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Took some bright and #2 in today and was surprised on the price. $3.45 for bright and 3.05 for #2. Thought that was good prices. Got .65 for cans and .60 for aluminum sheet. Not sure if the sheet price was good or not. Was happy with the aluminum can price. Only had 65 lbs of cans.
Those seem pretty good. Was that Aluminum Sheet or Extrusion? Especially considering LME (London Metal Exchange) prices yesterday for copper was around $3.78 and Aluminum was around $1.01. Where (ie: state) are you?
I'm in Indiana. It was Extrusion. Well it was a mix of things. Hard drives, various computer parts like heatsinks.
I am still getting $3.00 for #1 and $2.75 for #2 copper.
This is in Joplin, MO
Need to hold for a few months and see how the prices do.
I got all excited (not really - just curious) this morning, so stopped by the yard and got a price sheet. #1 Copper is $2.65; #2 Copper is $2.55; Alum cans are 0.15; Alum Sheet 0.40; Extrusion is 0.60. Prices haven't moved in a month and don't expect them to till next Spring - around March. I guess I'll keep stockpiling.
Wow. I'm surprised on the price diff. Why is Maine so much lower. .15 for alum cans that seems REALLY low. You need to move...just kidding.
Probably the same reason as why everything else up here is higher - transportation costs. The main problem is that whether you're hauling in or out, there's no "backhaul". Whether it's truck or rail. We're kind of stuck up here away from the rest of the US.
Yeah, I've also never heard of alum cans being that low. BTW I was looking through some magazines at the store and on the cover of Bloomberg magazine is a story about copper theft in America. Pretty good article about detectives going under cover to scrap yards. One thing that caught my eye was that copper is expected to go up to over $5/lb. sometime in 2011, not scrap price but COMEX index price.
As of a week ago, copper was going for $2.80 for #1 in Broome County, NY. This is pretty low considering copper was WELL above $3 a year ago. Aluminum is low too. I brought in 87 pounds of extremely dirty aluminum and only got about $7. I didn't do the math, but I know that's pretty low, even for dirty stuff. I'm hoarding everything for now until spring.
In kansas City #1 2.95 and #2 2.85 for insulated #2 copper it is 1.15 per lb. Aluminum sheet .55 per pound aluminum cans are .50 cast aluminum .45 per pound
At my yard we only get .40 for insulated copper. .40 for aluminum and $2.55 for copper 2. Not sure about copper 1 but a good estimate would be $2.65. Brass is still holding at $1.05.
This is LaSalle County Illinois
If I could get a large pile of insulated copper, I'd be happy to strip that all winter. Seems a person could advertise (craigslist, paper, word of mouth) that they buy insulated copper, and pay them going rate or even a bit more. Does any one do this?
I guess the sticky part I'd wonder about is weighing it. Seems the powers that be are pretty strict on anything bought/sold by weight. So I'd need an accurate scale.
I advertise on CL or use to, anyway. Spent most of last winter stripping construction (220) wiring. I buy by the pound and this is how I get around the Weights and Measures guys ("just in case" as most people don't care). I carry a bathroom scale in the truck and have a hospital scale in the garage. I tell people that I'm weighing the stuff strictly for my benefit, but they're welcome to watch. "Technically, I'll be offering you a set amount for the pile." Then I weigh stuff and have set amounts for some things, like batteries, radiators, alternators, stoves etc. Then add everything up (out loud, but "to myself") and tell the person "I'll give you $xxx for this stuff".Quote:
Originally Posted by IdahoScrapper
Remember to discount for the insulation on wiring.
Be careful about that.... Next thing you know, the price of copper will have fallen 10% and you will be lucky to break even. (I don't see that happening any time soon, but I'm just trying to point out the risk.)Quote:
Originally Posted by IdahoScrapper
Not too worried about that. Difference on insulated versus #1 is 2.20Quote:
Originally Posted by TheIrrationalist
If it did fall, I'd just sit on it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mick
I doubt many would care how I weigh it, but it takes just one to gum up the works and cause problems and headaches.
Do you not advertise for wire any more?
Definitely discount for the insulation. That's my only reason for wanting to buy it, since it's another 2.20 stripped. Ever bought bare from someone? I would offer to buy that too, but I couldn't compete with the yards, so the seller might as well take it in themselves.
Speaking of wire, saw a small pile of it at the landfill. Thought about grabbing it up, but the dozer guy was waiting for me to leave, and they state no salvaging, though that didn't stop me about 5 years ago from asking and getting permission to get a Coca Cola display cooler from the scrap pile. No surprise, it didn't work. Filled it with ice and bottled drinks to use at BBQ's, then sold it for $100 a few years later.
Man, to be a landfill operator, I bet one sees a ton of scrap every single day. They have a metal pile and it puzzles me. Not sure if it's stuff they pull from the general dumping, or if people really drive all the way out there to dump it..and to do so, one must drive past several scrap yards.
I've stopped advertising as much as I use to. One, I have a route of regular customers - like body shops and repair garages. Going for single pickups aren't as profitable. I also have regulars who drop stuff off at my place on an irregular basis. I'm in a fairly rural area and taking their own stuff in isn't an option. One guy actually lives right by the scrap yard, but just prefers bringing his stuff 25 miles and trading me for stuff I've picked up. Yes, I've bought bare wire. I don't need to compete with the yards (in fact, a lot of the stuff is given to me free). re: Landfill operators - both. They then haul the stuff to the scrap yard. I once bought some golf cart batteries from a guy who'd brought them to the landfill but for legal reasons, we had to drive off landfill property to make the transaction.Quote:
Originally Posted by IdahoScrapper
My father in law is an electrician, but he nevers strip's his wire. SO I started stripping it for him and we would split the difference. I just wish he would be a good guy and give it to me...but that isn't going to happen. Thinking out loud here, I wonder if electricians would go for that? Most of the shops I know do not prepare there scrap because they have so much of it. Maybe offering to strip it and take it in, give them a little more then insulated, would intice them to give there wire or unprepared copper tubes, motor's..etc. Does anyone else do anything like that?
