I never bothered saving circuit boards. But then one of our forum members, JJinLV, opened a site here in town to buy boards (and other stuff). I figured I'd see if it was worth my time. I took 24 boards to his place of business today - a random mix of everything from low-grade stuff up to RAM modules.

A very nice lady named Melissa gave me $8.50 for this collection. Actually, the value was $8.50 but she gave me $9 because she didn't have change. Over 24 boards, that's about 35 cents per. At the low end, I figure it took 5 minutes to get at each board - from microwaves, TVs, and other electronics I found in the trash.



Thirty-five cents a board times 12 boards an hour makes me $4.25/hour. That's not taking into account the 45-minute round-trip drive and fuel. I can set that aside for a minute, because that cost would be the same for one board or a thousand.

I realize I'm small-time, but I wouldn't take a job paying half of minimum wage, so how could I make a side business of it?