Thar's Gold in Them Thar Circuit Boards!

The other thread about shipping mobo's off to the refiner made me look into the prices for the boards and the gold fingers- and I was pleasantly surprised with the prices I found.
I have approx a large coffee can full of the fingers- and they seem to go for about $60 a pound on Ebay.
The motherboards look like they bring about $2-$3 a pound.



I was at the recycling yard today and a gentleman brought in some copper from TV's he'd scrapped, and he had a small pile of circuit boards in the back of his truck.
The yard said they didn't want them, so I ambled over and asked him if he wanted to sell them.
I pulled 2 ones from my pocket and said "I'll give ya 2 bucks for 'em"
he took the cash and I got approx 15 pounds of boards.
I don't know if they're worth as much as PC motherboards, but they're very similar.

i have a local guy that pays between .75 and $1 for PC motherboards, so I'll see what kind of offer he'll make on the boards, and if it's too low, I'll throw 'em up on Ebay and see what happens.
Truth be told- with the heatsinks still attached, they're really bulky, so a buyer could come out a little short if he had to pay shipping on them.

I wanted to see if anyone else had any experience with the boards- either selling on Ebay or locally.

Thanks scrap man- my local guy advertises 2 prices- with, and without metal:

"Mother Board Standard PC Type (no metal)
Under 100 Pounds -> $1.00 per pound -- Over 100 Pounds -> $1.25 per pound
Mother Board Standard PC Type (with metal)
Under 100 Pounds -> $0.75 per pound -- Over 100 Pounds -> $1.00 per pound"

So he seems to pay less for the boards with 'metal'.. at first I thought maybe he meant rails or something- I can't see why he'd pay less for boards with 'metal'...unless it was because of the increased shipping charges.

But one man's 'ripoff' is another man's opportunity.

I might put up an ad offering 50 cents more a pound and see what type of responses I get.

I also want to see if the TV boards have the same value as PC boards.

and I may put up a small ad or flier at the recycle yards saying I'll buy the boards.

Seems like there might be some good opportunities in this field.

My yard,first didn't want to take TV boards or any other boards,except for Motherboards(PC board) which they pay 1.50lbs. After we showed the boards they offered .10cents lbs,for all other boards. The yard here pays 3.00lb for CPU,which you get much more on ebay. When I first started last summer,I was excited to find 2 catalyzer on the curb, I got 6.00 for one and 15.00 for the other, I thought WOW,that's great money,until I checked the price on Ebay.

TV boards, much like the boards from CRT Monitors and power supplies from computers are considered very low grade boards....Here is what i do...I pull the transformers, copper windings and aluminum from the boards and then sell them through Ebay for as much as they will bring. From what I was told, the copper in televisions and monitors is worth much more than the boards at this point.

Originally Posted by ComputerScrapper

TV boards, much like the boards from CRT Monitors and power supplies from computers are considered very low grade boards....Here is what i do...I pull the transformers, copper windings and aluminum from the boards and then sell them through Ebay for as much as they will bring. From what I was told, the copper in televisions and monitors is worth much more than the boards at this point.

I agree wholeheartedly!!

After doing a little digging I have found that it is best to sell the boards that come out of monitors(CRT) and televisions to the scrap yard for what they will pay...Ours will pay .15 per pound because they have nothing on them of value for the most part that is not a major pain in the backyard to refine.

Originally Posted by ComputerScrapper

After doing a little digging I have found that it is best to sell the boards that come out of monitors(CRT) and televisions to the scrap yard for what they will pay...Ours will pay .15 per pound because they have nothing on them of value for the most part that is not a major pain in the backyard to refine.

They can't take them here in SC. All E-Waste has to go through an approved and certified R2/RIOS Recycler.
That's what I am working on.

Amazing how each different state can be so different with this stuff.

What exactly is gold on the motherboards and cpu's. And what is the best way to get it off? I would imagine a pair of dikes would work but you'd have a lot left on the board and cpu, right?

Most of the gold on boards and processors is plated pins and fingers....Most connectors on computers are plated in gold or at least gold tipped. However, getting the gold off the boards is difficult and dangerous to say the least. Not to mention the fact that taking the gold off the boards is only half the battle. After it is pulled from the boards it has to be refined. There are some "at home" methods but they are toxic and can get a person in a lot of trouble. The best thing to do with the boards is just sell them to a refiner, like through Ebay