Worth it to trim fingers off cards?

[MGH]

I have somewhere around 120 pounds of mixed ISA and PCI cards. I had always intended to cut off the gold fingers, process those myself with AP, and sell off the fingerless cards. Now I’m not sure if there’s any advantage to that.

From my own (limited) data I’ve found that mixed cards will yield about 1.71% by weight in gold fingers. So from 120 pounds of cards I would have (120)*(0.0171) = 2.052 pounds of fingers. Assuming 2 grams of gold per pound of fingers, my net gain would look like this if I trimmed the cards (using current Boardsort pricing)

(118 pounds trimmed cards)*($2.75) = $324.50
(2.052 pounds fingers)*(2 grams gold per pound)*($45 per gram) = $184.68
Total = $509.18

Or if I don’t trim the cards…

(120 pounds whole cards)*($4.00) = $480.00

I’m a hobbyist and don’t have to assign a dollar value to my time, but it’s worth more than $29.18 (not even considering chemical costs). Even more confusing, using Boardsort’s prices from last week, I would have lost money by trimming the cards. Am I missing something? Am I way off base on my estimate of pounds of fingers per pound of cards? Or does Boardsort just really prefer untrimmed cards and this pricing structure is their way of getting there?

Thanks for any input.
-Matt

 

[Pantherlikher]

Are you sure they mean trimmed fingerless cards? and not extra card crap removed? Steel mount, aluminum, copper...green board etc.

 

[mls26cwru]

yeah, im not too sure what happened with boardsorts prices as the cost differential used to be even closer... I tried to finagle an explanation, but wasn't able to... I think it may have had to do with market volatility or maybe demand, but im not sure why it changed so much.

 

[nickvc]

With electronic scrap there can be a value in the item other than the obvious precious metals, some items can be reused and so have a far greater value than the metals so with your mixed cards with the fingers intact they would be easier to test and reuse if there was a demand for certain types.
There was and probably still is a big business in selling certain chips and other electronic scrap but as with all trading it's values is subject to supply and demand, I suspect many items are destined for poorer economies where they are reused or perhaps for use in repairs to existing equipment.

 

[rickbb]

Personally, I trim the fingers and process them, then sell the remaining cards after I remove the heat sinks, steel brackets, etc. What I get from the cards pays for the labor and chems to process the fingers and I get to keep the shiny gold. 8)

Plus I need the practice to get better.

 

[MGH]

Are you sure they mean trimmed fingerless cards? and not extra card crap removed? Steel mount, aluminum, copper...green board etc.

Pretty sure. Boardsort's own website says so explicitly.

Personally, I trim the fingers and process them, then sell the remaining cards after I remove the heat sinks, steel brackets, etc. What I get from the cards pays for the labor and chems to process the fingers and I get to keep the shiny gold. 8)

Rick, the large volume buyers quote prices for cards with the brackets, etc. still attached. Do you get a better rate per pound by cleaning them up? Or is it that you're having your own lots processed and it's to your advantage to make the material as concentrated as possible?

I don't want to sound like I'm picking apart anyone's technique or preference. There are many ways to skin these cats, and I was just looking to make sure I had my ducks in a reasonably straight row. I'll actually be packing up tonight to take my [untrimmed] cards to the next buyer in the chain. I hope to post some positive feedback about that over the weekend.

 

[rickbb]

I do small lots of boards, 2 or 3 boxes up to 100 lbs. per shipment, boardsort doesn't really want them. The large volume guys won't even talk to me.

I've gotten good, (good enough anyway, and higher than boardsort) prices, but the guy I sell to wants them without the heat sinks, brackets, etc. I can ship at work as long as I use ground and keep it infrequent, so I'm not out the shipping costs.

 

[MGH]

Rick, that makes sense. And you get to process the fingers and end up with a shiney gold button. That's what I was aiming for all along, so it was a little bittersweet to just sell them all whole. For me, at this point, it was better to turn it all into cash faster and show my wife that all this craziness did actually have a payout.

Nick, I didn't forget about your comment. I think you may be right. I'm not sure how many buyers are in the chain, but we know that many people dealing in scrap materials are always on the lookout to maximize returns by selling functional items at a premium over the rest of the material.

Thanks all.

 

[ilikesilver]

dont forget the flat packs also, they contain gold and other PMs that is easily run with patnors process, you would increase the size of that gold button!!