Direct To Refiners

**Ewasted** · 07-11-2017, 04:45 AM

Originally Posted by Paveitall

Good Morning,

Im new tho this Forum and electronics recycling. One issue my business partner and i just cant seem to understand is this precious metal side of the electronics recycling. We have seen a lot of info on how to sort different types of boards (which is overwhelming to us) from what we assume these are middleman buyers.

What is the advantage of using a board "buyer", what are they doing with the material? Has anyone sent there product to a refiner like Sabin, do you still need to sort materials when sending to a refiner? We started our business in January and have approx 6 Gaylords of motherboards, telecom and finger boards ready to ship. Our intention is to wait until we have a full truck load before we sell this material.

I guess what i'm asking is for some advice, assuming we have a minimum of 20 Gaylords where do we get our best bang for our buck?

Hello!
We are buyers here on the forum with a lot of refinery experience. Best bang for your buck is going to be in excess of 5,000,000 lbs a year.

A few questions I would have would be:
When you go to Walmart, do you try to buy your products direct to avoid Walmart, the middleman?
If not, why not?
What value does Walmart bring to the table?

Do you current work with a scrap yard?
Do you try to sell your steel direct to the mill?
If not, why not?
What value does the yard bring to the table?

**Paveitall** · 07-11-2017, 06:36 AM

My intent wasn't to offend buyers like Ewasted so my apologies maybe i posted this question to the wrong forum I though this was a site to help scrapers find outlets for products. We are in an area of the country with very few or no buyers of Ewaste (haven't found a local one yet). I have an outlet for the steel, copper and aluminum at out local "traditional" scrap yards. What we struggle with is the precious metal bearing materials, if there was someone close i would certainly consider selling thru a middleman or dealer, but if i need to ship this stuff 800-1,000 miles and i have a full truck load why wouldn't i go direct to the refiner?

As Ewasted pointed out, if i want to buy 1 or 2 watermelons i will go to my local wal-mart or grocery store, but if i need an whole truckload i might consider talking with a farmer. Has anyone here shipped direct? If so who?

**mthomasdev** · 07-11-2017, 11:07 AM

Originally Posted by Paveitall

My intent wasn't to offend buyers like Ewasted so my apologies maybe i posted this question to the wrong forum I though this was a site to help scrapers find outlets for products. We are in an area of the country with very few or no buyers of Ewaste (haven't found a local one yet). I have an outlet for the steel, copper and aluminum at out local "traditional" scrap yards. What we struggle with is the precious metal bearing materials, if there was someone close i would certainly consider selling thru a middleman or dealer, but if i need to ship this stuff 800-1,000 miles and i have a full truck load why wouldn't i go direct to the refiner?

As Ewasted pointed out, if i want to buy 1 or 2 watermelons i will go to my local wal-mart or grocery store, but if i need an whole truckload i might consider talking with a farmer. Has anyone here shipped direct? If so who?

I have been doing ewaste for a number of years now. This year, I did my 1st full truck load. It was only 30 pallets. Had I double stacked them, could have done 60. I also used smaller than normal gaylords. My cost to ship over 500 miles wad about 4 cents per pound. So I wouldn't let that be a deciding factor.
The major benefit that I see in dealing with a buyer, is getting paid in a short amount of time. A couple of weeks with a buyer on here verses waiting for the refining process to be done.

**junkfreak** · 07-12-2017, 05:07 AM

Originally Posted by Paveitall

My intent wasn't to offend buyers like Ewasted so my apologies maybe i posted this question to the wrong forum I though this was a site to help scrapers find outlets for products. We are in an area of the country with very few or no buyers of Ewaste (haven't found a local one yet). I have an outlet for the steel, copper and aluminum at out local "traditional" scrap yards. What we struggle with is the precious metal bearing materials, if there was someone close i would certainly consider selling thru a middleman or dealer, but if i need to ship this stuff 800-1,000 miles and i have a full truck load why wouldn't i go direct to the refiner?

As Ewasted pointed out, if i want to buy 1 or 2 watermelons i will go to my local wal-mart or grocery store, but if i need an whole truckload i might consider talking with a farmer. Has anyone here shipped direct? If so who?

I don't think anyone was offended. You have a legitimate question and you obviously are serious about this business based on the amount of material you have accumulated.
You have received sound advice from some seasoned pros. Weigh that advice and do as much research as possible. The resources available here are plentiful, utilizing them would be smart.
Welcome to the forum and best of luck!

**alloy2** · 07-11-2017, 07:21 PM

Originally Posted by Ewasted

Hello!
We are buyers here on the forum with a lot of refinery experience. Best bang for your buck is going to be in excess of 5,000,000 lbs a year.

A few questions I would have would be:
When you go to Walmart, do you try to buy your products direct to avoid Walmart, the middleman?
If not, why not?
What value does Walmart bring to the table?

Do you current work with a scrap yard?
Do you try to sell your steel direct to the mill?
If not, why not?
What value does the yard bring to the table?

I sold my number one heavy melt directly to the mill, and my prepared scrap engine cast went direct to the foundry, I stuffed my scrap cars and trucks with white metal scrap.

My aluminum scrap went to a smelter. Stainless and copper of all grades went to the yard paying the most $$$,

Wallmart does nothing to enhance my buying experience while shopping on ebay buying from vendors located in China brings a smile to my face.

**mikeinreco** · 07-11-2017, 07:39 PM

Originally Posted by alloy2

I sold my number one heavy melt directly to the mill, and my prepared scrap engine cast went direct to the foundry, I stuffed my scrap cars and trucks with white metal scrap.

My aluminum scrap went to a smelter. Stainless and copper of all grades went to the yard paying the most $$$,

Wallmart does nothing to enhance my buying experience while shopping on ebay buying from vendors located in China brings a smile to my face.

always an exception to the rule

**alloy2** · 07-12-2017, 11:52 AM

Originally Posted by mikeinreco

always an exception to the rule

Hy-jack Alert.

No exceptions, you want good beer buy Canadian want good wine bye those from Napa Valley, California. Although it's hard to beat our Okanangan ice wines.