Buying insulated copper wire. Dumb idea or?

[vamped400]

Hows it going guys. I got an idea to buy (insulated) copper wire, strip it down and the sell it on ebay or to the scrap yard as #1 or #2 copper. I got a wire stripper, and all the time in the world to strip, and honestly i think its fun. if you guy dont think this is a dumb idea, how much should i pay? i was sorta thinking around scrap yard price for insulated. should i advertise on craigslist? let me know what you guys think...

[Mechanic688]

Well, you could gain $2.00 a lb. by stripping it(on average) but how many lb. per hour can you do? No sense in paying more than your local scrapyard for the insulated, the cheaper you can buy it the better your profit margin.

[Mick]

I've been thinking along the same line, so probably giving away my idea here. Several ideas, including buying by mail. The question would be - How much to pay? I'd say to pay the published local insulated price and you'd still make about $2 a pound. Specify no coax cable.

[injunjoe]

I know of two guys that do just that for a living. The one fella would drive all over hell and creation and stop at electrical companies and offer a price on there scraps. This was years ago and he cheated by burning it in a huge pile on a pallet. I don't suggest doing that! I think he is in jail now!

The other guy did it for years till he passed away. He had regular accounts and did pretty good. Albeit this was all solid wire they were buying.

[iScrap]

Try it out, vamped400 it's worth a shot.

[thrsxs]

I was thinking this the other day. You would be surprised how many electricians just throw there scrap wire in a bin, don't strip it, and haul it all to the junkyard one day. If they are to lazy to strip it maybe they are to lazy to drive it aswell. SO you might be able to get it cheaper then the junkyard pays

[vamped400]

Everybody likes cash (even for a few cents less than the main buyers) and that puts you in front with the people who don't wanna go on camera in the big yards.........do you really wanna deal with those people when the lights are out?
If you are buying with cash they know where you live.
;?)

true, but if it happens it happens. But thats like not opening a grocery store, because someone might rob it. The only other bad part is im smack dab in the middle of three scrap yards, all only 20 miles away from me. Ill think on it though...

[Mechanic688]

im smack dab in the middle of three scrap yards, all only 20 miles away from me.

For the part timers that are just dabbling at this, thats 40 mile round trip. That would be a deterrent, I think.

[wayne1956]

I have thought about doing the same thing myself, but the profit margin is not as large as one would think. True, you are making $2 or so more on the clean copper that you are selling over the price of the insulated copper, but do not forget that when you are paying for the insulated wire you are also paying for the insulation itself, and after you strip it then you cannot recover the money in the weight of the insulation. Example: You purchase 100 lbs of insulated wire at $1.25 a lb. Total cost - $125. After stripping you have 50 lbs of clean copper which you sell at 3.25 a lb for a total of $162.50. Total profit - $37.50. Yes you have made a profit, but it is not as large as one might originally think, so you need to take all factors into account. The actual wire to insulation ratio after stripping is probably different that what I posted, I just used these numbers as an example, but they should not be real far off.

[Victor]

I have thought about doing the same thing myself, but the profit margin is not as large as one would think. True, you are making $2 or so more on the clean copper that you are selling over the price of the insulated copper, but do not forget that when you are paying for the insulated wire you are also paying for the insulation itself, and after you strip it then you cannot recover the money in the weight of the insulation. Example: You purchase 100 lbs of insulated wire at $1.25 a lb. Total cost - $125. After stripping you have 50 lbs of clean copper which you sell at 3.25 a lb for a total of $162.50. Total profit - $37.50. Yes you have made a profit, but it is not as large as one might originally think, so you need to take all factors into account. The actual wire to insulation ratio after stripping is probably different that what I posted, I just used these numbers as an example, but they should not be real far off.

Factor in one's time to strip and the profit margin is smaller still. I strip all my #1 and 75% of my #2 but when you really start moving alot of volume in #2 (lamp cord, vacuum cleaner cords, etc....)...the cash your making per hour isn't a great return if your getting it for the cost of fuel let alone buying it. I know for myself I have been questioning if stripping #2 wire is even worth doing. Your losing weight on the insulation and burning alot of time that could be spent on better paying breakdowns. #1 I can see stripping cause it's fast and the margin stripped to unstripped is bigger. #2.....it's getting harder for me to justify.

I buy some when I can get a deal on it but I never pay over 50% of what the yard would give me unstripped. I can't justify paying any more than that with expenses.

[wayne1956]

Factor in one's time to strip and the profit margin is smaller still. I strip all my #1 and 75% of my #2 but when you really start moving alot of volume in #2 (lamp cord, vacuum cleaner cords, etc....)...the cash your making per hour isn't a great return if your getting it for the cost of fuel let alone buying it. I know for myself I have been questioning if stripping #2 wire is even worth doing. Your losing weight on the insulation and burning alot of time that could be spent on better paying breakdowns. #1 I can see stripping cause it's fast and the margin stripped to unstripped is bigger. #2.....it's getting harder for me to justify.

I buy some when I can get a deal on it but I never pay over 50% of what the yard would give me unstripped. I can't justify paying any more than that with expenses.

I still do strip #2 when I have time, but it is more of a time filler than anything else. If I have appliances to break down or other processing to do, then that gets done first. I normally strip my wire in the evenings sitting on the porch just relaxing. Someone said before in a different post that they find stripping wire relaxing, and I have to agree with them, it seems to be a relaxing endeavor for me also.