Friend just got ripped off

[bpatnoe]

A fellow scrapper (new to the game) just sold around 30 pounds of motherboards to a company in Mass. He got a check for a whole $9. I feel bad but maybe he learned his lesson. I believe it is one the the gold buying websites that are screwing everybody.

One good thing is that he will be talking to a possible new ewaste buyer that says he will "beat every bodies prices". I am going to go with him to meet the guy to see how his prices are. It would be nice to get a place that will buy low end boards. Place is around 2 1/2 hrs away but will still be cheaper then shipping costs.

Anybody have any good questions I should ask? Besides prices



I will update everybody once I meet with the person.

[EcoSafe]

if he had been on the forum he would have known better. one new law I am in favor of is making it illegal to be an A hole like cash for gold types. Id give people like that life. they are parisites,

I would most certainly talk to the buyers here. first and last, all others inbetween.

[easyrecycle]

ouch....this is why its good going with someone who has been tested...

[rbrooks715]

how would we enforce such a law. you can not make people stop being idiots. the scrap yard by me is buying boards for $.15/lb. the sellers have to drive right by me to get to the yard. watch them do that everyday. the yard is well aware of what the boards are bringing. i tried to buy their boards with a low ball offer. figured if they were paying so little i might get the boards for cheap. owner told me exactly what they were getting for the boards. he knows he is ripping the guys and does not care. i run ads, put up a sign and have talked to some of the scrappers. they still drive by.

education is the answer. but how do you force someone to become educated and then make educated informed choices.

this business is full of cons and crooks, and getting worse.

i would love to see laws changing that. how do you propose to do that.

[ComputerScrapper]

I landed a new client because of a place like this...He originally contacted me and decided he didn't like my prices because he heard that there was thousands of dollars worth of gold in every computer (another victim of internet stupidity) anyway he sent a box of 40 pounds of motherboards to one of the cash for gold yada yada.....He received a check for $5.50 after they took their shipping out. He called me the next day and arranged to sell me all of his stuff from then on.

[brandon]

You cant inforce any laws to prevent this sort of action by shyster buyers, as long as you have uneducated sellers. Anytime you send someone something without knowing what you are going to get paid lends yourself to being ripped off. Cash for gold is a perfect example, they dont tell you what they pay and rely on you having no clue as to what your gold is worth, they say they dont pay until your item is processed and melted, no way for you to get your item back if you are not satisfied with what you recieve.
I would much rather get a set price for what i cary in that way if its downgraded i can find out why it was downgraded and make an educated decision on what i am going to do with my item.
My local yard pays $.50 for high grade boards, i was saving all of mine up to make it worth my time to take them in, now i have found this site, i have gained some education and will not settle for that low of a price. I will go to someone on here to sell to.

[fivegallonbucket]

I hope the meeting with the new buyer is productive. Let us know how it turns out.

[IdahoScrapper]

It amuses me that some think there is $1,000s in gold inside a computer when the dang thing doesn't even retail for $1,000.

[Mechanic688]

I would print out a couple of price sheets from the buyers on the forum, that way if he tries to low ball you after telling you he'll pay better yada,yada then you have something factual to show him and say "match that." Kind of a put up or shut up deal.

[Destructo_d]

My yard only pays $ .15/lb for boards too... he's prefer not to buy them and he resells them to this other scrapper guy who comes by like once a year or so and sorts them out and sells them somewhere else.

last winter I had a little side job of stripping down old cellular switching units that were built by nortel.. I could tell the the all the circuits were gold and lots of gold pins... at the time, I didn't know anyone near me to get a better price.... I still don't up here in British Columbia.... I really should call AMEX down in Vancouver area to see if they give a bit better of a deal... but I just toss all my boards into one big bin now... anything from comunications on down to the little circuit board inside your window a/c unit or pretty much anything with some kind of board in it.

[Hypoman]

ouch....this is why its good going with someone who has been tested...

You know, for comfort and what not.

[bpatnoe]

Finally meeting with the guy this Monday. Hope to get good info. And will share once I get some.

[submarinepainter]

GL Pat

[mikeinreco]

That's not much diff from when I used to rip myself off by not breaking down my e-scrap and just throwing computers off as shred...LOL

[bpatnoe]

Just got back from meeting with the guy. None of the stuff we brought down was mine just my friends. He met us at a smaller "middle" company. Needless to say, I will not be sending any good stuff to them and will continue to go through buyers from this site. The stuff in which it is not worth to ship I will send down to the "middle" company but it will have to wait until I get a truck load since it is 280 miles round trip.

Prices:
Low End Boards - $0.05/Lbs
Green/Green Boards - $2.00/Lbs (this was a mix of low end, mid, motherboard, and cell phone boards. Wish my friend separated better.)
Transformers/Motors - $0.20/Lbs (5 cents more then what I am getting now)