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I belong to another chat group all about refining gold, mostly from electronic scrap. One of the other members buys cell phones and pays a real good price. Here is his post from last October.

http://goldrefiningforum.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=59&t=8151&p=76001&hilit=cell+phone#p76001

It has taken me that long to accumulate 20 lbs of phones. I figured I would get $79 but he sent $99.50! He told me some phones were worth more. (Plus he sent me a FedEx label and paid shipping)

As most of you know I hit yardsales every Saturday. Part of what I look for (after gold and silver) is electronic waste, computers and cell phones mostly. Most of the time I get them for free but there are times they want something so I offer 25¢ per phone and usually it works. This batch of 20 lbs cost me $9 so I had to buy 36 phones the rest were free. By the way Jack does not pay for cell phone batteries so I had to pull all before mailing. About 100 to 110 phones is around 20 lbs.

So if you have a source for cells, Jack's price is the best I have seen.

I never imagined old cell phones having a value but the more I read on this forum the more I realize that anything with metal in it has some sort value. Your numbers work out to about 90 cents for each phone. How did you accumulate 20 pounds of cell phones?? Thanks for the info!

I have at least 8 old phones.

Hey cyber,

does the offer extend to cordless phones that would have been used in homes?

Looks like Lithium batteries are only worth about a dollar a pound? Hardly worth shipping small quantities.

Robarons wrote:does the offer extend to cordless phones that would have been used in homes?

no he does not buy those, I tear them down and add to my box of circuit boards. a lot of gold still shows on most, especially around the keypad area.

Mossy wrote:Looks like Lithium batteries are only worth about a dollar a pound? Hardly worth shipping small quantities.

Yes, but jack pays the shipping when you send the phones. He asks at least a 20# min on phones.

$4/lb is a very good price for intact cell phones, especially if that includes the battery weight. I only pay $3.50/lb for intact phones without batteries.

However, I pay $1.20/lb for li-ion batteries and $10/lb for clean cell phone boards. That's minus shipping though, so you'll need a decent quantity.

Thanks for the link. I've had access to old cell phones before, but had no idea what to do with them.

thunter wrote:How did you accumulate 20 pounds of cell phones??

I go to yard sales mostly to buy gold/silver but since I am already there I also buy brass/copper/wire. I also tell the sellers I recycle old computers and cell phones and (usually) get them for free. This weekend I got 3 computers and 8 cells for free.

But my best buy $240 worth of silver for $98.50