Few scrap questions draw as many searches as the electric motor. "Scrap electric motor price" is typed about 2,900 times a month worldwide, according to Ubersuggest, mostly by people holding a dead pump motor, a fan, a compressor drive or a machine they are breaking up. They are trying to decide between a hammer and a phone call: open it up, or hand it over as it is. We read recycler write-ups, forum threads and marketplace listings, nearly all American, to describe how the decision works, so what follows is a pattern and not a price list. We give no prices. ScrapTrade runs a scrap marketplace and has a commercial interest in the scrap trade.
The decision comes down to the windings
Inside the casing a motor is part iron, part aluminum and part copper, and the copper is the part that matters. One recycler describes copper windings as the most valuable component and as a modest slice of the total weight, roughly 7 to 18 percent depending on the design. A yard operator described how motors are priced in practice: rotors bought as aluminum breakage, stators as steel, end caps as cast aluminum. In other words, buyers value the metals and ignore what the machine was for.
Telling copper from aluminum
Many cheaper motors use aluminum windings or copper-clad aluminum, and yards pay far less for them. A forum poster described a motor that looked copper-wound but proved to be aluminum with a thin copper coat, then reported that a mixed copper-aluminum lot was worth under half the price of clean aluminum. Treat that as one anecdote. The common test in the sources is simple: scratch through the enamel and look at a freshly cut strand. If a buyer thinks you have misdescribed a lot, expect a re-grade, so say what you are unsure about.
Whole, or cut apart?
The trade-off is time against rate. A whole motor sells quickly but at a motor rate, which may be below what the separate metals would bring. Sorting copper, aluminum and iron usually pays more, the sources say, provided labor is cheap. Some yards will accept a motor with the belly band still on at the full motor rate, though others prefer it off. One hobbyist who dismantled a big motor reckoned it came out only about 20 US dollars ahead on paper. Another source offers a dollar example for a 50 pound motor holding 10 pounds of copper, but it is undated and American, so we skip the figures. Work out what your hour is worth before you pick up a saw.
Before you scrap a motor that works
A motor that still runs may sell as a motor, which is a separate market from scrap, and every source we found concerned scrap only. Test it first. For the wider equipment question, see our guide to selling used machinery and equipment worldwide.
Five things to ask the yard
- Whole motors: accepted, and priced per unit or by weight?
- Is there a different rate for stripped copper windings?
- How are aluminum end caps and rotors graded?
- Should belly bands, fans and couplings come off?
- Are alternators and starter motors grouped with motors or paid separately?
Dealer registration and ID rules differ by country and region, and our guide to scrapping copper cable lists the examples we found.
What to have ready before you call
Yards will ask for four things, so note them first: the motor's rough size or weight, whether the windings are copper or aluminum if you know, what is still attached, and whether it ran when it came out. A short description with a photo of the nameplate is often enough for a first quote. If you have several motors, group them by size, because yards commonly price large and small units differently, which is our reading and not a sourced rule.
Selling copper: the rules
Scrap dealing is regulated in many places, and copper windings count as copper. Typical requirements in the examples we found are dealer registration, ID checks, written records and limits on cash payment, and they vary between US states, the UK, Australia and elsewhere. Ask the yard what it needs before you load a vehicle.
Where ScrapTrade fits
One small motor is a job for the nearest yard. The marketplace is meant for volume: a factory, an electrician or a maintenance contractor with a stack of motors, or with copper, aluminum and iron already sorted. Buyers in more than 50 countries bid, nothing is charged to list, and the buyer's 5 percent deposit goes into escrow when a bid is accepted. Sellers, whether companies or individuals, are verified. We could not confirm how motor lots are graded there, so write to cs@scraptrade.com.au before listing. The Australian companion guide is Scrap Electric Motors: Strip or Sell Whole.
Open questions
- Actual payouts for motors or windings: none found, so none given.
- The copper share outside the one recycler's 7 to 18 percent range.
- Whether stripping pays at your size and labor cost.
- How yards outside the United States grade rotors and stators.
- Whether ScrapTrade takes motor lots.
Quick answers
Is a dead electric motor worth anything?
Yes, for its metals. How much depends on whether the windings are copper or aluminum.
How do I check the winding metal?
Scratch the enamel and look at a cut strand.
Is cutting a motor open worth the effort?
Sometimes. Labor can wipe out the gain, so compare it with the yard's rates.
Will a yard take a motor as it is?
Many will. Some want attachments removed.
Does ScrapTrade accept motors?
It trades scrap metal. Ask support about motor lots.
Sources
- Ubersuggest keyword data, global, queried November 2026.
- Recycler blogs, forum threads and marketplace listings on scrap motors, mostly American, as summarized in search results.
- ScrapTrade website, accessed November 2026.
General information only, not financial advice. Buyers differ by country.