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(10-06-2020, 12:02 PM)Cooler Wrote: I've long wondered about their business model. Clearly they make money hauling away junk. But do they have a secondary revenue stream re-selling the junk to flea marketers or to recyclers?
Otherwise they have to pay to get rid of the junk they collect.
I would assume... If it were me doing it I would have a facility where I sorted through to get the scrap metal out and anything that has a value. It is amazing how much perfectly good stuff gets tossed in the trash.
Scrap value of steel is a penny a pound, Aluminum is from 30-45 cents depending on what it is and #1 bright copper is $2 (that means perfect copper no corrosion and no coatings). All those prices are down from where they were a year ago. What actually has the best value per pound is computers. CPUs and memory bring a decent amount per pound and so do motherboards but you have to have enough for the scrap places to even buy it. There are easily 10 scrap places within a few minutes drive of me and most are weigh scale drive through and drop off then reweigh. Careful at some of them as they tend to attract criminals and substance users... The only one I find good stuff to buy is one that buys lots of stuff from Lockheed. Everything from new hardware(with the JSF logo) to cutters chunks of aluminum and hydraulic test benches.
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(10-07-2020, 01:20 PM)Robert Adams Wrote: I would assume... If it were me doing it I would have a facility where I sorted through to get the scrap metal out and anything that has a value. It is amazing how much perfectly good stuff gets tossed in the trash.
Scrap value of steel is a penny a pound, Aluminum is from 30-45 cents depending on what it is and #1 bright copper is $2 (that means perfect copper no corrosion and no coatings). All those prices are down from where they were a year ago. What actually has the best value per pound is computers. CPUs and memory bring a decent amount per pound and so do motherboards but you have to have enough for the scrap places to even buy it. There are easily 10 scrap places within a few minutes drive of me and most are weigh scale drive through and drop off then reweigh. Careful at some of them as they tend to attract criminals and substance users... The only one I find good stuff to buy is one that buys lots of stuff from Lockheed. Everything from new hardware(with the JSF logo) to cutters chunks of aluminum and hydraulic test benches.
I would think that they have buyers who attend flea markets. I have never seen "wholesalers" of used furniture and goods, so I don't know if they supply that market. It would seem like a natural for them to have a few flea marketers as customers.
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Timely thread. I have two old TVs - a floor standing 55" rear projection TV and a 35" old school tube TV that weighs too much for me to manhandle solo. Been considering GotJunk, but I'll take heed of the advice given here and may look for other options.
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I managed to get rid of a 32 inch tube TV back when Best Buy was taking them in if you bought a new TV from them. Don't know if they do that anymore.
The last CRT that we had was a 26 inch RCA; had to pay $35 dollars at the local county recycling center for them to take it. They charged by the pound.
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I dismantled my old CRT TV. The outer case was plastic and I cut it up into small pieces. I put the tube in a plastic bag and then a second bag and hit it with a hammer. I found out later that I should not have done that.
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Best Buy will allow you to "recycle" up to 3 items per day. They don't check your ID so no problem.
This is California of course so your local Best Buy may be different. I've taken in 22" professional printers and they didn't bat an eye. In Cali you pay a recycling fee of about $8.00 on computers TV's etc so I imagine that is where there is funds to pay places to be a collection point.
HTH
