Results 1 to 17 of 17

Scrapping question - Large lots of cell phones

| Scrap Metal Tips and Advice
  1. #1
    m00nshin3 started this thread.
    SMF Badges of Honor

    Member since
    Jul 2013
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    3
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts

    Scrapping question - Large lots of cell phones

    I'm new to e-scrap recycling and trying to understand the process a little more. I have access to large qtys of scrap cell phones. I see some larger companies that buy these for $6-$7 a pound. What are these companies doing with the phones? I realize the break them down for recycle but are they smelters? Any insight to the process would be helpful. What is the best option for large lots? Sell them by the pound as is? Break them down and work with a smelter? Again, I'm new so all of this could be way off base but I'm here to learn. Thanks,

    Paul


  2. #2
    sollozo45's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Jan 2013
    Posts
    60
    Thanks
    47
    Thanked 49 Times in 27 Posts

  3. The Following User Says Thank You to sollozo45 for This Post:


  4. #3
    MattInTheHat's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Sep 2012
    Location
    rock hill, sc
    Posts
    1,464
    Thanks
    1,142
    Thanked 1,396 Times in 703 Posts
    most of them probably look for reusable ones, then shred the rest.

    A lot of the buyers set their prices so that it is not worth taking them apart yourself.

  5. The Following User Says Thank You to MattInTheHat for This Post:


  6. #4
    Mechanic688's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor



    Member since
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Warsaw , Ind. In the heart of the lakes, and down the street from the hotel where Al Capone stayed.
    Posts
    9,568
    Thanks
    11,247
    Thanked 10,730 Times in 4,728 Posts
    The prices aren't there at 6-7 lb any more since the gold price dropped but still, with all the fluff (plastic-metal) left from teardowns your better off selling them whole to one of our good buyers. Save a lot of time and energy.

    Unless you have at least 10,000 lbs of phones then I don't think a smelter/refiner would work with you. It takes a lot to get their attention. Your just a bigger guppy in this big recycling ocean.
    P & M Recycling - Specializing in E-Waste Recycling.
    If you enjoy your freedom, thank a vet.

  7. The Following 2 Users say Thank You for This Post by Mechanic688:


  8. #5
    m00nshin3 started this thread.
    SMF Badges of Honor

    Member since
    Jul 2013
    Location
    Florida
    Posts
    3
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
    Thank you all for the advice. The lots we receive range from 15k to 45k pounds. I just want to make sure we are making the right decision. We have received/flipped 4 loads. Currently we get $6-$6.40 per pound of handsets w/o back or battery.

    Paul

  9. #6
    sdwyz74's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Dec 2012
    Location
    Seattle,Washington
    Posts
    13
    Thanks
    29
    Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts

    Scrapping question - Large lots of cell phones

    just wondering where a little guy could dump his phones for a good decent price thanks

    ps

    also got about 15/20 pounds of boards from cellphones I took apart thanks in advance

  10. #7
    Mechanic688's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor



    Member since
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Warsaw , Ind. In the heart of the lakes, and down the street from the hotel where Al Capone stayed.
    Posts
    9,568
    Thanks
    11,247
    Thanked 10,730 Times in 4,728 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by sdwyz74 View Post
    just wondering where a little guy could dump his phones for a good decent price thanks
    ps
    also got about 15/20 pounds of boards from cellphones I took apart thanks in advance
    Scrap Buyers & Sellers - Scrap Metal Forum

  11. The Following User Says Thank You to Mechanic688 for This Post:


  12. #8
    auminer's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor



    Member since
    Nov 2012
    Location
    Allen, TX
    Posts
    1,233
    Thanks
    579
    Thanked 2,301 Times in 857 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by m00nshin3 View Post
    Thank you all for the advice. The lots we receive range from 15k to 45k pounds. I just want to make sure we are making the right decision. We have received/flipped 4 loads. Currently we get $6-$6.40 per pound of handsets w/o back or battery.
    15-45K# would probably be in a range to get a refiner talking to you directly.

    Weird how someontimes some people post on here how they have these MASSIVE quantities of an item that they don't know how to get the most out of. 99% of us on here DO know how to get the most out of those items but will not see that kinda amounts of those commodities in our lifetimes, much less every week. Seems there was a guy on here awhile back that had someone call him wanting to get rid of a warehouse full of 6000 old computers. He "called up some buddies" with 18 wheelers... (?)... and hired 4 newby temp workers & got them all disassembled in 3 days ...(?)... but didn't know what to do with the boards. Don't make no sense, I tell ya!!

