Tried to buy computers from the yard i use

I spoke to the owner of one of the yards i use about computers. I have taken my cases to another yard but never to this one. I had 2 empty cases in the load i took sat morning i am well known at this yard so they help me unload anyway they refused to take them and said they dont take pcs in any form. I went to the office and told the owner that if he would start taking them at shred price i would buy them for double that.Without any thought at all he refused saying he would not allow them in the yard for any reason.I was very surprised at this and i am wondering what ideas others on the forum might have for his reaction.

epa might be on his case. computers contain toxic materials,lead for one. i know youre trying to sell him an empty case,but i think he doesnt want the chance of even 1 slipping in that has any electronic material in it. im sure youre not the only person this has happpened to. my local yard is the same way,no cast iron pipes with leaded joints,no radios ,no tvs and so on... but they allow cars with computers and electronics .go figure. or maybe their buyers demand the materials they send them have less that a certain amount of toxic materials mixed in with the shread.

I agree. The yard I sell to I also buy towers from the shred guy. If you ask at the office they will tell you they do not buy computers ever. They still make into the shred pile some how. The shred guy pulls them out and sets them on the side. He has permission from the owner to do this. It seems that this owner has in the past sold items to his employees so they could break them down and resell them to him. I think he wants them to make a little extra money without paying himself.

Perhaps after time you may change their minds. Also contact other scrappers and ask them to sell you their computers. Best of luck, Mike.

It must be the epa this yard buys huge amounts of cars and there is oil and gas spilled everywhere so hes probably in the spotlight

I asked my yard if I could buy PC Towers from the shred pile. They said there weren't any in the shred pile, since they buy them for .20 per pound and break them down in-house.

However, I had just pulled one out of the shred pile the day before and bought it for .20 per pound. When I informed them of this niggling fact, they said if I found another one in the shred pile they'd charge me .40 per pound, except they said I wouldn't find any there. I looked... and guess what? There were several in the shred pile, but I can't afford to pay .40 per pound (which works out to $8 or $9 for them).

My yard is probably typical--a lot of confusion over what to do and what to charge and how to handle escrap, especially computers.

Until I find a better yard, I'm really stuck in terms of buying & selling escrap locally.

Perhaps it would have been better to ask the yard if you could buy 'stuff' from the shred pile at .20 per pound as an opening gambit. If they said yes, you could have kept buying the towers and not said any more.

I buy from yards at .25/lb but takes alot of time for them to trust you. I use several different yards although 2 of 8 give better pricing. Best bet is to keep using them for your scrap and talking to the scale guys. When they see you as a customer they tend to respond a little better. Now most set aside PCs and servers for me on my weekly route.

Ive had similar problems as well trying to buy from yards. One yard wouldnt even let me finish my sentence before saying no and walking away. Another yard said they dont take computers at all for some reason. But they have been taking my empty computer cases as scrap steel. I offered .30 cents /lb and still no bite. I will continue my standard ways of findig computers but man I wish I could get in good with a yard. Would make my life so much easier.

Yea, I kept dinging my yard to buy them from them so now their advertising that their buying electronics at .02 lb and computers at .010 lb. They have done a week long advertising campaign in all the local papers, and now the computer/electronics are drying up.