cost of shipping worth the effort?

Hi,
I have a bunch of computers and parts I need to get rid of. I used to have a repair and have lots of electronic waste to get rid of.
There isn't any local escrap buyers so my only option is to ship or drive 100 plus miles one way to scrap them out.
Lets say I have 10 complete computers, 1- 286, 1 -386, 2- 486 and 6 Pentium / p4 mixed.
if I remove the mother board, cpu's, memory, isa & pci cards, and disassemble the hard drives and cd rom drives for escrap would it be worth my trouble by the time I pay shipping?
The metal from the cases would go to a local scrap yard along with other steel and metal scrap I have.

Thanks in advance for any advice anyone can give. I live in northern Michigan BTW

Depending on location an the buyer..I'd say maybe, but I'd be betting more likely not.

I'll shock every one here...For only 10 computers you may want to test the waters with eBay if your not already there, or a part of the down with eBay club(Free lighter with every membership! ;) ). Could sell the boards for better then scrap price, an the buyer pays the shipping(see I do pay attention).

Unless your in the same state I'd say your better off selling on eBay, Cl or whatever, to one of our buyers here who pays more then scrap price for HD's. PTS an a couple others I believe do so.

Good luck an let us know how it turns out. Also, maybe adding your location, state at least could help us help you a little more, far as finding a buyer near you.

Sirscrapalot - Keeper of the traveling cooler.

You have a few buyers in your area . Check the buyers thread .

Thanks for the info. I had a feeling it wouldn't be worth it. As I said I am in Northern Michigan.
I looked at doing ebay but the listing fees are usually not worth the cost if an item doesn't sell and I have so many computer parts here it would take a month of sundays to take pictures and list.
I just used the 10 computers as a start. I have piles of expansion boards and computer parts going back to the 8088 cpu's plus I vcr's and other equipment with low grade boards.
Tomorrow I will get a count and weigh some of what I have and see if any of the scrap dealer on here is interested.
It would almost be worth spending the money on shipping just to get rid of this crap.

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Originally Posted by everettswift

Thanks for the info. I had a feeling it wouldn't be worth it. As I said I am in Northern Michigan.
I looked at doing ebay but the listing fees are usually not worth the cost if an item doesn't sell and I have so many computer parts here it would take a month of sundays to take pictures and list.
I just used the 10 computers as a start. I have piles of expansion boards and computer parts going back to the 8088 cpu's plus I vcr's and other equipment with low grade boards.
Tomorrow I will get a count and weigh some of what I have and see if any of the scrap dealer on here is interested.
It would almost be worth spending the money on shipping just to get rid of this crap.

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You may find it is worth your time and shipping cost since you have added the other items to your inquiry. Take a look a the buyers section. I live on the coast of NC and ship to one of our northern Ohio buyers(Ewasted). So shipping is not to much for me. I would also not discount "Sir"'s recommendation on the use of Ebay. Mike

well having a lot changes things. Ship away!

;)

Like Mike I also ship to OH, an I'm on a sandbar out in the Atlantic. Far as listing fees, it's been a while since I've done the eBay thing so one of our experts will chime in with the best way for you to limit those. If I recall they used to offer so many free.

No matter which route you go good luck. Both seem as if they'll be profitable for you.

Sirscrapalot - If there is a post - it note, is there a unpost - it note?

the biggest question is DO THOSE COMPUTERS WORK?? If they DO, then you are CRAZY to scrap them...worth far more to collectors 8086/286/386/486...EBAY like a MOFO...and buyers pay shipping on that stuff. Check all your functioning ISA cards too and anything old...you might be surprised. If you have those older machines, bet you have the OLD clicky mechanical keyboards too....they sell for $30-50 sometimes...depending on the model.

the P4's depends...I would sell those locally if they work for $30-50 up to about $70 depending on what you have in them.

If all these are scrap, then I would wait until I had a bit more to send off. I just sent 141 pound to Ewatsed from Georgia and paid a whole $52...that is .30 a pound...ie a KICK ASS price.

I just sent off 1200 pounds of boards to N Ohio. Shipping was some where in the $320 range, but in expecting some where around $5k....