Offer him a third or half the rate for Insulated Copper for the full weight. Then strip it and sell as #1. With prices rising the way they are, you'll come out ahead instead of giving him half the stripped rate. If he doesn't go for it, haul some in Insulated. Then next time ask him if you can just give his share before you take it in. Then strip it.
The guys I sell to are paying 2.80 for#1 - 2.65 for #2.
Brass is going for 1.60
insulated wire 1.60
My yard is bending me over at .80/lb on insulated. Though the only time I've taken insulated is when it was communication wire that couldn't be effectively stripped, and some kind of "grease wire" they called it. Cut one end open and it was sticky as hell and no way I was going to strip the entire thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Phithy McNasty
Wow, I should move. I'm getting 2.30 for #1 and 1.90 for #2 here in AZ. I do get .95 for cans though from the buyers who are running them to CA.
Isn't returning cans from an un-taxed state illegal? I remember hearing something about it
Yeah, it is. That's why I don't do it, but there are plenty of people who buy cans legally so that they can resell them illegally. Unless there is another reason why they would pay .95-1.00 when everyone else in town is at .50 -.65. I always assumed they were running them over the state line.
Hey guys. I am new to this scraping thing. Quick question for you. I called a several local (Louisiana) recycling companies who quoted 0.35 for aluminum and 2.50/2.75 for copper. The LME that same day listed aluminum at 1.05 and copper at 4.09. My question is, is the local scrap (recycling) company turning around and reselling the product for something much closer to the prices listed by the LME and if so who are they selling to and what price do they receive.
Yes, they do resell it to someone else for closer to that price. They sell it to a refinery by the hundreds/thousands of tons at a time. That's why we sell it to the yards. We are the middle men(most of us) and cannot reach the volume to satisfy a refinery. I don't know exactly what the prices they get are, but a bale of copper brings them roughly 20-30k. Aluminum prices have not really risen much for over a decade. Also, the price we get can be affected by how far the refinery is from the scrap yard, how they ship, other factors, but they shouldn't vary in price much....if they do, you are most likely getting ripped off.
One thing to take into consideration on why we get the prices that we do is they need to make money too. They don't quite make the the total difference on the price we get to the price they get. Have to figure they have to pay the guys to sort it a bit more, load it into trailers, and the fuel and time it takes for the metal to reach its next destination.
Just took back 50 lbs of copper yesterday and got 2.80 per pound. But, they bought my #2 as #1 and payed the same price. They even counted the weight of the buckets.
I took some copper and brass in today.
#1 Copper 3.30/lb
#2 Copper 3.10/lb
Brass 1.50/lb
I took in a load today. Prices are still about what they were a month ago with the exception of brass.
#1 Copper 2.85
#2 Copper 2.85
Brass .55 (used to be 1.05)
Aluminum .40
insulated wire .40 (really thin stuff and computer ribbon cables)
die cast .15
electric motors .15
aluminum cans .60
My town sucks for scrap prices most of the time. The highest i have EVER seen copper was $2.20 per pound. And they dont even pay more for #1 or bare bright. Its just one price for all copper,. Sucks. Im going to have to drive 3 hours to a different place to recycle next time
You are getting robbed at only $2.20 lb. The COMEX price for copper was back over $4.50 lb today.
Here is a scrap dealer in Camden, NJ that pays fair prices for copper http://rfanellessons.com/
As of 04/08/2011
Bare Bright Copper: $3.80/lb.
#1 Copper: $3.55/lb.
#2 Copper: $3.35/lb.
Maybe you can get a big box and ship them your copper. ;-)
Jeb you'd be better off going to Camden Iron and Metal. They pay a little more and you can actually get in and out of the yard. The non-ferrous yard is on 6th st, the scrap yard is right past Fanelle's. i get off at atlantic and kaighn make a left at the light and follow it all the way to the end. If you come from philly you have to make a right at the light.
ScrapperNJ26 thanks for the info, but Camden is a 35 minute drive for me (if no traffic). I just gave Raleigh Kleeb the info and link so he could see what fair prices for copper scrap are.Quote:
Originally Posted by ScrapperNJ26
I am a 7 minute drive from Trenton Iron and Metal and Scarpati's Recycling in Trenton, NJ. The prices may not be quite as high as in Camden, but they are close enough and time and fuel are money. Trenton Iron and Metal is a busy scrap yard and very easy to get to right off of Route 1. They even have their own railroad siding across the street from the scrap yard. Most of the scrappers that cruise my neighborhood sell to them.
Prices Auto Recyclers is a scrap yard in New Egypt, NJ that pays odd prices. Higher prices for iron than Trenton, but way lower prices for nonferrous metals. They are also too far away to take iron there. http://pricesautorecyclers.com/index-2.html
I'd love to get higher prices for scrap, but just as in real estate location, location, location makes all the difference.
I actually called the 2 recycling centers in my town yesterday. One is at 2.50 for all copper and the other is at 2.80 for #1 and 2.60 for #2.
$3.15 #2 Cu and $1.20 ins wire #2