Recycling Apple Computers : 4 Killer Ways to More Profit

Even in the world of escrap, the Mac vs PC battle rages on. While working in the electronics recycling industry, it won’t be uncommon to come across Apple laptops, desktops, phones, tablets, and other gear. Even though there aren’t nearly as many Apple users as PC users, there are still thousand of Apple computers that are recycled each year. The steps for recycling Apple products are mostly the same as scrapping any other brand of electronics. However, there are a few small differences to pay attention to in order to maximize profits.

Beware of (Many) Used Apple Buyers

There are dozens of companies advertised online that will buy your Apple computers or mobile devices for quick cash. The process is pretty simple – you contact them telling you what you have for sale, and they will give you an offer and send you a (sometimes prepaid) shipping label so you can send the products to them. It’s an easy process for almost instant cash. This type of service may work well for an individual with only one or two products to sell and little time or computer knowledge. However, the speed and convenience usually isn’t worth it for those with larger amount of products. These companies usually offer very little money in exchange for what you’re giving them. After all, they have to make a profit as well. With larger amounts of product to sell, it usually pays to put in a little more time and effort selling them yourself on an e-commerce website like eBay.

As always, there are exceptions to this rule. You may find some of these companies that are willing to shell out pretty high profits. In those cases, like most aspects of business, it is a matter of comparing what you might make selling the items on your own with the prices the company is offering (and the value of your time).

Decide On The Whole or The Parts

When it comes to Apple products, a broken item you do absolutely nothing to can sometimes fetch a surprising amount of money on eBay or other ecommerce sites. There are many consumers who, as a hobby, buy old and broken Apple computers, tablets, phones, laptops, and other items to refurbish themselves at home. This is often the best case scenario, because you can fetch a good profit without having to put the time and effort into dismantling an item for scrap.

However, there are plenty of cases where you might want to dismantle an Apple computer and sell the parts. Sometimes the parts, particularly in very old or very new items, can be worth more than selling the item as a whole. Tools like eBay’s “completed sales” view can paint a good picture of which strategy is better for your specific situation. In these situations, you may find it worth your time to dismantle the computer and sell or scrap the parts individually as a single part can sometimes be worth more than the entire computer it came from. In other words, sometimes the whole is worth less than the sum of its parts.

Be On The Lookout For Old Apple Gear

If you received a large load of Apple computers to recycle in a short amount of time, it might not be possible to assess the value of every single item individually. A task like that would require time, energy, and manpower to complete properly. However, there are many vintage Apple desktops, laptops, and other Apple “antiques” that will be worth quite a bit of money. Before scrapping or recycling Apple items, try to determine the value of some of the older models. What looks like a dusty broken computer may actually be a rare item worth quite a bit of money.

Check Your Computer’s CPU

Some Apple desktop computers have different processors than other computers. Some scrap buyers will pay different prices for these types of CPUs than for others. Check with your scrap buyer for more details on Apple CPUs. This could affect how you sort the processors that you pull out of your Apple computers.

There are many different steps to consider when scrapping your Apple computers. Always keep in mind that Apple has a cult following, and even broken and extremely old and outdated computers can be quite desirable to collectors. If you have any other questions about Apple computers you may be trying to recycle, please feel free to contact us or get a quote. We’ll be happy to walk you through the process and help you maximize your escrap profits.