question for you scrap yard owners

hey guys ive been buying extension cords and other low grade wire for the last 1 1/2 to 2 months from a local yard for .70 cents a pound. I only deal with the employees who I give the money and they give it to management . Ive been wondering with the market the way it is if prices have gone down and im still paying the rate from 2 months ago. I'm afraid to guy opening my mouth to management in fears the price will raise. So the question is , is .70 cents fair ?. they pay .50 cents a pound as of two months ago. how much profit do scrap yards make on insulated wire ? im thinking .15-.20 cents a pound is that accurate ?

thanks mick . I only strip the large cords . I get between 38-44% recovery rate on these cords and I get bare bright for the stripped wire which is $3.02 #. I can sell the cords I don't strip for .90# , so I don't lose money

yea I know . I realized I got a good thing going. I just have moments of greed and want to see if I can get it cheaper . Im going keep my mouth shut. thinking about getting a faster wire stripper in the next few months like a diablo, so I can strip it much faster. thanks for your input mick

Nice score Red, an yep..best to keep it to yourself. No sense leading everyone to your honey hole.

Sirscrapalot - Loose lips, sink ships. - Seymour R. Goff - The guy who did posters during WW2. Loose lips sink ships - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

yup sirscrapalot may delete it off here to lol

I agree with Mick. Find your recovery rate per wire and know your selling price before you buy and forget the seller. I just finished a batch of mixed of wire and learned which of the 5 grades of wire I can make the most money on. Each person is different, every type of stripping machine is different. Find your nitche

Just found out yesterday that the yard is buying low grade at .33 cents a # and I ve been paying .70 cents a # . I cant see there buyer paying them .70 cents a # but I could be wrong. Kinda pissed. Im thinking there getting .50 cents a # from there buyer .or is insulated wire profit margin that high? Or are they blowing smoke up my ass

Im alittle uptight about paying .70 when I should be paying .50

The yard I take shred to has about a 100% margin on a lot of their non-ferrous. When it comes to clean copper, stainless, and aluminum, it's more like a 50-60%. For example, they pay $1.90 for #2 copper.

So does them buying insulated wire at .33 a pound and sell for .70 a pound sound reasonalble ? I have no idea

Seems ok to me...how much do you buy at a time?

15 to 30 pounds conservately . Is it since I dont buy the same volume , I dont get the same price ?

How much do you thinks it costs to run a yard where you have employees, vehicles, heavy equipment, money out on inventory that you have to sit of for months sometimes, and insurance? Plus the owner would like some cash left for him at the end of the week

I agree with mick. I you can make money on it don't worry about someone else's profit. As you buy more you should try to negotiate a better price. As someone said in another post. Offer them a per ton price at maybe .55/lb. Good luck

The small amount may be the reason. I know, it usually works the other way with scrap, but in this situation the more you buy the better price you may get. They may be selling this at 0.50/lb to their buyer...only they would know this. But also, this is only one transaction for all of their wire. They're pretty much doing you a favor IMO.