Rear Projection Televisions - My Two Cents on How to Make a Profit!

Hello Everyone, I hope the New Year finds everyone healthy and ready to rock 2016! With that said, here's my two cents on RPTV's:

First, they are EVERYWHERE, so getting them free is easy. I try to charge for pickup if possible, but if not, oh well.

I am very careful when I disassemble a Rear Projection TV...there are quite a LOT of parts to these puppies, and a few other "valuables".
80% of the time they are in working condition, some better than others, so I test each unit to judge condition. Either way, they have about ZERO resale value, so the broken ones get disassembled just like the good ones, with the bad parts going into the appropriate recycle pile.
With the good units here's a list of what I save:
1.) I pull all the boards, carefully, and save them along with connection cables..I put them in a large shoe box, packed in bubble wrap, with the Name, Model, and Serial number on short side of box. I lable what boards are inside, type and part numbers, on the top of the box for inventory.
2.) I pull the complete lamp assemblies, with boards on CRT tube complete, along with connection wires. These I box up right away, as if they were shipping tomorrow.
3.) Speakers get pulled, labeled, and go to speaker box.
4.) Three parts to look for - Hi Voltage Splitter Assembly, Resistor, High Voltage, and High Voltage Divider. These items sell for me quite often, for between $35.00 and $75.00!
5.) Projection Television Control Panel Button Assembly - these seem to break or wear out, and sell pretty well also.
6.) Rear Projection Mirror assembly.
7.) Fresnel lens, along with plexi Screen.
8.) Casters on bottom of cabinet - if it has any, pull them - they are usually high quality.
9.) The Remote! They usually sell for @ $15.00 to $35.00, and are always in demand.

PRO TIP - ALWAYS TAKE A PICTURE OF THE MODEL/SERIAL NUMBER, ETC., USUALLY ON STICKER SOMEWHERE INSIDE CABINET!
PRO TIP II - I ALWAYS TRY TO FIND FREE PDF FILES OF PARTS MANUAL AND SERVICE MANUAL - I HAVE A SPECIFIC FOLDER ON MY LAPTOP FOR THESE.

Lastly, depending on cabinet type, I make all kinds of stuff; The big wooden cabinets, after being gutted, have been made into a.) a rolling workshelf - just add some shelves, put a smooth plywood top over wood grain particle board for workspace! b.) after wood cabinet has been gutted, put a thin sheet of luan, or heavy cardboard, to cover back opening. I tack some felt along the inside walls, and a nice basket and fitted cushion on the bottom (I have a buddies wife who can make a custom cushion), and "viola", a custom high grade inside dog house for your favorite pooch. I sold one of these for $125 bucks one time, and gave the workbench to my mechanic for letting me use his shop.

With the prices of scrap living below the turds in the crapper, reselling parts, and repurposing stuff is the way to go...I sold a complete lamp assembly (3 lamps w/boards on end) for $325, and shipped it to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan...shipping alone was $175, paid by customer!

It doesn't take long to get used to what's what inside these beasties, and the leftover scrap is usually a little ABS plastic, on maybe some aluminum or steel framing, along with TONS of hardware (screws, bolts, washers, springs, brackets) that all go in the hardware bucket.

Any questions - hit me up. Any ideas to do it better, let me know - there's always a better way to catch a mouse!
Happy Scrapping Guys - with prices in the ****ter, I'm looking forward to an awesome year, just gonna do things differently!
Scrap on, me hearties!