Newbi to e-scraping

Hi all!

I have been looking into e-scraping for some time and sadly this is very difficult where i live. Here in Sweden we recycling almets Everything and the market is dominated by a few very big players. So scrap is hard to come by.

I have been looking into alternatives and found a lot of Sellers on ebay and also on Alibaba.coom (china). It is obv that you can not trust people and because of that buying is almost impossible. Why would i chinese seller sell to a customer around the World when he could offload it all in his own country?

Does any one here have any experience with buying from China or Ebay?

Best Regards
Håkan

Welcome to the forum. I think I understand you want to scrap ewaste (computers and the like) and you are considering buying from sellers on ebay.

I would say easily that the shipping costs would make this impossible. I would suggest you look locally. Is there a place to sell the boards from inside computers and other electronics in Sweden?

Here I was buying from computer repair shops tearing them down and selling to one of the buyers here on the forum.

Take the time to continue reading the old and new threads, you learn things you didn't know you should know.

An old fisherman once told me: "You can catch all the fish in the ocean but if you don't have a place that will buy them all you got is a boat load of fish".

73, Mike

Welcome
I agree with Mike. Also be very careful of buying stuff from Alibaba. Its supper easy to get scammed. Even though there are some legit companies on there, make sure you do your homework. I have done both lost money and bought successfully (Solar chargers) from that site.

As Mike said, your best bet would be to try computer repair shops. You might also think of places that have a lot of computers that they upgrade every three years or so like universities. Many Universities donate their old computers to local schools but just like repair shops they should have non-working stuff lying around. Either way you will likely have to buy the scrap.

Hi! Thank you for your answers.

As many of you said, its Always a pain to find stuff to scrap. But im not in this for a hobby, im looking to start a solid business with this. Im thinking of scraping larger amounts of material but i not sure how yet.

One idea is to grind it down, you know, no matter if it is a harddrive, motherboard, RAM, or an aluminum/steal case, and then sort out the hevay stuff from the light and then process it further.

It is fun to read the threads on this forum, i learn a lot and there seems to be a lot of very skilled people here.

/Håkan

Welcome to the forum. You have already been given the most valuable information yet. Read the old threads here and do some more research. Sweden may have some big companies that do most all the recycling but there still should be the "little guy" around. If you are just getting into e-waste and still learning, then you should start slow and steady. What it seems like you are talking about is refining the product. Start out by collecting it yourself and tear it apart. I started my e-waste business with the thought of BIG business but it only took about 6 months for me to realize that I was thinking too big and now I just find, separate, sell and start over.

Good luck to you and happy scrapping

Than you tski!

How come you decided not to "go big"? I guess you have an job on the side?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Knofan

Than you tski!

How come you decided not to "go big"? I guess you have an job on the side?

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I have not gone the "go big" aspect due to personal reasons. The "find, separate, sell" ideas have keep me happy with what I do and I'm able to pay my bills with this. I'm not one of those greedy, money hungry corporate sell-outs that has only one care in the world, and that would be how fat is my bank account. I have worked for myself for over 16 years now and have done only two different things, HVAC/R for over 13 years and recycling for the last 5 years, started recycling before closing down the HVAC/R company, and I only stopped the HVAC/R due to my partner destroyed the business and customer base and I could not revive it for myself, I will NEVER work with a partner ever again, lesson learned. As to having another job, nope. This is what I do and I'm happy with the position that I have put myself in. I have been able to work for myself, pay my bills and support my family, and I can be home for the kids when I need to. Not many can say that and mean it.

Thank you tski for the insights. I have been reading around the forum and i have not found much information about the economical side of this business. This is what makes your answer interesting. You do this full time and support you family. I agree that this is the most important goal to have. How much do you need at minimun, after taxes to support a normal family?


For me, if i should have the same salary that i have today i would need to get scrap for 6800 usd/month. That includes cost for my car with about 1200/month. The gas here is about 6 usd /gallon. I dont know if that is even possible to achieve in a small business with the conditions that apply here. And since i already run 3 companies i need to be looking at this from an bigger perspective than just a small hobby or to support myself.

$6800 is a huge nut to crack. I'm sure some here are doing it but I expect the cost of living in most of rural America is a lot less.

I feel that there is no number directly related to blanket the "need to have" number to make a living. That number depends on a mess of factors. Where you need 6800 usd, I say 3k usd and others would say 2k usd. It all depends on what you expected your cost to live needs to be and where you live. Now the bare basics would be about 3k but my wife would like it to be about 7 or 8k per month and more, but that's a whole different topic. I set my goals for the year and push to meet them. Sometimes its hard and sometimes its easy.

Here in the USA it is a lot different than Sweden I'm sure, so if I where you, I would be looking into the learning the scrap business before quitting your 3 other business's and make sure that scrap is what you want to do. Just keep reading and learning to make sure you have a full feel of what your getting into with scrap, and know your local laws that pertain to that work. You don't want to start something and find out later that you are in the wrong in any aspect. Also make sure those "few big players" can't take you out of the game in some way.

Maybe look into a niche area that you can capitalize on and go big with that. Many guys and girls here do that and make out pretty good I'm sure.

I hope that this helps a little and that I'm not that far out of range. Happy scrapping

$1200 car per month i hope your driving a Ferrari......all my vehicles are bought and paid for one less expense to worry about

Thank you for the answers.

Hipogear: Yeah, that is an big amount. And if i take only the cost for my salery this is what is looks like:

Salary (before tax): 4080 usd
Tax (company tax on salary): 1346 usd
The cost of my salary for the company is 5426 usd. Then i need to pay incomde tax on 4080. So my disposable income is about 2850 usd.

The problem is the amount of scrapping i need to do to make this kind of money.

Miceinreco:
No Ferrari :) Its a normal car. But i cant use my current car for this, i need to buy a new one. But the biggest problem is the gas price, at almost 6 usd per gallon the price for scrapping goes up. ALOT.

I have 3 other companies that i run, with empolyees so i have no intentions of quitting that. The problem is that the amount of material i need is so big it will be difficult to collect it. And when i do find material i need to be able to take every little bit of profit that i can from that material. That is why my thought is to refine, not only to collect and sell to the next guy.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Knofan

Hipogear: Yeah, that is an big amount. And if i take only the cost for my salery this is what is looks like:

Salary (before tax): 4080 usd
Tax (company tax on salary): 1346 usd
The cost of my salary for the company is 5426 usd. Then i need to pay incomde tax on 4080. So my disposable income is about 2850 usd.

The problem is the amount of scrapping i need to do to make this kind of money.

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Looks much more reasonable when you break it down. Still tough to do. Start networking sooner rather than later to find those contacts that can hook you up. I belive it can be done but will require a ton of hustle. Good luck, I wish you much success.

http://www.lexeed.com/ferrari_fast_d...utoahn_007.jpg

Is that an ad for sunglasses or high heels?