(OT) Where are good places to buy used computer parts?

[casey.o]

I know there are a lot of used computers around, and there are companies
that sell parts from these recycled computers. We used to have one
local place that did just that, and I used to love to go there and see
what they had. Much of the computers I own have parts from that place.
But about 4 years ago, they shut their doors, because the state set up a
"so called" electronics recycling program. Meaning that everything is
scrapped. (What a waste).

Anyhow, I have been buying from ebay for quite awhile, but lately, it
seems that 3 out of 4 of my bids are refused. Refused because although
I have am Ebay account, I do not (and WILL NOT) sign up for a Paypal
account. Apparently this is something new, because I never had this
problem in the past.

Before, I would just pay with my debit card, which was done thru Paypal,
and although I'm not real comfortable doing any credit/debit card stuff
online, there was no other way.

But there is no way in hell that I'm giving Paypal permanent access to
my debit card. Even if they are "honest" (which I question), what
happens if they get hacked? NO THANKS!

The bottom line is that I guess my days of shopping on Ebay are over.

I've checked Amazon.com, but they generally dont have much used stuff,
and what they do have is high priiced.

Most of what I'm looking to buy are small computer parts, like hard
drives, RAM, other drives, power supplies, cables, and so on.....

Where else is a good place to buy used computer parts which are not over
priced, and can be bought online and shipped?

 

[casey.o]

(e-mail address removed) wrote:

Used computer parts are pretty much a thing of the past.
Where I live people throw computers in the trash every week.
I see them by the road every Monday. I used to collect them
but the cost of new parts is so cheap that its not worth taking
a chance on an old part.

Paypal... I use Paypal for Ebay and other online orders all
the time. I keep around $100 in PP all the time. If it needs more,
I transfer money from my checking acct. to the PP acct.
I will never, ever have a debit card. Too risky for me.

I get my computer parts mostly from from Microcenter or Fry's.

I dont know if I fully agree with the price of new parts I bought
several hard drives on Ebay several months ago. Two 120G @ $8 each, one
250G @ $12, and one 500G SATA @$25.00. (Shipping included). You cant
buy them that cheap new, and for my Win98 setup, I cant use bigger
drives than 120G. And there are things that cant be bought new anymore,
such as 120G HDDs and Floppy drives seems to have gotten hard to find.
I was looking for a DVD burner today, but MUST have an IDE type. (No
SATA). New or used. After spending nearly 3 hours on ebay today, and
having 4 bids rejected, I said F**K IT! If my LEGAL choice of payment
is not good enough, Ebay can Get F**ked. Of course everyone knows that
Ebay owns Paypal and they make lots of money off of it. If everyone
keeps $100 in a Paypal acct. just think how much interest they earn from
all that money.

I must have a debit card to get my social security payments. They no
longer mail checks. So I dont have a choice.

But, please explain how you can get a Paypal Acct. WITHOUT giving them a
credit or debit card number. I began their process, and when it got to
the part I needed to give a card number, I quit.

I know that stores sell Paypal cards for about $4.00. I inquired with
the clerk if that is a one time fee, or if I have to pay that everytime
I put money into it. She told me she had no idea. Said the store sells
them, but there is no information about them. I'd pay the $4.00 if that
would get me a paypal account, but not if I have to pay $4.00 everytime
I want to put money into the account.

 

[Paul in Houston TX]

(e-mail address removed) wrote:

Used computer parts are pretty much a thing of the past.
Where I live people throw computers in the trash every week.
I see them by the road every Monday. I used to collect them
but the cost of new parts is so cheap that its not worth taking
a chance on an old part.

Paypal... I use Paypal for Ebay and other online orders all
the time. I keep around $100 in PP all the time. If it needs more,
I transfer money from my checking acct. to the PP acct.
I will never, ever have a debit card. Too risky for me.

I get my computer parts mostly from from Microcenter or Fry's.

 

[casey.o]

But you do not have to have your credit/debit card information with
them. I don't.

This is the part I dont understand. When I attempted to sign up woth
PP, they insisted I give them a credit or debit card number. I had just
bought something and used my debit card for that item, so it asked me if
I want to use THAT card, or another. That's when I closed my browser.

Face it, casey, there are too many scammers and crooks out there, and
the honest people pay the price for that.

You got that right!

 

[RobertMacy]

...snip....
But there is no way in hell that I'm giving Paypal permanent access to
my debit card. Even if they are "honest" (which I question), what
happens if they get hacked? NO THANKS!

The bottom line is that I guess my days of shopping on Ebay are over.

I've checked Amazon.com, but they generally dont have much used stuff,
and what they do have is high priiced.

