“What’s my scrap worth?” doesn’t have a single answer, even for the same material on the same day — a number of factors combine to determine the actual price you’ll be offered, and understanding them helps you judge whether an offer is fair.
Material type is the starting point, not the answer
Copper, brass, aluminium, and steel all have very different baseline values, driven by global commodity markets. But baseline value is only the starting point — grade, condition, and quantity all move the actual price you’re offered up or down from there.
Grade and condition matter more than people expect
The same material in different conditions can be priced very differently — bright, stripped copper versus insulated cable; clean sorted aluminium versus mixed turnings; solder-free copper pipe versus pipe still carrying brass fittings. Two people with “the same” material can walk away with meaningfully different offers based on condition alone.
Quantity affects the price per kilo
Larger loads are often worth more per kilo than small ones, since they’re more efficient for a buyer to process and collect. This works in the opposite direction too — very small quantities may attract lower per-kilo rates, or not be worth a buyer’s time to collect at all.
Global markets set the baseline, but it moves constantly
Metals like copper, aluminium, and steel trade on global commodity markets, and scrap prices track these movements, generally at a discount reflecting the cost of processing and reselling. This means “the price” genuinely changes day to day, sometimes significantly — a figure from a few weeks ago isn’t a reliable guide to today’s value.
Where you sell it changes the outcome too
A single yard’s price reflects their own margin requirements on a given day. A price arrived at through competition between multiple buyers reflects genuine current demand for your specific material — which is usually a better (and sometimes very different) number.
The practical takeaway
Rather than asking “what is X material worth” as if there’s a fixed answer, the more useful question is “what’s my specific material, in its current condition and quantity, worth to buyers competing for it right now” — which is a question only checking real, current offers can actually answer.
Get a real answer — see live offers on your material. Check ScrapBays →