i have a local buyer and he has the most competitive prices in our area ,he is semi secretive about his contacts and methods.he has known me all my life and he knows i am always looking for the extra pennnies when im scrapping.what he has shared with me is that he sales nothing at all to scrap yards of any sort,he only deals in auto/equipment parts. he gets core charge from a few buyers up north. when i asked him about the converters he told me that the moment i remove any of the pellets or comb from a convertor that i would loose 65 to 90 percent of the value.he will buy the loose material but he will also tell folks if they have an ebay account to sale it on there loose cause thats what he does with it if its removed.i read earlier in this thread someone said the reason for this is that the companies no the exact amounts of ingredients in each converter,by the type it is.this is also what my friend told meim sure there has to be money in refining the stuff because if you think about it the car corre charge buyers couldnt just clean up and re condition the convertors,i mean im sure a few could be refurbished possibly but the condition of alot of the ones ive sold him were beyond any repair.personally i couldnt afford the investment to buy such an amount needed to try and have it refined,im really curious as to how this will turn out.and i wish you the best of luck.i just discovered this site tonight i love it.glad to be a member here now.well once again best of luck and good night folks