Salvage Lumber Success in Petaluma: $700,000 in three years
12/17/2009 There's big money in salvage lumber. This fellows success reminds me of how well I did in the deconstruction business. I often found that when I tore down an old building or structure - that I usually got for free or was paid to tear down - I would have all or most of the material sold before it ever hit the ground. I'll be including more about my experience in deconstruction and building material salvage in upcoming realeases of my Gold from Electronic, Telecommunication & Computer Scrap: Experiences from the Field. Please check my Deconstruction, Recycling and Reusing Lumber and Building Materials pages for more articles and inspiration.
Read about making $700,000 in three years in the salvage lumber business
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
How to Calculate the Value of Scrap Gold
How to Calculate the Value of Scrap Gold
If you have any scrap gold, you can sell it, but for how much? Gold prices tend to rise along with worries of war or inflation but before you bring gold jewelry, dental fillings, teeth, nuggets, and bars to a scrap gold dealer's counter (or send it off by mail) you should know exactly what it's worth. Most scrap gold dealers keep the calculation a secret. Here is their formula.
Steps
1. Separate your scrap gold into their various karat fineness (i.e. 10k, 14k or 18k). You may need a magnifying glass to see the number inscribed on the piece. If not, you may need to have the gold tested by a reputable dealer. There's also the possibility that some of the gold is actually just gold-plated, which a dealer would determine with certainty by using a chemical test. If you're uncertain, read up on How to Tell if Gold Is Real.
* If you have any gold coins, they may have a numismatic (coin) value above their metal value, based on age, rarity, and condition. Take it to a coin dealer; you may be able to get more money that way.
* Other sources for small amounts of scrap gold include: old cell phones, computer motherboards and other scrap electronic circuit boards.
Read Entire Article
If you have any scrap gold, you can sell it, but for how much? Gold prices tend to rise along with worries of war or inflation but before you bring gold jewelry, dental fillings, teeth, nuggets, and bars to a scrap gold dealer's counter (or send it off by mail) you should know exactly what it's worth. Most scrap gold dealers keep the calculation a secret. Here is their formula.
Steps
1. Separate your scrap gold into their various karat fineness (i.e. 10k, 14k or 18k). You may need a magnifying glass to see the number inscribed on the piece. If not, you may need to have the gold tested by a reputable dealer. There's also the possibility that some of the gold is actually just gold-plated, which a dealer would determine with certainty by using a chemical test. If you're uncertain, read up on How to Tell if Gold Is Real.
* If you have any gold coins, they may have a numismatic (coin) value above their metal value, based on age, rarity, and condition. Take it to a coin dealer; you may be able to get more money that way.
* Other sources for small amounts of scrap gold include: old cell phones, computer motherboards and other scrap electronic circuit boards.
Read Entire Article
Deconstructing for dollars: Recycling building materials can mean more than simply salvaging light fixtures
Deconstructing for dollars: Recycling building materials can mean more than simply salvaging light fixtures
Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle) - by Brad Broberg Contributing Writer
To Thomas Nielsen, an old 2-by-4 is a terrible thing to waste -- or even recycle.
So when workers begin removing hundreds of timeworn public housing units to prepare for redeveloping the High Point community in West Seattle, Nielsen hopes to dismantle -- not destroy -- as many buildings as possible.
"No one's really tried it at this scale before," says Nielsen a project manager with the Seattle Housing Authority.
The process is called deconstruction. And while selective salvaging and/or recycling have long been part of the demolition process, total deconstruction is the latest -- and greenest -- way to go.
"The essence of deconstruction is to extract the embodied energy of all of the materials you encounter through the course of a demolition project," says Jim Primdahl, a deconstruction consultant from Portland.
Read Entire Article
$1.2 Billion Reasons to Recycle Old Computers
This is a very nice inspirational article - $1.2 Billion Reasons to Recycle Old Computers. Enjoy.
BTW, part 4 of Gold from Electronic, Telecommunication & Computer Scrap should be ready in a day or two. Thanks.
BTW, part 4 of Gold from Electronic, Telecommunication & Computer Scrap should be ready in a day or two. Thanks.
USGS Report: Obsolete Computers, "Gold Mine," or High-Tech Trash? Resource Recovery from Recycling
USGS Report: Obsolete Computers, "Gold Mine," or High-Tech Trash?
