New to Forum and Electronic Scrapping, 5 Year Cartridge Recycler

I am new to this forum and would like to get some input from others who recycle e-waste, as well as ink and toner cartridges. For the past 5 years, I have been recycling toner and ink cartridges and have had great success. In the past 5-6 months I have been starting a new adventure of collecting e-waste such as computers, cell phones, copiers, printers and whatever parts I think may have some value. Many of these electronic parts / boards and machines are in working condition, others are only good for scrap. I have sold some machines and parts through ebay, but would like to work through a company outside of the ebay marketplace. I would like to find out what other scrappers and recyclers have been successful with, and what they can share with me. I would like to find out what buyers out there are honest and offers good pricing for scrap and parts. I have a continuous stream of incoming scrap and working parts (mainly from printers and copiers) and need to find a reputable business to sell to. Would like to use a business that pays for the shipping and provides a quick turnaround payment (if any exist). I have done some research and have some companies in mind, but have not actually gone as far as creating a shipment. I have heard of people who have sent scrap in and didn't receive any payment, or people who have been underpaid for their scrap / parts. I have had this happen with cartridge recycling, and don't want to go through that again.

With cartridges, I am pretty happy with the results I have had with companies I have used. Some of the companies are better than others, but overall been pleased with most I have worked with. I continue to use 2-3 companies for cartridges, as well as sell some through ebay. I compare price sheets and sell each type of cartridge to the highest buyer. I am quite surprised after doing some research of how many people recycling cartridges are using such low-paying businesses, or relying mainly on recycling through Staples to only to get a $2 store credit for each cartridge (maxing at $20/mo.). I have taken advantage of the Staples credit as well, but there is so much more out there willing to pay much more (in cash). I always took my useless (no value or damaged) cartridges to Staples and still got the same store credit. It makes me cringe when I go to Staples and see a cartridge someone has turned in for recycling that has a recycling value elsewhere of $15 or $20.

Even though I have had success with cartridges, I still want to hear other peoples experience and if they are willing to share who they sell to. Would also like to know what companies have been horrible to work with or didn't pay for what they sent in. I am also looking for companies or individuals who buy the toner bottles (tubes), such as Canon GPR-30. I get loads of these monthly and would like to find a continuous buyer. I found one buyer for these toner bottles, but he only buys on occasion, or when he remembers to buy. In the meantime I become overwhelmed with finding space for these things.

Hope I can get some good feedback and input through this forum. I am hoping it can provide the information I am seeking for.

Welcome to the forum.

Checkout the buyers and sellers section and read their reviews.

I get a lot of printers also but they are older ones and I'm not sure if anyone would be interested in the cartridges. For example I have about 15 for a Brother HL-240.

Welcome to the forum!

Do your self a big plus, read old threads.
Check out our buyers and their reviews.
Read "All" the stickys that have to do with ewaste.

Looking forward to your insight on ink cartridges and toners.

Welcome to the forum. You have been given the best advise a new member can get. I also look forward to reading your contributions. Mike

Welcome! Yes we have struggled to find a GOOD buyer of cartridges. Feel free to share who you send your to. I am sure many people would love to do the same. I stopped bothering when I couldn't find someone that didn't say every one was damaged and didn't pay...if you are remanufacturing them (not just refilling) then even a damaged one is worth a small amount....just saying.

Check out the old thread and READ READ READ....you would not belive the FREE info that is given out by many people on this board...including myself. There are some here that would be considered experts in their fields and they readily help people with questions.

Thank you for the welcome and input! I will definitely read threads and see what I find. Some of you asked who I use for cartridge recycling. The buyers i currently use are: Blue Trading out of Florida, EOSUSA out of Connecticut TonerRecycle.net out of Arizona and Toner Buyer out of Alabama. Sorry, I would have linked but the forum kept giving me an error when I used links.
BlueTrading and TonerBuyer are the only sites you will find current price sheets online. Contact the other sites to see if they will email the current sheet. TonerBuyer has lowest prices overall, but certain cartridges they take may not be on other lists. As for other options, I do use ebay to sell too, especially if I want quick money. Only certain cartridges do well through ebay. There are also useless cartridges worth nothing, but I use these for Staples and take the chip off for eventual scrapping.


Thanks,
Gary

I have a Ink cartridge theory....s

The ink in used cartridges is removed and filtered and mixed and recycled as 'Black' ink.
Sometimes I find Black ink is all black, and other times it seperates out into different colours when it gets into a cloth or the white absorbant matts that is inside the printers.
Sorta like 'Thin Layer Cromotography'.

The other is that theres a LOT more Gold in the printer cartridges than they admit too.
Theres Gold on the mylar connections, Gold where the mylar meets the inkjet face and inside the inkjet.
Some Gold on the Mylar looks as if the whole trace is solid Gold.

Any ideas about this theory?

I haven't done much in way of research on the gold in cartridges. There is no clear answer to exactly what amount of gold is on the mylar or the chips. Lately I have been taking them off of the useless cartridges I have and will save up until I get enough of them. It will take some time to get a fair amount in terms of weight since the weight of those are near nothing. It would be neat to know exactly how much gold is in those. I sell many of the inkjets for a lot more than the gold is worth I am sure, but like I said, if the cartridge holds no value in terms of selling then why not take that mylar or chip off? As far as the ink is concerned, I have no clue what they do to the old ink. I guess it would make sense to try and salvage as much as possible since ink is priced as if liquid gold, and toner is priced as if gold dust.