Ewaste?? Was it the next big thing?

I think (just my $.02 at it's worth) recycling, renewable and recovery of any commodity or asset is the future. We can't as a nation just keep buying and throwing it away as waste. For one thing we can't afford that anymore, resources are not unlimited, waste can be a solution rather than a problem and we are better than that!

I also think if we can get our leaders (by us voting again), we can get back to having a better country again. We have a lot of positives others don't have. Transportation, communication, technology infrastructure, medical advances, energy production and even our education system are overall superior to most nations. So I may be a optimist (and I am), I think right here in the USA is the future and the next big thing. Yes we have a lot of problems, we all know what they are and we need to address them. It starts with working together and utilizing what we do have. Building what the next generation of Americans are going to need would go a long way and be a much more desirable outcome for all of us. In short we need to start producing and quit wasting what we have.

I think Europe has big problems at all levels. The middle east countries can't quit killing themselves, I don't think they need our help in that! China is a producing nation now, they have very little consumer driven markets. When their people (and there is a lot of them) start demanding the items we take for granted. Well China is going to be a really problematic place to live, when everyone of them want a toaster too!

Yes I think our country is and should be the next "BIG THING", it will be up to all of us for that to happen!

I believe it was sean at Manchvegas Salvage (sp?) who brought up a good point. If PM prices flat-lined indefinitely you would still see a constant decrease in E-Scrap prices. As technology improves, less PMs are needed in the manufacturing process. Since there is an exponentially increasing turnover rate of electronics from shelves of stores to the waste stream they do not need to make the circuitry as durable either, resulting in less PMs again. My speculation is that the market will revolve around reuse and export of materials to where the technology is relatively new and viable. It seems if we are to survive we all have to become knowledgeable in IT

SO everyone thinks this a sustainable biz..........I don't think I would make it on scrap alone at this point.......I have learned so much about computers (still know very little) that I am able to step up and pay up to $50-$100 for the right unit and still make a profit (IE: newer higher end desktops).........I have actually paid as much as $200 for one laptop and still turned a profit..........So at this point with all the avenues that stem from EWASTE I am able to make a living..........I wish everyone luck and we can only hope the PM Market makes a recovery!!

I hear ya mike . scrap isnt just cutting it for me anymore. Im stepping up my resale. Currently am cleaning my garage

It is sustainable when you create perceived value in your company, and then charge for your services. I am charging for 50 percent of my pick ups, and I encourage everyone else to consider the same. The garbage man does not pick up for free, why should you? We are providing a service that has value, and should be compensated for it within reason.

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Originally Posted by AuburnEwaste

It is sustainable when you create perceived value in your company, and then charge for your services. I am charging for 50 percent of my pick ups, and I encourage everyone else to consider the same. The garbage man does not pick up for free, why should you? We are providing a service that has value, and should be compensated for it within reason.

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I guess in a bigger area I might be able to charge........Yes the garbage man does pick up for free here (I'm sure taxes are included in this as we have a state wide sales tax/property tax etc.).....There are multiple free dumps here for garbage as well..........Not sure how that would work out for some of us..........If you can get someone to pay you to haul off semi-valuable material you GO!!!!!!!!!!!...........

I completely agree in business there are already so many hidden, pay this, pay that fees. I call them "tag your it's". TRANSPORTATION is one I think a lot of us miss charge, we don't get back anywhere near, what we expend. Also get paid for the service you provide and the knowledge you know (that is a service).

Mike seriously free? I don't believe anything is free! Maybe we have a topic for another thread there, What's free?

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Originally Posted by bigburtchino

Mike seriously free? I don't believe anything is free! Maybe we have a topic for another thread there, What's free?

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I acknowledged it wasn't Free (TAXES ETC)......but when you pull in you do not have to pay out of pocket......They are called convenience centers and they are for the "betterment" of the community........It does keep a lot of illegal dumping from going on

I get you, that would help with illegal dumping.

The waste may change but the hustle is the same. We live in a society that is just now noticing the consequences of its consumption. Reduce reuse recycle. Any term, process, technology or bussiness in the scrap/up cycle industry is just a variation of those three basic ideas. As resources become more scarce and the population increases the opportunities for profit will increase. Follow waste streams.