    Weird.
    Out of clutter, find simplicity. --Albert Einstein

  13. The Following 4 Users say Thank You for This Post by auminer:


  14. #9
    Mechanic688's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor



    Member since
    Mar 2011
    Location
    Warsaw , Ind. In the heart of the lakes, and down the street from the hotel where Al Capone stayed.
    Posts
    9,568
    Thanks
    11,247
    Thanked 10,730 Times in 4,728 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by m00nshin3 View Post
    Thank you all for the advice. The lots we receive range from 15k to 45k pounds. I just want to make sure we are making the right decision. We have received/flipped 4 loads. Currently we get $6-$6.40 per pound of handsets w/o back or battery.

    Paul
    If your getting those types of numbers then read some of Noble's posts about refiners, the what's and wherefore's.
    You'll just have to approach them as the "big boys" don't frequent here a lot. Unless they do it as guests.
    You seem to be getting a fair price by my guess.
    In this case, seller beware.

    EXAMPLE; http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/elect...ast-buyer.html

    http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/intro...rap-buyer.html

    Cash For Electronic Scrap U.S.A Complaint 17987 | Scambook

  15. The Following 2 Users say Thank You for This Post by Mechanic688:


  16. #10
    NobleMetalWorks's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor

    Member since
    Sep 2012
    Location
    East Bay California
    Posts
    687
    Thanks
    301
    Thanked 1,943 Times in 529 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by m00nshin3 View Post
    I'm new to e-scrap recycling and trying to understand the process a little more.
    You are starting at the right place. If you do not understand e-scrap yet, this is the place to be. I would suggest not selling anything until you do.

    Quote Originally Posted by m00nshin3 View Post
    I have access to large qtys of scrap cell phones
    You have access to? Or you are currently buying large quantities? If you clarify exactly what your position is I might be able to explain things better.

    Quote Originally Posted by m00nshin3 View Post
    I see some larger companies that buy these for $6-$7 a pound.
    I don't generally see companies that are paying $6-$7 per lb on cell phones. That might be the case on cell phone boards, but there is a huge giant world of different between a lb of cell phone boards, and cell phones. Cell phones have so much fluff that 1 lb might be 3-4 cell phones where 1 lbs of cell phone boards might be 10-20 boards. Since you are not sure about e-scrap, I want to make sure that you are posting correctly and ask you, is this cell phone boards, or cell phones themselves. Because at $6-$7 per lb on cell phones, there is no money to be made for the processor. Even on the highest end smart phone, at today's process, there might be .45 cents worth of gold per sq inch of cell phone board. I'll post numbers per lb so you can understand what I am saying, at the bottom of this post.

    Quote Originally Posted by m00nshin3 View Post
    What are these companies doing with the phones? I realize the break them down for recycle but are they smelters? Any insight to the process would be helpful.
    Smelting is a word that is thrown around to describe many different things. Lets first define what smelting is, and what is common practice in processing cell phones.

    Smelting is pyro-metallurgy in where the "smelter" will use a specially formulated flux to remove unwanted material from desired material or material with values. It's part of a process in recovering values from material, but it's not usually the first step in recovering values from cell phone type material.

    There is first separation of the unwanted material that does not contain values represented as precious metals. That being "fluff" or plastic, base metals/ferrous metals/magnetic metals, any organic materials, etc. Once processed you are left with the unwanted recyclable material, metal items that have gold plating, and cell phone PC boards.

    For now lets concentrate on what happens to the cell phone boards from this point. The normal way to process would be to incinerate, firing at high temperature to pyrolyze the boards, the components on the boards, etc. Further magnetic processing removes any other base/magnetic materials.

    Now this is the point the boards are actually "smelted" which removes the ash, and any other non magnetic base metals. After this process the metal is separated from the slag and poured into a Dore' bar.

    Dore' is still impure. Depending on the processor, this might be the extent of how far they take the refining process. The Dore' would then be sold to a large refinery that would process it further. Or if the "smelter" is also the refiner, then it would be accumulated until there was enough Dore' to justify running a large batch. If anyone needs or wants to know how it's processed from this point forward, I can post another post and explain what is done.

    Quote Originally Posted by m00nshin3 View Post
    What is the best option for large lots? Sell them by the pound as is? Break them down and work with a smelter? Again, I'm new so all of this could be way off base but I'm here to learn. Thanks,

    Paul
    If you are getting $6-$7 per lb on cell phones that have not been broken down, I wouldn't play around, I would sell them and sell as many lbs at that prices as you possibly can. I can tell you this however, if you are getting that price it's most likely not going to last for very long, because someone is loosing money. To break a cell phone down costs a lot, it's a substantial investment.

    Quote Originally Posted by MattInTheHat View Post
    most of them probably look for reusable ones, then shred the rest.

    A lot of the buyers set their prices so that it is not worth taking them apart yourself.
    If a company is refurbishing the higher end cell phones, and there were enough of them in any given lot, that might explain a $6-$7 dollar per lb price, but I just don't see it to be honest. Regardless, MattInTheHat brings up an excellent point. If you want to get more bang for your buck, it would be worth your time, effort and energy to recover phones that are new enough, and in good enough shape to be either refurbished or used for parts. If you are really moving the number of phones you are claiming you are, it might take awhile but you could create another totally separate business based on that business model alone.

