How much is a complete computer tower (motherboard, ram, processor, etc) worth?

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Originally Posted by martyweil

This is an excellent suggestion. What prices have you seen for some of the more-than-scrap-value boards? Also, I assume, correct me if I'm wrong, that those prices are based on having the board tested to verify that it functions. If you can't test them, would that preclude you from being able to sell them for their full value?

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You could still list it as "untested as-is", but "tested working, guaranteed not DOA" gets better responses. I had an older board several months ago which had been in the pile awhile but it caught my attention one day so i googled it, they were selling regular for $130 plus, but since it would taken rebuilding an older computer to check it, I just tossed it back in. Still, later I saw one Vintage Computer Forum, a guy there wanting to buy those boards , working ones at a premium. Some boards if rare enough it doesn't matter, those guy's are good enough to troubleshoot and repair motherboards

Nice breakdown. A few things generally available but not on your list PCI cards, cables internal and external, DVD drive boards are higher grade and easy to strip, Also floppy drives are still common and higher than shred price, Keyboard, mice and other peripherals are often included. I rarely pay for any ewaste, but it took time to get established. When I do buy it is from PC repair shops I pay $.25/lb for PC's and take the rest for free as a benefit to the business.

Thanks for the breakdown numbers. Matches my own numbers pretty well. I myself offer $5 per computer and $3 per laptop. I have gotten a handful of computers/laptops for free when I ask people. I do storage auction's and yard sales as a hobby. When I see a monitor, keyboard, or anything computer related I always ask if they have any old or broken computers they would like to recycle. I also always wear my "Recycle Your Trash" shirt made from recycled coke bottles. The other weekend I picked up a dell laptop for free. I pair this up with a old dell power supply, reformat the drive, reload VISTA and I now have a laptop to sell.

As a hobby it can be profitable. For a business venture it is more about your operation. Driving around looking for towers in the garbage may not be the best business model. However if you can position yourself as a solution provider then you have a business. This is the direction I am heading. I will be spending my time working to build relationships that will produce large numbers of electronics. My first small email campaign went off well. I got a call from a hauling company and will be buying several gaylords of stuff. I just posted for someone to make a recurring pick up in Reading out of my area, first load 11 towers, various parts, and several monitors. I love driving for dollars, I ws on a grill streak of seven in seven days! I have to ask myself, what is the best use of my time? I believe I can create an email list and send out 100 emails in a couple hours. Even a small response rate leaves me with a recurring monthly pick up. Week after week the route grows. In time I may have a drive shredder, wire granulator, fork truck, etc. For now it's just me and my Ford.

You are all barking up the wrong tree...........The best option for large quanities of computers to me is govt surplus......Either by auction or get in with school systems............This to me is the only way to guarantee a constant supply of e-scrap..........Or buy from your local junkyards.........Most people realize a computer has some type of value and are just not giving away massive amounts for free.......in your biz model you must have a constant stream of material

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Originally Posted by olddude

many of the parts are useless unless you do huge numbers and/or you live near a buyer. Most yards still do not buy your mid grade and low grade boards. m0st of the stainless is magnetic low grade. most of the copper and wireing is low grade. the plastic is a pain in the a** and can be costly to get rid of. shipping is a killer. if I pay 4 or 5 for a tower, and consider shipping cost I may break even. I have been at it for over a year. you have to use the small sellers as bait to troll for the whales.

unless you are near an E buyer here is some numbers to consider.

power supplys .o8 to >30

wire .30 to .50

most stainless .08

mid and low grade boards most likely will cost you to get rid of your going to join the "Gold rush" my suggestion would be move to California or Alaska and get a gold pan a shovel and a sluce box.

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I really don't see how scrapping computers could be one's sole income nor do I think anyone is attempting to make it as such.

As a secondary form of income, I think it can contribute quite significantly, especially if you work in the IT industry where many many companies want their old equipment out of there hair but are worried about environmental impact of disposing it.

I work in managed services and my boss and I just really got motivated and somewhat educated about escrap within the last four or five months or so. As soon as we did, we went to one of our larger clients, told them that we would take all their old gear off their hands free of charge. In return they got a landfill free guarantee.

