I have a friend who used to buy surplus from state auctions. He would buy old computer systems, kitchen equipment and stuff like that. He'd either clean up and flip them, or strip them down and sell the parts that were worth something and send the rest to the recycler. Sometimes one fan from a large system would pay for a whole pallet of gear. He made one major score where a pallet of gear he got for a few hundred bucks sold for $18k. That was rare, though.

Karl