Northern Telecom Line Card Prices

Originally Posted by GillBates

I should have done some more research or asked here first, but I just wanted to clear my storage space out. I just sold about 350 lbs of Northern Telecom/Meridian line cards. They gave me $1.25/lb.... what would be the best price for stuff like this? Had model #'s like NT8D14CA, etc.

If I was "shorted" a couple hundred I don't care too much, but I was just worried that they are worth a lot more, e.g. $7 or $8, which I doubt. Just have no idea. Pretty new to scrapping. Especially with certain escrap items like this.

I've scrapped many cards just like the ones in your pics. In order for me to get the best price the plastic needs to be removed. In the top pic I see 8 transformers that should be removed and in the bottom pic those 16 gray boxes look like transformers and should be removed but they could be relays. Removing transformers is really easy after you've done a few and can mean the difference in $1.25 lb and $2.50 lb which is what I got for mine.

Originally Posted by jimicrk

I've scrapped many cards just like the ones in your pics. In order for me to get the best price the plastic needs to be removed. In the top pic I see 8 transformers that should be removed and in the bottom pic those 16 gray boxes look like transformers and should be removed but they could be relays. Removing transformers is really easy after you've done a few and can mean the difference in $1.25 lb and $2.50 lb which is what I got for mine.

This definitely answers my question. Frankly I don't really have the time to go through all the boards and remove components. Scrapping stuff is really just gravy on what I do, which to answers other's recommendations, is ebay the "good" working stuff. 98% of these boards were not worth it to list as they were all on sale on ebay in same condition for ~$20. Considering time, fees, storage & shipping costs. Flat out not worth it, or at best, break even considering time and energy. Though I would have learned a bit more about the scrapping process which I'm going to be doing moving forward.

I just need to do more research and maybe a little more aggressive (not to much heh) when negotiating prices. Often I don't even ask prices because I would typically scrap so little, but with this kind of weight that difference can mean $100's at a time.

I just wanted to basically have some positive reinforce that I wasn't ripped because I have no clue what these are worth and I am paranoid.

Thanks for responses and tips.

Originally Posted by jimicrk

I just wanted to say welcome to the forum and I understand what you say about ebay. I know many people here make a lot of money on ebay but it's just not for me. I don't have the time or the desire to do that. It's just like me telling you if the transformers were removed from the cards, you probably would have received a lot better price for them. You told me you don't have the time to do that and I understand. You sold them for $437 dollars and I'm sure you are happy with that and that's all that matters. I'll bet you had only 2 or 3 hours tied up in the whole deal so good for you. BTW, would you happen to be in the telecom business?

Not in the telecom business. Just pickup lots of used electronics to resell, recycle, etc. Thanks for the advice!