Experience with BoardSort

Being new to ewaste, I’m still struggling to figure out a strategy for what to do with it all. I work out of a 1-car garage that I share with my spouse for workspace, so I don’t have a ton of space for storage etc. so basically, I am considering the use of BoardSort or another online buyer to handle my boards. My questions are these:

1) are low grade boards worth shipping? Compared to mid and high grade boards.

2) I would be most likely using USPS flat rate shipping boxes for shipping so realistically how much low/mid grade board weight would I need to ship to make a decent profit considering shipping? (I live in Oklahoma)

3) would it be more profitable to strip all value items from boards such as tantalum, IC’s, BGA’s, mlcc’s, copper, and aluminum until I have enough to fill a box and then ship THAT instead of the boards, and then just send the remainder of the board to shred??



Thanks for any help. I am a fairly low volume, hobby scrapper and struggling to figure out ewaste.

Low grade boards are worth shipping only via freight. Fed-ex and UPS are better than flat rate boxes. 59lbs is ideal for them. I don't recommend depopulating boards of anything in most circumstances

I'm a small timer as well. The ewaste doesn't take up much space in the shop as long as it's well organized on a shelf on one of the side walls. The main thing is not to let the unprocessed stuff -or- the waste product pile up.

FedEx and UPS are your best options for shipping a few boxes here and there. Study their shipping rates. Things have changed over the past year. If not mistaken ... 48 lbs is the sweet spot where you get your best shipping rates now. They go up after 50 lbs ?

JJ and Miked hit it spot on with good advise for a fulla starting out. There's a certain trial & error learning curve to figure out what works best in your particular circumstance but that will develop over time.

No personal experience with Boardsort here, but know 1 guy that drives out, 8 hours each way, probably 5 to 8 times a year. I believe ACCR is actually one of the owners of Boardsort and has a buyers thread here. If memory serves me right, Boardsort is actually a member here, but not active and no buyers thread.

With the increase in copper prices recently, low grade boards have jumped considerably. If you can ship pallets / LTL freight, they are worth it. You do need to learn the ins and outs of LTL to be successful.

Flat rate boxes are fine for high grade material. Anything less than that and you should be looking at fed ex or UPS or something similiar. Business pricing is a lot better. Some buyers will do shipping for you and take it out of your payout (at least 1 here). Other options are third party shippers like Unishippers (1 member has a buyers thread for shipping)

As far as stripping items from boards, I only do it, if it will upgrade the board. A transformer or heat sink on a board with a bunch of ICs, will probably downgrade the board. Pull those and get a higher grade on the board.