What you should actually expect to be offered
Yards quote per pound against COMEX minus their spread. Bare bright at a big regional yard gets the best percentage; small yards and dirty grades widen the spread. Prices move daily with COMEX — call ahead for today's board price.
Grades decide the price, so sort before you go
The same 50 lb of copper can differ by $50+ depending on presentation. Strip obvious steel and brass out, separate bare bright from painted or soldered pieces, and keep insulated wire apart — mixed loads get priced at the WORST grade in the bucket. Ten minutes of sorting is the best hourly rate in scrapping.
Should you strip insulated wire?
Only sometimes. High-grade insulated wire pays ~75% of clean copper by recovered weight without labor; stripping earns the difference only if the wire is thick (low insulation share) and you have volume. Thin cords are usually better sold as-is at the insulated rate.
Know the board price before the scale
Yards post or quote a daily board price keyed to COMEX. Check COMEX, apply the grade discount above, and you know a fair board price before you arrive. If the quote is far below the range, the next yard is usually worth the drive at anything over ~50 lb.
Frequently asked questions
What is copper worth per pound today?
Value = the current COMEX copper price times your grade factor (bare bright ~100%, #1 ~97%, #2 ~94%, insulated wire 40–75% by recovery). Yards then pay 55–92% of that depending on their size and your volume.
Do scrap yards pay COMEX price?
No yard pays full COMEX. Big regional yards on clean bare bright come closest (~80–85%); small yards on mixed grades pay well under 70%.
Is it worth stripping wire for copper?
Only thick wire in volume. Thin cords cost more labor than the insulated-rate discount they carry.
Other metals
Gold calculator · Silver calculator · Platinum calculator · Palladium calculator · Nickel calculator · Brass calculator