Yea i run into the same thing all the time, but usually i am the one getting the better pricing like $100 pound vs $20 pound for high yield scrap.

you can compete against someone by offering a better lineup, scrap sellers are lazy and prefer to do one and done over dealing with different buyers, thats all i have to offer

my tactic is to specialize to fill niches, the profit margin is much higher than dealing with the usual scrap items