Resource Recovery from Recycling is available for free download. An excellent resource.
Resource Recovery from Recycling is available for free download. An excellent resource.
Gold from Electronic, Telecommunication & Computer Scrap is FREE
Hello - I've gotten a few emails asking when my Gold from Electronic, Telecommunication & Computer Scrap manual would be ready to purchase. Just wanted to say again, in case it isn't clear on RecyclingSecrets.com, that I'm releasing the manual in installments as I write them and they are free - no charge or cost whatsoever. The first three installments of Gold from Electronic, Telecommunication & Computer Scrap are available now. Many more installments to come so check back often. Thanks.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Free Guide For Setting Up an Electronics Recycling Business
Here's a free guide from the Northeast Recycling Council. Download the guide to setting up an electronics recycling business here.
Videos About Recovering Gold From Electronic and Computer Scrap
I've added several videos about recovering gold and silver from electronic and computer scrap. Click here to view the gold recovery videos.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Gold from Electronic, Telecommunication & Computer Scrap: Part 3 - Getting Equipment, Finding Markets
09/10/09
Mike Meuser
RecyclingSecrets.com
This is the 3rd in an ongoing series of articles about my experience in the electronic salvage, recycling and gold recovery business. New installments, resources, how-to articles and news can be found at RecyclingSecrets.com
In the last post I talked about looking at the material and bringing back some samples so I could begin to develop a market for the salvage - note that selling for reuse almost always brings in more revenue than recycling for the metal value.
In this post I'll talk a bit about getting equipment and marketing.
Once I saw the material, I knew that I needed a real truck. I had brought back quite a few large batteries. Each 2 volt cell weighed approximately 500 pounds and was about a foot square and 2 feet tall. I lived in a rural area where a lot of folks ran alternative energy systems so I put an ad in the local free advertising paper looking to sell the batteries or trade for a large flatbed truck.
I got a response almost immediately. A fellow had a nice old GMC 5 ton flatbed. It didn't run well, but he was willing to trade it for a set of batteries. Recall that I bid so low on the batteries that I hoped that i wouldn't get them - well, I'm sure glad I did - they turned out to be a "goldmine." It took about $200 to get the truck running well and I thought, "now I'm in business."
I thought I could rent a forklift in Nevada and along with the truck, haul all the stuff back to California. NOT! Turned out the only forklift was a giant weighing 14,000 pounds and was 150 miles away. It took me 5 hours to haul it all the way to the station and 7 hours to get it back once I was loaded. Not good.
So... my next task was to get a forklift. That first load with the 5 ton truck was almost entirely batteries - 10 sets in all--- continued at recyclingsecrets.com
More to come. New articles will be listed at RecyclingSecrets.com (news, tools, and resources are also available here) and also at the Recycling Secrets Blog.
Mike Meuser
RecyclingSecrets.com
This is the 3rd in an ongoing series of articles about my experience in the electronic salvage, recycling and gold recovery business. New installments, resources, how-to articles and news can be found at RecyclingSecrets.com
In the last post I talked about looking at the material and bringing back some samples so I could begin to develop a market for the salvage - note that selling for reuse almost always brings in more revenue than recycling for the metal value.
In this post I'll talk a bit about getting equipment and marketing.
Once I saw the material, I knew that I needed a real truck. I had brought back quite a few large batteries. Each 2 volt cell weighed approximately 500 pounds and was about a foot square and 2 feet tall. I lived in a rural area where a lot of folks ran alternative energy systems so I put an ad in the local free advertising paper looking to sell the batteries or trade for a large flatbed truck.
I got a response almost immediately. A fellow had a nice old GMC 5 ton flatbed. It didn't run well, but he was willing to trade it for a set of batteries. Recall that I bid so low on the batteries that I hoped that i wouldn't get them - well, I'm sure glad I did - they turned out to be a "goldmine." It took about $200 to get the truck running well and I thought, "now I'm in business."
I thought I could rent a forklift in Nevada and along with the truck, haul all the stuff back to California. NOT! Turned out the only forklift was a giant weighing 14,000 pounds and was 150 miles away. It took me 5 hours to haul it all the way to the station and 7 hours to get it back once I was loaded. Not good.
