Cannibalize to make money

[Roadrunner53]

For those of you who have broken electronic stuff, don't throw it out, cannibalize it and sell the parts. My Keurig coffee maker broke last year and I took it apart and sold the container, the filter, and other pieces on ebay. One thing I didn't sell was the body or cord and I probably should have cut off the cord and sold that too. Then I had a drier and took off the power controller and sold that. I did take off the dryer door and tried to sell that but it didn't sell unfortunately. Then I had an old stove that I saved the knobs and sold those. The gas stove had those grates that I took off and sold too. Old door knobs sell too. Before you toss, look at the thing to see what kind of parts are on it. Go to ebay and look those parts up. Do an advanced search and see if something similar has sold. If you have games like Monopoly, those game pieces sell. People also lose parts and want to replace them. I have sold game boards too. Believe it or not, sometimes you can sell the parts for more than you can to sell a whole item as is. For what I got for the parts for my Keurig I paid for more than half of the new machine. I had a set of old Reverware copper bottom pans from 1973 and were my first pots and pans. They were taking up space so I sold them on ebay and they were scooped up fast and I got a lot of money for them! I know of people who go to Thrift stores and buy electric skillets and sell the electric cord with the temperature adjuster. Any of you had luck cannibalizing?

[Yankuba]

I had to buy a knob for my stove and GE wanted $50 or something obscene for a $1 part. I found some other site that sold it to me for less but yes, there is a market for everything if you're patient enough.

I once sold two AOL promotional CD-ROMs for $20 each - I got them for free at a comic convention and they were limited edition and there was a market for them.

[acroy]

Badass! I have done this a little bit. It does take some discipline to manage the time commitment vs payback. And I *hate* have dead stuff around...

[Roadrunner53]

Thank you Acroy for my 'badass'! LOVE IT!

Right now I have a Bose 3 CD player that got zapped and no longer works. It is older and needs to be attached to another Bose receiver to work. I uncoupled it but have no idea how to cannibalize it so I may just sell it 'as is' and advertise it as broken. I know people sell broken ones and they do sell.

[SC93]

Later in life there is a possibility that I might do this with washer/dryer/stove parts. It's on my to do list when I get tired of this business or get too old to get around like I do now.

[MgoSam]

Out of curiosity what has been your return? That's great that you are finding a use for products rather than tossing them.

[SC93]

Just an example for parts that I have, although I don't sell them right now. Washer timer with knob $30-$150. Just regular washer knobs are from $3-$30 each. Dryer fuse is $5. Dryer door handle $5-$10. Dryer feet (4) $7.

But like I've said in the past.... it's hard for me to make $5 on an item when I can put in the same amount of time and make $150. But it could be a good hustle for someone.....

[Roadrunner53]

This would be a perfect opportunity for someone who works for an appliance place who picks up broken appliances for dump runs. Take off all the knobs, timers, cooking grates even broiler pans because most ovens don't come with the broiler pans anymore. I do suggest that model numbers be recorded with the parts to add to the ebay advertisement. That way people who are looking for a particular models parts are assured that they are getting the right one. Also, clean up the knobs and parts so they are not greasy or dirty.

[SC93]

Yes, it would be a great hustle for those that go around picking up the junk ones from the curb too. A Magic Eraser can make those things look LIKE NEW! :)

Lots of free money sitting at the curb waiting to be HAD.

[Roadrunner53]

The next door neighbor kid (21ish) goes to the junk yard and hauls home junk cars and strips them down. He sells a lot and made a horrible mess. His father has a tennis court that they never have used and it is in the front yard. This kid dragged home all kinds of cars and trucks and dismantles them and uses loud power tools and the tennis court looks like a junk yard. It is ILLEGAL to do this in a residential neighborhood but we have known the father for probably 30 years so we bite our tongues. Seems the kid is slowing down on this and has hauled away some of the junk. I am sure his father has blown a few head gaskets. However, I guess if you have the right place to do this you could make a lot of money. I am hoping soon he stops but...have my doubts.

[SC93]

I know it sucks but I look at it as.... better than him and his drug buddies hanging out in the driveway.... might see you leave the house and then go rob your house for drug money. Atleast with the cars you know he is trying to work and probably not on drugs, although ya never know, but still.... the kid is trying....

[Roadrunner53]

Yes, good way to look at the junk man kid. He is a hard worker just wish he'd rent a place where he could do this and store his inventory without junking up his yard which is not good for me some day when I go to sell my house. Plus, he is up and down the driveway day and night with a diesel big ass truck. So much noise over there and my dogs bark their heads off at the noise. One thing after another but at least no drugs.

[Drole]

I pull knobs off stoves at bulky trash times. Great for rentals. 

[Much Fishing to Do]

Right now I have a Bose 3 CD player that got zapped and no longer works. It is older and needs to be attached to another Bose receiver to work. I uncoupled it but have no idea how to cannibalize it so I may just sell it 'as is' and advertise it as broken. I know people sell broken ones and they do sell.

I think that's perfectly done...you are cannibalizing things you know how to and their parts may end up being worth more than the whole....and you are selling whole 'as is' for things you don't know how to cannibalize, so someone who does can, and therefore both ends of the transaction are coming out ahead of where just about anyone else does....

[BTDretire]

My wife picked up a flat screen TV a neighbor had thrown out, thinking I could fix it.
It sat around a few months and I finally plugged it in. Everything worked, BUT, the
front screen was cracked. I noted the stand didn't hold it up and see how it fell over and hit something.
 Someone on a group suggested I sell the boards out of it.
 I pulled out three PCBs and put them on Ebay, I sold all three, but I got one returned.
The one that returned the PCB was a TV shop, I think they used my board to troubleshoot
a customers TV and it didn't fix it. I still think my PCB was good and they had another
problem with the TV. But I lost money on that deal.
 In the end I made about $90.
 BTW, another time she picked up a flat panel TV and it worked perfectly, I ordered a $12 remote
and we have been using it at our business everyday for 1 year 4 months.

[SC93]

I know a flipper guy that bought a few pallets of broken tv's. His intent was to sell them for parts but in the end, it took him like 2 years to sell the tv's as whole to a guy that was going to take them apart and sell the parts. He just never took the time to part them out so he figured someone might as well do it..... now the cycle might go on, we will never know. lol On the bright side he made a good profit. I forget what the total profit was but he just sold them a few weeks ago.

[SC93]

Tonight I was cleaning a washer at my house and noticed it was missing one of the bumper stops on the lid. I keep all the parts at the shop about 3 miles from my house. We usually get them from older machines but I was curious if I could buy them in bulk just because I like having lots of extra stuff. lol From $4 each to $10 each is what I found!!! I couldn't believe it! Hell, I'm going to start selling these and not do anything else! That's crazy!

So we will just stick to getting them from old machines. As a side note, those little plastic legs on a dryer.... $4 each.....

Just throwing this out there in case someone might be interested some day.....

[Roadrunner53]

Yes, Yes, SC93! A lot of times you can't get new parts for older things, and if you can, they cost a fortune! People try to keep some of their junk functioning as long as possible when a small part breaks. But when you find out some little knob cost $49 People say the hell with it and buy a new appliance! Keep on cannibalizing!