labor force) may need to essentially charge more to recover
its costs as well.
For small amounts of scrap (a few crowns here and there)
the convenience of having someone pick it up may not be
costly; but for larger amounts of scrap, direct shipping to the
Fees
“promises” to charge you. What is important is how much
you might encounter a situation where you actually get back
It’s all about trust and integrity.
So it is important to not get preoccupied with small differ-
waived assay fee or other fee. Again, it’s all about trust. The
only deciding factor should be how much money you get
back after it is all said and done.
There are “Fees” and then there are “Charges.” It is crucial to
which represent the percentage of metal recovery that the
While the accountability charge may not technically be a
line you receive. In some cases, a company’s accountability
charges may actually translate into a dollar amount as much
However, with the emergence of PFM’s (porcelain fused
to metal), move toward other noble “white” alloys such as
palladium and silver, and the increasing presence of non
precious alternatives, visual inspection and accurate evalua-
impossible.
For example, is the “white-looking” metal on that PFM restoration
palladium worth over $1200/oz, or is it silver at $15/
oz, or nickel which is essentially worthless? Well, your guess
is as good as that of the traveling salesman inspecting it in
Furthermore, even the “yellow-looking” crowns now have a
broad range of gold content, again making visual inspection
comprised of 61% gold, 44% gold, or 27% gold?
-
tion alone, even with crude measuring techniques such as
-
culty in qualifying and quantifying your scrap value, the cash
offer is usually very conservative.
Business Model
How much of your scrap value is actually being returned to
you and how much is going to pay the company’s overhead
and layers of sales rep commissions?
Perhaps an often overlooked consideration when choosing
company you are considering adhering to a business model
that allows them to have competitive scrap returns?
that cuts out the “fat” – allowing them to deliver competitive
scrap returns? OR is the company weighed down with numerous
levels of expenses, sales reps, and marketing material
– essentially forcing them to recover those costs in some
manner?
online at a lower price than an identical one found in a retail
store applies here as well. Just as the retail store needs to
charge more to cover the employee salaries and rent, the re- Continued on next page
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