As a witnessing/consulting representative, I get asked this question most often. "What is the difference between selling my electronic scrap, and processing it for the precious metal value?"

There are many differences depending on where you fit in the scrap food chain. Lets go over the methods of getting rid of your scrap parts, selling vs. processing, then you can make an informed judgment on you own material.

The Pros of selling scrap material outright

I. There is less hassle with selling.

  1. You don't need to watch the material being processed at a refinery.
  2. You don't need to find a lab to assay your material.
  3. No assay/lab cost.
  4. There is no hassle over refining cost.
  5. Weight doesn't matter, you don't need to worry about how much weight you have for processing at a refinery, you just sell what you have.
  6. You get paid quickly for your material. You don't have to wait for the processing and assaying time.

II. You might get a better price for the material by selling, because someonemay over bid or have a need for it.

  1. No matter how much material you have people will access it differently at different values.
  2. Some may have a better way to process or resell your material. Theymay know someone that has a specific need for that type of material.


The Cons of selling vs. processing

I. If you need destruction of proprietary material, and you don't want your product on the gray market, then selling is not the way to go.

  1. If you sell your scrapped out material, even if you are guaranteed destruction, you will never really know where it will wined up without the material being witnessed.

II. What about the money problems that come along with selling?

  1. Will you get paid?
  2. Credit worries, will the person or company that is buying your material have enough money to pay you if they win the bid?
  3. There is the flip side to selling or bidding. You may only receivehalf, or less than half, of the value for your material. Most people I knowwill only bid or pay half of what they think the value is. The reason for thisis simple, risk. They are taking all the risk so they will usually bid or buy low, it only makes sense.


The Pros of processing
There are many advantages to processing your material as apposed to selling it.

I. If you have a legitimate refinery, that can do the work properly, you willknow exactly how much your material value is, after processing.

  1. You will have a better feel for the value or worth of your scrapmaterial.
  2. You won't have any money worries regarding weather you will get paidbecause you will know the exact value. Assuming you know the refineryyour processing at.
  3. No worries about under bidding or wondering if you got worked over, because you saw it being processed for its precious metal value.

II. All the legal matters you would have to worry about with selling or bidding does not exist with processing.
You don't have to worry about destruction and certificates ofdestruction. When you watch your material being processed at a refinery, part of theprocessing of scrap material is destruction.
When it's processed, you don't have to worry about someone resellingit as good parts to someone else.
If you are a large to medium size manufacturer, you will want to bea good neighbor, and recycle your material properly.
You won't be competing with your own company, because you will haveseen the material being processed, destroyed, and recycled. This guaranteesthat your material will not be resold as good product, and will never bereturned to you for repair or refund.
Liability for parts that were suppose to be destroyed and thenresurface doesn't happen, since you witnessed the destruction of your material.

The cons of refining your material.
Most of the disadvantages to refining your material, is covered in the prosection of selling it, covered above.
1. You have to do some homework or extra work if you are going to refine anddestroy your material.
A. You have to check out the refinery in person.
B. You must do a background check to make sure they are legitimate.
C. Are they financially sound, can they pay?
D. Can they do the work? Processing, destroying, and sampling.
E. All the time it takes to do all of the above must be taken intoconsideration when making your decision.

2. You may not always get the best price for your material.
A. Someone could under bid or pay you less than it's value.
B. Again the time it takes to process, costs you your time in money.
C. Shipping costs to a refinery may be a factor.
D. Waiting for payment can take a while if you process.

In the final analysis, you must decide what is best for you and your company.Where do you fit in the food chain of scrap material?


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