mainframes and other stuff

[jwsmobile]

On 11/21/2014 2:55 PM, Ali wrote:
>> It might seem like that, but the scrappers are probably getting in 40
>> or 50' trailers full of stuff, so they don't have time to admire
>> anything that can just be handled like any other bulk scrap.  He is
>> probably paying dearly for the space he operates in, so every 4 x 5'
>> space he wasted storing something so we can do the old soft shoe and
>> low ball him is a lot of space he can't store crap to sort, to get the
>> trailers empty for the next.
>   
>
> Jim,
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> I am not sure how what I proposed goes against what you said. There is no need to "admire" but they have to sort if they want to sell to anyone else but the mill (or allow us to pick and paw through their stuff in person or virtually). The seller in the OP is willing to sort. I am proposing a simplification, for example:
>
> We give him a list of brands: IBM, CDC, Sun, SGI, Univac, whatever. If he sees one of these he puts it aside, weighs it or eyeballs the weight, take a picture with a price. The item stays available until the next shipment to the mill, China, or wherever he sends his scraps for processing. Price is firm and relatively fair because it is based on what he would get for it at the mill with a bit of a mark up. As others have pointed out offering anything less than the scrap value is a waste of everyone's time.
My guy was filling two 50' trailers  day in the 80's from incoming 
trucks and scrap runs.  The fact that he saved a data center form 
hallmark was a huge inconvenience.  He had an area about 30 x 30 foot on 
a side full of blue boxes, and due to myself and another guy being 
advisors to him on how to extract more that metal value, he kept it.  
But that was a lot of space.

If you actually extrapolate that to having a number of these things in 
his sort area for several days while he does the dance with us, I agree 
with Will, that they won't do it.  They probably have people who they 
know will pay thousands that they would hold it for, but for what I 
quoted, which is just to double his metal price, it would mess up his shop.
> There is no soft shoe and no back and forth. You see the inventory and you can buy or not. Plus his space is not occupied in hope of a sale since items will be going out on the same schedule as if they were never put on display.
He's going to ask people what they want to do, and it will take a couple 
of days.  I suspect these boxes don't stay intact till the end of the 
shift due to size and bulk
> I am by no means an expert in scrapping and wish as hell there were scrappers that were easily accessible in LA. I'd be there once a week just to see what has come in. However, a sale is a sale no matter the commodity and the adversarial process follows the same basic guidelines and rules.
It is a sale, but the space and time to screw with us is a real 
significant cost he doesn't have right now.  Here in Southern Ca, they 
have maybe 20 guys in one shop I know and in the 50000 sf place I would 
guess 50.  They move stuff immediately, and if they don't know what it 
is  there are people with hammers and sawzalls to deal with breaking it 
into plastic, hi value metals and steel.  The items are stored as confetti.
>   The only reason to ask for specific models, with the buyers offering prices, is to see what has intrinsic value significantly above scrap and to hold on to those items, or to shop them around, for the best profit possible. If the interest is in making money while doing a good deed what I propose achieves that and stays fair to both parties.
>
> Just my two, potentially worthless, cents ;)
Not worthless.  I just am also going by about 40 years of seeing these 
guys, and the have seldom varied.  I really hope this guy can clear a 
space to save stuff and do what is suggested here.  I'm making the point 
that is is more significant to change to save stuff than it is to sort 
into two or so streams and break it up.  The stuff they  save is all 
categorized now, and they can get people to move that stuff off the 
shelves easier than mainframe or minicomputer crap.


> -Ali
>
> p.s. Yes there is a third possibility that he is daily getting 1 or 2 50' containers of Univacs so he would have to put a ton of stuff aside so he is asking for specific models to help him sort. Honestly, though I doubt he has that much stuff of interest coming in daily.
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