Tip for finding people to bring you computers

[Ocean]

I go down to my local metals buyer (scrap yard) 2 times a week.

I do it for 2 reason:
For $ in my pocket for lunch,
and
To hand my card to junk men and scrappers.

I let them know I pay for old computer towers and cell phones, and they have been bringing me the goods!

I get anywhere from 1-4 people a day stopping by with cell phones and computers to sell me, simply from those cards and craigslist.

 

[gold4mike]

Thanks for the post. I have left my card in the office at all the local scrap yards in my area but I sometimes notice complete computer towers on the heap when I go to sell my steel cases. Maybe beer would work better than donuts to get them to call me.

I'll follow your advice and start giving cards to anyone I bump into while I'm there.

What do you generally offer someone for a computer tower? Do you offer less if components are obviously missing?

 

[Ocean]

Thanks for the post. I have left my card in the office at all the local scrap yards in my area but I sometimes notice complete computer towers on the heap when I go to sell my steel cases. Maybe beer would work better than donuts to get them to call me.

I'll follow your advice and start giving cards to anyone I bump into while I'm there.

What do you generally offer someone for a computer tower? Do you offer less if components are obviously missing?

I think the beer to the people who run it might be a good idea, :mrgreen: but employees probably can't divert the computers to you. You will need to speak to an opwner, or someone up the corporate ladder.

I tell them I pay $3 for a full tower and $2 for one that is not, and then everything gets evaluated when they bring it.

Sometimes I give them only $1 because so much of it is missing.

 

[rusty]

Thanks for the post. I have left my card in the office at all the local scrap yards in my area but I sometimes notice complete computer towers on the heap when I go to sell my steel cases. Maybe beer would work better than donuts to get them to call me.

I'll follow your advice and start giving cards to anyone I bump into while I'm there.

What do you generally offer someone for a computer tower? Do you offer less if components are obviously missing?

I think the beer to the people who run it might be a good idea, :mrgreen: but employees probably can't divert the computers to you. You will need to speak to an opwner, or someone up the corporate ladder.

I tell them I pay $3 for a full tower and $2 for one that is not, and then everything gets evaluated when they bring it.

Sometimes I give them only $1 because so much of it is missing.

Devious for sure, once the hook is set $3.00 for a fully appointed tower. Why not just purchase the loose boards the scrap yard has in inventory. If the yard is not currently buying loose boards get them to set aside a gaylord then act as your intermediate agent.

It would be very easy for the yard to add another account into the computer, you would either have to have to supply a pre-approved letter of credit form your banker or leave a cash deposit or some other form of surety like gold bullion to cover future purchases made on your behalf.

 

[Ocean]

Hey Rusty,

Not devious in the least!
$3/tower is about twice the $ they get by selling it as scrap metal.

I like your ideas on the scrap boards and such though, but none of my local metals yards buy components, just whole towers and into the roll off they go.

My plan is to try and do something like you've suggested with them as soon as I have built up some more capital. I've only been recycing computers for 2 months.

Thanks

 

[rusty]

Hey Rusty,

Not devious in the least!
$3/tower is about twice the $ they get by selling it as scrap metal.

I like your ideas on the scrap boards and such though, but none of my local metals yards buy components, just whole towers and into the roll off they go.

My plan is to try and do something like you've suggested with them as soon as I have built up some more capital. I've only been recycing computers for 2 months.

Thanks

How much a ton are you getting for scrap stripped out towers, should be in the neighborhood of $250.00 a ton, taking that number let us assume the average tower weighs in at 60 lbs it would take 33 towers to make up the ton, and your paying how much ---- $3.00 on your advertised promise then pay less if the tower is short.

At 60 lbs average it would take 33.33 towers to make the ton, your cost is $100.00 delivered to your door.

 

[Ocean]

Hey Rusty,

Not devious in the least!
$3/tower is about twice the $ they get by selling it as scrap metal.

I like your ideas on the scrap boards and such though, but none of my local metals yards buy components, just whole towers and into the roll off they go.

My plan is to try and do something like you've suggested with them as soon as I have built up some more capital. I've only been recycing computers for 2 months.

Thanks

How much a ton are you getting for scrap stripped out towers, should be in the neighborhood of $250.00 a ton, taking that number let us assume the average tower weighs in at 60 lbs it would take 33 towers to make up the ton, and your paying how much ---- $3.00 on your advertised promise then pay less if the tower is short.

At 60 lbs average it would take 33.33 towers to make the ton, your cost is $100.00 delivered to your door.

Well, I think your #'s are a little high, at least for here and my experience.

Here are my thoughts:
Most towers don't weigh 60lbs. That seems about twice as high as normal, just shooting from the cuff without weighing one.

The difference in weight between a "full" tower and a "stripped" one is quite a lot. Once the plastic and compnents are removed, there is about 4-6lbs of steel left (guessing).

We are getting about $100/ton around here for steel right now. That sounds a lot lower than you are getting.

So, as far as I can tell, I am still giving these "scrappers" a better deal, and everyone wins.

 

[Ocean]

The other thing is this:

MOST of these scrappers don't want to take anything apart.

I've even told some of them they would make more $ from me if they took these apart, but they don't want to.

