What sets the price of an empty reel

Why there is no price list

Empty reels do not have a market price the way scrap copper does. There is no exchange, no index and no published rate for a 42-inch nailed reel. What a reel is worth depends on whether someone nearby needs that exact reel, in that condition, this month, and on what it costs to get it from where it sits to where it is needed. Two identical reels can be worth very different amounts if one is in a dry warehouse beside a loading dock and the other is half sunk into a muddy lot behind a substation. That is why we answer a reel list with a specific reply rather than a rate card, and why any figure quoted on the internet for "what a spool is worth" should be read as one person's sale, not a price.

The factors, in the order they matter

1. Ownership

A reel that belongs to its cable maker has no sale value to the holder, however good it looks. Steel reels are almost always returnable; Southwire's reel information, for instance, says its steel reels are returnable and charged for, with credit if they are returned within 12 months. Wooden reels with a maker's stencil, a reel number or a deposit tag may be returnable too. Those go back through the maker's programme. Everything below applies only to one-way reels that you own.

2. Condition

The reel has to be usable again. The checks are simple:

• both flanges flat, with no split boards and no missing pieces at the rim;
• every stave of the drum in place and tight (Service Wire's own return rules, for comparison, ask that at least 75 percent of the staves are intact);
• the arbor hole round and undamaged, not worn oval or burnt by a reel stand;
• no soft, black or crumbling wood from rot;
• no lagging nails sticking out of the rims.

A reel that fails one of these is a recycling reel, and its value is in the wood and steel, which is small.

3. Size

Size changes value in both directions. Small spools are cheap to handle and easy to sell one at a time, so they are always worth collecting in numbers. Mid-size reels, the 36- to 48-inch class, are the most wanted by contractors and makers. Very large reels are useful to rewinders and timber recyclers, but each one takes a forklift and a lot of truck space, so their value depends on how many are in one place.

4. Quantity and matching

Twenty reels of the same size are worth more than twenty mixed ones, because a buyer who rewinds cable or builds a run of tables wants matching reels. A full truckload of one size class is the best case.

5. Location and access

Distance, tolls on the Delaware River bridges, gate restrictions, the need for a forklift, and how long loading takes all come out of the same pot. A load in Camden next to the Ben Franklin Bridge and a load at the far end of Chester County are planned differently.

6. Timing

Demand moves. When several local contractors are starting big cable pulls, sound mid-size reels are wanted. When a lot of empties have just come in, the same reels wait longer for a buyer. We do not pretend that timing does not matter.

Three example lists

• Thirty 42-inch nailed reels, clean, on a dock in Pennsauken with a forklift. Matched size, good condition, easy loading close to the Betsy Ross Bridge: the strongest kind of list. Worth paying for.
• Five mixed reels, two cracked, in a yard in West Chester, no forklift. Three of them are probably reusable; two are recycling. A free collection, grouped with other pickups in Chester County.
• Twelve steel reels and four stencilled wood reels at a laydown area in Eddystone. None of them are the holder's to sell. The reply names the makers and explains how each one takes its reels back.

How the reply is worded

The reply to your list puts each group of reels into one of four outcomes: we pay for them; we collect them free; we recycle them (free or for a charge that is stated up front); or they are returnable and we tell you whose they are. There is no fee for asking and no obligation after the reply.

Markets beyond the region

Demand elsewhere, at rewinders, makers and farms, shifts slowly with construction cycles and timber costs.

Things that barely matter

Paint colour, marker scribbles, staples, old labels and age, if the reel is sound, hardly move the figure.

Questions

Is an old reel worth more than a new one?

No. Age has no value of its own. A new-looking reel in good condition is the most useful; an old reel that has been stored dry can be just as good.

Does the cable maker's name on the reel add value?

Usually the opposite. A printed or stencilled maker's name often means the reel is returnable and not yours to sell. Plain reels with only a paper shipping label are normally one-way.

Why will you not quote over the phone without a count?

Because the outcome depends on condition, size and count together. A list and two photographs take a few minutes and give a real answer.