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niks neims said:
I`d say I`ve been brainwashed by GRF - that large scale professional refinery/copper smelter is such an effective system (this is often used here as argument to deter amateurs from trying to process motherboards, for example) that it could successfully operate on >10% of yield... Or maybe it is harder on me because of my rather small volumes - but so far european processing plant offers have been unsatisfactory (but their customer-service is top-noch!), I am looking further away from home right now, but you must've forgotten how hard it was in the beginning Jon, when you did not have your ivory tower of "perspective, volume and ongoing hard data" yet, only a vague idea of values to go on :)
Click to expand...

Cost and profit are directly related to processing laws and regulations.
No way in heck i would want anything to do with E.U. regulations from a business perspective.
 
snoman701 said:
I guess I'm curious of Jon's answer to this...because you are right, it is hard in the beginning. You start out wondering how much gold there is...then you realize that you need the silver too, and then the copper...then the palladium as well. And then you have to realize it really doesn't fundamentally matter how much is there if the load doesn't sample well.
On top of this, you have to sort it and determine values for at least 20 different product grades.
Click to expand...

Just when I thought I was out...they pull me back in... or rather this thread suddenly takes potentially productive turn :)

Dave, your intervention has been noted, and out of my huge respect towards you I promise perfect behaviour from my part regarding Jon in this thread until any worthwhile conversation momentum runs out!

2snoman701: if you don't mind me engaging you in to a discussion - the discrepancy in e-waste between apparently equalized fixed trading price (even internationally) of scrap material and total sum value of metals contained in the same material - it's exactly what motivated me to explore this business in the first place... I mean, nobody`s ever going to share reliable hard data publicly, but If you dig around here deep enough - you can get a pretty good rough idea about what metal % are there... For simplicity sake, lets say there is 5-6 $ worth of metal in 1 kg of small-socket motherboards - the "fixed trading price" is pretty consistent 3-4$/kg... well that missing 2-3$ is what raised my interest and why am I sitting on a couple of tons of boards right now :)
I`ve followed the rabbit hole for a while, and it seems to me that it ends up in the end-refiners pouch, after all; Meaning - if average small-time guy like me would just walk in from a street with a couple tons of boards to be recycled, the return he'd get would be pretty close to those 3-4$/kg the traders are paying (+little, tiny profit, 10-20%).

So that means either:
1. The process really is that expensive and it just costs what it costs and I am delusional...

2. The process could be done cheaper, industry leaders have become too greedy/slow/rigid/whatever and there are entrepreneurs ready to exploit that and deliver this service better (free market FTW!) - now that is the profit opportunity I am aiming for...

Here's hoping for Nr.2 obviously :)

2Palladium:
Funny you should say that: Let me tell you - I am completely legit, local bureaucracy so far has been a piece of cake, though EU is a pain in the ass with it`s Harmonized system, Basel convention etc. (by the way: a plea for help from anyone who can help me make heads or tails with all this red tape with international WEEE shipments from EU!)... BUT one major spoke in the wheel at my current predicament are you Yankees with your orange guy and his ego-trip sanctions :/, logistics companies won't deliver, banks won't transfer money, who needs that?
 
snoman701 said:
niks neims said:
I`d say I`ve been brainwashed by GRF - that large scale professional refinery/copper smelter is such an effective system (this is often used here as argument to deter amateurs from trying to process motherboards, for example) that it could successfully operate on >10% of yield... Or maybe it is harder on me because of my rather small volumes - but so far european processing plant offers have been unsatisfactory (but their customer-service is top-noch!), I am looking further away from home right now, but you must've forgotten how hard it was in the beginning Jon, when you did not have your ivory tower of "perspective, volume and ongoing hard data" yet, only a vague idea of values to go on :)
Click to expand...

I guess I'm curious of Jon's answer to this...because you are right, it is hard in the beginning. You start out wondering how much gold there is...then you realize that you need the silver too, and then the copper...then the palladium as well. And then you have to realize it really doesn't fundamentally matter how much is there if the load doesn't sample well.

On top of this, you have to sort it and determine values for at least 20 different product grades.
Click to expand...

Sure I'll go along with you Sno.

It's darned hard in the beginning because you know nothing. You have to accept that you are on the bottom rung of a very tall ladder. As such you pay more for your gear and you get less for your gear than people above you on that ladder. So the goal is knowledge. You soak up knowledge like a sponge, and listen to every piece of it regardless of the source, and if you are a humble and willing student, you can find all kinds of help. But you have to accept that you don't have a right to that knowledge. There's no entitlement to it just because someone had gone further up the ladder than you. There's always more to learn wherever you may be on that upwards journey.

No secret- I found the bulk of the knowledge from people on here. Very lucky to have had one to one assistance from all kinds of folk, and the more you learn the higher up the ladder you go. It gets easier to buy well, it gets easier to sell well so you can spread your wings a bit and invest and grow.

The EU regulations are pretty simple once you've got your head around them, and having bank accounts in multiple currencies is also pretty standard fare Palladium, so whereas once it would have seemed a nightmare- now it's just run of the mill.

One thing I did, is look at people further up the ladder than me and think "I'd like to learn how he did that because he's obviously doing something better than me." I've never resented anyone for doing more than me, in fact I would like to learn from those people. No matter where you are there's plenty of people higher up than you.

Now I try to give something back but I have to admit that people like Nik don't encourage that giving.
 
butcher said:
What is this about?
Gentlemen, can you settle this difference between yourselves privately?
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I've no idea what it's about Richard. See how Nik speaks to me and ask him. Ive had this in private messages as well. If I called people names like this I'd be off the forum but as per usual it's one rule of me and another rule for everyone else. I'm fair game. That's alright I accept that as my lot in life.
 
butcher said:
What is this about?
Gentlemen, can you settle this difference between yourselves privately?
Click to expand...

I'ts all good in the 'hood, I ain't one hundred dollar bill to be equally loved by everyone; I have my quirks, but there won't be any trouble from me, I'll keep the kings peace...

Jon, they say you only get one chance at the first impression, but - If that is what it takes to wipe the slate clean I am ready to sincerely apologize for all past and any future grief I have caused you, please excuse any slights, public or private, real or imaginary, and If I am really being honest with myself I must admit my conduct have not been perfect either, and despite your personality you do seem to know a lot of very useful information; so there you go, this should be the last of our airing of grievances in public, I won't bark up the wrong tree, we're much too different to become bestest friends for everest, but if you want, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship...
 
anachronism said:
Fair enough Nik. Let's go for that.
Click to expand...

glad to hear it :)

I'm still in the process of corresponding with various state institutions regarding international shipments, both here and in my target country, but when all hope of sorting this out for myself will be lost, with your permission, I`ll drop you a PM....
 
silversaddle1 said:
Are you a cash buyer? Where are you located? What are you paying? Things we need to know.
Click to expand...

I'm located in northeast Pennsylvania 18661 and paying cash
 
I received a response to my first email to mfe18. He acknowledged that he had received the material from Wis49er and had not paid. He said he had some personal problems, but promised he would be sending a check the following week. Wis has never received any payment, and I have not received any replies to my further attempts to contact him by email. I have banned him.

Dave
 

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