Basic PC scrapping question - Page 2

Hills:
I've done all 3, depends on what you get right?

A 10 year old laptop with and 80 GB HD and 1 GB sticks of RAM in it is most assuredly not as sweet as an i5 with a 500Gb HD and (2) 4GB sticks of RAM in it right?

Even on the 10 year old, I'll get:
$1.50 for the screen
HD Board
HD stripped at .30/lb
A heavier and thus more profitable MOBO
I'll get a CPU with pins and no heatsink
I'll get any aluminum off it (and some cases are full on aluminum)
All the wire in it
Two sticks of RAM that are scrap to add to the pile.
Generally a Copper/Alum heatsink
Any steel screws or steel parts
CD/DVD Rom drive at scrap rate
A nice heavy Li-Ion Battery

In the end- Far more than $2 bucks.

I have flipped laptops, that ended up costing me a HD, a Carrier for said HD, I have to either update the RAM or Replace it, troubleshoot it, clean it, completely wipe it and put a fresh OS on it, list it, pack it, ship it, and pray I don't get screwed by a scammer on Ebay (Find some of my old posts, you'll see I'm not a fan of selling computers on Ebay anymore)

Then you can say "Ahh.. well skip Ebay- do CL instead" Yup been there too, now I have to wait for 6 guys to never show as I hang out in a parking lot, and the guy that does says "Meh.. I'll give you Half of what you are asking.. take it or leave it."
Talk about having to capture your time figuring in making $ right?



So Yes- multiple ways to angle this game. Lots of time, resale of full computers ends up not being worth it to ME personally. There are 50 guys within a 50 mile radius that will sell you a rehabbed computer. I'd rather maximize parts on quick sale and scrap the rest with the relationships I have built with my e-waste buyers.

Will I toss an i5 CPU into my scrap bin? Heck no. I'll Ebay that badboy, ship it the next day and move along. Have I found that the hours and hours of "rehabbing" laptops that have taken weeks or months to sell worth it- not usually. Sometimes, but not usually.

With a $2 laptop generally I can sell the HD and RAM alone for more than the $2 bucks. If I had 50 of them, I guarantee I'd make far more than $100 total on them.

I will note that I have a local R2 facility, I drive my stuff to them, some I ship out- but probably 95% of my items are sold local. In fact, I introduced THEM to one of the big buyers on here and they now sell quite a bit to him. It's all about the hustle, making the connections. If I did not have a local buyer- would the game change for me? Slightly, but before I had this relationship I was shipping everything and still beating $2/per on a laptop.

I think I read somewhere in this thread that ewaste is a dying or will be dying industry..........I'd have to disagree.......I rarely even bother with towers or laptops anymore.......Everyone knows about those.......In my opinion the good stuff is in commercial grade equipment/medical/etc.........I don't see this industry stopping anytime soon.......I have taken in more ewaste in the last 3 months than I ever have and I don't see it stopping anytime soon

Originally Posted by HipoGear

You may want to first find a very large storage unit to rent.

I have a 3400 sq ft warehouse for my day job and assigned a small workspace for it already.
My sub tenant plans on moving out, latest by september hopefully whoch will give me another 1,800 add. sq ft.

As I read this my guy showed up and had one older vista system desktop.
Popped open and found 4 memory sticks. 2 x 1 GB scrap stuff and 2 x 2 GB DDR2 a buyer on here pays $3 a piece.
Right there $6 back (minus shipping, which is minimal once I have a decent number accumulated).
I totally get I am not getting rich at this. But I love breaking PCs down and m ine it for the better scrap and some better than scrap parts.
If I would do just what pays me best in my day job I would make tons more money, but would die of boredom soon.
It's all about balance.
And this PC recycling is really just a hobby that shpuld pay a lil more than minimum wage.

You may have said before but what is your regular job....ewaste is mine and while the mind is still very willing the body gets less and less everyday

Originally Posted by mikeinreco

You may have said before but what is your regular job....ewaste is mine and while the mind is still very willing the body gets less and less everyday

I recycle other things for better than scrap items.
I accumulate, wholesale and part out mostly appliances.
And I feel you. I am 48 and my body is really catching up with me.
Too much physical work. Lots of heavy lifting etc.
But at 48 and no retirement savings much I have no choice but keep going.

Originally Posted by aph

I recycle other things for better than scrap items.
I accumulate, wholesale and part out mostly appliances.
And I feel you. I am 48 and my body is really catching up with me.
Too much physical work. Lots of heavy lifting etc.
But at 48 and no retirement savings much I have no choice but keep going.

I suggest you seek out the training that Dave Ramsey offers. Google will get you to his site and radio show. You deserve a great retirement so put it to work for you. Remember you learned how to make money scraping you can learn how to take care of yourself and your family in you later years.

Here is the reason for my comment my father passed away Sunday morning. He died just short of his 97th birthday. Yes he was a WWII veteran. He has his funeral expenses prepaid. He had enough to stay in an assisted living home, $5000/month. He was not a wealthy man in fact worked in a factory until he retired in the early 80's.

He was a responsible man who made certain none of his children had to pay for anything(we were willing) to the very end.

73, Mike