Price of Gold RAM

I was just thinking of starting a chart to track the prices of e-waste. Was thinking that gold memory would be a good guide to use.

Maybe there is a better gauge that isn't just reliant on the price of gold? IDK

I've only been doing this for about a year now. It has been tough to make any decent money because prices have been so low. Hard to imagine anyone scrapping full time without making a good chunk reselling reusable stuff. I would like to do this full time but I think prices would need to be much higher. That and I would need to find more supply channels.

So, does anyone remember the most $ they ever received for a pound of gold RAM?

Just made this. My experience with RAM prices over the last year ChartGo Stock Charts

I was interested in your question so I looked up some prices. I used CFCS buy prices and the spot gold price for the day.

Take into consideration that while the spot price of gold goes up and down a lot, CFCS keeps their prices stable for the most part...I would think a swing of $100 in the price of gold moves CFCS prices.

11/14/12 Gold Spot - 1726

Gold Memory 16.50
intel 386/486 135

7/2/2016 Gold Spot 1344

Gold Memory 14.50
Intel 386/486 110

Percent Difference (Approx)

Gold Spot -22%
Gold Memory -12%
Intel 386/486 -18%


I listed the processors for two reasons - First, their value is almost purely from gold. Second, there are no new production processors going into this category. They're all already made, and have an averaged known value.

So, the value of the processors has more or less kept with the price of gold. The memory, however, has not decreased as much. Supposedly, newer memory is worth less per pound than old memory. So one would expect that the purchase price would not only decrease with gold, but also decrease as the returns per pound keep going down (from more newer memory progressively becoming a large part of the average). I can't tell you why this is, but I can give several possibilities:

1. On the refining side, a better deal has been struck with refineries to get the most value of the memory.
2. Increased competition from other businesses.
3. Possible re-use of memory or chips from memory.
4. The value per pound of memory is actually more for newer production than old...albeit a very remote possibility.

All this leaves is questions, but I found it interesting nonetheless.

Not to pee in your Cheerios but the thing most people don't understand is that it's all relative. You don't gain anything when gold goes up. You don't lose anything when gold goes down.

If it's not profitable to do e-waste full time now when the prices are down it wouldn't be profitable to do it when prices are up.

You're just working a margin of profitability. When gold prices go up your operating expenses increase and the buying power of your profits go down so there's a zero net gain.

Just an opinion, but i think if someone were doing it full time they would have to be doing a lot of volume and be very adaptable to changes in the e-waste industry.

Scrappah, I agree with you somewhat, but have to disagree as well.

The price of gas fluctuates a lot however, the price of living expenses and overhead don't fluctuate nearly as much as the prices of metals have. Metal prices, especially the precious metals, have been manipulated so that there is no real correlation to the cost of anything anymore.

I've heard the arguments from some that they prefer lower metal prices because it cuts down on competition. But it also means working harder for that paycheck.

If you really believe that the market price of gold (or any other commodity) is "relative" and doesn't affect profitibility, you are dead wrong. Simple financial accounting will prove otherwise. Fluctuations in price will affect cost of sales. Cost of sales affects gross profit, and, alas and behold, net profit is affected. The idea that all things are relative is false.

Scrappah, I hear everything that you are saying but it is all smoke and mirrors. I am acutely aware of the time value of money and how leverage and compounding works. but that doesn't effect anything tangible when it comes to paying the bills.

If I send a pallet to a buyer in Nov 2012 when RAM is 16.50 a pound, let's say my check is $750. I send a similar load in Dec 2015 and I only receive $534.

The only relativity is that I'm not making as much moolah. Yes my fuel costs less but that is only a small fraction of my expenses.

If you want to believe in what the Fed tells you about the value of the dollar and the rate of inflation, which by the way, they say basically doesn't exist ... Then you might as well believe in the Easter Bunny too.

Originally Posted by billygoat

I would nominate motherboards because they contain a better variety of precious metals than gold RAM, thereby (theoretically) giving you a better overall perspective.