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Originally Posted by redcrossnj

I hear ya mike . scrap isnt just cutting it for me anymore. Im stepping up my resale. Currently am cleaning my garage

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GOOD IDEA!!!! Its still a work in progress but I am basically living in the garage right now

Ewaste in some form will never go away...same crap was said about steel and other things years ago when they paid next to nothing. There will ALWAYS be a market for some sort of recyclable....and disposable computers and other electronics will never go away. People are just spoiled because they were getting HUGE prices for gold and other PM's....you know that is NOT normal and if you thought it would stay that way, then you took a blow to the head somewhere. ALL markets are cyclical....they go up and down....we have had a 10 YEAR run on gold almost and a 3-4 yr silver run....just like the real estate boom...SHOCKER it can't last...EVER....simple economics...markets change and when something goes up, something else goes down.

Anyway....resell HAS ALWAYS been the market and scrap was the cherry on top. I resell cell phones and other high ens electronics and get 30%-150 ROI and can flip it in DAYS on Ebay. I just bought a macbook air for $400 and will flip it for $600 in probably 3-5 days. THAT is where good money is...the scrap is the END of the line for things and hence the lowest value....but I have NO shortage of it as people throw out the old from last year to get the new for this year. Some of that gets resold and the rest gets scrapped. I don't hold onto 95% of my stuff....you can't time the market and really I can take the cash I get and make FAR more money than holding and selling when it goes up...I have turned that money many times over by then.

The point to this is it will never go away...it will go up and down, but buy base don market pricing (if my prices are down for scrap then I pay less for stuff)....scrap yard does this...so should you. And if you aren't then you are going to get EATEN. Resell like a MF'ER....learn your craft or hire someone that knows...or you will miss all that money...1000's of % on your money. The next market is paper and plastics...this is NOT a secret and hasn't been. That is FAR more plentiful that steel and other metals and pays generally close or even higher in some cases than steel does....plus you just need a baler and a some storage space.

Trash companies will never go out of business...neither will recycling...just stop putting your stuff into one basket, adapt to the market and learn your craft...you will ALWAYS be fine if you do this....grow your business to adapt to the changing market (paper and plastic)...ie you can't work out of your garage and make a living. Ewaste STILL $$ for $$ and $$ per pound KILLS everything else unless you have heavy equip and can do HUGE weights...I just got more in 3 boxes of ewaste (141 lbs) than I did for a TRAILER FULL of steel and non ferrous (like 2K lbs of steel)....and my back was FAR FAR better for the ewaste stuff.

Work smarter, not harder.

Like others have mentioned I think the key is just changing and adjusting to the market. If Ewaste prices continue to drop, instead of paying $4 per tower pay $3 and then pay $1 and then pick up for free. And if it keeps dropping charge but, at a discounted rate.

Even though there are outlets for people to get rid of stuff for free including trash, there will always be a need for someone to pick stuff up as a convenience. Many times people have the opportunity to get rid of stuff on a certain day of the month, or can drop it off somewhere but, many people dont plan for that and need stuff gone right then and there and cant wait till the next collection event or pickup. They may be moving or whatever and many people dont think ahead on how to get rid of stuff for free.

Scrapping a computer out is my last resort. If it's good, I sell it. If parts of it are good, I use the parts, or sell them. If nothing is usable at all, then it's scrapped.

But, E-Waste pays better than scrap. My last load of cases (A Full pickup load) got me $56. I spent about $35 on gas for the trip.

But, resale makes more money. I had an HP LaserJet come in last month. I put it on eBay, and sold it for about $100. Even after about $35 for shipping and fees, I came out ahead of the $5 in scrap that it might have. Plus, it took me no longer to test and box it than it would to disassemble it.

It's the same with all scrap. I can take a Chrysler New Yorker in, and get paid by the pound. But, if I can sell the transmission or the doors from the car, I'll make more money than I would in scrap. Scrapping something should be your last option, not your first.

matador: "Anyone have a transmission for an 89 New Yorker?" - Pretty much most New Yorker owners. Including us. ;)

I admittatly don't know ewaste from Shinola. But IMHO PMs are being held artificially low along with interest rates. The stock market is artificially being pumped up by the fed. This can't go on forever, at some point PMs are going to take off again.

The whole thing is a house of cards.

Disclaimer: I'm not an economic professor. Just a junk man.

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Originally Posted by pjost

i admittatly don't know ewaste from shinola. But imho pms are being held artificially low along with interest rates. The stock market is artificially being pumped up by the fed. This can't go on forever, at some point pms are going to take off again.

