Frequently Asked Questions

Can You Come to Me?

Yes!  If you are looking to get rid of an old car, our team can come to pick it up and haul it away with our junk car removal service.

If you need materials picked up, contact us.

We also offer roll-off service and can bring a container to your facility or job site—more at Container Service.

Can You Help Me Unload?

At Always Buying Scrap, we can help you with the unloading of whatever scrap you bring. Whether it needs to be lifted, pushed, or pulled off your vehicle, our scrapyard has a piece of equipment to help you:

  • Fuchs 340MHL
  • Liebherr 924A Material handler
  • Hyundai LC330
  • John Deere 328D Skid Steer Loader
  • Four forklifts
Do You Offer Towing?

We charge a nominal fee to pick up your vehicle.  Some of our competitors claim to offer ‘free’ towing.  They build the cost of picking up your car into what they pay, so it’s not free. 

Our policy is to be upfront with our costs to you. You are getting appropriately paid for your vehicle with a small fee for towing.  We profit from the purchase of the car, not from the tow.  Our tow fee merely covers our cost.  You will come out ahead by choosing us.  We pride ourselves on transparency, and our policy is no hidden costs.

North Carolina Law

North Carolina law dictates how and what we purchase.  Always Buying Scrap remains compliant with all county, state, and federal laws.  Please consider the following:

  • We will not purchase any air conditioning coils that are not attached to an air conditioning unit – unless you are engaged in the business of installing, replacing, maintaining, or removing air conditioning coils.  To buy your a/c coils, we will require a business card or letterhead to staple to our invoice, proving that you are in this type of business, and we will pay for a/c coils by check only.
  • A title must be presented to Always Buying Scrap, Inc. for any ten-year-old or newer vehicles. The title must be free of any liens or accompanied by a Satisfaction of Lien letter (notarized) and signed by the owner (notarized) listed on the title as seller, naming Always Buying Scrap, Inc. as the buyer.
  • A government-issued identification with a picture and an address must be presented to Always Buying Scrap, Inc. for each transaction unless a copy is already on file.
  • We cannot purchase scrap metal from walk-ins.  A non-expired license plate number must be provided for each transaction.
  • It is a felony to sell a catalytic converter that is removed from a vehicle without proper vehicle registration documentation. The law is very strict about who is licensed, permitted, or registered to buy and sell catalytic converters.  To avoid difficulties, Always Buying Scrap does not purchase catalytic convertors from the public. 

Please adhere to these policies when visiting Always Buying Scrap.  You can watch our videos to understand how to prepare for a visit.  We encourage you to contact us if you have questions about privacy, our services, or our policies.

If you want to read the North Carolina law governing our policies, it is on the NC General Assembly website.  The link will open a PDF.

Pallets

We buy 40″ x 48″ 4-way pallets at our retail location in Durham. We are currently paying $3 per pallet delivered.

Requirements:

Pallets must be 4-way, meaning they must be able to be picked up from all four sides by a forklift or pallet jack. Pallets with broken runners, in poor general condition, or other sizes are not accepted.

Always Buying Scrap also buys pallets at its Roxboro location at 1983 Perkins Drive, Roxboro.   This site is not open to the public, so if you have pallets for sale close to this location, please call Brandon at 844-4840-ONLY (844-4840-0665).

See More About Pallets

Pickup for Industrial Scrap

We provide pickup service to factories, warehouses, welding and fabrication shops, defense contractors and machine shops, automotive rebuilders, truck and heavy equipment repair shops, railroads, plumbing, electrical, HVAC contractors and supply houses, municipalities, and more.

We buy:

  • Skeleton steel left over after the stamping process and busheling (punchings).
  • Leftover structural steel and hardware from the construction of large buildings.
  • Product returns, damaged production runs, and unsold discontinued products that may clog up your warehouse.
  • Cut-offs and machine shop turnings generated by the machining process. These can be steel, aluminum, brass, bronze, stainless steel, titanium, etc.
  • Intact UPS units and telecom cabinets. We also purchase cable, transformers, batteries, steel, and electric motors separately.
  • Warehouse equipment, including but not limited to material handlers (lift trucks, scissor lifts, etc.), pallet jacks, batteries, and battery charging units.

Are we doing a rigging job? We buy boilers, cooling towers, and air conditioning units.

