Refurbished Laptops with Linux Lite preinstalled

[newtusmaximus]

Jerry,
are you looking to do this as a business or as a "charitable" service to  the community.  Over here "new" laptop prices are plummeting- They have OS (Windows) and add ons already installed.  So the "New" market price will determine what you can expect from reconditioned/recycled. May be luck and catch the XP fallout / hardware upgrade.

If, however, you can court IT departments of major business/corporations into the philosophy of recycling perfectly usable "old" laptops instead of putting them in landfill, and to the benefit of the wider community - PR / green credentials etc, then you might be able to acquire material very cheaply , if not free. Different ball game altogether. 

http://www.blackbarncomputers.com/  in the UK - Been around for many a year.