How Do You Actually "E-Waste" ?

I have been dealing with dead electronics for quite some time now, but have running into the same problem - how do you actually sell off all the "parts" ?
It seems like you have to live in a special area to make any kind of money doing this type of recycling.

Back a few years ago I lived in densely populated area, and use to drag home electronics from the dumpsters all the time.
Here is the process of what I did:
* The first thing I would do would be attempt to fix it and resell it.
* If I could not do that, I would strip all the working parts and see if I could sell those.
* If I could not do that, they sat around the apartment as "spare parts".

I found that no one in my area would buy anything I had.
Closest recycler I found was 4.5 hours away, and would not pay enough to profitable ship the circuit boards, Hard Drives, or anything else.

Eventually I was forced to just throw everything away as I could not do anything else.

Of all the stuff that was pitched:
180+ desktop computers
20+ servers
60+ laptops
70+ VCRs
30+ DVD players
40+ assorted game systems
(A lot ) cell phones
and much more


My questions are
1: Is "ecycling" profitable in all areas, or just certain places ?
2: If it is profitable in all areas, please explain HOW (( I read the forum section - it was not helpful ))



Thank you for your time.

RLS, I`m a NEWbie myself.....I "guess" you didn`t read that BEST proto-call is....First post should be on the introduction page! Just thot I`d let`ya know!!!.....GAS

Just to add to...info....my oldest daughter, 15, & has been scrap`n for over a year....she`s "membered" BUT I ....let her know Proto-calls(once again, first post is INtro). I would advice the same for you!....reSPECT the Rules you agreed to....I`m NOT trying to act like a GRF mod....lol ....you`ll do fine here!!! GOOD folks here......Keep on keep`n on!

If I can mange to do ewaste on a sandbar 2 miles out in the ocean...surely anyone on the mainland can do it to.

Shame you didn't find us before you tossed everything. To answer your question, a lot of us use the buyers here, or local. Some sell on eBay, some on CL, some on <insert random place here>

So next time you get stuff, you come here, research what you have, and then pick a buyer. They are all good buyers for the most part. As a bad one won't last long here. We're a good bunch of folks, till ya start trying to screw us over.(not you op, but bad buyers) Word would be out all over the forums if a buyer here tried to get over on a member. It's one of the perks of being here. We don't take kindly to folks messing with our profit margins.

Good luck!

Sirscrapalot - Wasted away in margaritaville.

Anyway welcome from Somerset PA

You realy need to go to the buyer/seller section. Many buyers list the prices that they pay. One buyer that I've delt with will send you a shipping lable through FedEx and shipping cost will be .50-.60 per lbs. After you get 5 or 6 post you can use the privet mesage. Send me a mesage and I'll help you get started. Yes, we like introductions and it would add to your post count. There also is a section that will show you the diffrant boards and how to grade them. This forum is like going to collage and yes you will have to do some home work.