uneducated people

**mudlight2** · 05-28-2013, 05:04 PM

I replied to an ad on craigslist in the "free" section. It stated yardsale leftovers. Then the poster said they had "tons" of cpus hardrives memory and whatnot. 100 bux obo. I get there. There are 5 towers 1 really small one. A box with a couple sticks ram a couple hardrives I clearly saw and some video/sound cards. Either way it was not tons of anything posted. I offered 50 as my final offer. Unfortunately this was all a phone conversation. But she ended up saying she had to check her pricelist. I can only imagine someone told her that was so much gold in the computers. That it had to be worth a lot. I guess I'm glad some people dont know how this works. I sure wanted that stuff tho. Oh well. "A day in the life of a scrapper."

**GeorgeB** · 05-28-2013, 05:08 PM

Originally Posted by mudlight2

I replied to an ad on craigslist in the "free" section. It stated yardsale leftovers. Then the poster said they had "tons" of cpus hardrives memory and whatnot. 100 bux obo. I get there. There are 5 towers 1 really small one. A box with a couple sticks ram a couple hardrives I clearly saw and some video/sound cards. Either way it was not tons of anything posted. I offered 50 as my final offer. Unfortunately this was all a phone conversation. But she ended up saying she had to check her pricelist. I can only imagine someone told her that was so much gold in the computers. That it had to be worth a lot. I guess I'm glad some people dont know how this works. I sure wanted that stuff tho. Oh well. "A day in the life of a scrapper."

Very uneducated indeed. She thinks she saved herself, but in reality, her mouth will drop when she goes to an escrapper that pays lower than you and sees exactly what it is worth, and then wish she took your $50. That is more than I would have paid, so if I was her, I would have taken it.

**ryanw** · 05-28-2013, 05:09 PM

Originally Posted by mudlight2

I replied to an ad on craigslist in the "free" section. It stated yardsale leftovers. Then the poster said they had "tons" of cpus hardrives memory and whatnot. 100 bux obo. I get there. There are 5 towers 1 really small one. A box with a couple sticks ram a couple hardrives I clearly saw and some video/sound cards. Either way it was not tons of anything posted. I offered 50 as my final offer. Unfortunately this was all a phone conversation. But she ended up saying she had to check her pricelist. I can only imagine someone told her that was so much gold in the computers. That it had to be worth a lot. I guess I'm glad some people dont know how this works. I sure wanted that stuff tho. Oh well. "A day in the life of a scrapper."

"Tons" means something different to most people while we probably are thinking tons in the literal sense. I know, it can be frustrating. There is never as much as it is made out to be on craigslist ads. I usually need definitive numbers before I travel anywhere.

**mudlight2** · 05-28-2013, 06:09 PM

I did call her and ask. She said she had boxes full of stuff. She had a box. Some computers and printers and other misc items. It would have been worth 50. Not what I wanted to spend. But still. Oh well I got a for sure pick up in the morning.

**jghilino** · 05-28-2013, 08:34 PM

Usually its the other way around, i usually buy scrap lots from people that have no idea what the have, usually end up clearing 100%-500% after all the costs are covered between the combination of resale and scrap.

**hobo finds** · 05-28-2013, 08:39 PM

Originally Posted by mudlight2

I did call her and ask. She said she had boxes full of stuff. She had a box. Some computers and printers and other misc items. It would have been worth 50. Not what I wanted to spend. But still. Oh well I got a for sure pick up in the morning.

When you pay her, you ask, do you have any other junk metal or electronic stuff you want to get rid of?

**jghilino** · 05-28-2013, 08:47 PM

the problem with people like that is they already have a fixed price in their head, you come in at half that price and odds are they will turn you down and not want to do any business with you

I used to try to educate scrap sellers. I have since given up on that effort, its pointless. There are so many factors they dont take into consideration like overhead. Say they think green boards are worth $4 pound, you come in at $2 pound as you have to cover your overhead and have a reasonable profit. They say well other people are paying that. And to that i say im right here and i have cash in hand, where are the other buyers. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.

You cant educate people that wont listen.

**mudlight2** · 05-28-2013, 09:00 PM

Yea I tried explaining overhead and all that. I think I did a good job at it. And i highly doubt she did any real reading on it. All she saw was computers and she thought money.

