Unsorted cable · Georgia
Mixed cable lots: sorting and why they price as a group
A mixed lot is not a discount on the cable inside it. It is a single review of material whose individual contents are unknown, and the group price reflects the work of finding out what is actually in the pile.
- Unsorted material
- One group review
- Sorting cost
01Overview
Why a mixed lot is priced as a group
When cable is sold as a mixed lot, the review cannot work item by item. There are too many pieces, the footages are unknown, and the sizes and types are jumbled. The lot is reviewed as one quantity with one outcome, and that single figure has to account for everything in the pile at once.
Three costs sit inside that figure. Sorting: someone has to handle every piece, identify it and decide what it is. Trailer space: mixed material loads badly, because odd shapes and part reels leave gaps that uniform reels would fill. And uncertainty: an unsorted pile always contains some material that turns out to be worth less than it looked.
None of that is a criticism of the seller. A mixed lot is often the honest description of what a clearout produces. The point is that the price is a price for the pile, not an average of best guesses about the pieces.
02Specification
What a mixed lot description should carry
- Pieces
- How many reels, coils and loose lengths are in the lot
- Metals
- Whether copper and aluminum are already separated
- Types
- The families present, even if the quantities are uncertain
- Footage
- Range rather than total, if the total is unknown
- Condition
- Predominantly sound, mixed, or mostly damaged
- Containers
- Pallets, boxes, still on reels, or loose in a pile
- Loading
- Whether it can be forked, hand-loaded or needs sorting to load
- Access
- Where the material is and how a trailer reaches it
A short description of the worst material in the lot is more useful than a long description of the best. The group review turns on the weakest part of the pile.
03Four ways a lot gets mixed
Four ways a lot gets mixed
Mixed metals
Copper and aluminum together in one pile. The most expensive kind of mix, because the two are reviewed on entirely different bases and separating them afterwards costs handling time.
Mixed types
Building wire, tray cable, control cable and cord in the same heap. Each family has its own use and its own condition questions, so the lot is reviewed at the level of the least placeable material.
Mixed lengths
Full reels beside part reels beside 30 ft tails. The full reels carry the lot, and the tails are priced with them because nobody is going to sell them separately.
Mixed condition
Sound cable beside water-damaged and burnt material. The damaged pieces set the review, because a buyer taking the pile has to take them out of it.
04Evaluation
How a mixed lot is reviewed
The review starts with the composition, not the tonnage. A cubic yard of cable tells you very little; a pile described as mostly 10 to 12 AWG copper building wire with some tray cable and a few aluminum pieces tells you almost everything. The description is what makes a group review possible at all.
Then the sorting decision. Sorting before the review almost always improves the outcome, because it converts one unknown pile into three or four known ones. Where that is not practical — a demolition clearout on a deadline, a storehouse being emptied by Friday — the lot is reviewed as it stands and the sorting cost is priced into it.
Then handling. Mixed material loads badly and is slow to load. Say whether the pile can be forked onto a trailer or has to be handled piece by piece, because on a mixed lot the labour of loading is a real part of what is being reviewed.
A mixed pile is unstable and its contents are unknown. It is never stood on, and it is unloaded from the top. Sharp edges, exposed conductor ends and unsecured reels are all present in a pile that has been pushed together with a machine.
05Seller terms
Before you sell: how it works
Four things a seller should be able to pin down before a truck is booked.
Verification
Footage is checked against the reel tag, the sequential marks on the jacket, the wrap count against the barrel, or a published weight per 1,000 ft — whichever the reel actually supports.
Payment
Payment method and timing are agreed in writing for the specific lot before anything is loaded or moved. No verbal number is treated as an agreement.
Paperwork
A bill of sale for the lot, and for utility material the owning utility’s release reference. Neither is optional and neither is created after the fact.
Freight
Collection is arranged as part of the terms. Say what can lift the reels and whether a 53-foot trailer can reach them, and the pickup is planned around that.
Sending a reel list and photographs costs nothing. A review is not a purchase, and nothing is bought, moved or scheduled until written lot terms are agreed for that material. Request a pickup when the lot is ready.
07Questions
Mixed lots questions
Would sorting a mixed lot first get a better result?
Almost always. Separating metals and then types turns one unknown quantity into several known ones, and each is reviewed on its own terms.
Do you need exact footages on a mixed lot?
No, and that is why the group review exists. A range and a piece count are enough to open it, provided nobody presents a guess as a measurement.
Is a mixed lot always priced lower than a sorted one?
The review accounts for sorting, space and uncertainty, so the figure is usually lower than the sum of the sorted parts.
Can a mixed lot include damaged cable?
Yes, if it is described. Hidden damaged material is what turns a group review sour, so say how much of the pile is affected and what happened to it.
Describe the pile, then photograph it
What families are in it, roughly how many pieces, whether copper and aluminum are separated, and how it would be loaded. That is enough for a group review.