How to get free computer stuff from businesses

[Guest]

Basically I've heard from people here that you can get free computer hardware if you ask around, what I am asking is: What exactly should I say when I am asking them for stuff, where do I look, and which businesses would I want to talk to in the first place?

[Guest]

Ok, so lets say I go to my school. Who do I talk to? What do I say to the letter when I'm asking them for their computer stuff? I'm relatively shy, especially when I'm talking to older people

[Cyracus]

step 1, become a big wig tech youtuber. step 2, start asking for stuff (literally just call around and ask them to send you "stuff" if you're specific they'll know you're just wanting free things) step 3, pay me my consulting fee of 10%

[Guest]

Just now, CUDA_Cores said:

This is the problem with being shy lol. You need to get out there and ask people, worst they can say is no of course. 

 

Your school likely has an IT staff, go talk to them and ask "Hey, i;m trying to build a gaming PC on a super low budget. What do you guys do with your old computer parts?

Well, I'm not sure if I should say gaming pc in the first place, cuz they'll think I'm just some punk who is too damn lazy to do anything. But yeah, we should have an IT staff. But what if we don't have IT staff, then who do I ask?

[Evolution.]

9 minutes ago, CUDA_Cores said:

"Hey, i;m trying to build a gaming PC

bad idea, they wont take you seriously

7 minutes ago, YakRuski said:

Well, I'm not sure if I should say gaming pc in the first place, cuz they'll think I'm just some punk who is too damn lazy to do anything. But yeah, we should have an IT staff. But what if we don't have IT staff, then who do I ask?

request them to get you in contact with somebody that deals with surplus/older equipment

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, VenomZ_ said:

bad idea, they wont take you seriously

request them to get you in contact with somebody that deals with surplus/older equipment

Alright, I'll see what I can do tomorrow! I'll keep you updated!

[PanteaDropper]

why are u looking for free stuff exactly?

[Ithanul]

3 hours ago, CUDA_Cores said:

This is the problem with being shy lol. You need to get out there and ask people, worst they can say is no of course. 

 

Your school likely has an IT staff, go talk to them and ask "Hey, i;m trying to build a gaming PC on a super low budget. What do you guys do with your old computer parts?

Yep, got to ask.

Some places have no problems giving away older computer hardware as it easier to give away than go with the annoyance of disposing of the equipment.

 

Could also ask the CS teachers.  That how I am going to later get some older business class routers and switches, since the CS teacher I took classes under has no problems with me taking a few once the hardware is replaced.

[dalekphalm]

13 hours ago, YakRuski said:

Basically I've heard from people here that you can get free computer hardware if you ask around, what I am asking is: What exactly should I say when I am asking them for stuff, where do I look, and which businesses would I want to talk to in the first place?

One thing you can do is, for example at school, talk to the head IT person, and ask them if they will be tossing out any old computer equipment.

 

Lots of times, schools and other businesses won't even bother trying to sell old IT equipment, because the paltry amount they'd get is simply not worth the cost of labour to have a staff member sort through, price, list, and actually sell any of it. Sometimes they will if the equipment is valuable and in demand, but often they won't for regular stuff.

 

Instead of selling it, often they'll just recycle the equipment at an e-waste depot, or toss it out if no such depot exists locally.

 

In either of these cases, they will often give away the equipment for free to people who ask instead.

 

It helps if you have an "in" person, that can tell you when they're tossing stuff, and/or put stuff aside for you.

 

At work we can sometimes get free equipment that's old and going to be recycled or thrown out anyway. It helps because I work there, and am at least sometimes in charge of deciding what gets tossed and when.

 

My entire server setup was acquired that way - it was just going to be recycled anyway:

Dell T410 2x 4c8t Xeon w/ 12GB RAM, 6 SAS hotswap bays, internal Dell H200 RAID Card, plus an external Dell MD1200 12-bay SAS expander (It also came with another Dell RAID card for the external bay but I replaced it with an HBA for FlexRAID).

 

I also picked up an older HP Colour Laser Printer (USB only, so of somewhat limited usefulness) and several toners for it, when we tossed 3 identical printers (I grabbed the one I knew worked, plus all the toners from all 3 printers).

 

Coincidentally, I haven't even used the colour printer yet, since I already have a Brother DCP-L2540dw monochrome laser All-in-One printer that I use all the time.