Suppose you’re reconfiguring your factory and need to dispose of pallet racking, shelving, partitions, or office furniture. In that case, whether you need one-time service for a particular project or need a pick-up regularly, we’re the people to call. If you’re upgrading machinery or laboratory equipment and need the old stuff hauled off, that’s right up our alley.

At Always Buying Scrap, we love to make things even more convenient for our customers. Our 20, 30, and 40 yd roll-off containers can be delivered to your location. To find out more about our container service, click here.

Contact

Policies and Regulations

It is the policy of Always Buying Scrap, Inc. to treat our customers courteously. You can always rely on our friendly personnel and professional equipment to assist you per the following policies:

  • We will always help the customer in unloading their vehicles.
  • We round up and down from fifty cents.
  • The customer must assume all risks of damage to their vehicle.
  • We will deduct by weight for truck and large machinery tires.

Please adhere to these policies when visiting the scrapyard at Always Buying Scrap. You can watch our videos to understand how to prepare for a visit. We encourage you to contact us if you have questions about privacy, our services, or our policies.

Roll-off Container Service

We offer containers with the following capacities:

  • 20 cubic yard capacity should read (4 feet tall by 8 feet wide by 22 feet long)

  • 30 cubic yard capacity should read (6 feet tall by 8 feet wide by 22 feet long)

  • 40 cubic yard capacity should read (8 feet tall by 8 feet wide by 22 feet long)

If you need a one-time or recurring service, please call us, and we’ll be happy to help. We can drop off a container at your location and pick it up when you are done. We have containers in various sizes available for your job site or business and would like to be your company of choice for all of your industrial scrap.

Let us drop you a box.

What Kinds of Vehicles Do You Buy?

We buy all kinds of vehicles, including junk cars, trucks, commercial vehicles, forklifts, construction equipment, agricultural equipment, trailers, motorcycles, and off-road vehicles.  We also purchase airport equipment such as tugs, loaders, stairs, etc.

We determine the price for the vehicle by weight, and we can usually give you an estimate over the phone.

See More About Cars & Trucks

What We Buy?

We pay cash for virtually all types of scrap metals. Here are some examples of some things we regularly purchase at the scrapyard:

  • ALUMINUM:  Pots, pans, window frames, screen doors, siding, barbecues/grills, car rims, automotive radiators and condensers, cans.
  • BATTERIES: Lead-acid batteries, scrap batteries, steel-cased batteries.
  • BRASS: Plumbing valves & fittings, hardware, screens, lamps, automotive heater cores & radiators.
  • CARS AND TRUCKS: Please see our policies page for our requirements for taking vehicles.
  • COMPUTERS AND PARTS: Old computers, circuit boards, electronic parts (not monitors).
  • COPPER: Pipes, roofing flashing, pots & pans, leaders & gutters, stripped wire, burnt wire.
  • ELECTRIC MOTORS: All types of small motors
  • HEATING AND AIR CONDITIONING PARTS: chillers, rooftop air conditioner units, industrial and commercial air conditioner units, cooling towers, and HVAC equipment.
  • INSULATED WIRE & CABLE: Any insulated wire or cable containing copper or aluminum.
  • LEAD: Piping, recovered shot
  • STAINLESS STEEL: Pots & pans, laboratory equipment, nuts & bolts, hubcaps.
  • PALLETS: 40″ x 48″ 4-way pallets. Currently paying $2/each. 