    Quote Originally Posted by m00nshin3 View Post
    Thank you all for the advice. The lots we receive range from 15k to 45k pounds. I just want to make sure we are making the right decision. We have received/flipped 4 loads. Currently we get $6-$6.40 per pound of handsets w/o back or battery.

    Paul
    So you are getting that price for a full cell phone, not just boards? I wouldn't even play around, those are great prices, sell as much as you can at that price but I would pull out the best ones for the reasons stated above.

    Quote Originally Posted by sdwyz74 View Post
    just wondering where a little guy could dump his phones for a good decent price thanks

    ps

    also got about 15/20 pounds of boards from cellphones I took apart thanks in advance
    Cell them on ebay, hobbyist refiners will buy them just to break them down and recover the gold. They are not as concerned with the prices they pay, as hobbyists they are paying for a hobby, not trying to make a living. You can either break them down yourself and sell them on ebay as cell phone boards, and the connectors as gold plated connectors. Or you can try to sell them whole. You will get a much better price though separating them out.

    Quote Originally Posted by auminer View Post
    15-45K# would probably be in a range to get a refiner talking to you directly.

    Weird how someontimes some people post on here how they have these MASSIVE quantities of an item that they don't know how to get the most out of. 99% of us on here DO know how to get the most out of those items but will not see that kinda amounts of those commodities in our lifetimes, much less every week. Seems there was a guy on here awhile back that had someone call him wanting to get rid of a warehouse full of 6000 old computers. He "called up some buddies" with 18 wheelers... (?)... and hired 4 newby temp workers & got them all disassembled in 3 days ...(?)... but didn't know what to do with the boards. Don't make no sense, I tell ya!!

    Weird.
    I was talking with someone fairly recently about a huge lot of e-scrap they were suppose to have. After endless emails back and forth, I finally asked him to be honest and tell me the skinny without any bull. It turned out the person didn't have any material, they came across a website that someone had posted a large quantity of boards on and thought they could make money. The person they were speaking with about this large quantity turned out to be nothing but a broker. The broker wasn't in direct contact with the company that was selling the material, matter of fact it was another broker and another after that. It was a ghost lot. This person then attempted to find someone that really had material to sell, and kept messaging me asking for yields and prices. I finally told him to put me in contact with this person who was suppose to be selling the material, or to come clean about what exactly it was that was going on.

    Happens all the time. People see something they think they can make money on just playing the middle. What they really end up doing is playing around with imaginary lots of e-waste.

    Okay, now to the fun stuff.

    These are average yields, ranging from the low end cell phone boards to high end.

    These numbers are per ton of cell phones

    Metal Type Low End - High End

    Gold 150g 300g

    Platinum 120g 240g

    Palladium 120g 240g

    Copper 100k 200k

    k = Kilo g = grams

    1 troy ounce = 31.1 grams

    1 kilo = 32.15 troy ounces
    Last edited by NobleMetalWorks; 08-01-2013 at 05:04 AM.
    At the heart of science is an essential balance between two seemingly contradictory attitudes--an openness to new ideas, no matter how bizarre or counterintuitive they may be, and the most ruthless skeptical scrutiny of all ideas, old and new. This is how deep truths are winnowed from deep nonsense. -- Carl Sagan

  17. The Following User Says Thank You to NobleMetalWorks for This Post:


  18. #11
    SMF Badges of Honor



    Member since
    Feb 2012
    Location
    OK
    Posts
    5,728
    Thanks
    6,814
    Thanked 3,464 Times in 1,989 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by m00nshin3 View Post
    Thank you all for the advice. The lots we receive range from 15k to 45k pounds. I just want to make sure we are making the right decision. We have received/flipped 4 loads. Currently we get $6-$6.40 per pound of handsets w/o back or battery.

    Paul
    Getting $6-6.40 a pound @ 45K per week, while asking how to get more = enough to make me wonder, how many days would it take for Noble to answer that question in a Tweet? Almost fries the mind, don't it! ; )
    Last edited by Bear; 08-01-2013 at 05:14 AM.

  19. The Following 2 Users say Thank You for This Post by Bear:


  20. #12
    BroJer's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Phoenix-West Valley
    Posts
    1,004
    Thanks
    3,210
    Thanked 1,610 Times in 641 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Bear View Post
    Getting $6-6.40 a pound @ 45K per week, while asking how to get more = enough to make me wonder, how many days would it take for Noble to answer that question on a Tweet? Almost fries the mind, don't it! ; )
    BAWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA there went my morning coffee!

