GeorgeB 
As we're sitting here arguing about "Opportunity cost" and "Wasted Time" Someone else is loading 2 Shrink Wrapped pallets into their Truck.
Let's assume there are 3 Monitors and 3 PC's per pallet.
Donate 6 monitors to Goodwill.
6 Pc cases at $0.10 a pound is $6.00
6 motherboards at $4.05 # (Mixed MB pricing from EWASTED)=$35.72
6 cpu's at $8.75#= $6.56
You're at almost $50 for driving over...Depending on what your driving, gas cost, and how long it'll take you to get there. But keep in mind these folks Don't have an E-Waste guy. YOU could be it. On top of that $50 there's the pricing for:
6 power supplies ??
Floppies??
CD/DVD Rom??
Not to mention anything else you grab while you're there, and this doesn't take into accounthe $3-5 for each printer in scrap metal you'll get.....
And and and....
While everyone is debating the profitability of this single load....someone else already knows that this load is a "Loss Leader" for the next run....And the referral from this run to the next client, and so on.
I picked up 3 loads of stuff for free in January. ONE of those loads was 4 CRT's and 2 pc's. Took me an hour to pick them up. I'll make about $25 from that run. Is my time worth $25 an hour? No it's not actually.
BUT...That woman turned out to be the HEAD Tech Coordinator for all of the schools in my county. I have an appointment to look at a 2nd story storage room full of old Telecom Equipment, and two schools with some REALLY OLD tech that want someone to come take it away. Are those opportunities worth my $25 trip? Yes, yes they are.
Either you're self employed, or running a business. You really have to determine which one you want to be. Self employed people can't take risks and need to make a certain amount of money to make it worth their time. Business owners know that every customer interaction leads to future profit!
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