Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 41

Computer Towers

| Scrap Metal Tips and Advice
  1. #1
    MrSmith887 started this thread.
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Mar 2018
    Posts
    21
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts

    Computer Towers

    I’m currently winning a storage auction that looks like there is about 200-300+ desktop computers.
    Is it worth renting the unit for 1-2 months(about $100 a month ) to break them all down , or should I just scrap them whole and be done with it ?
    Thanks
    - Preston


  2. #2
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Jun 2017
    Location
    Las Vegas
    Posts
    1,306
    Thanks
    3,232
    Thanked 1,922 Times in 785 Posts
    Depends on whether they have usable parts and what kind of $/lb you can get for towers near you and how much they've been stripped already. My general rule of thumb is if I can a decent approximation of broken down value selling whole then sell them that way and use that time instead finding more stuff. Disassembly is fun and interesting tho too so figure that in to your calculations if you're interested in that

  3. #3
    MrSmith887 started this thread.
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Mar 2018
    Posts
    21
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
    Thanks. I think around here it’s .20/lb. the last time I picked up a similar unit most of them were stripped of HDD & Ram but loaded with everything else. I stopped breaking them down & turned them all in. Got about 900 for 130 computers , but the guys at the yard thought I was crazy and lost tons of money.

  4. #4
    MrSmith887 started this thread.
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Mar 2018
    Posts
    21
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
    Not sure how to post pictures on here or I’d send a pic of what I’m bidding on

  5. #5
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Jun 2017
    Location
    Las Vegas
    Posts
    1,306
    Thanks
    3,232
    Thanked 1,922 Times in 785 Posts
    Think you need like 10 posts before posting pics but you can link them on a third party host

  6. #6
    hills's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor



    Member since
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Maine
    Posts
    1,351
    Thanks
    797
    Thanked 1,276 Times in 721 Posts
    Quote Originally Posted by MrSmith887 View Post
    Thanks. I think around here it’s .20/lb. the last time I picked up a similar unit most of them were stripped of HDD & Ram but loaded with everything else. I stopped breaking them down & turned them all in. Got about 900 for 130 computers , but the guys at the yard thought I was crazy and lost tons of money.
    Just an opinion:

    You probably did alright if you got 900 for 130 computers that had the HDD's and ram pulled. A straight scrap value of 6.92 per unit is well above average and you didn't have to put in the additional time to break them all down.

    Every situation is unique though ....

    Sometimes it's best to go straight to scrap.

    Other times .... the best decision is to go for "better than scrap" and put in the extra time & expense.

    It's a judgement call. The market for better than scrap parts is constantly fluctuating.Every new generation of tech that comes out renders some of the previous generations obsolete. Take a stick of RAM for instance: It might sell for 10 - 15 dollars on ebay today. Three months from now ... it might only have a scrap value of twenty five cents.

    Same / same with main boards & processors. Time is your enemy. The stuff on the shelf is losing value for every day that it's sitting there unsold. Best to turn n burn as quickly as possible.

    Edited to add:

    Respectfully ... the guys at the yard might / might not be well informed. Ewaste seems to be it's own specialty. Ferrous and non ferrous are their own areas of knowledge as well. Hat's off to the guys know how to do that and make a profit at.

    I've been trying to locate an in state buyer for low grade PCB's because they're not cost effective to ship. Called one of the larger years ... one that's part of a larger chain a few days ago. The man there was really nice, and tried to help, but he didn't know what a printed circuit board was. He looked it up on the computer and said they pay three cents a pound for computer green boards.

    Was a little disappointed because another division of the same large company advertises as offering ewaste solutions .
    Last edited by hills; 05-26-2019 at 07:29 AM.

  7. #7
    MrSmith887 started this thread.
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Mar 2018
    Posts
    21
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
    Yea -now that I remember - they took like 2 hours that day to process my material bc they couldn’t find their forklift lol .... and so he gave me a hooked up price per lb because of that.
    I don’t mind breaking them down but I only wanna do that with this one if it’s looking like I’m missing out on thousands. Won’t know for sure unless I get it - 3 days left and still winning though

  8. #8
    MrSmith887 started this thread.
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Mar 2018
    Posts
    21
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
    @ hills you are definitely right about people not understanding prices. I had a guy @ the scales try to combine my HDDs & separated logic boards because he saw on his list that the “hard drive complete “ price was higher and he didn’t really know what the logic board was

  9. #9
    hills's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor



    Member since
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Maine
    Posts
    1,351
    Thanks
    797
    Thanked 1,276 Times in 721 Posts
    Just a thought .... but you might check out the ewaste buyers here. Maybe compare what they
    are paying for HDD logic boards vs. what you're getting at the yard ?


  10. #10
    MrSmith887 started this thread.
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Mar 2018
    Posts
    21
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
    Yea I definitely think this site could be a great way to move some of this stuff if I end up winning it

  11. #11
    MrSmith887 started this thread.
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Mar 2018
    Posts
    21
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
    Not to mention I’d much rather it go to the people on here & help them get some $$ too as opposed to the scrap yard

  12. #12
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Dec 2017
    Location
    Tucson AZ
    Posts
    361
    Thanks
    306
    Thanked 579 Times in 231 Posts
    What state are you in?

  13. #13
    MrSmith887 started this thread.
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Mar 2018
    Posts
    21
    Thanks
    0
    Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
    Sorry for late reply @520. I’m located in NC - just outside of Raleigh. Won the unit & going to check what I’m working with after work today.

