Craigslist, Computer Stores, and 1 CPU Question

Well I had a nice score and I feel that I need to share it.

I have been running the same ad on Craigslist for several months now looking to buy escrap. I've had a few hits. One or two computers every now and then. About a month ago I got an email from a fellow that was asking if I was still buying computer. I emailed him back and gave my prices and number and so forth. So a few weeks go by and he gives me a call saying he had 20 or so towers along with laptops and printers. He sent me a picture I gave a price and met up and picked them up yesterday. Along with everything mentioned he brought along a 3 pound bag of RAM.

So we get to talking and turns out he owns a computer store about 45 minutes away and states that he will have a load for me every month and even invited me to his shop to come look around and make him offers on items. He also offered to put out a drop off box for his customers to drop their ewaste for me.

So it turns out Craigslist is hit or miss. Mostly miss but this one turned out good for me.

Now with the question. He said that he has a box of CPUs that he is thinking about selling to me. My question is how do I offer a price. Do I do it by pound? Do I sort them out then offer a percentage of what I would get? Any suggestions would be great. Thanks for y'all's time.

I would take your buyers prices and offer him tops 80% of that. Seperate them out and pay for each type. Thats what I try to do with most computer stores. Just remember you treat them right and you have a good source of steady ewaste.

Thanks PTS. That's what I was thinking of doing. Like you said I want to give a fair price to keep him coming to me. Thanks for the response.

It got tough for me to figure out all grades of cpus, so I just pay a flat rate of 9.00 lb. Most are happy with that.!!

Ozzy I was thinking something along those lines. I'm going to offer 8 a pound. I'm sure he will be happy with that. I figure anything under 10 would allow me to make a profit even if they are all pinless greens. Thanks for the responses.

You can do what I did and completely bypass CraigsList. I went to the Yellow pages and made a list of every computer shop around town. Then I went to google maps and put them in order around a big loop. Grabbed a stack of business cards and a fliers that I made up and went to every one. I was even able to load up my truck from all those first visits, plus I have been called from few since then. Only been about a month but I can sense the snowball gaining speed as my garage is now filled and calls are more frequent. But, CL is free so keep your ad running there. As far as the CPU pricing, just make a point to memorize the price list and you can poke through what they have and get a good idea of value. I offer about 50% of value, but can easily go up if you have a good idea of what is there.

Shendog. Thanks for the response. I ordered some business cards last night and I got a list of the 10 closest computer shops. I'm going to hit them up in my free time from work and on the weekends. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by PartTimeScrapper

Just remember you treat them right and you have a good source of steady ewaste.

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I'd second this one. If his CPUs are mostly fiber you might do ok at $8, if say, they only pay $20, not too much difference there actually. If they're all double sided gold, you might should adjust that.
As another bit of wisdom I saw on one of Cory's posts said, "you can shear a sheep forever, but you can only skin him once" ; )

My intentions are to give him a fair price to keep him coming back. All customers are good customers but the best customers are the ones that keep coming back.

He was happy that I would pay for his ewaste. I'm sure I can get it cheaper but sooner or later he will wise up and I'd rather have a long term supply rather than just make a few bucks and lose the supply.

I think of it as along term investment that will keep paying off if I play my cards right. That's why I want to give fair pricing on his product.