Most of what I'm looking to buy are small computer parts, like hard
drives, RAM, other drives, power supplies, cables, and so on.....

Where else is a good place to buy used computer parts which are not over
priced, and can be bought online and shipped?

There was a long thread about the 'workaround' and PayPal accounts to
avoid exposure. People did something to satisfy PayPal and kept their
anonymity.

From Weird Stuff, I used to pick up mouses for $1 ea, whole PC's for $60
to $100, depending

don't know if they're still in business, but give them a try.

in Sunnyvale, CA:
WeirdStuff - Resellers of surplus computer hardware and software
....WeirdStuff.com online provides new, used, excess, refurbished, surplus
computer hardware and software.
www.weirdstuff.com
Sunnyvale Showroom Store (408) 743-5650 x 324
General Information (408) 743-5650
E-Commerce Customer Service (408) 743-5609
Fax (408) 743-5655
eMAIL CONTACTS
Sunnyvale Showroom Store (e-mail address removed)


also don't know about Dennis Trimble's outlet:
Alltronics, used to be in San Jose
408 778 3868
P O Box 730
Morgan Hill, CA 95038-0730
http://www.alltronics.com

 

[casey.o]

There was a long thread about the 'workaround' and PayPal accounts to
avoid exposure. People did something to satisfy PayPal and kept their
anonymity.

From Weird Stuff, I used to pick up mouses for $1 ea, whole PC's for $60
to $100, depending

don't know if they're still in business, but give them a try.

in Sunnyvale, CA:
WeirdStuff - Resellers of surplus computer hardware and software
...WeirdStuff.com online provides new, used, excess, refurbished, surplus
computer hardware and software.
www.weirdstuff.com
Sunnyvale Showroom Store (408) 743-5650 x 324
General Information (408) 743-5650
E-Commerce Customer Service (408) 743-5609
Fax (408) 743-5655
eMAIL CONTACTS
Sunnyvale Showroom Store (e-mail address removed)

They are still in business, but they are VERY expensive. For example, a
1GB 2.5" harddrive for $40. They only had one mouse listed, when I
clicked on it, it said (NEW - Contact us for price). #WHY#?
810MB harddrive for $125. (yes, that's megabyte, not gigabyte).

also don't know about Dennis Trimble's outlet:
Alltronics, used to be in San Jose
408 778 3868
P O Box 730
Morgan Hill, CA 95038-0730
http://www.alltronics.com

This place I like. But they dont really have computer stuff. They sell
electronic components such as capacitors, resistors, transistors, IC
chips, diodes, etc....
But I do occasionally need that stuff, so I'll save their website.

 

[Ken Springer]

I know there are a lot of used computers around, and there are companies
that sell parts from these recycled computers. We used to have one
local place that did just that, and I used to love to go there and see
what they had. Much of the computers I own have parts from that place.
But about 4 years ago, they shut their doors, because the state set up a
"so called" electronics recycling program. Meaning that everything is
scrapped. (What a waste).

Anyhow, I have been buying from ebay for quite awhile, but lately, it
seems that 3 out of 4 of my bids are refused. Refused because although
I have am Ebay account, I do not (and WILL NOT) sign up for a Paypal
account. Apparently this is something new, because I never had this
problem in the past.

It's been awhile since I sold anything on ebay, but I believe the seller
now has the right to refuse credit/debit cards. I stopped accepting
credit cards when they wanted to charge me a fee for allowing credit
card sales. I think a seller can actually stipulate a pay by PayPal
only, so if you don't have a PayPal account, your bid won't be accepted.

Before, I would just pay with my debit card, which was done thru Paypal,
and although I'm not real comfortable doing any credit/debit card stuff
online, there was no other way.

I wouldn't be surprised some sellers were getting stiffed with both
credit cards and debit cards. So now having a PayPal account is a way
of PayPal/Ebay not having to cover the costs of bogus cards.

But there is no way in hell that I'm giving Paypal permanent access to
my debit card. Even if they are "honest" (which I question), what
happens if they get hacked? NO THANKS!

PayPal has evolved to an online bank. The free things are still there,
but if you have an account with them, interbank transfers are
instantaneous, as I understand it. With the free PayPal services that I
use, takes about 1.5 weeks to get money from someone's bank account to
my bank account using the transfer funds operations.

And of course, for the money transfers to happen between your bank and
PayPal, PayPal has to have your bank information.

But you do not have to have your credit/debit card information with
them. I don't.

Face it, casey, there are too many scammers and crooks out there, and
the honest people pay the price for that.



