En mi vecindario se oye con frecuencia el pregón de los chatarreros. Puede ser en la mañana o en la noche y en cualquier día de lunes a domingo, estos personajes anuncian su presencia de viva voz o usando rudimentarios equipos de sonido.
Hace algunos años atrás su presencia no era tan visible, a lo sumo nos visitaban uno o dos veces por semana, uno tenía que estar muy pendiente cuando tenía algo para que se lo llevaran, literalmente había que estarlos cazando.
Pero ahora no es así, algún cambio en la economía ha hecho que este tipo de servicios se multiplique y es notoria la presencia de nuevos actores en el negocio.
Uno se da cuenta que hay otros distintos a los tradicionales porque inicialmente los que ofrecían el servicio siempre iban en camiones más o menos grandes, capaces de albergar objetos de gran tamaño. Ahora, en cambio, se ven los chatarreros en cualquier tipo de vehículos, incluyendo muchas motos y bicicletas a las que les han adaptado unos cajones de metal que les sirven de contenedores para transportar su mercancía.
A medida que ha ido aumentando la competencia entre estos personajes ha comenzado a aparecer una novedad que no estaba en el pasado.
La costumbre había impuesto una relación en la que las personas asumían que los chatarreros les estaban haciendo algún tipo de favor al llevarse cualquier cachivache que estorbara en la casa.
Hasta hace poco tiempo era impensable que cualquiera de estos objetos pudiera tener algún valor, a nadie se le ocurría, por ejemplo, ponerse a negociar con el chatarrero sobre la aspiración de recibir algún pago por un pedazo de latón o por los restos de alguna vieja lavadora que estorbaba en el patio, mientras los elementos cumplían la función de irla desintegrando paso a paso.
Sencillamente se esperaba a que pasaran cualquiera de los señores y se les pedía el favor de que se llevaran lo que fuera, y uno suspiraba aliviado y agradecido de que hubiesen dado cuenta de lo que estaba afeando la vista.
Pero con esto de la competencia algunos de los chatarreros han comenzado a ofrecer algo de dinero por los objetos que se tienen. Ahora en el pregón apareció la palabra compra, dicen expresamente: se compran restos de latón, restos de neveras, cocinas, aire acondicionados y cualquier artículo de metal. Es verdad que el monto ofrecido sigue siendo pequeño, pero de nada a algo hay una diferencia importante.
Este cambio se ha notado en las conversaciones cotidianas, muchos vecinos comentan que están recibiendo algunos dólares por darle los cachivaches a los chatarreros. Esto ha hecho que la gente no le de los bienes al primero que pase sino que espere a los que le pueden dejar alguna ganancia.
Hasta ahora siguen coexistiendo los dos grupos, los que ofrecen comprar los bienes y los que simplemente hacen el favor de llevárselos. No sé si en el mediano plazo los últimos vayan desapareciendo del vecindario o quizá la gente evalúe que lo recibido no justifica estar esperando hasta que aparezcan los que pagan por los cachivaches. El tiempo será el que tenga la respuesta.
Hace poco una de mis vecinas le vendió a uno de estos chatarreros los restos de una vieja cocina. Como vi el camión estacionado aproveché de preguntarle al conductor por qué ellos pagaban por los bienes y los demás no. Para mi suerte el hombre tenía la buena disposición a conversar.
Me comentó que los que no pagaban eran personas que seguramente trabajaban para otros, para algún mayorista de la industria del reciclaje, por eso la ganancia no les daba lo suficiente como para pagarle a las personas. Él y su compañero como tenían un medio de transporte más grande, un viejo camión, podían llevar la mercancía directamente a los centros de reciclaje, en consecuencia como su ganancia era mayor podían pagar un pequeño monto a los que quisieran deshacerse de sus chatarras.
Este es uno de esos tantos casos donde la aparición de la competencia va modelando de otra manera las reglas del juego. Por eso es importante tener condiciones para que los emprendedores puedan desarrollar libremente sus actividades. Mientras más personas participen en las diferentes actividades más oportunidad habrá de que todos saquen alguna ganancia.
Gracias por tu tiempo.
Fuente de imágenes. [I]( https://pixabay.com/photos/scrap-iron-waste-junk-scrap-404081/) [II]( https://pixabay.com/photos/car-scrap-scrap-silo-smoke-outside-3108985/ ) [III]( https://pixabay.com/photos/junk-yard-junk-scrap-junkyard-243044/).
