Should You Strip Copper Cable Yourself? The Actual Economics

Our piece on copper grades touches on why insulated cable pays less than bare wire. This one goes into the actual decision: should you strip it yourself before selling, and when does that decision make sense.

What stripping actually changes

Bare, stripped copper wire sells at the top of the copper price range, while the same wire still in its insulation sells noticeably less, commonly 10-20% less depending on the market that day, because the buyer has to account for stripping cost and copper loss during processing. Stripping it yourself before you sell shifts that margin from the buyer to you, provided your own time and effort cost less than the price gap.

Hand stripping: slow, but needs no tools beyond a blade

For small quantities, a utility knife or wire stripper and some patience is all hand stripping needs. It's genuinely slow work, a kilo of mixed household cable can take a meaningful chunk of an afternoon to fully strip by hand, which is exactly why this only makes sense at smaller volumes where the time cost stays reasonable relative to the value gained.

Mechanical stripping tools change the maths at volume

Small manual cable-stripping tools (hand-cranked strippers that pull insulation off in a single pass) exist and are used by some larger household and small-business sellers who generate cable scrap regularly. These cost money upfront but make stripping dramatically faster than a blade, and if you generate cable scrap on an ongoing basis rather than as a one-off, the tool often pays for itself within a few sessions.

Never burn it

We say this in the copper grades piece too, but it's worth repeating on its own: burning insulation off cable is worse for you and worse for the price than either hand or mechanical stripping. It releases genuinely toxic fumes from burning PVC insulation, and the heat oxidises and sometimes partially melts the copper underneath, which drops it into the lower "burnt wire" grade rather than up into bare wire pricing. Burning feels like a shortcut and is actually a loss on both safety and price at once.

The rough rule of thumb

Small amounts of cable from home electrical work or a single appliance: hand strip it if you have a spare half hour, the price jump is usually worth more than the time. Large, regular volumes from ongoing work: a manual stripping tool likely pays for itself quickly. Either way, don't burn it, and don't bring in a large unstripped lot expecting bare-wire pricing, since the buyer is going to grade it as insulated regardless of how much copper is actually inside.