 

[patnor1011]

Rusty`s numbers may be the case of apple computers or old systems where CRT is included. Normal desktop tower may weight from 3 to 8 kg so 6 to 16 lb so you need 125 to 300 towers to make one ton. Some old systems may weight more but that will not be more than 10kg (20lbs)

 

[escrap]

Here is how I do it. I offer scrap yards .25/lb for towers(use to only pay .20), tell them i pay cash and pick it up from their location. I don't tell them about buying individual components because I don't want to set out competition for myself. I know most places don't wanna deal in computers because if you take towers you inevitably end up taking monitors too, but why make competition when you don't have too. By offering them .25/lb(which is about .10 more then they are getting) and picking it up from them, saves them from taking up space in a truck. I currently generate 3000 or more lbs a week from just one scrap yard.

 

[rusty]

Here is how I do it. I offer scrap yards .25/lb for towers(use to only pay .20), tell them i pay cash and pick it up from their location. I don't tell them about buying individual components because I don't want to set out competition for myself. I know most places don't wanna deal in computers because if you take towers you inevitably end up taking monitors too, but why make competition when you don't have too. By offering them .25/lb(which is about .10 more then they are getting) and picking it up from them, saves them from taking up space in a truck. I currently generate 3000 or more lbs a week from just one scrap yard.

Maybe you can shed some light on this topic, what is the average your paying for a tower.

 

[Ocean]

Here is how I do it. I offer scrap yards .25/lb for towers(use to only pay .20), tell them i pay cash and pick it up from their location. I don't tell them about buying individual components because I don't want to set out competition for myself. I know most places don't wanna deal in computers because if you take towers you inevitably end up taking monitors too, but why make competition when you don't have too. By offering them .25/lb(which is about .10 more then they are getting) and picking it up from them, saves them from taking up space in a truck. I currently generate 3000 or more lbs a week from just one scrap yard.

Nice! I am moving towards this as well.

Thanks.

 

[escrap]

Our average weight for computer is 23lbs. We have averaged this for many many pallets. Weighing them up and dividing the weight by the number of computers. Seems to always be right around 23lbs. So we are usually paying right around six dollars a piece. I know everyone can not pay that, but that is just our situation. As long as you are offering the scrap yard more than they are getting for steel price, they should be happy.

 

[hfywc]

Here is how I do it. I offer scrap yards .25/lb for towers(use to only pay .20), tell them i pay cash and pick it up from their location. I don't tell them about buying individual components because I don't want to set out competition for myself. I know most places don't wanna deal in computers because if you take towers you inevitably end up taking monitors too, but why make competition when you don't have too. By offering them .25/lb(which is about .10 more then they are getting) and picking it up from them, saves them from taking up space in a truck. I currently generate 3000 or more lbs a week from just one scrap yard.

once you gutted out the towers--cpus, fingers and pins removed...what do you do with the unwanted parts? thanks. alan

 

[escrap]

Alan,

Once we have stripped down the towers we throw our steel in a roll off container, and all the separate pieces into different gaylord boxes.

 

[silversaddle1]

At $6.00 a tower, that is a very slim profit margin per unit, no?

Are you picking these up yourself?

Are you paying labor to de-manufacture?

 

[Ocean]

At $6.00 a tower, that is a very slim profit margin per unit, no?

Are you picking these up yourself?

Are you paying labor to de-manufacture?

Higher quantities bring higher prices.

One motherboard is 1 or more pounds.

At $4/lb, that is 2/3 of the cost recouped right there.

 

[silversaddle1]

At $6.00 a tower, that is a very slim profit margin per unit, no?

Are you picking these up yourself?

Are you paying labor to de-manufacture?

Higher quantities bring higher prices.

One motherboard is 1 or more pounds.

At $4/lb, that is 2/3 of the cost recouped right there.

I know all about high quantities. Even at $4.00 per pound for the MB, still not much profit left to cover other costs. So you must make up the rest on the following parts:

steel
power supply
memory
CPU
internal wiring
drives

Can you still make out on it Zack?

 

[Ocean]

Must be or wouldn't be paying it out... :idea:

 

[rusty]

Our average weight for computer is 23lbs. We have averaged this for many many pallets. Weighing them up and dividing the weight by the number of computers. Seems to always be right around 23lbs. So we are usually paying right around six dollars a piece. I know everyone can not pay that, but that is just our situation. As long as you are offering the scrap yard more than they are getting for steel price, they should be happy.

Based on your figures, average weight 23 lb purchased at $0.25 lb your paying $5.75 per tower which brings your per ton total to $500.00 and your picking this up at the scrap yard.

Average weight 23 lbs would give you 86 towers per ton, you say that your picking up 3000 lbs weekly, so your cash outlay is very high considering your cash is tied up while your processing these towers.

You say "WE" dismantle the towers discarding the tin into a roll off, so I assume your paying labor even at minimum wage with benefits , compensation minimum by law in my country.

Even if compensation were not law only a fool would hire workers with out coverage, I'm a one man operation and pay this for myself as having this coverage allows me to work on other peoples work sites IE scrap yards as an independent.

There's very little logic to your scheme.