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Hey everyone,

I'm pretty new here and got into the scrap circuit board game through the recycling company I work at. I've gotten familiar with the different grades by looking at boards we have in our warehouse combined with some content I've looked at on here, but I'm stuck as to where to source them.

Do you buy from other recyclers, go to scrap yards/waste facilities, or what's the secret sauce?

Many users here are just one time sellers. They have some scrap and they sell it off.

Some are scrap companies or tech companies.

Others are scrappers, they pick up what they see of value that's been tossed.

Some pay for scrap, but outside of a dedicated business setting that’s often risky without experience.
For a while I set up bins at local companies to collect tech trash and also did collections at local homes and businesses.

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I post on Craigslist and freecycle that I recycle electronics, with some restrictions, and I also have built relationships with scrap yards that don't want to mess with escrap themselves and I usually pay them for it. I also have a business I get stuff for free from about once a month, another guy was doing that for them but needed to stop.

Most of that has developed over time and from being conversational. For instance, taking a load of scrap to a yard and ask if they also take escrap, and guage their response. If they say no, did they say it with regret, like they have a trailer full of random scrap? If they say yes then ask for prices. You're already on Boardsort, so you have a general idea on price ranges. If they're rock bottom, they may not have a buyer, tell them you recycle escrap and if they're interested you would be happy to talk to them more and offer to leave your name and number.

Keep an eye out for other people who repair/scrap/upcycle too, maybe you get stuff that you prefer not to deal with but they want. Tell them you have it and how often you might have more. Over time you may be able to get stuff from them.

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Here to learn more so I can recycle more
My grades are my own opinion and not an official grade from Boardsort

I have been doing self storage auctions for nine years and have an online auction company. I was recently made aware of scrapping chip boards by a customer. I get literally tons of scrap metal from storage units and there is always electronics and computers in them. I am having trouble identifying what a high grade board is. Low and mid are pretty easy.

For me I go out digging in dumpsters, know your local laws, some places the trash on the side of the road belongs to the town/trash man. I go out early on trash day and grab anything with a power cable. I also fix old stuff for people sometimes and scrap the broken parts. I also like playing around with old computers and don't want to bother selling parts, eBay banned me years ago for getting scammed by buyers to many times, PayPal soon fallowed, I tried making new accounts but that only resulted in them stealing my money so selling online is a no go. Craigslist is mostly dead where I live too, had a few older Quantum3D Obsidian cards on it for years for around 15-50$ a pop and one one taker.
Funny thing is eBay still lets me buy... yeah go figure. So with all the scammers out there in the old/retro PC space its better for me to just scrap the stuff.

Where are you located? I am sure if one of the members is local to you they can assist.

I am still learning as well but I would definitely try and help out.

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Learning to grade or grading to learn.

If the trash is on the public right of way (front yard or driveway of a house) it’s public access. That’s a SCOTUS ruling.
Same goes for a dumpster without a gate.

You can’t enter private property. You need permits from the property owner for apartment complexes, shared access communities, and private road communities.

Though it’s good to verify local laws that may violate SCOTUS. Sometimes it’s not worth fighting a local municipality over their laws. Sometimes it is. That’s up to you. And your lawyer. ;)

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wile true, the trash cans can belong to the trash company/town and there can be civil contacts that forbid driving, that's how a local trash company here gets away with not allowing dumpster diving. that and recycling bins make the waters even more muddy.

Yep. My township specifically told me anything located "inside" the waste management trash cans is owned by the waste company. We are not allowed to remove anything from said cans. Now if there is something too big and put "outside" or "on top" then they are fair game items.

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Learning to grade or grading to learn.

Yes the bins are owned by the company.

When dealing with dumpsters, they (waste companies) don’t want you pulling from sorted recycling bins.
According to board level reply’s, Brothers ‘s LTD, LRS, Waste Management, Flood Brothers’, and Arc: have at the trash dumpsters all you want. It costs them less to dispose of less.

Never touch a recycling bin no matter where it is, unless you own the bin.

Wheel bins are owned by the waste company and are rented by the village and supplied to residents, making digging in them a big legal question mark.
Different from a trash dumpster which is supplied as a part of the volume-based trash price.

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