Brass and copper can be had from many sources. Most likely you’ll have old wire or pipe laying around that you want to get rid of. If you own a pistol or rifle you may have brass shell casings that have been fired. Or perhaps you have old copper or brass furnishings, like lamps, that are damaged or no longer functional. If this is the case you may wish to sell these items as scrap to be recycled and used again, but it can be hard to figure out where to start. Here are some of the ins and outs of selling scrap brass and copper.
The first step should be to check the current price of your materials. What you’ll be looking for is current mineral and metal prices as traded on the commodities markets. This is the basis of prices that buyers currently pay for copper and brass. One website you can use is a starting point is Infomine, which tracks prices and trends in materials and metals.
Prices paid for scrap brass will also depend on the grade of the brass, which is basically the overall condition and the form it is in. If the brass is in with other materials, the difficulty to extract it will proportionally detract from the price. Similarly, if you are selling copper wire, higher prices will be paid if you bring in wire that has already been stripped down to nothing but copper, rather than wire that still has insulation on it. If you have the time and ability to break down the materials to just copper and brass with nothing else attached, it will pay off in the form of higher offers from the dealer you bring them to.
Since prices vary greatly over time, you’ll want to consult current commodities prices to get an accurate idea of what you can make off your copper or brass. Generally speaking, however, for the last decade or so brass prices have hovered around two dollars per pound, and copper prices have hovered around a dollar fifty per pound. Another factor that will affect price offers is your location; if copper and brass are not commonly available where you are or if there is currently a low supply, demand will drive up offers to above the standard prices paid on the commodities markets.
As far as selling the brass and copper once it is ready, the simplest method is to look up salvage yards and scrap metal dealers in your local Yellow Pages. The one exception to this is if you have brass shell casings from a firearm. People who reload spent pistol and rifle cartridges generally will pay forty to fifty dollars per thousand of these, which is usually above the per pound price you’ll get from yards and dealers.
One last thing to be prepared for is to bring photo ID if you are selling to a yard or dealer. Like pawning a watch or some other valuable item, most dealers make a policy of taking a photo copy of your photo ID as a means to dissuade theft and scavenging of abandoned houses for copper wire and brass pipe and fixtures. Some state or local laws may mandate them to do this.
