Computer Towers

I’m currently winning a storage auction that looks like there is about 200-300+ desktop computers.
Is it worth renting the unit for 1-2 months(about $100 a month ) to break them all down , or should I just scrap them whole and be done with it ?
Thanks
- Preston

Depends on whether they have usable parts and what kind of $/lb you can get for towers near you and how much they've been stripped already. My general rule of thumb is if I can a decent approximation of broken down value selling whole then sell them that way and use that time instead finding more stuff. Disassembly is fun and interesting tho too so figure that in to your calculations if you're interested in that

Thanks. I think around here it’s .20/lb. the last time I picked up a similar unit most of them were stripped of HDD & Ram but loaded with everything else. I stopped breaking them down & turned them all in. Got about 900 for 130 computers , but the guys at the yard thought I was crazy and lost tons of money.

Not sure how to post pictures on here or I’d send a pic of what I’m bidding on

Think you need like 10 posts before posting pics but you can link them on a third party host

Yea -now that I remember - they took like 2 hours that day to process my material bc they couldn’t find their forklift lol .... and so he gave me a hooked up price per lb because of that.
I don’t mind breaking them down but I only wanna do that with this one if it’s looking like I’m missing out on thousands. Won’t know for sure unless I get it - 3 days left and still winning though

@ hills you are definitely right about people not understanding prices. I had a guy @ the scales try to combine my HDDs & separated logic boards because he saw on his list that the “hard drive complete “ price was higher and he didn’t really know what the logic board was

Just a thought .... but you might check out the ewaste buyers here. Maybe compare what they
are paying for HDD logic boards vs. what you're getting at the yard ?

Yea I definitely think this site could be a great way to move some of this stuff if I end up winning it

Not to mention I’d much rather it go to the people on here & help them get some $$ too as opposed to the scrap yard

What state are you in?

Sorry for late reply @520. I’m located in NC - just outside of Raleigh. Won the unit & going to check what I’m working with after work today.

Your best money is breaking down each computer but how much is your time (to break them down) worth?

It's not all it's cracked up to be though ....

3.5" drives weigh about a pound each. They're generally not cost effective to ship.

Then there's time spent wiping & testing the drives before shipping. It's pointless to ship a bad drive. You'll really take a beating on that one.

Then there's size. You're safest bet is not to mess with anything under 500 gb these days. Might as well send the rest straight to scrap even though it may be perfectly good to use.

Then there's speed. You're definitely chancing it if you've got a lot of 3 gbps stuff in stock. (Those will be the next IDE drives.) You don't want to be left holding the bag when the market demand drops out from under em'.

Anyway ... it's just my opinion. Not sure if i'm cynical or just practical about the HDD market.

I kind of agree with them, if they were laptops that would be a different story. Desktops are easy to strip down. Even the CD/Dvd boards are at $3.10 per lbs. I would break them down even just for scrap and selling them to the vendors on here.