<snip>


--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.8.5
Firefox 25.0
Thunderbird 24.3.0
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

 

[OldGuy]

Advertise to recycle old computers on Craig's list or similar.
You pick up or pay for delivery, then recycle those that can't be
re-used. Re-use is a good way of protecting the environment since
stuff does not get to the trash.
I took a truck load of stuff to be recycled but would rather have had
the stuff re-used. (The recycler said that they try to reuse if they
can and if not they recycle but their skill level for re-use is rather
low).

 

[casey.o]

You don't have to have it linked to a debit card or keep money in a Paypal
acct. Just link it to a credit card. If you use credit cards to make
online purchases, what's the big difference if Paypal is linked to it or
not?

I dont use or own credit cards.

 

[Paul in Houston TX]

(e-mail address removed) wrote:

I get 0.01% on my checking acct. That's 1/100 of one percent.
The interest on $100.00 is $0.01 per year.
I don't care if PP gets 10% or 20% on my $100.
Ebay / PP is so convenient. For me it's either PP or use
my CC for online purchases, which I don't like doing.
PP does not have my CC info but they do have my bank info.

http://www.microcenter.com/product/350443/80GB_PATA_(IDE)_35_Hard_Drive_-_Refurbished
$13.00
http://www.microcenter.com/product/351149/160GB_35_IDE_Hard_Drive_-_Refurbished
$16.00
http://www.microcenter.com/product/408844/IDE_DVD-ROM_Drive_-_Refurbished
$8.00

 

[Ken Springer]

This is the part I dont understand. When I attempted to sign up woth
PP, they insisted I give them a credit or debit card number. I had just
bought something and used my debit card for that item, so it asked me if
I want to use THAT card, or another. That's when I closed my browser.

I've had my account for so long, I don't remember how it went. LOL

You could try this... Sign up using your debit card. Then connect your
preferred bank account. Then remove your debit card.

You got that right!

--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.8.5
Firefox 25.0
Thunderbird 24.3.0
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"

 

[casey.o]

I only have two, and I pay them off in full at the end of each month. It's
just simpler and more convenient for me than using checks or paying by cash.
But sunce I pay them all off, it's almost like using cash.. I suppose a
debit card would be more sensible, in retrospect, as long as it's as
universally accepted as a credit card (but is it?), but I haven't set that
up.

I usually only use my debit card to pay utility bills and occasionally
to get gas if I'm short on cash. I actually got rid of all my cradit
cards about 15 years ago. I got tired of being ripped off by them,
because they would do things like say my payment was late (as if I can
control the mail delivery), and I actually think they just did this to
collect interest and late fees. I swore I'd never own another credit
card. But my social security requires a debit card, or maybe it's just
a bank account, I cant recall, but it's handy in a crisis and dont
require any fees or late fees or other stuff like that. Aside from
this, I just use cash, or checks for larger purchases. These financial
companies all want to suck us into their crap, and rip us off however
they can. In the first half of my life I only used cash, and I do the
same now, plus an occasional use of the debit card and/or checks.

But, I will admit that having some sort of "plastic" can be a lifesaver.
I recall some years ago I was trravelling late at night and was running
on fumes. The only gas station in the next 25 miles was closed, but had
a pay at the pump. That means "plastic". Those pumps dont take cash or
checks. So, that was one time I was glad I had one.

 

[casey.o]

I've had my account for so long, I don't remember how it went. LOL

You could try this... Sign up using your debit card. Then connect your
preferred bank account. Then remove your debit card.

But will it remove it???? Actually they already have it from my
purchases anyhow. I've read several websites and they say that a Credit
Card is REQUIRED. On top of that, Paypal dont let you find out their
needs until you enter your personal info. I might try to use some fake
info just to see their requirements.....

BTW: Several websites were not real favorable abotu Paypal. In fact one
was very negative.

 

[Ken Springer]

But will it remove it???? Actually they already have it from my
purchases anyhow. I've read several websites and they say that a Credit
Card is REQUIRED. On top of that, Paypal dont let you find out their
needs until you enter your personal info. I might try to use some fake
info just to see their requirements.....

Does anyone really remove things? And their backups will have the info
for awhile. But it does disappear from you account display page.

BTW: Several websites were not real favorable abotu Paypal. In fact one
was very negative.

In general, what did they have to say?

I'm selling a house, and the buyer and I are using the free services to
get his mortgage payment to me. It takes longer using the free than if
we both had regular accounts, but we don't care.


--
Ken
Mac OS X 10.8.5
Firefox 25.0
Thunderbird 24.3.0
"My brain is like lightning, a quick flash
and it's gone!"