Note: I drove to her house while she wasnt there, everything was sittin in the carport. And discussed prices over the phone. I told her more then once my price was fair. Didnt even want the monitors. It is what it is. I had fun sort of. Lol

**parrothead** · 05-28-2013, 11:12 PM

Then once in a while, I will get someone who says they have a "few" computers and it is 20 of them. Flip side of the coin, but happens here and there.

**Copper Head** · 05-29-2013, 02:15 AM

You xould always call back she might still have them

**jghilino** · 05-29-2013, 09:37 AM

well you did the right thing by offering a fair price and walking away when she refused, i wouldnt even waste the business cards on that one, they already have it in there head that your looking to take advantage of them

I can also say that you have to also take the monitors that come with the rest. It is part of the deal. I bought 4 pallets of ewaste alot of really good stuff for $80, i wouldve missed out on the entire deal if i refused the monitors, and thats not the only time its happened. Always take the monitors that come with the computers. You should be able to do a basic strip on a monitor in 5-10 minutes for about $5 worth of copper products, you can make $50 hour processing monitors.

**copycat** · 05-29-2013, 11:52 AM

There's 2 different kinds of people I run into with collecting computers. The people with the high prices and the ones giving away free. Don't be afraid to pickup TVs or just monitors. Sometimes its all about getting new contacts to get things. Alot of people have called me back to pickup good stuff after.

**Wolfwerx** · 05-29-2013, 01:31 PM

Not to steer this conversation off-track, but I would like to also chime in with a "take the monitors, too". If you become known as somebody that wants to pick and choose what he takes, then you may limit your customer base. People want the convenience of having one person to come and take everything.
Monitors are a bit cumbersome, but they are an easy $5, sometimes a dollar or two more, per unit. If you have a reasonable way of disposing of the stripped tubes, then they are certainly worth taking, in my opinion. Heh, I'm sure we've all don't worse work for less money!

**unknownk** · 05-29-2013, 01:36 PM

Collectors have the same issues, people getting rid of a bunch of stuff with some you want but others you don't but it is a take it all or nothing situation. That is how I end up with ewaste (broken junk not worth fixing or trading I didn't want in the first place but got stuck with to get the other stuff). Plenty of times you show up for a few posted items only to have the guy give you a mountain of stuff he has just dug up.

**AuburnEwaste** · 05-29-2013, 06:12 PM

Copycat, you are right with the TV's/monitors. Last year I had a potential new client call me to come and pick up 6 or 7 monitors, that were about 15 miles away. I picked them up, and found out that he does on site managed IT. He calls me every few weeks now to come clean out his garage. The one pick up that I thought was a waste of time turned into a pretty big deal, so think before you pass them up.

**happyscraper** · 05-29-2013, 11:14 PM

You can bring people to school but you can't make them learn.

**newattitude** · 05-30-2013, 12:24 AM

I wouldn't have even offered $50.00. If I got there and saw that I'd have offered her $8.00 tops.

She doesn't take into acct taxes, gas and break down. Probably eight bucks was even too high

**mudlight2** · 05-30-2013, 12:38 AM

Originally Posted by newattitude

I wouldn't have even offered $50.00. If I got there and saw that I'd have offered her $8.00 tops.

She doesn't take into acct taxes, gas and break down. Probably eight bucks was even too high

Thats way to low. She did have 5 whole computers and then some. So maybe 50 was to much. I can agree to that. And next time ill work everything in there. Monitors and all.

uneducated people

Thread Tools

Search Thread

Display

uneducated people

The Following 4 Users say Thank You for This Post by jghilino:

The Following User Says Thank You to mudlight2 for This Post:

The Following User Says Thank You to parrothead for This Post:

The Following User Says Thank You to Copper Head for This Post:

The Following 2 Users say Thank You for This Post by AuburnEwaste:

The Following User Says Thank You to newattitude for This Post:

Similar threads on the Scrap Metal Forum

WHAT'S UP PEOPLE! Help?

Uneducated (or just plain stupid) scrappers..

Some people

One of Them People

It's People!

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

The Scrap Metal Forum

SMF Recommended Links

SMF on Facebook and Twitter