So... my next task was to get a forklift. That first load with the 5 ton truck was almost entirely batteries - 10 sets in all--- continued at recyclingsecrets.com
More to come. New articles will be listed at RecyclingSecrets.com (news, tools, and resources are also available here) and also at the Recycling Secrets Blog.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Gold from Electronic, Telecommunication & Computer Scrap Part 2: Winning the Contract
Gold from Electronic, Telecommunication & Computer Scrap Part 2: Winning the Contract
07/05/2009
RecyclingSecrets.com
by Michael Meuser
This is the 2nd in an ongoing series of articles about my experience in the electronic salvage, recycling and gold recovery business. New installments, resources, how-to articles and news can be found at RecyclingSecrets.com
In my last post I began the story of how I got into the electronics, telecommunications and computer recycling / gold recovery business. I'll tell you a bit more about it here.
This seeming very small "tip" I got from the telecommunication workers turned out to be a virtual gold mine for me and my family.
Up until the time I met these guys, all of their scrap from upgrades and repairs to telecommunication microwave repeater stations in Nevada went into the local landfills. But, because of the upgrade across the state from tube type repeater radios to solid state, the amount of scrap was just too much to handle in this manner.
They told me that they thought the scrap was going up for bid and that I should contact the local office about it. I first, though, wanted to know what it was that I was bidding on. So, I went to the local office, told them of my intentions and they gave me a key to a repeater station and told me to take notes, samples, talk to workers - in short do whatever it took to make a reasonable bid that I could live with.
I headed to Nevada with my very used dodge van. I brought back samples of microwave tubing (beautiful pure copper rectangular tubing with brass flanges), large batteries for their backup power, gold plated attentuators, connectors and the like and many many photos of gigantic steel racks, radios racks of extruded aluminum, etc. etc.
Turns out that the company just wanted a flat per pound bid for everything but the batteries and then a separate bid for the batteries. Batteries at the time were very low in value and, in fact, becoming hard to find anyone who would take them for scrap at all. I asked if I could just bid on everything else and leave the batteries behind and was told no - it was all or nothing.
I was also told that I would probably be the only contractor to bid - they clearly were not interested in the revenue, they just wanted the stuff out of there.
I bid only 1 cent per pound on the batteries and just a few cents on the rest. I was awarded the contract. I still remember the local office guy saying, "are you sure you can handle this?" and me saying, "sure, no problem at all."
When I got into my van and drove back --- continued at recyclingsecrets.com
More to come. New articles will be listed at RecyclingSecrets.com (news, tools, and resources are also available here) and also at the Recycling Secrets Blog.
07/05/2009
RecyclingSecrets.com
by Michael Meuser
This is the 2nd in an ongoing series of articles about my experience in the electronic salvage, recycling and gold recovery business. New installments, resources, how-to articles and news can be found at RecyclingSecrets.com
In my last post I began the story of how I got into the electronics, telecommunications and computer recycling / gold recovery business. I'll tell you a bit more about it here.
This seeming very small "tip" I got from the telecommunication workers turned out to be a virtual gold mine for me and my family.
Up until the time I met these guys, all of their scrap from upgrades and repairs to telecommunication microwave repeater stations in Nevada went into the local landfills. But, because of the upgrade across the state from tube type repeater radios to solid state, the amount of scrap was just too much to handle in this manner.
They told me that they thought the scrap was going up for bid and that I should contact the local office about it. I first, though, wanted to know what it was that I was bidding on. So, I went to the local office, told them of my intentions and they gave me a key to a repeater station and told me to take notes, samples, talk to workers - in short do whatever it took to make a reasonable bid that I could live with.
I headed to Nevada with my very used dodge van. I brought back samples of microwave tubing (beautiful pure copper rectangular tubing with brass flanges), large batteries for their backup power, gold plated attentuators, connectors and the like and many many photos of gigantic steel racks, radios racks of extruded aluminum, etc. etc.
Turns out that the company just wanted a flat per pound bid for everything but the batteries and then a separate bid for the batteries. Batteries at the time were very low in value and, in fact, becoming hard to find anyone who would take them for scrap at all. I asked if I could just bid on everything else and leave the batteries behind and was told no - it was all or nothing.
