Non-Working - more than scrap value

This topic has come up for discussion amongst a few members in a private setting. It all began with a member commenting about the absurd prices that untested or non-working RAM was selling for on E-bay. Some members thought it was improperly informed gold diggers trying to make a fortune.

I remembered that there is / was a buyer here that paid more than scrap for non-working RAM (2 gb and higher, major brands). I also remembered that there is a buyer here that pays more than scrap on untested / non-working higher end CPUs.

I did some research on-line and on E-bay and found numerous people selling non-working / untested CPUs for more than scrap value. Items that had bids on them were going for more than 20 times scrap value (our buyers prices).

I also researched non-working / untested RAM on-line and on E-bay. I noticed that some people selling this material refer to chip harvesting.

I'm kinda hoping that some of the more informed people here and or buyers can shed some light on this.