What's my scrap worth?
Free calculators that use the price your yard pays: what a load pays out, whether stripping copper wire is worth your time, and how yards grade copper. No sign-up, no ads.
What's my load worth?
Weight × what your yard pays, worked out to the cent.
An estimate, not a quote. Your yard's scale, grading and deductions decide the real payout.
How to price a load
- Get your yard's price. Call, check the board at the scale, or work it out from your last receipt. Ask for the price per pound of your grade.
- Weigh it. In pounds or kilograms. Any scale gives you a first estimate; the yard's scale decides.
- Enter both. You get the payout, worked out to the cent.
Selling insulated copper wire? The copper wire calculator tells you whether stripping it pays, per load and per hour.
Calculators and guides
- Copper wire calculatorStrip it or sell it as is? Your yard's two prices decide, per load and per hour.
- Scrap copper gradesBare bright, #1, #2 and insulated: how yards grade copper and how to sort it.
- Scrap metal calculatorAny metal, your yard's price, worked out to the cent.
- The iPhone appSave your yard's rates, see what your pile is worth, and get price alerts.
Your yard's real prices, on your iPhone
Scrap Metal Intel remembers what your yard actually pays, shows what your unsold pile is worth at today's prices, and sends an alert when copper crosses your number. All 12 metals are free, with no account and no ads.
Get Scrap Metal Intel on the App Store
Free on the App Store for iPhone and iPad. Pro is optional, sold in the app.
Not on an iPhone?
Scrap Metal Intel is an app for iPhone and iPad. A web version is being considered; there's nothing to sign up for yet. The calculators on this site work on any phone or computer.
Questions people ask
Where do I get a price to put in?
From your yard. Call and ask for its price per pound for your grade, check the board at the scale, or use your last receipt: what you were paid divided by the pounds. That's the number you're actually paid on. If your yard pays a % of a market price instead (US yards often use COMEX copper), pick "A % of a market price" and enter both.
Does this site show today's metal prices?
Not yet. We'll only publish market prices from a licensed data feed, each one dated and labelled with where it comes from. Until then the calculators work with the prices you enter, which is the number a yard pays you on anyway.
Do I need to sign up to use the calculators?
No. The calculators run in your browser. Nothing you type into them is sent to us.
Is there an app?
Yes, for iPhone and iPad: Scrap Metal Intel saves your yard's real rates, shows what your unsold pile is worth at today's prices and sends price alerts. There's no Android version yet; a web version is being considered.