Thanks you all, you have given me a lot to consider
I did a lot of looking at like items on ebay today and reading a lot of the escrap forums.
I also took an inventory of main components and tried to calculate what I might make scrapping everything out.
My grading skills are still developing but I think I could come out ahead a few dollars and get my workshop cleaned
out a little in the process.

I already have all of the computers tore down so the inventory went pretty fast.
CPU's
2- 486 dx 2 1.6 oz
1- 486 dx 4 .7 oz
1- 386 dx .6 oz
1- amd 586 p75 .8 oz
1- cyrix 686 mx gold top 1.6 oz
3 amd k6 2.4 oz with al top
5- p4 with heat sink 3.4
1- amd sempron 1.4 oz
1- celeron sl656 ?
1- celeron slot processor ?

total weight 12.5 oz maybe $30?

Memory
72 pin silver/tin 3.7 oz
72 pin gold 5.2 oz
ddr gold pin 1 lb 6 oz
1- rambus ?

total 1 lb 14 oz maybe $23.82

Mother Boards
2- 8088 3 lbs
4- 486 4.4 lbs
large socket 5.5 lbs
small socket 3.6 lbs
3- with cpu onboard 2.3 lbs

Total weight 18.8 lbs Maybe $48.73

Finger Cards (PCI, ISA, ect) 13.2 lbs Maybe $50.00

Hard Drives
1 5 1/4 out of 8088, the rest are 3.5 12 lbs maybe $9.00

If I am even close I figure the value $161.00.
47 pounds and if I can fit everything in 3 flat rate boxes it would cost 53.70 to ship leaving me $107 profit.
I tried to figure low and based it on Ewasted's current price list also if I have a ? after it in the inventory I didn't included it in the total, probably only a few cents difference anyway.
Still not bad, almost like getting paid to clean out my shop.
Now I just need to figure out what to do to get rid of all the plastic I removed from the cases.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Metalbestos

You have a few buyers in your area . Check the buyers thread .

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I have a few scrap yards in my area but none of them take escrap. The closest I have found in the buyers thread is 152 miles one way and they pay about 20% less then the buyer in Ohio.
Gas would cost about same as shipping so I would make more shipping it out of state.

Go to the USPS website and plug your total weight in as one box. The shipping should be less than the flat rates. On mine the closer I get to their 70 lb limit the cheaper it gets per pound. If you remove the hard drive boards, you can sell them for about $10 a lb and sell the rest of the drive to your yard as dirty al. That will save a good bit of shipping weight. Check those 5 1/4 on ebay first.

we also told you that you SHOULDN'T use your own shipping rates...request one from Ewasted...you put all of that stuff into ONE box and I bet you get .30-.40/lb.....it wil kick the crap out of any flat rate box you try to ship in because they won't all fit....I know I do this all the time. Ewasted get premium rates BECAUSE he gets so much shipped on his account.

We also told you to check ebay on the OLD stuff...ie the 5 1/4" drives even for parts will sell for more than scrap most likely....DID YOU CHECK TO SEE IF THEY WORKED?? Same with the 8088 BOARDS....they will sell for more than scrap most likely even if they don't work (either for gold recovery or someone will fix them that know what they are doing...if they work then ABSOLUTELY they will sell for more.

you also DO NOT ship floppy drives...not worth shipping...same with any hard drives...you pull the hard drive BOARD off and ship those at $10/lb....the hard drives themselves would be a losing deal. Take apart and sell locally...part are aluminum and the rest generally
stainless steel. there is a thread on this board about breaking down hard drives.

Just saying that we gave you some REALLY good info, but only part of it seemed to have been read.

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Originally Posted by webuyselltradestuff

we also told you that you SHOULDN'T use your own shipping rates...request one from Ewasted...you put all of that stuff into ONE box and I bet you get .30-.40/lb.....it wil kick the crap out of any flat rate box you try to ship in because they won't all fit....I know I do this all the time. Ewasted get premium rates BECAUSE he gets so much shipped on his account.