Alphabetical List

  • Aerosol Can-with Holes
  • Air Conditioners
  • Alternators/Starters
  • Aluminum Awning
  • Aluminum Gutters
  • Aluminum Ladders
  • Aluminum Siding
  • Aluminum Signs
  • Appliances-All including Microwaves
  • Auto & Engines, Parts, Rims
  • Ballasts – no PCBs
  • Barrels – Aluminum
  • Steel Bathtubs – Cast Iron
  • Batteries – Auto, Truck, Forklifts, UPS
  • BBQ Grills
  • Beverage Cans
  • Bicycles
  • Blenders
  • Blowers – Leaf blowers
  • Boats – made of metal or Aluminum
  • Brass, Bronze – all types of items
  • Cable – Steel, Copper, Aluminum
  • Canoes – made of Metal and Aluminum
  • Cans – Aluminum, Steel
  • Cars & Engines, Batteries, Rims
  • Cast Iron
  • Chain Saws – drained
  • Circuit Breakers
  • Coat Hangers – steel
  • Compressors
  • Computer Circuit Boards
  • Computers (Not Monitors)
  • Conduit – Pipe – Aluminum/Steel
  • Copper – Pipe, Tube, Wire, Gutters
  • Crutches-Aluminum
  • Demolition Scrap
  • Diesel Engines/Blocks
  • Dishwashers
  • Drink Cans
  • Dryers and Washing Machines
  • Duct Work
  • DVD players and VCRs – no TVs
  • Electric Meters
  • Electric Motors
  • Electric Wire-Stripped/Unstripped
  • Engines – Drained: Cars, Mowers, etc.
  • Exercise Equipment (most)
  • Extension Cords
  • Fans
  • Fencing – but not concrete fencing
  • Fire Extinguishers – with holes or cut
  • Fireplace Grates, Doors (no glass)
  • Forklift Trucks
  • Freezers
  • Fuse Panels
  • Furnaces
  • Gas Tanks – cut in half only
  • Gutters – Aluminum, Copper, Steel
  • Hangers – Coat hangers made of Steel
  • Heavy Machinery
  • Hot Water Heaters
  • I-Beams – Steel
  • Insulated Wire – Copper-Aluminum
  • Ladders – Aluminum and Steel
  • Lawn Mowers – Gas and Oil out
  • Lead – Weights, Wheel Weights, Shields, etc.
  • Leaf Blowers – gas out
  • Light Fixtures – with & without Ballasts/Transformers
  • Manganese
  • Metal – Galvanized, Sheet, Iron, Cast, Etc.
  • Microwaves
  • Mixers
  • Motors & Blocks – Elec. & Gas-with Gas/Oil out
  • Ovens – all types
  • Plumbing Fixtures
  • Pipe – Copper, Galvanized, Steel
  • Pole s- Aluminum, Steel
  • Pop Cans
  • Pots and Pans
  • Radiators – Auto, House
  • Rebar
  • Refrigerators
  • Rims – Steel, Aluminum
  • Roof Vents, Roof Metal
  • Screen Doors/Windows
  • Siding – Aluminum
  • Sinks – Stainless, Cast Iron
  • Starters, Alternators
  • Soda Cans
  • Stainless Steel – all, including Sinks
  • Steel – all, Cabinets, Cans, Hangers, Beams, Etc.
  • Steel Borings
  • Steel Stampings
  • Steel Turnings
  • Stoves – Electric, Gas, Wood
  • Stove Tops
  • Structural Steel
  • Tanks – Aluminum, Stainless, Steel: cut in half or large holes
  • Tin
  • Tin Foil – clean
  • Tobacco Racks
  • Tractors – Farm, Lawn, other
  • Transformers – Oil Free
  • Transmissions – Drained
  • Triplex – Wire
  • Trucks & Truck parts
  • Vacuum Cleaners
  • Washing Machine/Dryers
  • Water Heaters
  • Weed Whackers – no gasoline
  • Wheel Rims – Steel, Aluminum
  • Wheel Weights – Lead/Steel
  • Wire-Copper, Alum, Steel, Triplex; stripped or insulated
  • White Goods-Appliances
  • Wrought Iron
  • X-Ray Film

If there’s an item not listed here, feel free to contact us. But first, please also check what we won’t buy.

What We Don’t Buy?

To ensure the safety of our employees and clients, as well as the protection of our environment, there are some items we can’t accept.

  • Anything containing mercury
  • Anything radioactive
  • Closed containers containing liquid
  • Drums or tanks that do not have a hole cut to verify that they are empty visually
  • Gas cylinders with a valve
  • Monitors
  • Oxygen cylinders with a valve
  • Televisions
  • Tires not attached to a vehicle except those on aluminum rims
  • Shopping Carts
  • Cemetery markers, urns, or vases
  • Batteries – Non-Lead Acid (includes NiCad, NiMH, and Li-Po) 
  • Manhole Covers
  • Sealed Gas Tanks
  • Catalytic converters that are not attached to a vehicle.
  • Air Condition Coils that are not attached to an air conditioner unless you are a legitimate contractor and have a business card/letterhead, and the transaction will be paid by check.
What Would You Pay for My Vehicle?

We buy junk vehicles by weight.  We can give you an estimate over the phone based on a computer program listing the curb weight of vehicles. Your actual vehicle weight may vary slightly from this.

We tow within Durham.  We charge a nominal fee to pick up your vehicle, which we deduct from what we pay you.

See More About Cars & Trucks