I've always thought about operating/profit margins while scrapping. With typical scrap it is pretty easy since there is a maximum of only 1 or 2 metals combined and you can find the spot/market prices of these metals rather easily. This helps me figure out how the scrap business works and what margins everyone operates on. When recycling ewaste I have never been able to quite grasp what is the exact make up, what are the margins, and how much is really to be made in the end. So that basically brought me to ask myself what is my load really worth? For me purchasing high grade boards is the lowest margin of anything which makes what I found funny.
Tonight I did a little research on the process the big companies use on refining the material, about $25,000 bare minimum per process/metal. I quick/rough calculated a "small" setup would be no less than 250k just in equipment.This might explain why someone feels entitled to so much of the profit in the end. I will take you through some numbers and show how it works.
Lets say your busy and you get 1,000lbs of clean "mother boards" in a month.
All prices will be roughly around spot. This is percentages I gathered through my research of that 1,000lbs of material.
Copper value @ $3.70/lb=$429
Lead@$1.00/lb=$10
Zinc@$.90/lb=$5
Alum@$.90=$9
Nickel@$8/lb=$80
Gold@$25,000/lb=$25,000
Silver@$493/lb=$246
Palladium@650=$3,250
Lets say that is a good mix and you get $4.50/lb you just made $4,500, wow big deal hahah......
Wherever your buyer sells to it's final value should be $29,000...This price and market are highly dependent on metal prices. There is definite disproportion of margin looks like a good business to be in to me with over 500% profit margin between us and the refiner.
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