We also told you to check ebay on the OLD stuff...ie the 5 1/4" drives even for parts will sell for more than scrap most likely....DID YOU CHECK TO SEE IF THEY WORKED?? Same with the 8088 BOARDS....they will sell for more than scrap most likely even if they don't work (either for gold recovery or someone will fix them that know what they are doing...if they work then ABSOLUTELY they will sell for more.

you also DO NOT ship floppy drives...not worth shipping...same with any hard drives...you pull the hard drive BOARD off and ship those at $10/lb....the hard drives themselves would be a losing deal. Take apart and sell locally...part are aluminum and the rest generally
stainless steel. there is a thread on this board about breaking down hard drives.

Just saying that we gave you some REALLY good info, but only part of it seemed to have been read.

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Yes I read it all, didn't you read my post? I didn't list the floppys or cd rom drives because I didn't think it would be worth shipping them. I was just doing a quick inventory and figuring the least I would make if I scrapped the items on the list as is.
I did not realize from the posts that Ewasted could get better shipping rates though.
I am considering listing some of the old stuff on ebay but to be honest I am not doing it for the money, my main mission is to get my shop cleaned out so I have room to move around LOL. The sooner, the better, If I get less money but get the stuff gone quicker I'm ok with that.
I do plan on taking the boards out of all the drives shiiping them and scrapping the metal parts locally

Pull the boards out of the cd/dvd drives also.
I sent 40 some lb to Ohio for about $17.-18. shipping, how could you not come out ahead??
Put it all in one box, take the smaller stuff and put in sandwich bags, freezer bags. On the rambus, pull the heatsink and put it into the regular memory pile. Keep the silver memory separate.

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Originally Posted by Mechanic688

Pull the boards out of the cd/dvd drives also.
I sent 40 some lb to Ohio for about $17.-18. shipping, how could you not come out ahead??
Put it all in one box, take the smaller stuff and put in sandwich bags, freezer bags. On the rambus, pull the heatsink and put it into the regular memory pile. Keep the silver memory separate.

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Is it worth it escrap the boards out of the floppy drives too or would I be better off scrapping the whole lot locally?

wow u guys get much lower rates from ewasted than me maybe its my box size I use 22*18*12 3 boxes 140lbs I just shipped for $119 prepaid maybe not shipping enough weight at a time though too

I'm all the way in south Texas and Ewasted gets me 50 cents per pound shipping. Stick to 68-70 pound boxes to get the best rate

Because of distance (Calif. to Ohio) I think for me it would be more cost effective to ship a 600 pound + pallet. Rather than shipping many 70 pound boxes more frequently. I think even if it was just once a year. Am I wrong? Has any one worked out the cost difference between many boxes and a single pallet? When you consider time, distance and efficiency factor, has me convinced that a pallet would be best for me! Would like the feedback, as most of you have way more experience with e-waste. To everetswift thanks for the post and not trying to hijack your thread, hopefully just add to it.

I wait until I have a couple of million pounds, then Mario sends a space shuttle to my shop to pick up the shipment.

You did the math looks like a profit.Maybe make more on how you ship it, so get to it shipped. Ewasted normally will not do house calls! If you are worried that the price will drop it may, but it may go up as well!! What else are you going to do with it? Yep shipping sucks....

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Because of distance (Calif. to Ohio) I think for me it would be more cost effective to ship a 600 pound + pallet. Rather than shipping many 70 pound boxes more frequently.

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Yes, we had a thread on here about it. We also have at least one broker for pallet loads.

http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/scrap...-services.html

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Originally Posted by bigburtchino

Because of distance (Calif. to Ohio) I think for me it would be more cost effective to ship a 600 pound + pallet. Rather than shipping many 70 pound boxes more frequently. I think even if it was just once a year. Am I wrong? Has any one worked out the cost difference between many boxes and a single pallet? When you consider time, distance and efficiency factor, has me convinced that a pallet would be best for me! Would like the feedback, as most of you have way more experience with e-waste. To everetswift thanks for the post and not trying to hijack your thread, hopefully just add to it.

