Value of a complete desktop computer

[acpeacemaker]

How much are you actually breaking down?
Kind of a small rundown from my past.
All wires were stripped for clean number 2.
A lot of disk drives have brass. Which a punch set helps on these because a lot of it is mechanically pressed. Some had boards some didn't. The ones that had boards usually held a ring of copper coils behind the magnetic ring.
Most transistors I have found to be copper. Plastic was crushed or incinerated. Not the prettiest copper but still added to the no. 2 pile.
Heat sinks should be counted as extruded aluminum. Usually .05 to .10 cents more than your other aluminum.
Hard drives of course the aluminum body. Tops I usually found to be magnetic. I actually found a place that would buy my magnets. Platters went into the aluminum pile as well.
Breaking the power supply down or selling as is? There is copper, aluminum, and I was still able to sell the board.
Of course you still have the motherboard and components as already stated above.
It really boils down to how much you actually are stripping down.
The pic is a current price sheet from a yard I used to frequent in the midwest. Their prices have really dropped since I've done anything. They also had an e-cycle sheet but prices were really terrible.
There was a lot of other posts when I was trying to post this so it may be good/no good.

Andrew

 

[Mcnew32(Ag)]

That is for just breaking down the desktop in the simplest form. Not spending any extra time breaking down spacific components. It was just an experiment. Obviously there is more profit there.

 

[Goldwasser]

My experience:

I am asked this question several times a day. It is next to impossible to make a typical price for various reasons.

The age of the computer is the primary factor and those are becoming fewer and far between, so any "average" we generate would be on forever declining scale. We now buy more small sockets than large, and metal sockets are slowly gaining on the majority, soon to surpass the smalls, held back only because of low value and shipping concerns.

But when pressed for an answer I tend to suggest beteen $7 and $16 per pc, again based primarily on age. Obviously a 486 will bring more than a pinless P4.

So I concur with Mcnew32(Ag)'s findings. $10 average (before shipping) is spot on.

I provided the examples, best case scenario, worst case scenario and average scenario. I did not calculate steel or plastic nor did I consider keyboard/mice. This is only a rough estimate so it should not be used or considered as an absolute.

BEST:
1 Ounces of Hard Drive Boards at $7.50 per pound = $0.47
1 Ounces of 386/486 CPUs at $100.00 per pound = $6.25
3 Pounds of CD/Disk/Floppy Drives at $0.15 per pound = $0.45
3 Pounds of Power Supply Box with Wire at $0.25 per pound = $0.75
2 Pounds of Hard Drive without Board at $0.35 per pound = $0.70
8 Ounces of Mixed Wire at $0.50 per pound = $0.25
1 Pounds of Aluminum Heat Sink at $0.40 per pound = $0.40
2 Pounds of Large Socket Motherboard at $2.40 per pound = $4.80
8 Ounces of Gold Finger Cards at $3.45 per pound = $1.73
3 Ounces of Peripheral Board at $1.25 per pound = $0.23
1 Ounces of CD-Rom DVD Drive Boards at $2.90 per pound = $0.18
1 Ounces of Silver Memory at $5.00 per pound = $0.31

Total Weight: 12.4375 lbs
Total Payout: $16.52

WORST:
1 Ounces of Hard Drive Boards at $7.50 per pound = $0.47
1 Ounces of No Pin Processors at $3.75 per pound = $0.23
2 Pounds of CD/Disk/Floppy Drives at $0.15 per pound = $0.30
3 Pounds of Power Supply Box with Wire at $0.25 per pound = $0.75
2 Pounds of Hard Drive without Board at $0.35 per pound = $0.70
8 Ounces of Mixed Wire at $0.50 per pound = $0.25
1 Pounds of Aluminum Heat Sink at $0.40 per pound = $0.40
1.5 Pounds of Metal Socket Motherboard at $1.05 per pound = $1.58
8 Ounces of Gold Finger Cards at $3.45 per pound = $1.73
3 Ounces of Peripheral Board at $1.25 per pound = $0.23
1 Ounces of CD-Rom DVD Drive Boards at $2.90 per pound = $0.18
0.6 Ounces of Gold Memory at $13.25 per pound = $0.50