I was thinking the same. They have been pretty stable in the course of the last year though. Not nearly as much volatility as the sum of it's components (gold, copper, etc.)

Originally Posted by HipoGear

Scrappah, I hear everything that you are saying but it is all smoke and mirrors. I am acutely aware of the time value of money and how leverage and compounding works. but that doesn't effect anything tangible when it comes to paying the bills.

If I send a pallet to a buyer in Nov 2012 when RAM is 16.50 a pound, let's say my check is $750. I send a similar load in Dec 2015 and I only receive $534.

The only relativity is that I'm not making as much moolah. Yes my fuel costs less but that is only a small fraction of my expenses.

If you want to believe in what the Fed tells you about the value of the dollar and the rate of inflation, which by the way, they say basically doesn't exist ... Then you might as well believe in the Easter Bunny too.

It's just the way our economic system works H.G.

There are a few of those libertarian crackpots out there who have been calling for an audit of the Federal Reserve but those in Congress don't want to know what might be a very ugly truth. It's a lot easier to pretend it doesn't exist and go on about your business.

I hear you though .... money is getting harder to come by these days. I miss the good times of the Clinton era. There was economic stability and gold stalled at 300.00 - 320.00 USD an ounce for years. Average working people were making gains and life was good. Nowadays it's a struggle to hold on to what you've got.

Gotta hand it to those working hard and coming ahead in these times. That's quite an accomplishment !

Only memory sticks would be a indicator for Gold.

Everything else has everything else in it, Tantalum, Platinum, Silver, even the Copper in the boards tracks is taken into account when they hit the refiners table.

I think Tantalum is probably the third highest return $ metal in the boards.

I'd really love to know of some of the firms that do the actual refining, the ones who would buy sorted escrap by the shipping container load.
Does anybody know?

Scrappah, as a CPA, I can plug numbers in any way a person wants to calculate future and present values; even with inflation or deflation variables considered in the calculation. Now, I cannot tell you what the exact rate of inflation or deflation is going too be, but one can get fairly close by using historical data in an economic model. There are always variables that cannot be accurately predicted, thus, the reason I say that economics is not an exact subject. As far as accounting, it is very exact, very factual. Therefore, accounting factors and criteria are not "relative" at all.

Originally Posted by eesakiwi

Only memory sticks would be a indicator for Gold.

I'd really love to know of some of the firms that do the actual refining, the ones who would buy sorted escrap by the shipping container load.
Does anybody know?

In the US, they are almost impossible to find !
I spent over a month looking up refiners - only finding one that looked semi "legitimate". The people running the show are too lazy to return phone calls & email 90% of the time
! Northeast Precious Metals: Gold, Silver, Platinum Jewelry buyers

Originally Posted by luxor62

Scrappah, as a CPA, I can plug numbers in any way a person wants to calculate future and present values; even with inflation or deflation variables considered in the calculation. Now, I cannot tell you what the exact rate of inflation or deflation is going too be, but one can get fairly close by using historical data in an economic model. There are always variables that cannot be accurately predicted, thus, the reason I say that economics is not an exact subject. As far as accounting, it is very exact, very factual. Therefore, accounting factors and criteria are not "relative" at all.

We're drifting off topic a bit but i don't see the harm as long as we're not bothering anyone else.

I dunno ... see ... i work with all different kinds of people and they do vary. There are folks like yourself, the business oriented kind, who are very good at logic and reason. Sometimes i work with artists. While sometimes lacking in common sense they have a real knack for creativity and abstract thought.

The good businessmen tend to need for things to be in absolutes. It's either black or white, up or down, one thing or another.

The real world isn't like that. The currency inflation data, not to be confused with an increase in the consumer price index, simply isn't made available to the public.

Please trust me on this: If you knew the truth it would shatter your world. I taught a banker up in Canada the abstract concepts. It took about three months because it was so alien to his way of seeing things. Once he could see it for himself, he despised me for turning his world upside down.

Better to just leave it alone and not go down that road.