If you are going to start recycling copper, you want to do everything you can to make sure that you are getting the most amount of money you can get. There are a lot of things that you can do in order to make sure that you are getting a good price and a good return on all the work you are putting in.
Call the Scrap Metal Center
One of the things that you can do is to call the scrap metal recycling center you are planning on selling your copper to and check to see what their current prices are. Metal prices can be volatile, which means that they will go up and down regularly. So, call them to see what the prices are looking like right then. If the price is trending down, then you might want to wait until the prices are starting to trend upwards.
Clean the Copper
Another way that you can get a better price is to work on cleaning off the copper. That means that you want to take the insulation off the wires. You also want to do things like clean as much coating, paint, corrosion, and dirt off the copper as possible. The cleaner the copper, the more money you are going to be able to get when you sell the metal.
Grade the Copper
There are different grades of copper. Each grade is going to get a different price when you go to sell it. If you learn the basics of the grading system, then you can go ahead and separate your copper out into those different grades. Then when you take it in to sell it, you can give it to the center by grade. That will make it easier for both you and the recycling center. They aren't going to have to spend time separating out the copper into the correct grades before they can buy it from you. It may take you a few times to get the grading down correctly, but you can ask the workers at the recycling center why certain things end up in a particular grade, which will help you do it better the next time.
If you are going to sell scrap copper to try and get some extra money, you want to do everything you can to get the best return on all the work you put into getting that copper.
Call a copper recycling service for more details.
