Realcent.org

Maybe this is old news, but old electric panel covers will sell for WAY more than scrap value.

Here's what I recently ran into, and it's not an uncommon situation. Homeowner sells a house. Either a home inspector or an appraiser notices that the main service panel in the basement has no front cover. The closing is held up until the panel has a cover. Quite often, the whole panel gets replaced because the panel is old and no one makes a cover. The realtor just paid $20 for a used panel cover instead of $800 for a new panel upgrade.

Here's what you want to look for. Save the covers from panels that are no longer made at all, like Pushmatic, Federal Pacific or Wadsworth and the covers from older versions of common brands, like Square D, Cutler Hammer and Siemens. List them on Ebay for $15 or $25. It might take a little while to sell, but it's sure better than the $.20 you would get at the scrap yard.

Kinda like the HDTV boxes - folks throw them out when they buy their new LCD/Plasma/LED set, only to find it necessary to transport/ship the set in for warrantly repair. I have a neighbor that had to send his HDTV away for repair to Sharp, and needed his long-ago-thrown-away box to ship it in. He bought an empty box for 28 dollars off eBay, just to meet the terms of his warranty. Sharp ultimately replaced it with a newer model for free. He now has the attic in his detached garage filled with empty curb-picked boxes, and has sold 2 so far locally. It's amazing how an entire economy is born out of thrown out items that are later needed.

Cheers!