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davycoppit
Penny Pincher Member
USA
126 Posts |
 Posted - 05/30/2009 : 09:24:14
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About 3 months ago I moved from a big city to a small one. I got a job as a garbage man. The company I work for is very small and they do the garbage and recycling for 5 different small towns.
Every year in these towns a company would come in and work with the city to have an electronic drive and would collect computers, TVs, and all other electronics. This year they decided not to do it and everybody is throwing their TVs and computers into businesses garbage dumpsters, which costs the company I work for to get rid of them. I was thinking about starting my own electronics drive and try to make money off selling the scrap from this. I was wondering if anybody has had any experience or information on this? I know a little bit about what kind of metals are in electronics to recover, but am sort of worried about getting in over my head. I collect metals on the side, but have never done something with a lot of volume. I was just sort of curious what everybody’s thoughts were on this?
Thanks for your time.
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Edited by - davycoppit on 05/30/2009 09:25:14 |
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bruce hylton
Penny Pincher Member
USA
102 Posts |
Posted - 05/30/2009 : 10:55:25
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| Too much plastic and glass to get rid of unless you can find a market first. Glass is high in lead content. |
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natsb88
Administrator
USA
1850 Posts |
Posted - 05/30/2009 : 13:38:05
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Boards sell on eBay. If they are presented nicely (detailed photos) and divided into lots that are large enough to ship economically (UPS ground or USPS Parcel Post), you can clear at least a buck or two a pound. CPU's and memory sell for more. Older boards with lots of gold plated contacts are good too. Computer case frames are usually steel. Hard drives have an aluminum frame and alloy platters that can sell for platinum recovery. Can get some copper wire from the power supply and various other cables. Usually end up with some plastic case parts to get rid of.
I haven't taken apart a TV yet but I have done some CRT monitors. Be careful to discharge the capacitors. Some boards (nothing special) and copper windings inside. Still have a tube and plastic to get rid of.
I like scrapping computer towers. Monitors (and I'm guessing TV's) are usually more trouble than they are worth scrap wise. |
Nate
The Copper Cave
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Robarons
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
522 Posts |
Posted - 05/30/2009 : 21:12:14
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| Has any one had any luck with cell phones. I have heard here and there that they are good for gold recovery, etc. but really is no demand or information about it. Has any one found anybody who buys these? If so what are they worth and whats in them? |
Robber Baron= Robarons |
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Gr33nday43
New Member
Uzbekistan
10 Posts |
Posted - 05/31/2009 : 02:14:05
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| I know the electronic boards in the body of the cell phone sell on eBay. IMO electronic scrap from raw sources (computers, monitors, cell phones etc) is not worth it if you want to legally get rid of the left over material that cannot be sold as scrap for PM recovery. |
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jadedragon
Administrator
Canada
3788 Posts |
Posted - 05/31/2009 : 14:56:16
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| We rent space to a company that demanufactures electronics for scrap recovery. They chip up the plastic, crush the glass, sort out the copper etc. I'd check it out by finding a nearby demanufacturer and asking them about selling to them in bulk. |
“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.” – George Bernard Shaw.
Why Copper Bullion ~~~ Interview with Silver Bullion Producer Market Harmony
Passive Income blog |
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No82s
Penny Pincher Member
USA
198 Posts |
Posted - 05/31/2009 : 17:08:40
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| There are a couple sites that will by cell phones. They are simple ones like cellsforcash.com or similar. Just use a search engine and they'll come up. |
The difference between an optimist and a pessimist is that the pessimist is better informed. |
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simplicitycounts
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
535 Posts |
Posted - 06/02/2009 : 11:20:19
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I'd be interested in purchasing the following from you at these prices DELIVERED:
$1.00 per pound delivered Computer Motherboards, PC Slot Card Boards, also small card from inside CD Rom, and the back of hard drive okay. As long as they are populated with IC chips. (NO VCR Boards, Power Supply Boards, Transformer Boards, Monitor Boards, etc)
$3.00 per pound delivered Memory / IC Chips
$10.00 per pound delivered Processors (NO Heat Sinks) |
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davycoppit
Penny Pincher Member
USA
126 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2009 : 13:46:39
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| Thanks for all your guys responses, I guess my conclusion is that it is not worth my time. Thanks again. |
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simplicitycounts
Penny Hoarding Member
USA
535 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2009 : 13:58:43
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| Personally I don't think any of it would be worth your time except computer towers. At least with them you get a steel case, steel floppy drive, steel cd rom drive, Copper wire, Aluminum heat sink, Aluminum Hard Drive: All of which you can sell to your local scrap yard. Then the boards have gold content. All you are left with for junk is the power supply board, and a small amount of plastic. Most of the plastic can be left on the computer case and sold as mixed steel. |
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bruce hylton
Penny Pincher Member
USA
102 Posts |
Posted - 06/03/2009 : 16:51:44
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| Don't forget the really powerful magnets inside the harddrives. |
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searching4silver
Penny Pincher Member
111 Posts |
Posted - 06/26/2009 : 14:16:19
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| How do you get the gold out of the boards? Can you do it safely? |
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Gr33nday43
New Member
Uzbekistan
10 Posts |
Posted - 06/26/2009 : 15:51:37
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| It is very dangerous and includes strong acids, toxic gases, and high heat. If you feel up to it you can go to You must be logged in to see this link. You have to sign up to view the posts, however. |
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silversaddle1
Penny Pincher Member
USA
103 Posts |
Posted - 08/12/2009 : 05:48:27
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Well I beg to differ. You can make some decent money recycling old computers. The only drawback will be the CRT's. We do not scrap them, we take them to a recycling center and pay $10.00 each to get rid of them. Sounds high, but we charge the customer $15.00 to dispose of the whole computer (tower, keyboard, CRT, etc). Everything else you can recycle yourself and make some pretty decent money on. It's not a get rick quick deal, but for a few hours a week, you can sure build up a nice stash.
Here are a few prices that our local scrap yard is paying for computer scrap.
Motherboards, riser cards, expansion cards $2.30 per pound
Ram with gold edges $6.00 per pound
Ceramic CPU's $25.00 per pound
Internal& external wire, unclipped ends .55 cents per pound
power supplies, unclipped leads .15 cents per pound
So if you have a source to get computers, get them. If you don't have to take the CRT, ever better. If you do, charge to recycle it. |
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n/a
deleted
14 Posts |
Posted - 08/16/2009 : 13:07:19
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quote:
Originally posted by simplicitycounts
I'd be interested in purchasing the following from you at these prices DELIVERED:
$1.00 per pound delivered Computer Motherboards, PC Slot Card Boards, also small card from inside CD Rom, and the back of hard drive okay. As long as they are populated with IC chips. (NO VCR Boards, Power Supply Boards, Transformer Boards, Monitor Boards, etc)
$3.00 per pound delivered Memory / IC Chips
$10.00 per pound delivered Processors (NO Heat Sinks)
i like the way you love money |
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scrap electronics
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