what a pain in the a**

check out freightquote.com as well

Originally Posted by olddude

just today I saved 100 + on 700 lbs from a fellow member giving me new info about shipping and I was looking for penneys. Thanks gorvin.

so you learned something new. as I would tell others even people that do what they do for 20 years still learn something new on smf all the time. you have almost 3 thousand posts here and badda bing others are here to help and the information is all up in the forum threads... READ/LEARN/EXECUTE I would say to the new peeps. I would make the search link a bigger box with a bubble quote that says.. answers to your questions lie here... nuff said lol.

Originally Posted by Mechanic688

And Greyhound

you can use dogs this time of year? hehehe..

Jeepers Mech, never even thought of that bus'n idea of yours there. Wonder if that could help us cross-border ewaste scrappers?

Thanks for another way to get things done dude. lb

Originally Posted by TheRecycleGuy

you can use dogs this time of year? hehehe..

Only if attached to a sled..right Jord? Ha ha ha!

/Flee

Sirscrapalot - If Barbara Walters was interviewing me, I'd figure her career was as dead as mine! - Tom T. Hall

While I agree with what you're saying olddude and it is true, the reality is the people who could benefit the most from what you're saying about reading the forums will never get this information - because they're not reading the forums. Similar concept to the people who need to hear the message at church the most are the ones who aren't there, so the preacher preaches to the choir. Or a teenager rolling their eyes and tuning out a parent who is giving some great advice from experience. My expereince has been that the time people are the most receptive to the advice you have to offer is after they've fallen on their face or eaten some humble pie. And then, it's a fine balance - they are willing to listen, but if you rub their face in it too much, then they stop listening, and the teaching moment is wasted.

For example, there's lots of information on here about good people to sell scrap to, their rates, and some information about effective shipping options. Some come here and soak up knowledge like a sponge and read everything. There's going to be others though who hear gold from computers is great and sends a hundred pounds of motherboards to a ripoff site and gets back five bucks. It happens on this site more than it should - but that's a great teaching opportunity for us to direct them to information, and impress upon them the value of reading the forums.

Just my two cents on helping others. I will say a good deal of my thinking revolves around my young kids and how to teach them.

It's not just this forum but every one I've been a member or subscriber to in the past. Some people will join and spend a lot of time reading, researching and getting familiar with the layout of the site and where to find answers without asking a lot of questions. Others want a quick answer and they don't want to do their homework. What they don't realize is the senior members here are constantly being bombarded by people who have a quick question. I applaude the ones who are always willing to help and I also understand why it frustrates others.
Oh, BTW I found a circuit board the other day and it looks like it has a lot of gold on it. I can't post a pic but what do you think it might be worth and who can I sell it to.

I must confess I feel a bit guilty when I post a question because I know it's most likely been covered in other posts…I do search before posting, but not always successfully. Sometimes seacrhes can be a bit particular, the search word or term used can make or break the search, at least with me. At times I dont even know what to call an item and that makes it hard to search for info! Then there's discussions that loop around a specific question, but dont quite get to the heart of what I have in my head. LOL.

Truthfully, I appreciate that most people here have put in their valuable time to learn about scrapping and recycling. Your knowledge means the difference btwn getting pennies or dollars at the scrapyard, for which I am grateful. I am very new to this and am astounded at the commitment of members here and the hard work you put into making $ with metals and ewaste. You have chosen to share with others what you have learned and I do want to let you know I for one thank you everytime I log into SMF.
Unfortunately I dont say "thanks" often enough...

I couldn't agree more olddude. Life is so short. Your most valuable asset is time and not money.May as well have some fun,cherish the people closet to you and do what you love. There are all kinds of new things to learn and there's always room for improvement. You just have to leave yourself open to it.

In so many ways business is business. The same basic principles apply whatever you're doing. You could go to school for it but the best teacher is experience.

Completely agree that scrapping is a craft. You have to invest the time and effort to become good at it just like any other trade.

Some of it is situational though. How you go about doing it depends on your environment. It's pretty far off the beaten path where i am. It's at least 45 miles to the nearest scrap yard. I'm partial to Desktops & towers because i can recycle at least 90 % of what's there by weight. What little plastic there is goes into the waste stream and is incinerated to make electricity. We need to be shipping steel in 20 ton loads for it to be cost effective here so the steel goes into the municipal scrap metal pile and the community benefits from the proceeds. The rest is stuff that's good to sell if you can find the right buyer and keep your costs down.

It would be different if you lived in the city and were only ten minutes from the scrapyard. You could sell the plastics and the steel and get even more out of a tower. Your average printer can be time consuming to break down and is mostly plastic. It might be worthwhile to do in the city but not somewhere else.

Reading what's available here is important. Hands on experience is important too because every situation is different. You have to put the time in and tear all of these different kinds of things apart so you can figure out for yourself if it's gonna work in your particular circumstance.

It's like anything else ... you only get out of what you put into it. If you work hard and become really good at something you might be able to make a go of it.