Insulation is what separates us from the chopper
Two reels can hold the same weight of copper and be worth very different money. A 15 kV shielded power cable with an intact jacket, a legible print legend and a concentric neutral that has never been nicked is a product somebody will install. The same conductor with the jacket cracked and the tape shield corroded is a metal transaction and nothing more.
So the questions we ask are about construction, not tonnage. What is the voltage class. Is it copper or aluminum. Is the put-up continuous or spliced. Is the print legend still readable. Those answers decide whether the number starts from resale value or from the metal floor.
Eight cable families
What we will not buy
We do not take residential romex pulled out of a house, extension cords, appliance cord, or drums of mystery wire with no identifying print. Those are scrap yard material and a scrap yard will pay you fairly for them by weight. Sending them to us wastes your afternoon.
We also stay away from anything still energized. Every load we handle is de-energized, isolated and released by the site before our crew touches it. That is not negotiable and it is the reason our insurance still exists.