries i had that i didnt want to toss in the garbage.

[jolshefsky]

Can you edit the last step in your Instructible and include the number of pounds and the actual price you got? 

[kill-a-watt]

hardly anyone publishes prices. Many places won't even quote over the phone. Here's one place I consult, (but not sell to, too far away)

http://www.conservit.net/rates.asp

(these are great prices, too bad it's not worth the hour drive to get there for me. This is also one of the few places that don't take batteries)

Here's Kitco for spot metal quotes:

http://www.kitcometals.com/

[TimAnderson]

Unfortunately I don't have the reciepts handy anymore, I got as high as $.15/lb in the boom, then it dropped to half of that in the crash. I haven't scrapped since then, but I expect it to have risen again. It matters a lot what scrap yard you go to. CASS in oakland cleans and melts them to ingots and pays top dollar. Or used to anyway.

[TimmyMiller]

I live in Texas, so where do I go ?

[jimbo333]

old catalatic converters is where the real money is, you can sometimes get 300 a piece if your lucky, this is cuz they have precious metals inside.

[372jpeg]

I think the precious metal your talking about is platinum, and yeah there worth a lot, I would know beacuse I just got mine fixed.

[thetech101]

I know that in the US (at least in my state), it's illegal to sell used catalytic converters to anyone but a certified recycling center. And there aren't many (probably 1 or 2 close enough to justify the gas cost).

[thetech101]

Oh, and those certified recycling centers don't pay more than $100 US per catalytic converter. And aluminum cans aren't worth much here either. I got 5 dollars for around 150 or 200 pounds worth of aluminum cans. I collected those cans for nearly 5 years hoping for a big payout. I spent more in gas just hauling those cans to the recycling center.