Guides › How Scrap Metal Prices Work
How Scrap Metal Prices Work
Why scrap metal prices change every day, what sets the price a yard pays you, and how to get a fair price.
The price a yard offers you moves with world metal markets, so it can change daily. Copper, aluminium and other base metals are traded globally, and yards pass rises and falls on to sellers.
What affects the price you get
- The metal: copper and brass are worth far more per kilo than steel.
- How clean it is: attachments, paint, plastic and solder lower the grade.
- How much you bring: trade quantities often get better rates.
- The yard: each sets its own prices, so it is worth ringing two or three.
Getting a fair deal
Sort your metal, ask for the price per kilo before it is weighed, and watch the weighing. Licensed yards must give you a payment record you can check.
Yard owners: you can send us your current prices to show on your listing.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Last reviewed 1 November 2026.