Emu10k1 wrote:

Recycling centers, asking around, ebay and... trading things I no longer want for other things.

Same here...

I once was lucky when a big company (mining and construction, my father was an employee there) gave away all the ancient stuff they collected over years. We got a key to that 'paradise' - room, which was over and over filled with my dreams....
There was just one big problem: we were ordered not to show any collected piece to anybody, except the administrator himself, who gave us the key (otherwise he would get serious problems); we felt like thieves 🤣
There were 386s server I will never forget - huge racks equipped with anything money could buy back then, when they were the best systems (i remember mainboards, that were as big as half a squaremeter (i am thinking metric; and maybe a little oversized 😵 ))

So I 'only' got small hardware, easy to hide: lots of processors (which i collect, but without the rest of it's system it is some kind of a dead thing) for free......

It was very hard not to take all the treasury with me, knowing that all of it will be destroyed soon....

Do your recycle centres have a sign warning against taking anything? And noting that the area is under video surveillance? What is your plan of attack to grab the loot? Do you go to the recycle centre to drop off some broken computer parts then nab what's lying there? Do you walk-in/out without any parts to drop off yourself and just take what you can? Do you park your car outside the parking area so they don't get your licence plate on camera?

I've never taken anything from the recycle centre but have been tempted to. There has been a lot of good stuff in the past and the idea of it being destroyed is unsettling.

maximus wrote:

I almost did a double take while reading this... almost everything you mention is something I have specifically noticed or done. Right down to scoring a $10 Dimension 4100 and $5 CRT on Craigslist.

Great minds think alike! 🤣

maximus wrote:

I also find that Goodwill is a good source for mice, joysticks, and (filthy) keyboards, though I did get a non-working CD-ROM drive one time. For the record, Goodwill's return policy kind of sucks, as they only give you store credit with a very short expiration date.

Goodwill in general kind of sucks. Their return policy is the least of their sins and they are most certainly not a charity. Research the way they treat their employees sometime; you'll be shocked and sickened. They exploit and abuse the most vulnerable members of our society for profit. Considering they literally pay nothing for their inventory, there is no excuse for the way they conduct business.

I really hate myself for giving that company my money and business, but they are one of the few places I can find old retro gear for cheap.

The vast majority for me has been from eBay, I have sold quite a bit on eBay over the years too. It's as close to an efficient market for retro gear as we have, and I guess I'm willing to pay the premium for the convenience factor.

More recently I've bought/sold on AmiBay, but the audience is just much smaller. There is a healthy bias towards low prices on AmiBay which I think is a nice contrast to eBay, and a good community spirit. I've "sold" several things for the price of postage there.

Back in the day I even did a bit of trading on the Fidonet UK Computer Buy/Sell echo 😎

There is a big car boot sale just outside the village where I live in the summer, I might try to get down there. That being said car booters are serious bargain hunters and there are always those looking to resell on eBay, I'm not really bothered enough to compete as I pretty much have everything I want now.

feipoa wrote:

Do your recycle centres have a sign warning against taking anything? And noting that the area is under video surveillance? What is your plan of attack to grab the loot? Do you go to the recycle centre to drop off some broken computer parts then nab what's lying there? Do you walk-in/out without any parts to drop off yourself and just take what you can? Do you park your car outside the parking area so they don't get your licence plate on camera?

I've never taken anything from the recycle centre but have been tempted to. There has been a lot of good stuff in the past and the idea of it being destroyed is unsettling.

Easy way: Get permission for grabbing.... (will not work everywhere, i know, but here in Austria it will);

I only have to ask the foreman there (and sometimes spend a little money for coffee)

Oh - and HERE for example (for those, who understand german) or marketplaces like that I also sometimes get good and cheap stuff....

bjt wrote:

There is a big car boot sale just outside the village where I live in the summer, I might try to get down there. That being said car booters are serious bargain hunters and there are always those looking to resell on eBay, I'm not really bothered enough to compete as I pretty much have everything I want now.

I wish there was that kind of stuff where i am too, maybe i haven't looked properly.

I found most of my stuff at the local recycling center over the last couple of years. They have a free computer recycling program, and it's amazing how much AT class stuff they're still getting there; mostly crappy socket 7 stuff but the occasional 386 / 486. They have a shop front, but don't sell the really old stuff. That just ends up in skips, waiting to be sold for scrap. So I would take something along to drop off and then surreptitiously retrieve a system here and there while no-one was looking. I classified it as a rescue mission, they of course would call it stealing.

I don't have the time to go there much anymore and it hurts me deep down inside to think of all the old hardware they destroy daily, but waddya going to do?

Hahaha, you and me both badmojo. 🤣

That's what I say whenever I take a computer from the local recycling center drop-offs. 🤣

Does your drop off centre have a sign warning against removing items?

If you're ever in Dallas, Texas you can try this place... a treasure trove of old gear (I found my original covox speech thing here).

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Electronic+ … 25b8cd69dc5a7c9

Usually eBay, since the local town dumps don't get computer stuff in often, and when they do, it's usually P4 or newer, like a 2010 Celeron-based Acer laptop that I got on one of my recent trips. (By the way, that thing somehow still works despite the crazy amount of damage that it has - even had an HDD and 3GB DDR3 RAM still installed!) I can't even remember the last time I got anything from the dumps that I'd call "retro". Once in a blue moon, somebody will just give me a retro system for free (that's how I wound up with my Pentium Pro Gateway 2000 system!).

Sutekh94 wrote:

Usually eBay, since the local town dumps don't get computer stuff in often, and when they do, it's usually P4 or newer, like a 2010 Celeron-based Acer laptop that I got on one of my recent trips. (By the way, that thing somehow still works despite the crazy amount of damage that it has - even had an HDD and 3GB DDR3 RAM still installed!) I can't even remember the last time I got anything from the dumps that I'd call "retro". Once in a blue moon, somebody will just give me a retro system for free (that's how I wound up with my Pentium Pro Gateway 2000 system!).

Same situation here for the most part. But there is a recycling store (not ultra close) that gets old stuff occasionally.
They will sell it but you have to ask about it.

Car boot sales for me mostly, found some real treasure over last year or so, course it's always a gamble if it works but at the prices I am prepared to pay...........

I've always fascinated with computer parts, starting from my part time IT tech days of 1994. I have been the "computer guy next door" as far as I can remember, so I was the guy who updates PC's of most friends and relatives (including small companies that I was working for). Whenever I upgraded some PC, I always asked if I can have the leftover useless hardware. Actually my purpose at that time was mostly to use them to built "acceptable" PCs for people who cannot afford them. I put so many "trash" in respectable use this way but also trashed myself many of them unfortunately, whenever the pile gone off limits.

Nowadays, it's mostly ebay and its local equivalents, although in rare occasions, I get parts from friends and relatives, too (everybody went mobile long ago, so almost no upgrades anymore, and I don't have much to do with old laptops/notebooks).