Are U-Pull-It junkyards getting too greedy?

Pick n pull is what we have over here and the $3 entry fee doesn’t bother me because I’m sure it covers the little stuff people steal but some of the pricing on bigger parts does. And the $40 used batteries are a ripoff IMO.
Pick & Pull is part of Portland’s Schnitzer family empire. Pick & Pull barely runs at a loss - scrap metal is profitable, anything left goes down 80/580/880 to Oakland to a Schnitzer yard to be crushed and shredded.
 
I probably go to (or used to go to) some of the same junkyards as atikovi, and yeah their pricing is crazy high by junkyard standards. Always check new and online junkyard prices first. If parts for your car tend to be cheap (like my Escort/Camry/Alero) it makes no sense to go to our local LKQ yards, and it's not worth an all day trip to some of the better yards in PA. It wasn't like this here before LKQ bought out Crazy Ray's.
 
I find the admission fee to be greedy. I won’t go to one that has it.

My favorite go to’s are small independent places. Their prices are very fair.
 
The admission fee is to compensate for the amount of small stuff that gets stolen
Who steals from a junkyard. I once decided to stock my metric bolt caddy - so I picked up a whole bunch that had been already taken out and left under the hood, and took out a few key ones myself. I had ziplock bag half full - the counter guy looked at it and charged for like 5 @ a quarter a piece?

I don't mind the $3.00 fee. Around here the yard is in the worst end of town. I presume it keeps certain types out, although there is usually still panhandlers in the parking lot.
 
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Some are, some aren’t. Some have misrepresented junk.

Went to a small family owned place and got great items.

Went to another family owned place in the city and he wants too much for everything. He looks at eBay prices and bases prices on that.

Went to another more corporate one, stuff that was rated highly was rusty, part numbers wrong, etc.
 
Who steals from a junkyard. I once decided to stock my metric bolt caddy - so I picked up a whole bunch that had been already taken out and left under the hood, and took out a few key ones myself. I had ziplock bag half full - the counter guy looked at it and charged for like 5 @ a quarter a piece?

I don't mind the $3.00 fee. Around here the yard is in the worst end of town. I presume it keeps certain types out, although there is usually still panhandlers in the parking lot.
I'll usually just throw the fasteners in my coat pocket. But I doubt they consider it stealing if I'm also buying the part that they were attached to. But I am sure there are plenty of more brazen attempts.... People tossing stuff over the fence, for example.

One time I saw a guy who got caught trying to steal a bunch of fuel injectors. The employees spotted his bulging pockets and huge wet spot on his pants, which smelled very strongly of gasoline. They made him empty his pockets, and out came injector after injector....
 
Walmart shoppers... I only buy batteries and once recently, tires there and every time something went wrong. I've written walls of text about it. It's kind of related in that I might shop Costco instead but they charge a membership fee that WM doesn't.

Junkyards charge an admission fee because they can. It doesn't keep me from going to my local JY because the next closest is more than $3 worth of extra time and fuel spent to get there... and it's been so long that I've been to the others that they might charge a fee by now too, or not be a U-pull and charge more for the part.

Heh, the closest one to me, I recall many years ago I went to it and brought a tool box but they weren't a U-pull yet and they were looking at me like "what does this guy think he's doing?", lol.
 
You shouldn’t shop at WM then. They have no problem treating everyone like a potential thief.
We’re getting a little lost in the weeds. My point is I’m not paying a $2-3 entry fee (in the name of theft) on top of likely a high end price.

I have been treated like a thief at Walmart before and I’ve actually called out a “door bouncer” before. I had cheap beer and cat litter. 2 items. The guy in front of me had 2 packs of nicer beer and a cart full of groceries, and pet food. I politely asked why my receipt checked where he was allowed to pass. I explained I paid at self checkout with my CC. I was also on camera. They had no answer.

Point being, Walmart is still reasonably priced and there is no cover charge.
 
They charge an admission fee because they can. It doesn't keep me from going to my local JY because the next closest is more than $3 worth of extra time and fuel spent to get there... and it's been so long that I've been to the others that they might charge a fee by now too, or not be a U-pull and charge more for the part.

Heh, the closest one to me, I recall many years ago I went to it and brought a tool box but they weren't a U-pull yet and they were looking at me like "what does this guy think he's doing?", lol.
To add onto this, the places here that charge are much further than the nicer places who don’t.

I wouldn’t go junkyarding if I had to pay to get in though.
 
Pull a part also has free tools. I don't think I've ever gone to a pull a part and not found at least a pair of pliers.

Wrenches and ratchets get left behind, loose sockets. Heck, it's like hunting for treasure.
 
I went to a large family-owned yard in Graham, TX a few weeks ago, took $240 with me thinking that was overkill. Didn't have enough money to get a grille, a totally sun bleached center console with a disintegrated armrest pad, right front fender and liner, so I used the fantastic plastic. Seemed exorbitant, but when you need it, and you don't want to mortgage your house to pay the shipping from somewhere else....
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Restore that grille. ;)
 
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