Quote Originally Posted by hills View Post
You might try running the numbers to see what makes the most sense with the better than scrap option. Shipping cost -vs- return.

The 3.5" desktop / tower drives don't really work for me with what they're generally paying.

The 2.5" laptop drives do work because they weigh less. You can fit quite a few in a flat rate box.

There's the time involved as well. It's fun at first because it's all new but it's more like work once the initial thrill wears off. I would consider myself a hobbyist, but the scrapping really is a second part time job. It's nice because there's no set work schedule. I can fit it in around all the other things that i have going on and maybe make a few extra bucks on the side. It's no easy thing to make money at this ! You really need to mind your P's & Q's and run it like any business.

Just a couple of tips:

1: Be mindful that YOU are responsible for all of the data on any hard drive that you take into your shop. (That includes data that you might not know is on there.) At the very least ... do a single pass overwrite -or- destroy any drive before it leaves your shop. It's the right thing to do.

2: Well over 50% of the laptop drives that i've taken in over the years didn't test out. They either failed a SMART test or a surface scan. You want to send your buyer a good drive so that you get paid at the better than scrap price ? It makes sense to test before shipping so the you make the most money on the deal. Regardless, there are likely to be a few here and there that don't test out on their end. The package sometimes gets bumped around a bit during shipping and you lose a couple.



Anyway, just my opinion / experience so far. It might be a different situation for someone else.
Yea makes total sense man. It's still fun for now lol but I can see where if no careful it could feel like work eventually. I didn't wipe the drives I had sent out but will from now on for sure now that I can build a wiping rig.