People don't often fix computers any more, most just replace them. This can open open a door to making money with ease. Computer parts Recycling can can make you extra cash with little to no overhead!
Step 1
Recycling computers is pretty easy and can be done in your free time. the money is generally cash and there should be no taxes so it's like a unreported income.
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Your first step is to get the old computers. If your savvy with computers then you can make even more money. After you collect them, if you can diagnose them do so. Striping computers for parts will allow you to combine parts and make several working computers. You can then either ebay them or ask around, sell them inexpensive enough and people should buy them so their kids have a learning computer and so on. Sometimes putting up small ads on a community board may lead to some sales also.
Step 2
Another way to make some cash is to look around online, There are some scrap dealers that pay for the internals. You can try local computer stores also, sometimes they may have leads on selling used computers. Problem with that is you may sell the unit and get a lot less than if you sold the pieces or fixed it and sold it. I have never gone that route but you can try it.
I normally like to ebay the other parts. Memory cards that retail for $ 30 plus might sell a lot cheaper on ebay but, if you make only a few dollars your ahead of the game. Remember a few computers, with a few parts, for a few dollars can add up fast.
Step 3
Ok se we fixed what we could and are selling them. We started to ebay the parts we can as well.
I have actually bought some parts and fixed computers also. Some times I had a pc that I just had no parts for so I looked on a pricing search engine for the parts I needed at a good price. I used Pricewatch.com but you can use what ever you find works. After you find some low priced parts you can make the repairs so you can sell it as a working unit.
Step 4
Another method is to recycle parts. I had a large number of old hard drives that were no longer working. The cases were aluminum. I striped the steel covers and removed the ribbon cables, printed circuit boards, platters, and heads. I then took the left over steel and aluminum back to a scrap yard and recycled the metal and made a few dollars that way also.
There's several ways to recycle computers and make some cash while you do it, the more you do it the more ways you will find to make more dollars for the work you do.
Tip
When you sell your computers you want to make sure that you get exposure like advertising so you don't sit on the computers very long. When you ebay your parts be wise with the selling process. You don't want to elect a bunch of options and wind up with a $10 insertion fee and the part only sell for $5. Make sure to keep your overhead down so the profit stays up.
Things You'll Need
screw drivers
access to ebay
phone book or access to yellowpages.com
Warning
When you handle or ship parts make sure that you observe precautions for static electricity and so on. You don't want to ship out damaged parts or deliver a non working computer.