# leaving forum



## Anonymous (Mar 21, 2009)

Hi all, its been fun and I absolutely learned a lot, I mean tons and I thank everyone of you.

I have learned a couple important things though, 1st, I can not compete with the prices that people pay on ebay. I had a deal lined up for the last time today that someone changed thier mind and sold on ebay. 

One thing I did not learn, is how the ebay guys make it, that is keep having money to buy more.

I tried karat and e scrap, no way for me in my small town to get going.

I am moving on to steam engines, if I am going to spend time on something it may as well be cool and fun. (not to say refining isn't for those that enjoy the challenge.

Noxx, please remove me in 2 days so that anyone that wants to say good bye can.

Thanks

Jim


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## Noxx (Mar 21, 2009)

Jim,

You spent more than two years here, and you surely gain a lot of knowledge.



> One thing I did not learn, is how the ebay guys make it, that is keep having money to buy more.



You have a point, and I never found why. But, I am in the same situation and I can still get gold. Don't forget that not everyone want to sell on ebay. Many don't know how much eBay charge them until they get the bill...

As for the buyers, then I suppose they use the jewelry as is, or maybe the own a jewelry store and they resell what they can for twice or more the price they paid.

Forget about e-scrap, I learnt it the hard way. It is profitable unless you can get a large volume.

It is almost the same thing for karat gold. My company gains are only 10% minus chemicals and such. I buy at 85% and sell at 95%. That's the only way for me to be competitive.

The good news is, clients tend to stay where they receive good service.

Have you tried jewellers ? You might get their bench sweeps and scrap for a good price.

Good luck 

P.S. I won't delete your account. In fact, it will still be valid in 20 years.


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## Palladium (Mar 21, 2009)

very well put Noxx.

Yes; please do hang around Jim.


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## Harold_V (Mar 21, 2009)

Yep. what Noxx said. If you have any jewelers in your community, it would be wise of you to get to know them, even if, at first, you don't do business with them. One way to get acquainted is to offer them gold that has been refined, but be certain the quality is up before doing so. A jeweler can have things go south in a hurry if gold isn't pure. Once he understands you have the ability to refine, he may well choose to use your services. One often leads to another, so a small business can develop if you aren't in a hurry. 

You've been a sheer pleasure to have on the board. May I offer the suggestion to stay in touch when time allows, but most importantly, to keep an open door for future refining? That's how I got off the ground------just processing the things I'd accumulate, then one day I was asked to refine for a jeweler. The rest is history. It could be your history!

At any rate, the very best to you. 

Maybe we'll see you on the Chaski board?

Harold


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## Oz (Mar 22, 2009)

James,

It would be a shame for you to leave and close yourself out of any potential rewards that otherwise would have come your way. I can see perhaps deemphasizing it, but keep your self open to possibilities. 

I hope you reconsider and I see you pop your head in from time to time.


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## Anonymous (Mar 22, 2009)

Harold you bet, once I get going on the train I will be on there more often.
I may keep the gold thing in the back of my mind, that may be further down the road when I can source more material.

I spent good money learning about this stuff, exspecially the e scrap and I have a pretty good system worked out. Just can not justify paying more for the scrap than it is worth. I had a computer repair I was supposed to pick up a truck load of old towers that people left behind when the repair was going to be more than a new computer, the day I was supposed to get them, the told me they wanted $4.00 a lb because they could get that on ebay. I walked away, as this was the 3rd time. I had a freind that got 2 truck loads of good stuff from a TV station, he was scrapping the aluminum and copper, I asked for the boards that he was troughing away, well, the rest of the story is sad.

I am biulding a house and we have 90 or so acres with loads of maple trees. I started to learn that this year, tapped 4 trees close to the house and have made 2.5 gallons of high grade amber syrup so far. Next year I am going to tap 50 trees, with the plastic line to run the syrup to my sugar house that I hope to have built by then.

I guess in a small way I will still be doing some refining because I get a lot of electrical contacts from work.

Jim


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## Platdigger (Mar 22, 2009)

Yea Jim, stick around.
It is good to have you here....
Randy


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## Oz (Mar 22, 2009)

James,

Sugaring is fun, hopefully you have low nitrates in your soil as they can be a pain to filter from finished product. Something you may wish to try is that while sugar maples have a higher concentration of sugar per gallon red maples are close. I did a batch from one location that was red maple and the syrup had a butter taste to it as a bonus. I do not know if that is typical of the red maples or if it was a soil condition however. Just like different vineyard soil conditions give you different flavor accents. There are other trees that syrup can be made from as well. One that I always wanted to try is the sweet birch since the twigs have a wintergreen flavor I wonder what the syrup flavor would be.

Well this is quite off topic, if you want to chat syrup drop me a PM.

