As a part answer to original question- the value is in the copper trace AND gold trace. Easysecycle gave away a bit of knowledge when he said he had his boards ball milled into a powder for acid refining. Ball milling obviously breaks down items into more manageable pieces. I do believe after ball milling would come incineration of all carbonaceous material(solder mask and board), removal of ferrous material and then acid refining IF that was the process.
You see the big buyers, because of the weight they are moving through the refineries,are getting paid out on copper. Where most people do not.
As far as removing items from boards and reselling on ebay, I would say do this with boards you are getting for free or do not have much invested in them. If it plugs in a socket then remove it. Low grade I try to tear as much of as possible. I know my buyer gave the go agead to pull Ta caps off since refineries do not pay out for it. Be careful removing mlcc's as they contain silver and palladium or platinum and buyers DO get paid on those metals.
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