Wasn't there a guy on here named Noblesomethingorother who used to be a ""hobbyist"" refiner?
I clearly remember him posting that if you send your stuff off to a refiner without being an 'insider' that you WILL get ripped off. Pure & simple. He said that you need a broker watching every step of the process and if you don't cross every T & dot every I, you might even end up OWING the refiner at the end of the deal.
Eff that.
I have a decent buyer here in DFW, and if I get enough of a particular item, I know a guy in Colorado & another one in Ohio that have always done me right.
Whaddayaknow... they're right up top on this link right now:
https://www.scrapmetalforum.com/scrap-buyers-sellers/