Chance to buy computer scrap...how to approach this..?

[placerman]

By chance last week I happened upon a company that buys off lease computers.

In touring the facility I saw that they had literally hundreds if not thousands of pounds of motherboards, CPUs, memory cards, etc. ready for the trash dump.

I asked and they test all the components when they get them, keeping anything that works and trashing the rest.

They offered to sell the scrap parts to me and I said let me think about it. The more I think about it the better I think of the idea of doing this on a larger scale.

Does anybody have any pointers for a newbie?

What do I offer for the scrap? I know they probably sell it to someone already but they seemed very willing to sell scrap to me also. Maybe just pay what they say they get from the other guy?

I think within reason, I could just sell the motherboards on ebay and pay for all this, leaving whatever was left as profit... What do you think?

 

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[2muchstuff]

I get between 50 and 75 cents per pound on circuit boards depending on how many components are on them. If you cant get that kind of price for them then I'd see if I can buy them for 10 cents per pound.

 

[placerman]

I checking ebay it seems that cpus are selling for around 2 dollars each, motherboards around 2 dollars per pound, and memory for around 6 or 7 dollars per pound.

I will try to get it for 60 to 75 cents per pound and see what happens. If I can sell it all Ill come back and buy more.

 

[BCR]

I echo the concern re monitors. Most reputable recyclers have a fee for handling CRT monitors. You are going to have people balk at paying that fee, but if you take them for nothing.. are you willing to pay up to $15 per monitor to properly recycle it?

Also you will end up with a lot of plastic.. how are you going to deal with that? You can't just chuck it in normal garbage anymore. If you are gonna be involved in demanufacturing, this is going to be an issue.

As for selling motherboards etc for scrap on Ebay, you've got to think of the shipping costs. To make any decent money with boards you need about 300lbs in one shot.. how are you going to ship that amount? It would be cost prohibitive.

I wouldn't be so quick to offer to buy the stuff until you have really done lots and lots of research.

 

[silversaddle1]

My guess is that if they have been saving it up, they have a buyer already. When you start talking about 4-5 gaylord containers of computer boards, you start talking some real money. We have been in the computer recycling business for 10 years now. I can tell you that I can load up 4 gaylords of boards and get $2.50 a pound today, right here locally. Remember, everything in a computer is recyclable. Men have made fortunes doing it. Go for it! Do your research and have solid numbers when you go back, and offer cash! CASH is king and you may be able to buy it cheaper that way, no paper trail for the tax man!

I will be willing to share some info if asked, but I'm by no means an "Expert".

 

[silversaddle1]

Some more tips. When you sort your boards, be sure not to put in boards from tvs, stereos,etc. Those are low grade boards. Another thing is don't mix in boards with a lot of steel, al,, transformers, etc. as that too will bring down the value. Make sure when you are calling around to different recyclers that you tell them the boards are all from computers, and sorted. Also, the more you have, the better, so save them up if you can. 1 gaylord box full will get you good money, 10 will get you even better.

Power supplies will bring .10-30 cents a pound depending on where you are located. Do not clip the wires off the power supply, leave them on to increase the value of the whole unit.

Memory with gold edges around here locally will bring $6.00 a pound. Maybe a little more on E-Bay if you choose to mess with it.

Cpus are sold on E-Bay. Those guys know what each cpu will yield and they get crazy sometimes on the bidding.

Save all the copper wire and clip any connectors that have gold pins in them. Sell them on e-bay as well once you get a bunch of them.
The wire can bring anywhere from .40-1.00 per pound.
The gold bearing connectors will bring about a dollar a pound.

The steel is steel, you know what to do with it.

And al. heatsinks, sort and sell.

Watch the heatsinks as sometimes the base is solid copper. If it feels heavy, check it.

Find a plastic recycler for the plastic. Even if they will just take it off your hands you're better off than paying to landfill it.

Just a few tips right off the top of my head.

 

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[Shortstack]

I've heard, somewhere, that the discs in hard drives are coated with platinum. Is that correct? If so, I wonder how much platinum could be removed from one hard drive.

 

[silversaddle1]

I've heard, somewhere, that the discs in hard drives are coated with platinum. Is that correct? If so, I wonder how much platinum could be removed from one hard drive.

It's true that the newer drives have PLT in them. The amount is so small that you would need 1000's of disk to recover anything of value. If you do decide to strip your hard drives, sell the platters on e-bay. there are guys on there who buy them by the thousands.

 

[Shortstack]

I've heard, somewhere, that the discs in hard drives are coated with platinum. Is that correct? If so, I wonder how much platinum could be removed from one hard drive.

It's true that the newer drives have PLT in them. The amount is so small that you would need 1000's of disk to recover anything of value. If you do decide to strip your hard drives, sell the platters on e-bay. there are guys on there who buy them by the thousands.

Appreciate the info. I was thinking of stripping the discs out as well as the magnets. Sell them separately, in bulk. The magnets are supposedly the powerful rare-earth types.

 

[aaron7]

When I sell boards I get $1.00-1.50 per pound so I'd offer 50c a pound or something!

 

[silversaddle1]

When I sell boards I get $1.00-1.50 per pound so I'd offer 50c a pound or something!

If that's all your getting for computer PCB's than if I were you, I'd be looking around for a different buyer to sell to.