  14. #14
    APA's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Mar 2016
    Location
    Western Pennsylvania
    Posts
    628
    Thanks
    638
    Thanked 545 Times in 289 Posts
    Your best money is breaking down each computer but how much is your time (to break them down) worth?

  15. The Following User Says Thank You to APA for This Post:


  16. #15
    matador's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor

    We purchase laptop computers and many components for greater than scrap value. We offer a shipping reimbursement program.replies

    Member since
    Nov 2013
    Location
    Big Wonderful Wyoming
    Posts
    2,310
    Thanks
    1,813
    Thanked 3,204 Times in 1,450 Posts
    If they have hard drives and RAM, forget the scrap buyers on here for a bit. You may want to look into what you have, because you could likely have some reusable parts- those are worth more than scrap value! Depending on the size of the drives, 10 drives sent to one of the more than scrap buyers here could equal a couple boxes of drives at the scrap yard. It all depends on what's inside your winnings!
    More than Scrap Value Shipment Tips: http://www.scrapmetalforum.com/scrap...tml#post242349

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


  18. #16
    jimicrk's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Sep 2013
    Location
    Tennessee
    Posts
    2,825
    Thanks
    2,917
    Thanked 4,838 Times in 1,877 Posts
    Even if all the hard drives and ram were missing, they all still could have the CPU's. Just think if they were all i5's and i7's.

    That could be 20 to 50 dollars per computer!

    I would be looking on the front of each computer to see if it's has a sticker that says Core i3, Core i5 or Core i7.

    2 or 3 i5 CPU's would pay for another months rent.
    Last edited by jimicrk; 05-28-2019 at 08:29 PM.

  19. The Following User Says Thank You to jimicrk for This Post:


  20. #17
    hills's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor



    Member since
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Maine
    Posts
    1,351
    Thanks
    797
    Thanked 1,276 Times in 721 Posts
    It's not all it's cracked up to be though ....

    3.5" drives weigh about a pound each. They're generally not cost effective to ship.

    Then there's time spent wiping & testing the drives before shipping. It's pointless to ship a bad drive. You'll really take a beating on that one.

    Then there's size. You're safest bet is not to mess with anything under 500 gb these days. Might as well send the rest straight to scrap even though it may be perfectly good to use.

    Then there's speed. You're definitely chancing it if you've got a lot of 3 gbps stuff in stock. (Those will be the next IDE drives.) You don't want to be left holding the bag when the market demand drops out from under em'.

    Anyway ... it's just my opinion. Not sure if i'm cynical or just practical about the HDD market.

  21. #18
    mikeinreco's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor


    Member since
    Dec 2011
    Location
    TENNESSEE
    Posts
    4,972
    Thanks
    1,257
    Thanked 5,023 Times in 2,350 Posts
    Looks like i'm approx 5.5 hours away from you.........Feel free to send pics to mikeinrecovery32@yahoo.com

  22. #19
    CapitalRecovery's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor

    Member since
    Aug 2015
    Location
    United States
    Posts
    318
    Thanks
    232
    Thanked 256 Times in 134 Posts
    I kind of agree with them, if they were laptops that would be a different story. Desktops are easy to strip down. Even the CD/Dvd boards are at $3.10 per lbs. I would break them down even just for scrap and selling them to the vendors on here.

  23. #20
    hills's Avatar
    SMF Badges of Honor



    Member since
    Sep 2017
    Location
    Maine
    Posts
    1,351
    Thanks
    797
    Thanked 1,276 Times in 721 Posts
    As a general rule:

    Your best bet for break down scrap value is something pre. yr 2000.

    Your best bet for " better than scrap" is something no more than four years old.

    Take CD/DVD boards for instance: The older ones roughly average 1/4 lb each. The newer ones are much smaller ... around 1/10th lb each. The latest towers & desktops generally don't even have a CD/DVD drive because that technology is all but obsolete now.

    A pre yr 2000 tower probably has anywhere between one and five finger cards. The newer machines might not have any at all.

    An older machine might have 4 full sized sticks of RAM yielding .15 lbs of scrap. A newer machine might only have two sticks of SODIMM yielding .04 lbs scrap.

    An older machine might have a hefty power supply that yields copper and aluminum. Some of the newer machines don't even use a power supply anymore. Pull em' apart and they're just a laptop in a big steel box.

    Things have changed alot over the years.

  24. The Following 3 Users say Thank You for This Post by hills:



  25. Similar threads on the Scrap Metal Forum

    1. Any Ideas Where I Can Buy BULK Computer Towers?
      By StlitRockRecycling in forum Scrap Metal Tips and Advice
      Replies: 7
      Last Post: 02-13-2014, 06:33 PM
    2. How many computer towers can you break down in a 10 hr day
      By camdaddy in forum General Electronics Recycling
      Replies: 27
      Last Post: 11-28-2012, 08:48 PM
    3. how much are computer towers worth in scrap?
      By mrvictor1 in forum A Day in the Life of a Scrapper
      Replies: 27
      Last Post: 06-17-2012, 10:49 PM
    4. Computer Towers
      By deputy in forum Scrap Metal Questions and Answers
      Replies: 11
      Last Post: 12-14-2011, 09:52 PM
    5. computer towers
      By nikaoman in forum Scrap Metal Questions and Answers
      Replies: 7
      Last Post: 07-24-2011, 01:28 PM

Page 1 of 3 123 LastLast

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

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