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

Originally Posted by olddude

if 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.

Not to mention some property to use them on... people generally don't react that nicely to uninvited miners. Not here at least! lol

Originally Posted by olddude

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.

For me, I get pretty excited when I come across a bunch of computer towers. For the amount of space/weight that it takes up you get a pretty good return. I did see someone recently post that they buy used working computer components. Im going to continue learn how to maximize my profits in the ewaste sector of recycling. The more I recycle the more efficient I get.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

Originally Posted by JustInTime

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

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