One Man's Trash is Another's Cheap PC

People browsing through the Goodwill Industries International thrift store in Santa Ana, California, aren't rummaging for used clothes or toys, although that and more are sold in spectacular volume in another part of the building. In this corner, thrifty computer shoppers are inspecting used computers at bargain prices: an Hewlett-Packard Pavilion with NEC monitor for $99, a Toshiba Equium 7100M for $149, and a 450MB Dell for $50. Others are examining pre-owned D-Link Systems and Farallon network cards that sell for $3.

It was all once someone else's computer gear recycled by the Goodwill organization of Orange County, a nonprofit that refurbishes the best of what it finds as staff weed through the 30 truckloads of donated clothing, toys, and electronics tumbling in each week.

Although not many Goodwill thrift stores across the country sell used hardware and software, sales are growing. Goodwill organizations also see a future in "e-waste," the disposal of computer parts in an environmentally friendly way.

"Computer salvage can be a real opportunity," says Randy Taylor, Goodwill's facilities director in Orange County, whose job involves tending to how the cast-off equipment gets processed as it comes into the 91,000-square-foot warehouse.

Minimum Specs

First, only the Pentium II and better computers among the hundreds that come in each week are kept for possible re-sale. Typically, that means 80 percent of the week's haul is destined for the dust bin of history. Goodwill sells them for about $3000 per month to a Los Angeles recycler that dismantles them for parts and strips the gold from their circuitry in return.

According to Robert Balderrama, a processor at Goodwill who plows through the mountains of donated items coming in off the trucks, the most surprising computer he ever unearthed was a 1989 vintage Tandem system from K-Mart. "It was brand new in the box and had never been opened," he says. "But of course, we couldn't use it."

It's not just PCs that reach Goodwill, but PBXs, point-of-sale devices, wireless access points, and even CAD/CAM systems, given away in a modern society's rush toward something newer. Guillermo Tudela, the assistant manager in Goodwill's Computer Works store in Santa Ana, notes that the week that the Microsoft wireless router came to market, it appeared in the Goodwill donations, too.

"Things come in a jumble," says Corrine Allen, Goodwill's senior retail operations manager, who works with Taylor in deciding what to do with the incoming high-tech bric-a-brac. "Sometimes a computer could just be dropped off at the door at night."

These orphaned devices actually can be considered "illegal dumping," Taylor notes.

Environment and Economics

Some computer parts, such as cathode-ray tubes and lead content, pose environmental concerns. But Goodwill is looking at expanding its activities in handling such e-waste, especially because the state of California is keen on establishing a strict system of recycling that relies on accredited e-waste companies.

"The state has a program in which, if you have been a collector of e-waste, they will pay you a certain fee for that," Taylor says. "We've applied to be an accredited e-waste collector and so has the Los Angeles Goodwill."

Beyond such ambitions concerning e-waste, Goodwill in Santa Ana--whose primary mission is to employ the disabled--has found selling refurbished computers makes sense economically.

Orange County's two Goodwill Computer Works stores last year topped $655,000 in sales, although that is still just a fraction of the $24 million annually derived mostly from old clothing. Goodwill has hired staff specifically to refurbish computers and sell them.

Computer parts are another area of keen interest to Goodwill.

"There's a demand for computer parts," Tudela says. The Goodwill store has witnessed shoppers that drive great distances to scout for parts for older computers.

The Goodwill organizations, which were first started in 1902 and operate independently across the country, are starting to share their experiences more often about e-waste and computer sales, Taylor says.

He notes that at a recent forum for several of the regional Goodwill organizations hosted in Austin, Texas, managers shared ideas for expanding computer salvage and sales. Austin is said to be making more money in parts than selling entire computer systems.

Goodwill is considering how it might structure sales into four areas: motherboards, hard drives, power systems, and memory. In the future, Goodwill and recycling partners might be teaching the disabled and disadvantaged workers it hires to dismantle computers to isolate needed parts. "For older systems, buyers can't find parts. It's like cars," Taylor says.

Taking It Online

The Santa Ana facility has already distinguished itself in another modernization: online selling.

Santa Ana's IT staff four years ago set up Goodwill's first Web e-commerce site, www.shop goodwill.com, and it's thriving.

Now 105 separate Goodwill organizations around the country use the Web site to list about 6,000 items up for bid each day, including Barbie dolls, motor vehicles, jewelry, home decor and yes, computers, says Peter Lent, senior Webmaster and technology services manager.

The e-commerce site has surpassed the $20 million mark in sales and has grown to about $580,000 per month.

"It's set up similar to eBay," Lent says. Each Goodwill store is a separate seller, supplying Santa Ana with photos of the goods and indicating where winning bidders can pick up their purchases. Multiple T-1 lines into Goodwill help alleviate congestion or downtime at the online thrift store.

Behind the counter in the Computer Works building, a store clerk is preparing to ring up a sale for a $5 used microphone when the buyer suddenly has last-minute reservations.

"Suppose I get home and it doesn't work?" he anxiously inquires.

"Don't worry," the Goodwill store clerk assures him. "You can always bring it back."