Tips for Pricing Scrap Metal

Scrap metal businesses make a profit by selling scrap metal for recycling. The price of scrap metal may depend on many factors, including the amount of metal, the type of metal and its purity, and its current supply and demand. Understanding the best way to sort your scrap metal for pricing will make selling scrap metal an easier process.

Identify and Separate Metals

Learning how to identify scrap metals is a valuable skill—it can also help you learn which types of items contain the most valuable forms of scrap metal, as well as let you identify many types of scrap metal on sight for faster sorting. Keep scrap metal separate so you can easily determine how much of each type you have. For alloys that can’t be separated, determine their type and look up the percentage of each metal by weight for accurate pricing.

Watch the Market

The market and the availability of different sources of metals will have a direct impact on the price of scrap metals. Prices can fluctuate, so it’s important to stay up to date on the latest scrap metal prices to gain the most benefit. If you expect the price of a certain type of metal to increase in the future and have space to store it, you may want to consider waiting, rather than selling it right away.

Factor in Other Costs

When selling scrap metal, it’s important to factor in other costs such as vehicle maintenance and gas. Even if a dealer closer to you offers slightly less for metal than one farther away, the cost of traveling a greater distance in terms of time and gas may mean you won’t profit from traveling to a different dealer.

If you have scrap metal you’d like to sell in Tucson, Tucson Iron and Metal would like to buy it. You can reach us by phone at (520) 884-1554 or via our website to arrange for scrap metal sales or pickup. We also encourage you to consider us for demolition and roll off services to make property improvement easier and faster.