Thank You For Your Inspiration...

I have been turning in scrap for a loooong time. I think my first load was probably in 1984 or so. I have pretty much picked up what was handy or presented by opportunity. I saw several people suggest to take out ads on craigslist and I decided to give it a shot. I advertised $5 for appliances and I am going to pick one up on Fri. I advertised for $3-5 for computers and I am picking up a ten unit lot on Fri aft too. I have to thank those here for inspiration to throw the ads up. I still have not figured out escrap yet, but I am pulling the boxes apart and scrapping the boxes and setting aside the electronics until some time when I have some built up.

Originally Posted by t00nces2

I have been turning in scrap for a loooong time. I think my first load was probably in 1984 or so. I have pretty much picked up what was handy or presented by opportunity. I saw several people suggest to take out ads on craigslist and I decided to give it a shot. I advertised $5 for appliances and I am going to pick one up on Fri. I advertised for $3-5 for computers and I am picking up a ten unit lot on Fri aft too. I have to thank those here for inspiration to throw the ads up. I still have not figured out escrap yet, but I am pulling the boxes apart and scrapping the boxes and setting aside the electronics until some time when I have some built up.

Personally I haven't posted any scrap ads on Craigslist, but it's always encouraging to read success stories!
Well worded encouragement to keep sharing ideas...you never know...

Despite the humor CL often provides an tire kickers a plenty...it's a good resource that I find varies dependent upon the area. Some folks on here have nothing good to say about it, others think the world of it, an others are middle of the road. I do make good use of mine for finding stuff to selling stuff. It's just one of many avenues to success you can take in this business.

Well played on using all that is available to you to grow your business. It's another tool in the tool box that is quite valuable if used right.

Continued good luck to ya T.

Sirscrapalot - Constantly amused by CL.

Well, I picked up the fridge this aft. It was in pretty good shape, and i thought I would plug it in and see if it worked. I laid it down and saw it had a mouse nest in the compressor tray. I dug it out and it was mousy stunk. I didn't have the time or the motivation to clean it and list it and listen to someone ***** about how it smelled mousy. I also didn't want a mousy fridge in my shop, so... Hi Ho, Hi Ho, off to the scrap yard we go.

The computer guy didn't answer when I called, but he did call me back and we set up another date for this week. He sent a pic of the loot...



I am going to pay $50-$60 for the lot. I am hoping computers are worth $5 each to buy and scrap.

Always a chance you'll get shells, but that's why you keep the cash in your hand while inspecting. Deduct for any missing parts...HD, MB, RAM, etc. What you deduct is up to you. I deduct a $1 for missing HDs, etc.

Nice score tho! Let us know more about the computers when you get them.

Sirscrapalot - When opportunity knocks, answer the door..he might be a bringing you a good bottle of Whiskey(or your beverage of choice).

Originally Posted by Sirscrapalot

Always a chance you'll get shells, but that's why you keep the cash in your hand while inspecting. Deduct for any missing parts...HD, MB, RAM, etc. What you deduct is up to you. I deduct a $1 for missing HDs, etc.

Nice score tho! Let us know more about the computers when you get them.

Sirscrapalot - When opportunity knocks, answer the door..he might be a bringing you a good bottle of Whiskey(or your beverage of choice).

Yes, I thought about that. usually, you can tell a ravaged box by shaking it. Screws and wires rattling around are a sign that somebody has already helped themselves to the goodies inside. It is also a sign if the box is real light. He told me he had already taken RAM, so I will keep the $1 per part in mind.

Thanks

Originally Posted by pjost

Be aware of Hantavirus when dealing with mouse nests. I get into a lot of electrical stuff that has been ruined by mouse nests/chewing on wires. Always in the back of my mind.

Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And you thought all you had to worry about was Ebola. Haha.

Had not thought of Hanta. Thanks pj for crapping on my weekend as I am a bit of a hypochondriac worrier!

To be honest, I have worried about Ebola ever since I heard about it. Whenever a little blood squirts out my eyes, I think, "OH my God! I have Ebola!!!".

Oh crap! Is the air getting a little thicker in here? Cough, cough... Is that a tickle in my throat?

I will get you pj!

I wasn't advising him to use my pricing. Just an example.

Deduct from what ever you pay for a tower. whether, 5, 10, 2, whatever. Deduct missing parts.

Only you know your market's pricing.

This helpful post brought to you by the letters..P, B, and R. An the number 24.

Sirscrapalot - I see can's. - /end sixth sense voice.

So, if I am hearing you correctly, you are saying that a computer box is not worth $5 in scrap? Broken down as escrap? Why would there be ANY draw to break them down as escrap if they are not worth even $5 a piece?

Worse case scenario, I pay $5 a box and learn a little about what is what on escrap, and only lose $60?... Way better learning curve than my first marriage.

Originally Posted by mikeinreco

if the memory is missing out of those hp machines I would say you would be hard pressed to recoup more than $5 out of those machines as scrap

Fair enough. Thanks.

Mike - I know you were being helpful. I was just clarifying so folks didn't assume they had to pay 5 a tower.

Other stuff - I dig what Mike is saying, an is why I deduct from my buying price. Without ram, Hard drive, an the other goodies inside you won't make the most you can off scrapping it. Ram an Hard drive are my two biggest things I deduct on. Good money in both of those, so if their not there, you won't be getting full price from me.

I also agree it's a cheap way to learn. I'd rather lose 20 bucks on towers then the hundreds I'm sure I did just tossing the stuff in shred before I was taught right.

I usually agree with most of what BC says unless it's something good about Long Island, or the Giants.

Sirscrapalot - I get by a with a little help from my friends - The Beatles.

I bought a couple of desk top towers with no hd at a garage s ale this summer for $5 for both. The couple look like they needed the money more than I did. I haven't really explored selling boards because I don't get a lot of higher grade stuff and mailing stuff out of here to some larger place seemed a bit marginal although I've been contacted by a buyer here in town so my board collecting might change.

Anyway, I kept close track to the the amount and value of the Cu, Al, insul. wire, and steel taken from the 2 machines and I hadn't climbed back to the $5 mark yet. It was the ram that was going to be the profit for me from this deal. I'm not in a position time, space, or martial wise to do any larger computer gathering/buying deals from other than just regular folks wanting to get rid of their old machines.

Most household people here in my metro have probably no idea that there is at least one if not more buyers of their old machines her in town or are reluctant to sell/give a computer to a stranger (but think its cool to drop unswiped machines off at the city free recycling center--actually had this conversation with a guy at a garage sale, wouldn't sell me the tower but was going to take it down to the city). I probably should pick up the ability to swipe the data off of old computers and see if that warms some hearts of people at garage sales. All I know is every time I'm down at the city electronics dropping off a scrapped out tv I see people dropping off whole computers.

I probably should spent $15 for some business cards and whatever it costs to get the ability to clean data off of a computer...