When a computer becomes outdated or permanently damaged, most people are concerned with how to get rid of the junk. The good ones out of those people think about recycling computer junk to keep the environment safe. However, few people consider dismantling the computer and selling the scrap. If you’re one of those few, you’ve come to the right place.
You can sell our computer scrap to scrap yards in your locality. If you want to make money while saving the environment, you can also sell your computer scrap to a recycling plant that offers a reward. Alternatively, you can sell your computer scrap on online stores like eBay and Alibaba.
As you’ll find out later in this article, not all components of your computer are valuable as scrap. Some parts are worthless and should be recycled safely. This article will help you identify the parts of your computer that are valuable as scrap and where you can sell these components.
What Parts of a Computer Are Valuable As Scrap?
It may come as a surprise, but even scrapyards don’t accept every junk you find when you dismantle a computer. If the computer has some working parts, you may be able to sell them to repair shops where they can make use of computer spare parts.
However, if you intend to dismantle the computer and find valuable material, you should know that only some components are valuable as scrap. A couple of decades ago, computers were valuable in the scrap industry because you could find several precious metals like gold, silver, and titanium when you dismantled them.
However, modern computers are now built with less expensive materials like copper and aluminum. Laptops are even less valuable to scrapyards because you won’t find as many precious metals when dismantling them.
You can find the following precious metals in your computer components.
Gold
This is the most valuable precious metal you can find while scrapping computers. Older computers have more gold in their internal components than modern computers because the manufacturers now try to replace the gold with less expensive material.
You can find gold materials on your CPU chips, printed circuit boards, motherboard, hard drive, and RAM boards.
Silver
This is rare in older computers and almost impossible to find in modern computers. However, if your computer is old enough, there is no harm in trying to find silver in its components. If you’re lucky, you’ll find silver in the circuit boards, keyboard membranes, and computer chips.
Platinum
This is as rare as silver; you may only find it in older computers. They are usually found in the components of the circuit board and the hard drive.
Copper and Aluminum
Both metals are sought after in the scrap metal industry. You can find copper in computer wires, the back of your CPU chip, and your power supply unit, while aluminum can be found in your computer frame, heat sinks, and hard drive case.
Other metals you can find in your computer include steel, cobalt, zinc, tin, etc. The best thing you can do is to locate a scrapyard in your locality and find out the parts of your computer that they are willing to buy as scrap.
Where Can You Sell Your Computer Scrap?
Selling computer scrap is a win-win-win activity. As the owner, you get rid of your junk and make money off it. As a buyer, you can reuse precious metal from the computer scrap instead of spending significantly more on getting the equivalent metal through mining and extraction. The environment also wins because the computer scrap is recycled for other uses.
You can sell your computer scrap in the following places.
Scrap Yards in Your Locality
This is the most convenient place to sell your computer scrap, and there is less risk of being conned. Find a scrap yard in your locality and confirm the prices for computer scrap. You will be paid more for your computer scrap if you can separate the metals in your computer from the non-metals before taking it to the scrap yard.
The whole computer might look like junk, but the internal components usually contain valuable metal that scrap yards will love to have. If you can dismantle the computer and separate the valuable scrap before taking them in, you will be able to charge more for your scrap.
Online Marketplaces
Selling your computer scrap online will guarantee more money than a scrap yard, but the risk is significantly higher. The popular websites where you can sell computer scrap include eBay, Alibaba, Scrapmetalbuyers.com, webuyuseditequipment.net, etc.
Gold Recovery
If you can extract enough gold from your computer, you can sell the gold to local jewelers, pawn shops, gold buyers, or precious metal dealers. You can also sell it online to gold dealers for more money.
Recycling Plants
Several recycling plants pay money to take your computer scrap and keep the environment safe. They also help you destroy the computer waste that cannot be recycled.
Is Gold Recovery Worth It?
There are only two reasons you should try extracting gold from your computer. The first reason is to make money, while the second is to have fun conducting a science experiment. But since this article is focused on making money from computer scrap, we can rule out the second reason.
As for the first, we can tell you there is only about $12 worth of gold in the average desktop computer. The process of extracting gold from a computer is time-consuming and requires some expertise on the subject. It is not some get-rich-quick scheme. It won’t make you rich even if you are patient.
Gold recovery from your computer is not worth it if you’re working on a few computers. But if you have dozens of computers, you can make enough money to offset your cost of materials, time, and effort.
Final Words
Computer scrap might not be appealing to you as a user, but there are lots of people who will pay good money for it. We’ve done our part by providing you with several options.
