Well I am humbled. It didn't work out nearly as well as I thought. First, when I went back to the place that quoted 70 cents/lb.
(type 2 insulated copper wire- NO NEED TO SNIP THE ENDS) they said they ran out of cash and were turning people away. I pushed back and said that if I were to come back the next day I at least wanted to know what they would pay. I had someone come to my car and quote 15 cents/lb. (vs. 70 cents!) for type 2 insulated wire without snipping the ends. I reminded him that he (the same guy) quoted me 70 cents on Friday evening. He said, "But prices change due to market conditions." I replied that they don't go from 70 to 15 just like that.

After leaving (not pleased- I might add) it occurred to me that he had a very thick accent. Maybe he was trying to say 17 instead of 70 and the price went from 17 to 15 over the weekend (instead of from 70 to 15). I was still disappointed and upset. I didn't want to drive home and have to come back the next day.

So I went to another couple of scrapping places a few miles away. The second one quoted 28 cents for some of the (type 2 insulated with no ends snipped) wire and 45 cents for the other. The wire didn't have just ends that would need to be snipped but also inline boxes as well. So this was an average of 36.5 cents/lb. without any snipping needed. As I figured that the ends and all the inline boxes that needed to be cut out could add 10-20% to the weight, this was really equal to 40-44 cents/lb. at the old place (which only paid 25 cents/lb. even with all the snipping work I did).

So it was a no brainer for me to take this price. I just had the number 70 in my head, so I was somewhat disappointed. But my hands are rejoicing. And my wife is thinking the back yard is looking much better than it did just recently. So I guess that is all that is important.