As to the refining, I would keep your equipment as in these economic times having the ability to refine could prove to be a survival tactic.


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## patnor1011 (Mar 22, 2009)

James, 
dont throw everything what you gained here. At least I can say that you have couple of virtual friends here. Come in from time to time and have fun. And I am pretty sure that you can help to newcomers with some info from your experience when you will have few minutes... I just planted loads of red currant and gooseberry to my garden as people here want that but are lazy to grow their own... Hope that I have small profit from them in few years :wink:


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## Irons (Mar 22, 2009)

james122964 said:


> Harold you bet, once I get going on the train I will be on there more often.
> I may keep the gold thing in the back of my mind, that may be further down the road when I can source more material.
> 
> I spent good money learning about this stuff, exspecially the e scrap and I have a pretty good system worked out. Just can not justify paying more for the scrap than it is worth. I had a computer repair I was supposed to pick up a truck load of old towers that people left behind when the repair was going to be more than a new computer, the day I was supposed to get them, the told me they wanted $4.00 a lb because they could get that on ebay. I walked away, as this was the 3rd time. I had a freind that got 2 truck loads of good stuff from a TV station, he was scrapping the aluminum and copper, I asked for the boards that he was troughing away, well, the rest of the story is sad.
> ...




http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/604657

There's gold in them maple trees

This year's spring weather perfect for maple syrup, as Ontario producers tap into soaring world prices
Mar 19, 2009 04:30 AM

Nick Aveling
Staff Reporter



Ontario's maple syrup producers have struck liquid gold.

Following four years of poor production in rival Quebec and a surge in overseas popularity, syrup prices have risen by as much as 30 per cent.

As a result, a bottle of moderately priced pure maple syrup costs about the same as a bottle of another Canadian delicacy, rye whisky.

And it is all thanks to the weather.

"Maple syrup season isn't something you can mark on a calendar," says Peter Nixon, an education co-ordinator at the Kortright Centre for Conservation in Woodbridge, site of the Sugarbush Maple Syrup Festival.

The festival runs until April 13 and features demonstrations and samplings.

"If it gets warm and stays warm, that's a problem," Nixon said. "If gets cold and stays cold, that's a problem, too." The key, he said, is variability. Syrup is produced during that capricious time between late winter and spring.


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## wop1969 (Mar 22, 2009)

I have to agree with james about e-scrap, it is a hard deal to make sometimes. I have talked to most of the pc shops in town (35) and most of them will not give it up due to ebay of some othe guy that pays them for it (I plan on calling them back one day and offer cash for it) and they snub nose at me. Ebay? I dont see how ebay will help  unless you find that one great deal that no one else saw.

So my over all feeling on this, just to make sure I get sonthing out of it be-sides learning and fun (and the look on my freinds faces right befor they say whatever your eating I want some to make me smart), I plan to keep doing this, worst case I will save up the gold and cash in one day when I am to old to be of any use , or give it to my kids.
That is one way to keep a reason to continue..

Hope this helps


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## Palladium (Mar 22, 2009)

Glad to see your with us again Irons. Hope your feeling good now days. :wink:


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## Irons (Mar 22, 2009)

Palladium said:


> Glad to see your with us again Irons. Hope your feeling good now days. :wink:



I don't know which is worse, the illness or the medication.

I'm not crazy, just outnumbered.


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## Palladium (Mar 22, 2009)

Irons said:


> Palladium said:
> 
> 
> > Glad to see your with us again Irons. Hope your feeling good now days. :wink:
> ...



Amen !!!!!!!


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## Anonymous (Mar 23, 2009)

You all have convinced me to at least stay on the forum. I do believe that I have a really good system worked for e stuff, and can hopefully help others that are trying.

I only wish I could get volumes of material to gauge my process with.

thanks.

I will not be around so often now, but will check in.

Jim


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## Harold_V (Mar 24, 2009)

That's the spirit, Jim. You have some solid friends here----so drop by when you find time.

Harold


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## Juan Manuel Arcos Frank (Mar 26, 2009)

Jim:

DAMN!!!!!!!!......I can not believe what I am reading..you,Jim, a man with more than 600 posts quiting?????..no way.Your role is here,recycling gold but forget eBay..there are millions of computers in USA.

On the other hand you need to recover other PM metals...i.e. silver and PGM.Try to get car´s catalizers,hard disks,batteries,spent fixers,used films,mirrors,contacts,relays,industrial e scrap.....

Just when you die you will be out of gold recovery.When a man sees the molten gold that he has recovered it becomes a strong adiction to gold.

Come on,Jim!!!!!.....drink a bottle of Jack Daniels or Chivas Regal,make love,go for a ride and return to work.

Regards.

Manuel


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