Scrap & Recycle

Category hub

Pricing

How to read a yard price sheet, when to call around, and timing the market.

Pricing a scrap load before you drive

Page brief. Target keyword: scrap metal pricing. Audience: sellers checking what a load is worth and which yard to take it to. Funnel stage: consideration. The page should answer: how do I read a yard's price sheet, when should I call around, and when is it worth waiting out a dip?

Yard pricing is opaque on purpose. Posted prices are usually a "starting point" that gets discounted at the scale based on grade, contamination, and volume. This category covers the seller-side toolkit: reading a price sheet, calling around without wasting time, and using live spot prices on the four pricing hubs to time bigger loads.

What this category covers

  • Read a yard's price sheet — what each grade name actually means in practice
  • Call around effectively — phone scripts, what to ask, what to skip
  • Time the market — when daily volatility matters, when it doesn't
  • Spot vs. payout — why the COMEX/LME number on TV isn't what you'll get

Posted price vs. payout — typical spreads

The values below are placeholder ranges showing how much of "spot" tends to land in a seller's hand. The final writer will replace these with current real-world ranges.

Metal / gradeTypical % of spotWhy the spread
Bare bright copper75–90%Cleanest grade, smallest discount
#2 copper60–75%Solder, paint, oxidation discounts
Insulated wire (high copper %)50–70%Stripping cost baked in
Aluminum sheet60–80%Energy-driven; smelter capacity matters
Aluminum cans (UBC)50–70%Volume-dependent — small loads pay less
Brass (yellow)65–80%Derived from copper × ~0.62 alloy weighting
Stainless 30435–55%Nickel cycle drives wide swings
Prepared steel40–60%Per-ton, not per-pound; freight matters

For live spot to anchor these percentages: Copper price, Aluminum price, Brass price, Stainless steel price.

A phone-call script for shopping yards

Use the same six questions on every call so answers are comparable.

  1. "What's bare bright copper paying today?" — sets the non-ferrous benchmark
  2. "What's #2 copper paying?" — reveals their grade discount steepness
  3. "What's prepared steel paying per ton?" — sets the ferrous benchmark
  4. "Do you take insulated wire? At what %?" — varies wildly by yard
  5. "What's the minimum for a check vs. cash?" — see Getting Paid
  6. "When do prices update?" — daily, intraday, or weekly tells you stale-sheet risk

Three to five calls in 15 minutes will surface a 10–20% spread on most non-ferrous loads.

When timing matters

  • Big load (over 500 lb non-ferrous) — yes, watch Copper price for a 5%+ swing day
  • Mid load (50–500 lb) — modest timing benefit; volatility usually under travel cost
  • Small load (under 50 lb) — drop it whenever it's convenient; timing arbitrage is below noise

Topic ideas / outline

Bullets a writer would expand into prose:

  • How yards anchor posted prices to COMEX, LME, and AMM benchmarks
  • Why "spot" headlines on cable news don't translate to yard payouts
  • The three discounts a yard takes between spot and your check
  • Volume tiers — when 1,000 lb starts unlocking a different price sheet
  • Peddler-account vs. walk-in pricing
  • Seasonal patterns — copper before construction season, steel before mill restocks
  • When to wait, when to dump, and how much volatility actually matters

Frequently asked questions

Is the price on the yard's website current?

Sometimes. Many yards post weekly or monthly indicative prices and adjust at the scale. Always confirm by phone for non-ferrous loads.

What does "net of grade" mean?

It means the posted price assumes the grade name applies cleanly. If the yard re-grades your "bare bright" as "#1 copper," you're paid the lower number.

Why do two yards in the same metro pay different prices?

Different downstream buyers, different freight costs, different volume tiers, different appetite for the grade. A 10–20% intra-metro spread is normal.

Related