# The Value of a scrap 3Com PCI NIC card



## notchormama (Aug 29, 2012)

In regards to the value of a scrap 3Com PCI rj45 card .Here are some rough estimates and 

ramblings from a guy who hates math but is quite fond of money .

Trimmed ( no finger - too pretty to sell ) 3com card weighs 47 grams
Boardsort pays 3.20 Lb for trimmed cards
OR .706 Cents per Gram X 47
=33.2 cents -22 cents Shipping - $0.11 USD value of trimmed card.

--- Shipping price based on $8.42 for a 5Lb box with box weighing 1b , so 4Lbs
of trimmed cards . 4lbs = 1812 grams .
842 cents / 1812 grams = .4646 cents per gram
Multiply by 47 = 21.839 cents to ship 3com card .

Now if we harvest the Monolithic Capacitors for the palladium , the flatpack and the pins 

for the gold , here are some more speculations based only on what I have read here on the 

forum , and the local scrapyard prices .

Stripped 3com card becomes a "mid grade green board" worth only $0.30 per lb
OR 30 cents divided by 453 grams = 0.06625 cents per gram 
Card now weighs only 37 grams. 
37 X 0.06625 
= 2.45 cents to the local scrapyard .
Not good so far huh ? 

The monolithic Capacitors weighed 0.5 Grams.
.5 grams x 2.5 % estimated = .0125 Palladium 
@ 637.98 per oz
.999 pure pd = 26 cents 
Getting better already ! 


6 gold plated pins , I will just make a wild guess of 2 cent value .

Flat pack 5 grams= 38.63 cents . This is based on the 35.00 a pound estimate.

So if we add it up :
$0.0245 + $0.26 + $0.02 + $0.3863 = 69 Cents value of a stripped , trimmed Card .

Now add the value of the 18 grams of Metal ( bracket and screws )
Local scrapyard pays $0.13 lb or $0.02896 per gram X 18 = 5 cents

AND add the Shiny " I ain't selling this "Gold Plated finger (( like Gollum -- " My 

Precious" Lol...))
Finger weighs 2 grams
1 lb fingers brings maybe 80 bucks on ebay 
1lb = 453 grams divided by 8000 cents = $0.056625 per gram X 2
= 11 Cents .

.69 + .05 + .11 = 85 cents is the scrap value of the 3com PCI card . 

I also have not figured in the cost of Chemicals , Firebricks , coal , fumehood , 

electricity , gas , time ... etc... . But hey , I ain't quittin' , I got GOLD scrappin 

fever !!


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## notchormama (Aug 29, 2012)

Just scrapped a similar card , but it was an old AMD pcNET brand . It had 2 grams of Tantalum Capacitors on it also . Someone on Ebay recently sold 6 oz ( or 170 grams ) of these for scrap for 10 USD . So 1,000 Cents divided by 170 Grams
= $0.05882 per gram X 2 = 11 Cents . That is definitely fuzzy math , since my only reference of value is the Only ended auction I could find on ebay for scrap tantalum . 

That card Also had 10 grams of FlatPack chips .
At 35.00 a lb for these chips 
So 3500 cents divided by 453 grams = $0.726 per gram X 10 = 77 cents for the flatpacks . 

The card also had 5 extra Gold plated pins and roughly the same numbers for the other components . 

Now based on my expertise , you all can use my figures for all your estimating and assaying of precious metals found in Computer scrap --- Or not .


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## etack (Aug 29, 2012)

your math is wrong. way wrong. I think that you missed some 00000s so I wouldn't buy anything on this information.

Eric



notchormama said:


> Just scrapped a similar card , but it was an old AMD pcNET brand . It had 2 grams of Tantalum Capacitors on it also . Someone on Ebay recently sold 6 oz ( or 170 grams ) of these for scrap for 10 USD . So 1,000 Cents divided by 170 Grams
> = $0.05882 per gram X 2 = 11 Cents . That is definitely fuzzy math , since my only reference of value is the Only ended auction I could find on ebay for scrap tantalum .
> 
> That card Also had 10 grams of FlatPack chips .
> ...





notchormama said:


> In regards to the value of a scrap 3Com PCI rj45 card .Here are some rough estimates and
> 
> ramblings from a guy who hates math but is quite fond of money .
> 
> ...



You moved all your (.) to make your math easier but didn't move them back
Eric


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## patnor1011 (Aug 29, 2012)

Boardsort or Thriftybits - they are middleman so they pay roughly half of value sometimes even less.


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## notchormama (Aug 29, 2012)

Whoah there friend , :shock: calm down :roll: . That was meant to be a bit of humor , ( advising my math skills to be used as a barometer of buying ,selling , and assaying ) , that's why I added the " -- Or Not " . :lol: But in regards to moving the 000's and decimals , guilty as charged  --- However , the Result is the same , ( unless it is not ) :?: .


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## notchormama (Aug 29, 2012)

I am not picking on boardsort , they have very fair prices , you just need to find that magic number and weight of your e-scrap to justify the shipping costs . That is just business , and that is cool with me . I am just giving some food for thought as to the actual , and/or Perceived value of a card . This may help some one looking at an auction on ebay selling something similar , who thought bidding up to $1.00 or $2.00 a card was a good Idea .


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