Welcome to Boardsort™ - Learn - Sell - Profit -

I realize cd rom boards are more valuable than many other boards. I have 9 or 10 drives sitting around that are still intact. I noticed boardsort buys the whole drives for $0.25 /lb and just the boards for $5.00/lb. I know there is a lot of material in the whole drives that isn't of any value. My question is: should I pull the boards to send or send whole drives? Which is more cost effective?
Thanks

_________________
Pisca

If they work I’d sell them online.
Cd drives can fetch $5-$10 each.
Much more if rare speeds like under 4x or the 50x or 52x

_________________
42 6F 61 72 64 73 6F 72 74 2E 63 6F 6D

Otherwise pull the boards.
Shipping eats up the low value of whole units

_________________
42 6F 61 72 64 73 6F 72 74 2E 63 6F 6D

They are all probably the 50x or 52x honestly. They all came from computers dated 1998-2005. I have tried to sell them in the past online without much luck. I actually have a few of them in their original boxes.

_________________
Pisca

50 and 52 I see usually go for $5-$10 plus shipping, or $10-$20 free shipping .making them the higher end of the >8x drives

It’s the slow ones that get major dollars. True IDE and SCSI both can do into the 50 range or higher. ATA is less expensive but ebay is full of sold 4x ATA drives at better than $20

_________________
42 6F 61 72 64 73 6F 72 74 2E 63 6F 6D

Agreed. Maximum value here is to keep IDE/SCSI drives, really anything non-SATA. Beige/Grey bezels being preferred by most. Of course you should test them for functionality, but I probably ship 2 or 3 of these a day to enthusiasts for older builds.
Ebay is good, but if you can join a user group for vintage computers, especially if you have constant stock of good material (this is what we specialize in) you can move them easier and for a bit more (and without fees). Not just CD drives, common things like 3.5" drives, ribbon cabling, the occasional 5.25", media; all things people want/need and are fairly easy to ship.

Reminder:

IDE is NOT ATA
Despite the term being used as such.

Actual IDE cd drives are worth a LOT of money. Back in February I sold a drive for $120.
IDE over MCA cards are common for retro kit.
Boot classic Linux and Unix on live CD.
Or track down 35Live if you are daring, there’s copyright issues with Win NT

_________________
42 6F 61 72 64 73 6F 72 74 2E 63 6F 6D

I don't mess with eBay anymore. All the drives work. I pulled them from working computers. I just needed storage space and it's easier to store boards/drives instead of whole systems.

I am in a couple vintage computer groups on Facebook. Nobody seems interested in anything when I post. Only thing I ever sold there was an old Tandy that was still fully functional with all original boxes and manuals.

_________________
Pisca