Dilemma!!!

I have been going to my local yard since I started scrapping, about 9 months ago. And, I have to ask some advice of the more experience scrappers on this forum. Because 9 months has not made me wise to some things.



Here goes: I have stayed with my local yard despite their poorly low prices they pay. 8cents/lb. Scrap metal, #2 copper $2.10 /#, #1 is $2.20 & BB is $2.30...the guy at the scale will never give me anything other than #2...I stripped electrical cords which by my knowledge would be BB since it's nice & shiny. He told my before I even did it that #1 would be if I stripped cords & stuff. So this weekend I went in with a buddy & helped him with his stuff. I stripped enough cords for 3# of copper for my buddy. This guy grabs that can & says:" it's gotta be bigger than a pencil lead to be #1", so he seems to be changing the rules on us. And he already came out & told me one time before that I would probably never have BB. Either this guy is crooked or I have my definitions of BB & #1 waaay off. There is a yard that pays 3cents better on steel & 30 & 35cents better on copper & 25 cents better on cans no matter how many I have. BUT it's 45 minutes away and they pays by check. So I feel unless I had very huge loads (which my loads arent big usually) the extra they pay would just go to gas. PLEASE HELP...not really sure what the right call is here.

The rule of thumb for #1 is about pencil lead sized, so he's not getting over on you there.

I'll do my best to answer some of your questions. Bare Bright, to me, would be thick sheet copper or copper pipe that is clean, without solder or much oxidation. He's probably right that you'll almost never get bare bright.

As for number 1 copper, he's right on that too, wire needs to be at least as thick as #2 pencil lead to be considered #1 copper. I believe it has to do with when they process the copper, the thicker wire will melt better with minimal loss, whereas the thinner wire evaporates/ disappears at a higher rate so the price is lower to make up for that.

As for advice, I would keep stripping wire. If there's a good amount of copper in the wire, or if you have a lot of free time, then it can be worth stripping a lot of the wire you get. The difference is very large. For un-stripped wire, you'll usually get insulated #2 prices (maybe $1/lb if you're lucky) whereas if you strip the wire, you'll get the #2 price that they give you (2.10/lb).

The guy at this yard is telling you the truth from what I can tell. I have a question for you. Is this your only source of income? If so, then I would probably keep going to the same yard, if it is a side-gig, then I would save up the good stuff (copper and aluminum) and bring it to the other yard when I have a good stock pile. The prices at your local yard aren't very good, and I probably wouldn't bring anything other than steel there, If I could help it.

As a final note, I'm sure others would mention it, read everything you can find on this forum. It will help you find profit in places you didn't expect.

Thank you so much for helping me. This is not my only income. It's just a side thing. I've sold about $450 this year.

Originally Posted by MattInTheHat

I always heard that bare bright had to be stripped solid core wire very bright and larger than a pencil lead.

You may be right Matt, I was guessing, but I do know that #1 and #2 are far more common

Thank you manch

The yard here has always been an incredible help to me here. Here they take anything thicker than pencil lead as BB (so basically romex+). I stripped a 20 pound pile of the fishing line type stuff and he priced it as #2. I originally had it all in one big pile, but he took the time to open the bags up and separate it and get me a better price. They have separated my aluminum into a variety of piles, took the time to bring a grinder over once and show me the diff between stainless and aluminum, pulled a big chunk of coated brass out of my aluminum once.

I say find a better yard! I do have the luxury here of dozens to choose from haha