Buying scrap online vs visiting yards: what you are really trading off

What a day of driving between yards really costs

Driving between yards to compare what is available costs a real day, every time. It also quietly limits how many options you ever see, because there are only so many yards you can visit before the comparison stops being worth the trip. Sourcing online changes that equation, but it is not free of trade-offs, and an honest look at both sides is more useful than a sales pitch.

What the broader research shows

This is not unique to scrap. Across business-to-business procurement generally, research shared through the SAP Community found that traditional sourcing cycles average more than 90 days, compared with around 11 days once the same process moves to a digital marketplace. That is not a scrap-specific number, and your own result will depend on what you buy and how you buy it, but it reflects a consistent mechanism: comparing several sellers at once, instead of one after another, removes most of the delay.

The same logic applies in a yard. Each visit has a travel cost, a conversation, a wait for a weighbridge or a manager, and then a drive to the next one. Online, the comparison happens in parallel, and the time you save can go back into running your own business.

An honest trade-off

Both columns are real. A buyer who values inspecting material by hand will feel the first one, and a buyer who has lost a day to comparing yards will feel the second.

The costs most people do not count

When you decide whether a yard visit is worth it, you probably think of the price of the metal. You probably do not count the following.

• Fuel and vehicle wear. A multi-yard day is a lot of kilometres, and a loaded vehicle uses more fuel on the way back.
• Time away from your own operation. If you run a business, a day on the road is a day your own work is not being done.
• A small comparison set. You can only realistically compare a handful of yards in a day before the comparison itself stops being worth the time it takes. That means you may be missing a better price in a yard you never reached.
• No record. A verbal quote at a counter leaves no history. If there is a disagreement later, you are relying on memory.

None of these shows up as a line item, but all are real. They are the reason checking online first often pays for itself even when you end up buying locally.

When yard visits still make sense

There is also no reason to abandon a local relationship that works well. A yard that knows your needs, gives you fair prices and holds material for you has real value. The point is not that in-person sourcing is wrong. It is that checking a marketplace first costs almost nothing and can save a wasted trip if a better deal is already online.

How to make the switch without losing what works

Comparing offers on equal terms

Whichever channel you use, offers are only comparable once they are on the same footing. Before you compare two prices, check five things.

• Weight basis. Is the price on gross weight or on net weight after the weighbridge tare and any deduction for moisture or contamination?
• Delivered or collected. A lower price with collection at your cost may be dearer than a higher one delivered. Convert both to a price per kilogram at your gate.
• Grade assumptions. Does each price assume the same grade? A yard quoting for clean number one material and a seller listing mixed material are not offering the same thing (see How to Grade Your Scrap).
• Payment terms. When is payment due, and how is it protected? Cash on collection, an invoice on terms and an escrow deposit carry different risks.
• How long the price holds. Scrap prices move daily, so a quote that expires tomorrow is not the same as one that holds for a week.

A useful rule is to work out the effective price at your gate: the quoted price, plus freight and handling per kilogram, minus any deductions the seller has agreed to. Doing this for every offer, online or at a yard, is what makes a comparison honest.

Frequently asked questions