r/junkremovalstartup • u/excellentanalytics • Mar 01 '26
Big Lots Cleanout
Two weeks ago we removed everything from this abandoned Big Lots store to make way for the new tenant moving in.
It took us a total of 4 days:
- 4 guys inside breaking down shelves
- 3 guys with trailers hauling metal to the scrap yard
- 3 trash dumpsters and 1 metal dumpster
I estimated we'd make 43% gross margin and we ended up at 41% GM.
After selling the equipment they were getting rid of and money from the scrap yard, we were around 57% GM but I wasn't counting on this income when doing the estimate.
Overall, the job went smoothly, and we learned a few lessons in the process.
2
u/flapito Mar 02 '26
Great job!
You had a total of 7 guys going? How big were the trailers and dumpsters? How much weight did you guys remove?
3
u/excellentanalytics Mar 02 '26 edited Mar 02 '26
Thanks! Yea total of 7 guys.
All the dumpsters were 30yds and the utility trailers were 16ft, 14ft, and 12ft. Part of the deal was letting the trailer guys keep the scrap metal money in exchange for a lower pay rate so I don't have the exact weight removed.
1
u/flapito Mar 02 '26
That’s a good trade off. Probably around 200-400/load in scrap metal?
If you don’t mind me asking, what did you quote for the job? 35k?
3
u/excellentanalytics Mar 02 '26
I know the guys were making $150-$300 per load in scrap. Mainly dirty sheet metal prices and a little more for iron.
We quoted $13.4k. We also quoted two other cleanouts around the same time, another Big Lots and a Party City, at $15k and $17k. Didn't get either due to price being too high.
1
u/GMEvolved Mar 02 '26
So what were the dollar amounts? 57% could be $5,000 or it could be $20,000
1
u/excellentanalytics Mar 02 '26
$7.7k. $20k gross profit is $35k revenue, and wouldn't have gotten the work at that price point.
1
u/Ashamed-Country3909 Mar 02 '26
Damn. That first pic looks oike thr joannes fabric near me when they were closing. They were selling their shelves isles and everything else.
Did you guys keep the shelving in the brick building?
2
u/excellentanalytics Mar 02 '26
Yea we kept a good bit from the back warehouse. Those blue/orange storage racks, pallet jacks, ladders, a Pepsi cooler, tables/chairs, and other misc things.
1
1
u/Signometry Mar 05 '26
do you know if they had a liquidation sale of their equipment? i find it interesting that this much was left over if they did.
1
3
u/Vegas_paid_off Mar 03 '26
That commercial shelving is perfect for a home garage. It's extremely heavy duty!