Total Weight: 10.9125 lbs
Total Payout: $7.32

AVERAGE:
1 Ounces of Hard Drive Boards at $7.50 per pound = $0.47
1 Ounces of Pentium/Mac Ceramic at $30.00 per pound = $1.88
2 Pounds of CD/Disk/Floppy Drives at $0.15 per pound = $0.30
3 Pounds of Power Supply Box with Wire at $0.25 per pound = $0.75
2 Pounds of Hard Drive without Board at $0.35 per pound = $0.70
8 Ounces of Mixed Wire at $0.50 per pound = $0.25
1 Pounds of Aluminum Heat Sink at $0.40 per pound = $0.40
1.5 Pounds of Large Socket Motherboard at $2.40 per pound = $3.60
8 Ounces of Gold Finger Cards at $3.45 per pound = $1.73
3 Ounces of Peripheral Board at $1.25 per pound = $0.23
1 Ounces of CD-Rom DVD Drive Boards at $2.90 per pound = $0.18
0.6 Ounces of Gold Memory at $13.25 per pound = $0.50

Total Weight: 10.9125 lbs
Total Payout: $10.98

Hope this helps those who are trying to pin down a price.

 

[Goldwasser]

That is for just breaking down the desktop in the simplest form. Not spending any extra time breaking down spacific components. It was just an experiment. Obviously there is more profit there.

Be careful how far you breakdown. At a certain point you are actually losing money. Case in point: Trimming Fingers

Unless you are refining (and even then it is a push) you are better to leave the fingers on the cards/memory than trim them.

 

[Barren Realms 007]

That is for just breaking down the desktop in the simplest form. Not spending any extra time breaking down spacific components. It was just an experiment. Obviously there is more profit there.

Be careful how far you breakdown. At a certain point you are actually losing money. Case in point: Trimming Fingers

Unless you are refining (and even then it is a push) you are better to leave the fingers on the cards/memory than trim them.

I don't see anything in there on the metal and plastic for the cases and such, or am I missing that?

 

[Mcnew32(Ag)]

I'll tell you guys what here is what I'll do for you all. Because i scrap a couple nights a weeks for a couple hours i will donate that time to you guys. I have roughly 300 various desktops, around 100 various servers, 25+ switches, 500+ HDDs. Well you get it. I have started tonight with a dell Poweredge 2650. Ill take a couple pictures of each unit and i will log the weights of scrap metals, boards, plastics and precious parts such as cpus and ram. I will log exact amounts and weights and convert them to actual scrap values so everyone can see exactly to date what a certain unit will bring from scrap. If anyone has any requests on values ( besides pm values) please ask. I will eventually get to the pm processing but just do not have the time with everything that still needs to be broken down for scrap. Like i said above if anyone has a spacific value they want to know please ask. I may be starting a youtube channel as well showing each component i break down weights and actual current scrap values.

 

[Pantherlikher]

Mcnew32(Ag)
It's not so much as what each piece brings...good to know though when deciding what to pay for them, but more of what's included in figuring your payout.

Now knowing you have so much you process gives a better idea the volume you have and can get better prices for.
That much volume coming you can't possibly keep anything for self processing, like fingers and memory.

Also, I don't know about your area but around here, I might get about 30% of Pcs with the basics inside. Most don't have a hard drive as the owner is so paranoid that something might be worth hacking into. Some are stripped of the better pieces like Hds, Ram, Processors, etc

That aside, I'm guessing you can ship high volumes out to get better prices. Heat sinks for instance are taken as clip around here but all AL only pays less then 48 cents/ lb. but really? there's a pound of AL inside with out taking more out or power supplies?
insulated wire with ends cut are under 50 cents right now which is bad for here even...

It's probably my neck of the woods, less densely populated so small scrap yard = bigger costs for them.

Granted, I still have any and all boards I've touched so without those $$$ I can see less then $10 each. This seems like my problem with your figures.

If you're going to take pictures and come up with per piece price, I'd say you don't need to show the process, maybe just a pic with what you do get today. Maybe even how you sell. Like gay-lord boxes shipped somewhere. Local yard, Add something like how you see to give a better understanding of how you get what you get.

