Evolution of (e)scrapper

I've been doing scrapping as a "hobby" for about 1.5 years now and for the last 8-9 months focusing almost exclusively on e-scrap. While reading various threads I realized that many other people went through similar "I used to do X but I don't do this anymore" or "I did not realize that Y is valuable but now I do" evolution. Not sure if we had this type of tread here before but I think it might be valuable for new members to learn about this from more experienced folks to save some time and aggravation.

Anyway, a bit of my history, in a more or less chronological order:
- Started scrapping by collecting hundreds of alum cans and other scrap from wooded areas near my day job, which have accumulated there for probably 1000 years (yes, I got paid for this scrap, but sometimes I felt like screaming when I saw how much stuff got dumped in the woods!!!)
- Did TVs and CRT monitors for awhile before realizing that they are not worth my time and back pain. Now I just clip the video cable.
- At some point realized that computers are a lot more valuable than, say, other household electronics so started focusing on that
- Used to take apart desktop power supplies until I realized that (i) scrap output is too low and (ii) dust output is way too high
- Used to diligently cut off all connectors from all cables and throwing the connectors into the shred pile before realizing there's gold in some of them and I don't have to cut off the others before I take my insulated wire to a local scrap yard
- Had done a lot of collecting of old computers via Freecycle WANTED ads. Still do a bit of that but has been able to acquire a couple of clients which give me a lot at once, instead of driving around from one location to another picking up one or two desktops. Still, the freecycle thing was valuable since some of the contacts came from there. Others from the Items Wanted section of CL.
- Used to collect vacuum cleaners etc from dumpsters and curbs. Rarely do it now since I can't easily dispose of what I don't need, which is 90% of a vacuum.
- Still undecided on whether I'm better of selling bigger harddrives on eBay versus simply scrapping them. Just sold about 10 of them, one of which had to be refunded since it was not fully functional on arrival, even though I packed it real well and stuck "fragile" labels all over the package. Since probably the older is the drive the more likely it is to have a problem of some sort, dealing with these "bad apples" maybe too much hassle. Or not -- can't quite figure out yet, not enough selling history.
- Still trying to figure out a good balance between scrapping and work/quality family life/kids' activities/other hobbies/rest of my life...

Me too,just much shorter time line.

Originally Posted by thortek

I just struck a deal with a local shop to buy out my "Good" PC's. I think the hassle of Retailing on eBay or Craigslist presents too many issues. I'd rather wholesale the good stuff to someone, let them make really good money and I'll make OK money, which is better than SCRAP money!LOL

I'm going kind of backwards though. I started scrapping computers, and am now scrapping monitors and getting more and more into other types of metals.

What do you do with computer stuff too old to resell in the normal channels? For example I could use a bulk purchase of laptop IDE drives normally too small for anything somebody would want to use (20MB to 20 GB for example) for my collection. Scrap value can't be too much for those.

Originally Posted by unknownk

What do you do with computer stuff too old to resell in the normal channels? For example I could use a bulk purchase of laptop IDE drives normally too small for anything somebody would want to use (20MB to 20 GB for example) for my collection. Scrap value can't be too much for those.

Did you mean resale value? Scrap value of a typical 3.5" HDD is more or less the same regardless of whether it's 20MB or 500GB. They may differ a little but it has nothing to do with their storage capacity. I would simply scrap them unless there are any that are so old they have vintage value.

Originally Posted by ilyaz

Did you mean resale value? Scrap value of a typical 3.5" HDD is more or less the same regardless of whether it's 20MB or 500GB. They may differ a little but it has nothing to do with their storage capacity. I would simply scrap them unless there are any that are so old they have vintage value.

I was refering to laptop drives not 3.5" dekstop drives (which are much heavier and are made of aluminum and not stamped steel). By resell value I meant items that the local computer refurb people would not need or bother with being too old for their needs.