I was also told that I would probably be the only contractor to bid - they clearly were not interested in the revenue, they just wanted the stuff out of there.
I bid only 1 cent per pound on the batteries and just a few cents on the rest. I was awarded the contract. I still remember the local office guy saying, "are you sure you can handle this?" and me saying, "sure, no problem at all."
When I got into my van and drove back --- continued at recyclingsecrets.com
More to come. New articles will be listed at RecyclingSecrets.com (news, tools, and resources are also available here) and also at the Recycling Secrets Blog.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Gold from Electronic, Telecommunication & Computer Scrap Part 1: To find the "gold" keep your eyes and ears open
Gold from Electronic, Telecommunication & Computer Scrap Part 1: To find the "gold" keep your eyes and ears open
06/29/2009
Right Place at the Right time:
To find the "gold" keep your eyes and ears open.
RecyclingSecrets.com
by Michael Meuser
This is the first in an ongoing series of articles about my experience in the electronic salvage, recycling and gold recovery business. This short first article is about the the importance of not only being in the right place at the right time, but also keeping your eyes and ears open. New installments, resources, how-to articles and news can be found at RecyclingSecrets.com
In the early 1980s I happened upon a little booklet entitled, Surplus & Salvage - the 20 to 30 pages I read changed my life forever. I went to work right away doing building deconstruction, rural salvage of all sorts, metals recycling and the like. Soon I was presented with the opportunity to enter the electronic surplus recycling and gold recovery fields. This is how I entered into this business.
During my workdays I frequented a nearby rural coffee shop in California's Mother Lode region. A lot of the guys in there were getting coffee before they were going off to work for a major telecommunications company. This was the time of their breakup during the 1980s. I got to know these guys and one fellow, in particular, told me that they were converting all of the long distant microwave repeater stations radios from tube type to solid state.
He said that there were tons and tons of scrap aluminum, copper, gold plated items, batteries, racks ... on and on and on ... at each station and that there were 18 stations that needed this scrap hauled away.
Up to this point of this major changeover from tubes to solid state, the smaller amounts of scrap ended up in local landfills, but this was way too much to dispose of in this manner.
The short of it is that starting with a broken down dodge van, I was able to bootstrap myself into a position where I owned my own large flatbed truck and fork lift, was able to hire semi trucks to haul the scrap to a yard in --- continued at recyclingsecrets.com
More to come. New articles will be listed at RecyclingSecrets.com (news, tools, and resources are also available here) and also at the Recycling Secrets Blog.
06/29/2009
Right Place at the Right time:
To find the "gold" keep your eyes and ears open.
RecyclingSecrets.com
by Michael Meuser
This is the first in an ongoing series of articles about my experience in the electronic salvage, recycling and gold recovery business. This short first article is about the the importance of not only being in the right place at the right time, but also keeping your eyes and ears open. New installments, resources, how-to articles and news can be found at RecyclingSecrets.com
In the early 1980s I happened upon a little booklet entitled, Surplus & Salvage - the 20 to 30 pages I read changed my life forever. I went to work right away doing building deconstruction, rural salvage of all sorts, metals recycling and the like. Soon I was presented with the opportunity to enter the electronic surplus recycling and gold recovery fields. This is how I entered into this business.
During my workdays I frequented a nearby rural coffee shop in California's Mother Lode region. A lot of the guys in there were getting coffee before they were going off to work for a major telecommunications company. This was the time of their breakup during the 1980s. I got to know these guys and one fellow, in particular, told me that they were converting all of the long distant microwave repeater stations radios from tube type to solid state.
He said that there were tons and tons of scrap aluminum, copper, gold plated items, batteries, racks ... on and on and on ... at each station and that there were 18 stations that needed this scrap hauled away.
Up to this point of this major changeover from tubes to solid state, the smaller amounts of scrap ended up in local landfills, but this was way too much to dispose of in this manner.
The short of it is that starting with a broken down dodge van, I was able to bootstrap myself into a position where I owned my own large flatbed truck and fork lift, was able to hire semi trucks to haul the scrap to a yard in --- continued at recyclingsecrets.com
More to come. New articles will be listed at RecyclingSecrets.com (news, tools, and resources are also available here) and also at the Recycling Secrets Blog.
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