Just food for thought and thanks for what ever you add to the forum.

B.S.

 

[FrugalRefiner]

This thread was locked because several members started discussing some old baggage here. I have split the thread and moved the off topic discussion to the Debates and Discussions section.

I've unlocked this thread so that the on topic discussion can continue.

Dave

 

[rickbb]

Since it's now been unlocked I'll post my typical desktop.

HP DX2400 model, fits more in line with Goldwasser's "worst" PC.

I do not break down the HDD's to separate the board from the drive. I sell them whole, I don't think the extra pennies I might gain is worth the time to fiddle with those tiny star screws.

I also keep the pin less CPU and trim the fingers on RAM and PCI cards to process myself, then sell the trimmed RAM and cards.

Total desktop weight = 18 lbs. $3.60 if sold whole to local scrap yard.

power supply with wire = 4 lbs. $ 1.08
HDD whole = 1 lb. $.70
CD/DVD whole = 1.4 lbs. $.22
Metal small socket motherboard = 1 lb. (all heat sinks and steel brackets removed) $1.55
1 RAM stick trimmed = 0.5 oz. $.05
PCI card trimmed = 3 oz. $.30
Empty steel case = 9.5 lbs. $.57

Value scrapped this way = $4.40, based on prices posted online today my usual buyers site. (I have not added the value of gold that I get from processing my own fingers and CPU.)

 

[Goldwasser]

I do not break down the HDD's to separate the board from the drive. I sell them whole, I don't think the extra pennies I might gain is worth the time to fiddle with those tiny star screws.

Those star screws are a pain for sure. But did you know that it is not necessary to remove them?

The hard drive board can be easily and quickly removed using a robust flat head screw driver forced strategically under the IDE socket. With a combination of pushing and prying you can pop that board off in a matter of seconds.

If it damages the board somewhat, no big deal, these are never going to be put into service.

With practice it is possible to de-board 5 drives a minute.

 

[Mcnew32(Ag)]

I started posting my scrap values on another thread. I will be posting periodically random units with pictures. I will post a desktop picked at random from my pile.

 

[Anonymous]

I do not break down the HDD's to separate the board from the drive. I sell them whole, I don't think the extra pennies I might gain is worth the time to fiddle with those tiny star screws.

I also keep the pin less CPU and trim the fingers on RAM and PCI cards to process myself, then sell the trimmed RAM and cards.

It's truly interesting to see what prices you guys get over in the US for your e-waste.

Rick I can add a different perspective to a couple of your points. Since the drop in base metals pricing in many it is now worth removing the HDD boards. The price difference between complete HDD and drives without boards used to be £220 per Kg (sorry but I'm speaking in European) and now it is merely £20, downwards.

HDD board should realise up to £12 per Kg or $7.97 per lb. Separated they are worth far more than left whole. I would agree though that this difference is more marked with older drives than the new drives with partial boards.

Pinless CPU are truly terrible yields and are better off being sold as working procs or by weight, but I'd be interested to see how much the card and ram fingers are really costing you when you compare the trimmed and untrimmed price?


Cheers

Jon

 

[edsikes]

wow. i havent tracked my yields or losses/gains in the ways you guys have i have several local guys around that i buy all scrap pc towers from for 2 bucks each i get a few that the best parts have been yanked but 90+ percent are majority complete, but at two bucks each i feel that i have been doing pretty good... and have made a good rapport with these guys, i pay my standard prices to them .25 a stick gold tipped ram, .10 a stick silver tipped .25 each for various finger cards and .50 each for motherboards and a quarter each for hard drives, that they disabled. im currently sitting on about 80 hard drives and at an average weight of 510 grams thats 90 lbs at .70 a lb. and as for the ram, hell i get an average of 55 to 60 cents each on fleabay for them ive got some guys that im buying two and three hundred sticks at a time for 75 bucks.... been doing pretty good so far... now if i could ever get that pesky gold filled business to pick up better here....

 

[Mcnew32(Ag)]

Anyone live close to canton ohio?