It can be a great way to make some extra money if there’s enough of it lying around – selling scrap metal from your home may even earn you much more than you think, particularly if you have a highly valuable metal like copper in the pipes you just had removed while remodelling.
But before you cart it all off down your local scrap metal yard, it might be worth taking a closer look to see if you’ve got any valuables in there!
You may have seen a story in the news lately about a scrap metal dealer who found £20,000 in an old safe – it had been sitting around the yard for quite a while, and when they finally broke it open they found all the cash, which they promptly handed over to the police, who in turn gave it to charity.
It’s got us thinking – we’d hate to see our customers chuck something in the scrap heap only to find out that it would have been worth something to a collector, no matter how unlikely that may seem!
What valuables could be hiding in your scrap metal?
Well, you never know! Old toys and electronics may turn out to be collectors’ items, old coins may have hidden value, and jewellery and homewares that look past their prime may just need a good clean to uncover something more valuable underneath the grime.
It may defy the point of a quick and cathartic clear-out, but it often is worth checking anything unusual on websites like sellingantiques.co.uk – or even just taking a look at eBay to see if similar items are going for decent prices.
While we do give the best possible prices for scrap metal, we can’t guarantee that the cost of the raw materials will outweigh the value it may have for a collector – so, better safe than sorry!
If, of course, it turns out not to be of any value, then send it our way – if it’s made of the right stuff, we’ll give you the best price that we can. To learn more about the different types of scrap metal, take a look at our guide to scrap metal grades.
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