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I have shipped a lot from CA and Shipping swing wildly ( I live in SW OH). I have shipped one pallet of 400# for 0.80# then shipped six pallets for less than 0.25#.

What you need to know is how to pack. Can they be stacked? how tall is the pallet? One pallet 80 in tall weighing 1000# will be cheaper than two 36 in pallets weighing 1000#. If you are shipping pallets stack them as high as you can that is the cheapest way.

Also ship from a business too its cheaper. I pay my local grain mill $20.00 to have things shipped to them (I had to insist on paying them too). This gives me a cheaper shipping rate and save on not having to have it picked up or delivered with a lift truck.


Also I think it is safer to ship out pallets. The product seems to be less shuffled. I have had only two problems with a trucking company (Road Runner both times). Once they just dropped the pallet off the back of the truck(NOT KIDDING) the other it was not secured in the truck properly and the pallet tipped over.

Eric

I listed 5 pieces of the old 8088 IBM system on ebay yesterday, I know they worked when I used them and stored the back in 1993 but due to age and not being able to test them out properly I listed "AS IS" So if they sell I'll list the 486/386 stuff, if not into the scrap pile they go.
I did contact a buyer in Michigan yesterday, they pay a little less then Ewasted and gas would cost quite a bit but they take the plastic as well, no money in the plastic but at least it will be gone. After the auctions are all done I plan on hauling everything down state to the Michigan buyer. I may make less money but I don't care as long as I can get this stuff out of my shop. Thank you everyone for the great information and the discussion, I hope this helped others as well.
I'll update the results of the auctions when they are over in a few days.

etack - Thank you that was all useful information and the type of feedback I was looking for.

Howdy Neighbor!!

I'm located in Grayling, and up until Monday drove through Hillman once or twice a week. The best way to ship, hands down, is via full Gaylord Boxes to a buyer of your choice. I don't buy so much anymore, but if you save up some decent weight, might be interested in buying off you for a reasonable rate if you don't want to mess with shipping.

The best advice I could give you, or anyone else looking at e-waste, would be to just keep letting it build up. The shipping will crush you if you let it.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Mechanic688

Yes, we had a thread on here about it. We also have at least one broker for pallet loads.

http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/scrap...-services.html

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This, by far and away, is the best option for moving heavy weight right now.

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Originally Posted by BumpRacerX

Howdy Neighbor!!

I'm located in Grayling, and up until Monday drove through Hillman once or twice a week. The best way to ship, hands down, is via full Gaylord Boxes to a buyer of your choice. I don't buy so much anymore, but if you save up some decent weight, might be interested in buying off you for a reasonable rate if you don't want to mess with shipping.

The best advice I could give you, or anyone else looking at e-waste, would be to just keep letting it build up. The shipping will crush you if you let it.

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Well Hello Neighbor!
Anytime you come over this way stop in, if nothing else we can talk about scrapping, I thought about putting out an ad to take stuff but decided against it, I just want to get my shop cleaned out LOL.

Thanks everyone for all of the great info and advice, I did list the 8088 motherboard, power supply, hard drive ,keyboard and three other old "clicky" keyboards on ebay.
I didn't think it would all sell but everything went, I was pleasantly surprised when the old keyboard from the 8088 sold for $104.00. Way more then scrap value for sure!
According to ebay I made $289.99 but one auction for $20 has not paid so that brings it down to $269.99
The listings were free but ebay charged me 10% of the total, $29.00
Paypal's cut was $10.44 and shipping cost me $68.22 so once papal releases all my money to me I will have 162.33
The work shop is still packed with electronic scrap and I could probably make a lot more off of ebay but it takes quite a bit of time to test, take pictures, list on ebay, pack, and ship everything. At that rate it would take a month of Sundays to get the shop cleaned out so I'll ebay a few items but most everything else is going to scrap.
I found a local place that will take the plastic, monitors, and tvs for small fee. Once they are gone and I take everything I can to the local scrap yard I will have room to store all of the computer boards and more valuable escrap so I can collect more to ship out to a buyer next spring.
Thanks for the advice I got in this forum I have $162.00 more then I would have and thats just awesome! Thank you!