In my neighborhood, you can often hear the cries of scrap metal dealers. Whether it's morning or night, any day of the week, these characters announce their presence loudly or using rudimentary sound equipment. A few years ago, they weren't so visible. At most, they visited us once or twice a week, and you had to be very attentive when you had something for them to take away; you literally had to hunt them down. But now that's not the case. Some change in the economy has caused this type of service to multiply, and the presence of new players in the business is noticeable. One realizes that there are others different from the traditional ones because initially those who offered the service always went in more or less large trucks, capable of holding large objects. Now, however, scrap dealers can be seen in any type of vehicle, including many motorcycles and bicycles to which they have adapted metal boxes that serve as containers to transport their merchandise. As competition between these characters has increased, a new development has begun to appear that was not there in the past.  Custom had imposed a relationship in which people assumed that scrap dealers were doing them some kind of favor by taking away any junk that was cluttering up their homes. Until recently, it was unthinkable that any of these objects could have any value. No one would have thought, for example, of negotiating with the scrap dealer to receive some payment for a piece of brass or the remains of an old washing machine that was cluttering up the yard while the elements slowly disintegrated it. People simply waited for one of the scrap dealers to come by and asked them to take whatever they wanted, and then sighed with relief and gratitude that they had gotten rid of the eyesore. But with this competition, some of the scrap dealers have started to offer some money for the items you have. Now the word “purchase” has appeared in their advertising, and they expressly say: we buy scrap brass, scrap refrigerators, stoves, air conditioners, and any metal items. It's true that the amount offered is still small, but there's a big difference between nothing and something. This change has been noticed in everyday conversations, with many neighbors commenting that they are receiving a few dollars for giving their junk to the scrap dealers. This has meant that people no longer give their goods to the first person who comes along, but wait for those who can give them some profit.  So far, the two groups continue to coexist: those who offer to buy the goods and those who simply do the favor of taking them away. I don't know if in the medium term the latter will disappear from the neighborhood or if people will decide that what they receive is not worth waiting for those who pay for junk. Only time will tell. Recently, one of my neighbors sold the remains of an old stove to one of these scrap dealers. When I saw the truck parked, I took the opportunity to ask the driver why they paid for the goods and the others didn't. Luckily for me, the man was willing to talk. He told me that those who didn't pay were probably working for others, for some wholesaler in the recycling industry, which is why they didn't make enough profit to pay people. He and his partner had a larger means of transport, an old truck, so they could take the goods directly to the recycling centers. As a result, their profits were higher, so they could pay a small amount to those who wanted to get rid of their scrap metal. This is one of many cases where the emergence of competition reshapes the rules of the game. That is why it is important to have conditions in place that allow entrepreneurs to freely develop their activities. The more people participate in different activities, the more opportunity there will be for everyone to make a profit. Thank you for your time.
In my neighborhood, you can often hear the cries of scrap metal dealers. Whether it's morning or night, any day of the week, these characters announce their presence loudly or using rudimentary sound equipment. A few years ago, they weren't so visible. At most, they visited us once or twice a week, and you had to be very attentive when you had something for them to take away; you literally had to hunt them down. But now that's not the case. Some change in the economy has caused this type of service to multiply, and the presence of new players in the business is noticeable. One realizes that there are others different from the traditional ones because initially those who offered the service always went in more or less large trucks, capable of holding large objects. Now, however, scrap dealers can be seen in any type of vehicle, including many motorcycles and bicycles to which they have adapted metal boxes that serve as containers to transport their merchandise. As competition between these characters has increased, a new development has begun to appear that was not there in the past.  Custom had imposed a relationship in which people assumed that scrap dealers were doing them some kind of favor by taking away any junk that was cluttering up their homes. Until recently, it was unthinkable that any of these objects could have any value. No one would have thought, for example, of negotiating with the scrap dealer to receive some payment for a piece of brass or the remains of an old washing machine that was cluttering up the yard while the elements slowly disintegrated it. People simply waited for one of the scrap dealers to come by and asked them to take whatever they wanted, and then sighed with relief and gratitude that they had gotten rid of the eyesore. But with this competition, some of the scrap dealers have started to offer some money for the items you have. Now the word “purchase” has appeared in their advertising, and they expressly say: we buy scrap brass, scrap refrigerators, stoves, air conditioners, and any metal items. It's true that the amount offered is still small, but there's a big difference between nothing and something. This change has been noticed in everyday conversations, with many neighbors commenting that they are receiving a few dollars for giving their junk to the scrap dealers. This has meant that people no longer give their goods to the first person who comes along, but wait for those who can give them some profit.  So far, the two groups continue to coexist: those who offer to buy the goods and those who simply do the favor of taking them away. I don't know if in the medium term the latter will disappear from the neighborhood or if people will decide that what they receive is not worth waiting for those who pay for junk. Only time will tell. Recently, one of my neighbors sold the remains of an old stove to one of these scrap dealers. When I saw the truck parked, I took the opportunity to ask the driver why they paid for the goods and the others didn't. Luckily for me, the man was willing to talk. He told me that those who didn't pay were probably working for others, for some wholesaler in the recycling industry, which is why they didn't make enough profit to pay people. He and his partner had a larger means of transport, an old truck, so they could take the goods directly to the recycling centers. As a result, their profits were higher, so they could pay a small amount to those who wanted to get rid of their scrap metal. This is one of many cases where the emergence of competition reshapes the rules of the game. That is why it is important to have conditions in place that allow entrepreneurs to freely develop their activities. The more people participate in different activities, the more opportunity there will be for everyone to make a profit. Thank you for your time.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)