Your buying price lists

Hello all,
I have been trying to read a lot of old posts to come up with some buying prices (on top of what I can get for free). I am real small time and this is more of a hobby at the moment but I want to make sure I am at least pushing in the right direction. Can you take a look at what my buying prices are now and tell me if they seem reasonable (too high/too low)? Would you be willing to share your lists? Any suggestions/edits/additions/subtractions would be appreciated.
Things I pay for:
$4 per computer tower
$1 per cable box
50 cents per modem/router
50 cents per old cell phone

Like Brandon, I pay by the lb also unless it's towers. I pay a bit more for towers, $5, if all is included. If not, I deduct for each missing piece.

Now an then I'll buy cell phones at a per piece price, but usually only models I know I can resell, or fix up for resell.

Far as routers, modems, etc...again by the lb. I can't tell you a price as I base it off the modems/routers, an quantity. I've paid 2 bucks for a box of 25 modem/routers, I've paid 10 for several boxes of them. I find yard sales a great source for such items. An normally the person putting on the sale just wants it gone, so is open to haggling over price. I tell'm what I do, make an offer, an leave a card or contact info.

Good luck!

Sirscrapalot - Break stuff! - Linkin Park.

Thanks for the replies. I was able to get a cheap food scale off amazon that weighs down to gram increments so that will definitely be useful. I would appreciate some info on the price you guys pay per lb for cable boxes and routers/modems. I am thinking of offering 3.75 per pound for cell phones w/o batteries (e-wasted buys at 5.25).

Any additional items you guys would suggest trying to acquire besides the towers?

Far as items...use the search box. I don't say that to be mean but..you'll find plenty of items to go after for ewaste by reading past threads even the old ones.

On your scale..I have three. A bathroom scale for big items, a small digital food scale I picked up at CVS for 10 bucks..lol, and a old school deli type scale. I use the digital the most an for being cheap, it works great. There is a couple of threads on here that talk about scales an such, for ideas in the future for you.

Pricing of cell phones..buy it by the lb unless your reselling. I've paid from a buck a phone to 50 a phone. The expensive ones are usually the latest an greatest among cell phones. An have pretty good resale. An no..I don't use eBay to sell them.

Good luck, an your welcome.

Sirscrapalot - Keeper of the traveling cooler, an lover of cell phone smashing.

Originally Posted by aoshea

Thanks for the replies. I was able to get a cheap food scale off amazon that weighs down to gram increments so that will definitely be useful. I would appreciate some info on the price you guys pay per lb for cable boxes and routers/modems. I am thinking of offering 3.75 per pound for cell phones w/o batteries (e-wasted buys at 5.25).

Any additional items you guys would suggest trying to acquire besides the towers?

I wouldnt go much above $2/per pound on the phones. You still have to deduct battery weight, tape battery ends, and shipping cost. Leave some room for profits.
cable boxes i usually go around .15/ pound.. only a mid grade high board
modem / routers .20/.25 pound..better grade board
towers i do a little differnt..$2 ea but willing to spend more on newer towers that i can refurb or part out

Just did a breakdown for a desktop and a thin client. both have no HD. No finger cards in the desktop. At $4.00 each, there is no room for profit, especially if you consider, your vehicle and gas.

Now, if these are all desktops that you can part out, you may do OK.

I do a lot of satellite boxs and I am with mechanic..50cents total per box. modems, prices I get for the board and no where to sell plastic shell I won't go above .15cemts a modem. and I only buy those because they are with the boxs I really want. but everyones situation is different. that's my prices.

I buy computer hard drives for 50 cents each or 50 cents per pound, whichever way the customer wants to sell them. You can check out some hard drive breakdowns in the old posts to figure out the level of breakdown you want to do on them.

The biggest thing with computers is their completeness. If a desktop has everything, you may be able to get $12-16 per desktop (Less shipping fees, so...)

When people start pulling hard drives, RAM, that super cool 2004 graphics card,... prices start to go down quickly. You'd be amazed at how many people remove the RAM to "keep their data safe", but actually leave the hard drive in.

Can you resell anything? I run a computer repair shop, so I can maximize profit that way (Parts are almost always free to me!). If you can't resell, make sure to keep your input low.