Copper and wire: where the per-pound spread comes from
A pound of bare bright copper can pay three to five times what a pound of low-grade insulated wire pays. The reason is straightforward: yards are ultimately reselling the copper inside the wire, and the more insulation, jacketing, and contamination they have to strip out, the less of the original weight is actually copper.
Wire grades you'll encounter
| Grade | Description | Typical copper content |
|---|---|---|
| Bare bright | Clean, uncoated, 16ga+ | 100% |
| #1 insulated (heavy) | Thick romex, single jacket | 65–80% |
| #2 insulated | Lighter gauge, single jacket | 50–65% |
| Christmas-tree / extension | Thin, fine strand | 30–45% |
| Communication / data | Small gauge, complex jacket | 15–35% |
These ranges are typical — your yard's posted grades and percentages will vary.
When to strip vs. sell as-is
The decision depends on:
- Per-pound spread between bare-bright and your insulated grade
- Time required to strip — often several hours per 100 lb of insulated wire
- Tooling — a wire-stripping machine pays for itself for serious volume
For occasional scrappers with under 50 lb of mixed wire, selling as-is is usually the right call. For regular scrappers handling demolition jobs, a stripping machine and a few hours of weekend labor can recover thousands of dollars per year that would otherwise go to the yard.