The whole thing is a house of cards.

Disclaimer: I'm not an economic professor. Just a junk man.

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thank you dr.post!!!!!!.......

actually PM is directly correlated with the stock market...ie stock market goes up, PM's generally go down...if you are looking at the commodity markets, prices reflect the value to the TRADERS, NOT the public to make their stuff. PM's are held when stocks are crazy because they have an inherent value as they are used in industry (stocks on the other hand is just how we FEEL about a company and it's "worth"). Now you have to factor in the traders PROFITS on top of that to hold the paper (they don't even in general actually BUY the actual PM's just the certificate for X amount). Traders push the market price to go up on PM's just like on stocks...it is no different. Their WORTH doesn't change, just the perception that they are safer than a stock.

That is how it works in simple terms form my time in business school. All that so say, that the "house of card" analogy above is not really correct....all stock trades are how we FEEL about a company and not about their actual worth...their potential. So "pumping" up stocks or whatever...not generally the case....markets are cyclical like I said above...time for stocks to move forward and PM's to move backwards since they directly correlate to one another. Stock got down to a level that people thought "hey this comany is worth more than that" so they buy...then it starts to go up...then other buy...and the train starts again.....until it is time that the perceived value is not what the price is and people stop buying...then more and more and more...those people buy PM and real estate since they are the direct opposite of stocks....back and forth.

Simple, but the way it works. Pm's have been on a tear like I said above...prices got too high to sustain and stocks looked attractive again....so the money flows to stock and out of Pm's dropping their "value" to the traders and investment funds....they will come back around...just not their turn.

I look at it like this, I absorb things pretty quickly. This forum has been immensely helpful. In one year I went from two guys struggling to pay our rent and bills scrapping out anything we came across to refurbishing computers, selling boards, refining, working with businesses for e waste solutions doing scrap drives and partnering with shops for wholesale stuff. To call it sustainable, well done right it's much more than that. I will retire on this business and it will likely outgrow me and mine in no time. In two years I plan to incorporate, will have to as I continue to absorb responsibilities and contracts. In five years I want to be refining in house. It's a service I feel needs to be maximized with board purchasing and wholesaling. Nobody can compete with a refiner directly unless they are refining themselves. Beyond that, in ten years I'd like to have a majority stake on every corporate account in the state and I am aggressively forcing my competition to step up or get put out. In a year I will likely be all that's left in Dane County servicing IT departments and repair shops. To those who think you can pick up for free or make them pay? Good luck with that I got nowhere on that business model in the e waste business. I pay, and in paying for certain materials I get alot of stuff free because I don't pay for it but they don't want it...copiers, server cabinets and power supplies, battery backups, etc...bread and butter gentleman. Pay for what you can and don't get all bent out of shape to pay for things you can't...just offer to take that stuff with the rest for free.

PMs will come back up, moreso I just want silver to come back.

To those who say they will use less and less PMs in boards and computer parts...your half right. As computers get faster they become more sensitive to EMF and so on, thus the requirement for a set standard in PM use. Intel sets these standards for their sockets, as does AMD. LGA 1366 boards have more gold than LGA775 because of how sensitive they are at a much lower voltage. From an engineering perspective it's not likely to see more than a marginal decrease in PM use in this industry. Tablets, phones and smaller devices are dense in PMs...you have to expand into the right areas...gold is there it will always be there.

I dunno .... it's up in the air with PM's.

I've bought / sold since the late 70's. The price seems to be inversely proportional to the value of the dollar. When the dollar weakens it takes more of them to buy an ounce of gold. When the dollar strengthens it takes fewer of them to buy an ounce of gold.

Think of PM's as being like a cork floating on the rising tide of currency inflation. As the tide goes out the cork drops accordingly.

It's not all that complicated.

There's a wildcard in the mix though. It wasn't all that long ago that gold peaked at somewhere around 1,900.00 $ an ounce. It probably would have kept going up but the International Monetary Fund intervened. The IMF has massive gold holdings. They saw a problem emerging so in order to cool the market they threatened to dump some of their holdings. The price immediately leveled out and started dropping to where it is now.

That's market manipulation !

On the other hand .... if they hadn't intervened the global economy might have collapsed.

Just an afterthought: This might help: http://www.kitco.com/

Go there & look on the upper right hand of the screen. It explains why gold went up or down that day based on currency value & market demand.

It's a really good resource if your living depends on what PM's are doing. :)