You cannot control the copper price, but you can control how you present, weigh, document and sell your copper. This page is a practical checklist for getting the most from a sale, using the rules and sources we could verify. It gives no yard price, because we found no sourced Australian list. To see how a price is built, read Scrap Yard Copper Prices: How to Check an Offer.
Before you go
- Sort by grade. The ScrapTrade index defines bare bright (clean, uncoated wire with no insulation), No. 1 (clean tubing, bus bar and wire at least 1/16 inch thick), No. 2 (some solder, paint or light oxidation) and insulated cable (60 to 70% copper recovery). See Copper Scrap Price Per Kg: Grades Explained.
- Keep grades apart. A mixed lot may be priced at the lowest grade in it.
- Remove what is not copper where it is safe: steel fittings, plastic, rubber.
- Never cut or strip wiring that could be live. Make sure power is isolated first.
- Know the benchmark that day, so you can compare an offer. See Copper Price Today in A$.
At the yard
- Ask what share of the benchmark it pays for your grade, and what it deducts. The arithmetic is in How Much Is Your Scrap Copper Worth?.
- Watch the weighing. For trade, a weighbridge must be of a type the National Measurement Institute has approved and a servicing licensee must have verified it, and the owner is responsible for it weighing correctly [1].
- Get the price in writing, with the date, the grade and the weight.
- Compare two or three buyers for the same described load.
The paperwork
- Cash. Dealers cannot pay cash for scrap in NSW or Victoria. See Scrap Business Rules in Australia by State.
- ID and records. The ATO's scrap code asks a GST-registered buyer to record identification with a traceable identifier, such as a driver licence number, for sales above A$82.50 [2]. Bring ID.
- ABN. If you sell as a business, the ATO expects an ABN or the buyer withholds 47%, unless a valid exception applies [2]. Householders can give a signed statement. See What If Every Scrap Trade Were on the Books?.
Common mistakes
- Accepting the first quote. Offers vary by yard.
- Mixing grades.
- Not checking the date on a price, because the benchmark moves every day.
- Selling cable by weight alone, when the copper recovery is lower than the weight.
- Not keeping a record of what you sold, to whom and for how much.
When to sell
We found no reliable way to time the copper price, and our own data shows that export volumes and prices do not move together consistently, as set out in Do Scrap Export Volumes Follow Prices?. A sensible approach is to sell when you have a sorted lot and a quote you have compared, instead of waiting for a move you cannot predict.
Selling through ScrapTrade
ScrapTrade is a marketplace where you list material with photos and pricing preferences, review buyer offers and accept one, and buyers can also post what they need, as set out on How It Works. The Trust & Safety page says payment is held in escrow from the moment a deal is confirmed and released once pickup or delivery is confirmed. Quick Sale arranges free pickup on most loads across Australia, but you do not set the price: the value is assessed against current prices after collection. Create a free account to try either. ScrapTrade has a commercial interest in the scrap trade.
What we could not verify
- A sourced Australian yard price for any grade.
- The best time to sell.
- How much sorting adds to a payout, which depends on the buyer.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get the best price for scrap copper?
Sort by grade, compare more than one buyer on the same day, check the weight and keep your paperwork in order.
Should I strip copper wire before selling?
It may move cable towards a higher grade, but whether it pays depends on the amount and the buyer's rates. Ask for both quotes, and never strip live wiring.
Do I need ID to sell copper?
For sales above A$82.50 the ATO's scrap code asks a GST-registered buyer to record identification with a traceable identifier [2].
Sources
- National Measurement Institute, Weighbridges used for trade.
- Australian Taxation Office, GST and scrap metal: code of compliance (3 July 2023).
This is general information, not advice. ScrapTrade operates a scrap marketplace and has a commercial interest in the scrap trade.