Fortunately, they long did away with any CRT's and they really didn't have too many LCD's. We did walk away with about 30 old Dell workstations, 20 Toshiba tablets, 15 or 20 Lenovo's (T60's, T61s, and a few T43s). The biggest problem with breaking down the old Dells was all the plastic. We couldn't just toss it out in the trash since invariably it'd end up in a landfill. So I had the brilliant idea of tossing it in the back of my truck and taking it down to the township building where they had a huge recycling dumpster where you throw your plastic and bottles.

/tangent

I think my original point is that nobody is going to get rich off computer scrap but it can be a rather lucrative secondary source of income.

Young industries are young. The risk is not for the faint of heart. Leaders emerge.

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Originally Posted by JustInTime

I really don't see how scrapping computers could be one's sole income nor do I think anyone is attempting to make it as such.

As a secondary form of income, I think it can contribute quite significantly, especially if you work in the IT industry where many many companies want their old equipment out of there hair but are worried about environmental impact of disposing it.

I work in managed services and my boss and I just really got motivated and somewhat educated about escrap within the last four or five months or so. As soon as we did, we went to one of our larger clients, told them that we would take all their old gear off their hands free of charge. In return they got a landfill free guarantee.

Fortunately, they long did away with any CRT's and they really didn't have too many LCD's. We did walk away with about 30 old Dell workstations, 20 Toshiba tablets, 15 or 20 Lenovo's (T60's, T61s, and a few T43s). The biggest problem with breaking down the old Dells was all the plastic. We couldn't just toss it out in the trash since invariably it'd end up in a landfill. So I had the brilliant idea of tossing it in the back of my truck and taking it down to the township building where they had a huge recycling dumpster where you throw your plastic and bottles.

/tangent

I think my original point is that nobody is going to get rich off computer scrap but it can be a rather lucrative secondary source of income.

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Did you recycle all those Lenovo Thinkpads?

Nah. Not sure what we're doing with them. Most of them are without power adapters and batteries and possibly without hard drives. I haven't gotten around to really go through them yet. I haven't had time yet to go through them and see what shape they're in.

And correction, the others were Fujitsu tablets, not Toshiba's.

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Originally Posted by JustInTime

I really don't see how scrapping computers could be one's sole income nor do I think anyone is attempting to make it as such.

As a secondary form of income, I think it can contribute quite significantly, especially if you work in the IT industry where many many companies want their old equipment out of there hair but are worried about environmental impact of disposing it.

I work in managed services and my boss and I just really got motivated and somewhat educated about escrap within the last four or five months or so. As soon as we did, we went to one of our larger clients, told them that we would take all their old gear off their hands free of charge. In return they got a landfill free guarantee.

Fortunately, they long did away with any CRT's and they really didn't have too many LCD's. We did walk away with about 30 old Dell workstations, 20 Toshiba tablets, 15 or 20 Lenovo's (T60's, T61s, and a few T43s). The biggest problem with breaking down the old Dells was all the plastic. We couldn't just toss it out in the trash since invariably it'd end up in a landfill. So I had the brilliant idea of tossing it in the back of my truck and taking it down to the township building where they had a huge recycling dumpster where you throw your plastic and bottles.

/tangent

I think my original point is that nobody is going to get rich off computer scrap but it can be a rather lucrative secondary source of income.

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dude do you have any lenovo left? PLEASE tell me you did not scrap them?!

LOL see my above comment but no, we haven't scrapped them.

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Originally Posted by JustInTime

LOL see my above comment but no, we haven't scrapped them.

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oh ok i just read it. do you care to sell any after you wipe the drives? i may be interested?

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Originally Posted by JustInTime

Nah. Not sure what we're doing with them. Most of them are without power adapters and batteries and possibly without hard drives. I haven't gotten around to really go through them yet. I haven't had time yet to go through them and see what shape they're in.

And correction, the others were Fujitsu tablets, not Toshiba's.

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Let me know if you are scrapping the Thinkpads, I collect them and would pay more then scrap for a few (as long as the screens are not cracked).