WE BUY SURPLUS WIRE FROM ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS
Wire that comes back on the truck still carries value. Cancelled jobs, extra pull lengths and partial reels get priced on the tag, not on scrap weight.
A contractor's surplus wire rarely looks like surplus. It sits on a rack behind the shop, on a pallet in the laydown yard, or in a gang box at a job that closed out in March. Some of it is a full reel nobody opened. Some is 300 feet left on a 1,000-foot reel. Both get priced.
We buy wire and cable from electrical contractors across Kansas and arrange the pickup. You photograph the reels and the tags, we price the wire on type, size, footage and condition, and you get a number before anything moves. Nothing has to be re-spooled, cut to length or sorted by hand.
How a contractor ends up holding wire
Surplus collects in a few predictable ways. A project is cancelled after the material is released. A pull is over-ordered for waste and comes back long. A design change swaps a copper feeder for aluminum, or aluminum for copper, and the original order stays wrapped in the yard. A service upgrade leaves the old feeder coiled by the dumpster.
Then there are the leftovers nobody logs: spool ends under 100 feet, partial reels from a panel change, boxed MC from a unit that was value-engineered out, and returns that sat in a connex long enough for the tag to fade.
- Cancelled or deferred projects with unopened reels
- Over-ordered pull lengths, still banded
- Aluminum or copper bought before a spec change
- Partial reels and spool ends from completed jobs
- Job-site returns from a job that closed out
- Decommissioned feeders pulled during a service upgrade
The tag, the legend and the footage
Wire is priced on identity, not appearance. Two reels that look the same from six feet can be THHN and XHHW-2, copper and aluminum, 600 volt and 15 kV. The jacket legend settles it. It is printed with the wire type, conductor size, voltage rating and listing marks, and it photographs badly in a dark trailer.
The reel tag carries the manufacturer, part number, conductor count, size and the footage the reel started with. If the tag is gone, the sequential footage marks printed along the jacket plus a measurement of the remaining wrap will get close. A scale ticket helps on heavy copper.
- Jacket legend: type, size, voltage rating, listing marks
- Reel tag: part number, original footage, conductor count
- Remaining footage, read off the jacket marks or measured
- Voltage class: 600 V, 2 kV, 5 kV, 15 kV, 25 kV, 35 kV
- Condition: new, unused, cut end, weather-checked wrap
How the wire leaves the shop or the site
Most contractor wire ships the way it arrived. Reels stay upright and banded, coils stay tied, cartons stay on the pallet or get stacked onto one. A reel that has sat outside for two winters still loads if the wrap is intact and the drum has not rotted through.
Loading is by forklift, pallet jack or winch onto a flatbed, depending on what the site allows. If the wire is at a job with no dock, say so early, because access shapes the truck and the hour. Anything over a few hundred pounds will not be handled by hand. How pickup works sets out the order of events.
Before you ask for a price
Four things turn a pricing conversation into minutes instead of days.
The offer is wire and cable only. We do not buy transformers, switchgear, breakers, MCCs, generators, bus plugs, chillers or machinery, and we are not a scrap yard. If a closeout package mixes cable with gear, photograph the cable and leave the rest standing. The quote form takes the photos, the footage and the address.
- Photos of the whole reel, the tag and the jacket legend, in daylight
- Footage per reel, even an estimate taken from the tag
- Where the wire is sitting and whether a truck can reach it
- Whether it is new surplus or pulled and used
- Who to invoice and where the bill of lading should go
Read the tag. Photograph the jacket legend. Note the footage and the address where the wire is sitting. That is enough for a number on real material instead of a guess, and pickup is arranged once you accept.
Common categories
Wire these operations usually hold
Building Wire
Copper and aluminum branch, feeder and service wire, boxed coils or full reels.
Open pageTHHN, THWN and XHHW
The everyday conduit wire, including THWN-2 and XHHW-2 in wet and dry locations.
Open pageMC, AC and Tray Cable
Armored and corrugated cable, tray cable, VFD cable and PLTC, cut lengths included.
Open page
Straight answers
QUESTIONS FROM THIS SIDE OF THE LOAD
Is 300 feet left on a 1,000-foot reel worth selling?
Yes, if the type and size still move. A partial reel is priced on the footage that remains and the class of wire, not on the length it started with. Short spool ends in common sizes are harder to place than 250 feet of 4/0, but they still carry metal value. Send the footage and you will get a straight answer.
What if the reel tag is missing?
The jacket legend usually saves it. Type, size and voltage rating are printed on the wire itself, and most cables carry sequential footage marks. Measure the remaining wrap and photograph the print in daylight. If the print is worn past reading, describe the size and type as best the crew remembers and say so plainly.
Can we sell part of a lot and keep the rest?
Yes. Contractors often sell the large feeder and medium-voltage reels and keep boxed stock for service calls. Tell us what stays on the shelf and photograph only what is leaving. Mixed lots are fine as long as every reel, coil or carton can be identified by tag or legend.
Request a quote
TELL US WHAT YOU HAVE
Send the details and photos of the reels. A tag photo and a jacket photo answer most of our questions, so you do not have to measure anything twice.
- Wire and cable only: no transformers, switchgear, breakers, MCCs, generators or machinery.
- Full reels, partial reels, spools, coils and boxed stock all welcome.
- Statewide Kansas pickup arranged after we agree on the load.
- Prefer to talk it through? Call +1 (614) 715-3047.
SELL YOUR SURPLUS WIRE IN ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS
Send the tag photos and we will price the lot, partial reels included.