  21. The Following 2 Users say Thank You for This Post by BroJer:


  22. #13
    NobleMetalWorks's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor

    Member since
    Sep 2012
    Location
    East Bay California
    Posts
    687
    Thanks
    301
    Thanked 1,943 Times in 529 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Bear View Post
    Getting $6-6.40 a pound @ 45K per week, while asking how to get more = enough to make me wonder, how many days would it take for Noble to answer that question on a Tweet? Almost fries the mind, don't it! ; )
    Haha, very funny. Just wait Bear, I'll getcha back for that!

    Yeah I know, walls of text, I apologize. I'm always afraid I'm not explaining myself well so I barf up words all over the computer screen, and surprising do so without getting my fingers too tongue tied.

    I get texts sometimes, and start to answer a question or and realize that it's probably not the best way to respond, and end up calling.

    It's kind of ironic, I don't tweet, I have tried, but I never can microblog my mind and get frustrated trying to.

    Scott

  23. The Following 2 Users say Thank You for This Post by NobleMetalWorks:


  24. #14
    SMF Badges of Honor



    Member since
    Feb 2012
    Location
    OK
    Posts
    5,728
    Thanks
    6,814
    Thanked 3,464 Times in 1,989 Posts
    Thanks NMW, I'm not knockin ya, kinda laughin with ya here, hope you understand my side too, kinda add, short and sweet, doin the best i can, wantin to move on with it, always hoping for the best : )
    Last edited by Bear; 08-01-2013 at 05:39 AM.

  25. The Following User Says Thank You to Bear for This Post:


  26. #15
    NobleMetalWorks's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor

    Member since
    Sep 2012
    Location
    East Bay California
    Posts
    687
    Thanks
    301
    Thanked 1,943 Times in 529 Posts
    Uh huh, I know, this is probably going to be the only time I admit this, but after I write what I do I don't even read what I wrote. I go back and read it in fits and starts, and keep correcting spelling errors each time I do. So I'm laughing right along with you.

    I hope someone reads it though, lol. Otherwise what in the hell am I doing?

    Scott

  27. #16
    SMF Badges of Honor



    Member since
    Feb 2012
    Location
    OK
    Posts
    5,728
    Thanks
    6,814
    Thanked 3,464 Times in 1,989 Posts
    It's just the simple facts of life, Noble. Who cares what I said yesterday? Long as it was true(which I certainly hope my words to be) but there are many words more important than mine, most of which can't be impressed on these forums anyway, but, who cares about that either? not too many, sadly to say, not too many these days

  28. #17
    BroJer's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Phoenix-West Valley
    Posts
    1,004
    Thanks
    3,210
    Thanked 1,610 Times in 641 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by Bear View Post
    It's just the simple facts of life, Noble. Who cares what I said yesterday? Long as it was true(which I certainly hope my words to be) but there are many words more important than mine, most of which can't be impressed on these forums anyway, but, who cares about that either? not too many, sadly to say, not too many these days
    we live in a world of microblog and text LOL LMAO BRB WTH yada yada and attention spans are about as short. probably why twitter and #hastags are so popular. people can say a lot with a little. which really means, they talk a lot of little, and still say nothing!

    but you are correct, Bear...words have lost there meaning. unless ya speak fluent street talk and slang. but words...have become empty. In our day, a MANS word...a handshake...meant everything. Sadly to say, life is no longer that way. But, who cares what I think, or say, anyway, anymore.

    I have instructed my kids to put one thing on my headstone. and, they are NOT allowed to put ...he was a mean ole SOB ;-)



    "His yes meant yes and his no meant no"

    they may finally "get it" when they "read it" on marble! ;-)

  29. The Following User Says Thank You to BroJer for This Post:



  30. Similar threads on the Scrap Metal Forum

    1. cell phones
      By earlfromclay in forum General Electronics Recycling
      Replies: 13
      Last Post: 04-24-2013, 09:26 PM
    2. Shipping Cell Phones
      By GeorgeB in forum General Electronics Recycling
      Replies: 11
      Last Post: 12-15-2012, 03:06 PM
    3. Replies: 9
      Last Post: 09-17-2012, 08:38 AM
    4. When Selling Cell Phones on Ebay. Multi Lots or Specific Lots?
      By Jeremiah in forum General Electronics Recycling
      Replies: 2
      Last Post: 08-23-2012, 08:02 AM
    5. Putting PDA's in With Cell Phones
      By Jeremiah in forum General Electronics Recycling
      Replies: 7
      Last Post: 08-13-2012, 03:54 PM

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

 
Browse the Most Recent Threads
On SMF In THIS CATEGORY.





OR

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

The Scrap Metal Forum

    The Scrap Metal Forum is the #1 scrap metal recycling community in the world. Here we talk about the scrap metal business, making money, where we connect with other scrappers, scrap yards and more.

SMF on Facebook and Twitter

Twitter Facebook