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Scrap Value vs Resale: Which Answer Is Right for Your Unit
A working guide for Ohio sellers: what decides the number and how the unit leaves.
What we buy
What we buy here
Most of what matters about Scrap Value vs Resale: Which Answer Is Right for Your Unit can be settled before anybody picks up a wrench. A number is only as good as the description behind it, which is why the questions are short and specific. A cabinet that has been opened recently has probably been looked at by somebody who knew why.
The sequence matters: identify, inspect, document, then move. A buyer who cannot say where the unit will go is a broker, and brokers add a day and a deduction. A decision made on a photograph is reversible; a decision made after the truck arrives is not.
Who we buy from
Six kinds of seller, one desk
- Recyclers
- Electrical contractors
- Equipment dealers
- End users
- Demo contractors
- Distributors
Fast offers
A nameplate photo is usually enough to price a unit the same day.
Dedicated logistics
We arrange the crane, the permits and the flatbed, not you.
No broker fees
You are dealing with the buyer, so nothing is shaved off the offer.
How it works
Six steps from your yard to the money
- 01
Take pictures
The nameplate, the cabinet interior and the tank in daylight. Three photographs are usually enough to place a unit in the right class and the right price band.
- 02
Send them to us
The form on this page, a text or an email all reach the same desk. Include the city, the access and any deadline the site is working to.
- 03
Review the offer
A buyer reads the photographs, asks one or two questions and sends a written offer with the assumptions stated, so nothing changes on the day.
- 04
We schedule freight
Crane, flatbed and permits are booked around your access. You get a date and a window, and we carry the cost of getting it right.
- 05
Testing on arrival
Winding resistance, megger and turns ratio, plus oil analysis where the unit is liquid filled. The results decide the final number, and you see them.
- 06
Get paid
Payment is released on the agreed terms once the unit is received and tested, by check or ACH. No retention, no sixty-day terms.
What we handle for you
The parts sellers dread, done for you
Rigging
Crane and forklift arranged around your access, not the other way round.
Oil containment
Bunds, absorbent and disposal handled before the unit moves.
Bill of sale
A clean title document for your records, signed on collection.
PCB paperwork
Pre-1979 units get the testing and the manifest they need.
Guide
How scrap value is calculated
A scrap yard pays for the weight of the copper, the aluminium and the steel, minus the cost of getting the oil out. Copper windings are worth far more per pound than aluminium, which is why two identical-looking units can be worth very different amounts. The oil is a cost rather than a credit unless it is clean enough to reclaim, and the tank is usually light steel.
The work is unglamorous and the equipment is heavy, which is why so few people do it properly. The difference between a good and a bad purchase is usually information rather than luck.
How resale value is calculated
A resale value starts with the kVA, the voltages and the impedance, because those decide whether anybody can use the unit. Condition comes second, and it is measured by oil test, bushing condition and tank integrity rather than by paint. Documentation adds value, because a unit with a service record is a known quantity and a unit without one is a risk.
A transformer is heavy, oily, regulated and awkward, and every part of the process reflects that. A site visit answers in twenty minutes what a week of messages cannot.
Where the two meet
The mistake sellers make
Checklist for scrap value vs resale: which answer is right for your unit
Questions about scrap value vs resale: which answer is right for your unit
Related guides
Get started
Get an offer in minutes
Five fields and a phone number is all we need to start. We reply the same business day, and a firm number follows the nameplate photo.
(614) 715-3047or send the form and we will call you.
Questions
What sellers ask before they call
Equipment types
Does scrap value vs resale: which answer is right for your unit change what a transformer is worth?
A unit with a failed winding but a sound tank and core often lands closer to scrap than to resale, and that is not a tragedy. The crossover point is roughly where the cost of repair equals the difference between the two values, and that arithmetic is worth doing.
Service area
Where does a seller start with scrap value vs resale: which answer is right for your unit?
Copper windings are worth far more per pound than aluminium, which is why two identical-looking units can be worth very different amounts. A tank that has been repainted recently deserves a closer look than one that has not.
Payment
Is scrap value vs resale: which answer is right for your unit part of what a buyer checks on site?
The common mistake is assuming age decides value, when rating and condition decide it. The second mistake is calling a scrap yard first, because the number they give is a floor rather than a valuation.
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