How to Sell Silver Electrical Contacts and Relays for Maximum Return
If you've got a pile of silver electrical contacts sitting around from circuit breakers, old relays, or industrial switchgear, you've got something worth selling. But there's a big gap between what they're actually worth and what most scrap yards will pay you.
The difference comes down to preparation and who you sell to. A lot of people get this backwards.
What You're Actually Selling
Silver contacts and relays conduct electricity in switches, breakers, and control systems. The silver itself is what has value. Nobody's reusing these as parts.
You'll typically find fine silver or silver alloys in these components. AgNi (silver-nickel), AgCdO (silver-cadmium oxide), and AgSnO₂ (silver-tin oxide) are common. Sometimes it's silver-plated copper, but that's worth considerably less.
Older equipment, especially anything from before 2000, usually has more silver. Manufacturers have been cutting back on silver content for years to save costs, so newer stuff often disappoints.
Figuring Out What You Have
Silver contacts are bright white metal, not yellowish like brass. They won't stick to a magnet. Some have markings stamped on them like "Ag" or the alloy type. If you're not sure, refiners can test it with XRF equipment.
The Prep Work That Actually Matters
Here's the thing that trips people up. If you bring in whole relays or intact breakers, buyers discount heavily because someone has to take them apart. That someone could be you, which means you keep that value instead of handing it to them.
Pull the silver contacts out. Strip away the plastic housings, steel frames, copper coils. Just bring the contacts. It's tedious work but it makes a real difference in your payout.
Sort by type if you can manage it. Keep things dry. Don't mix your silver contacts with gold-plated parts or regular copper scrap. And weigh what you've got before you go anywhere so you know what you're working with.
How This Stuff Gets Priced
General scrap yards don't know what to do with silver contacts. They'll treat them like regular metal and lowball you because they don't have the setup to refine precious metals properly.
Actual precious metal refiners like Specialty Metals Smelters & Refiners assay your material to figure out the silver percentage. It varies a lot depending on what type of contacts and alloys you bring in. Contamination matters too. Copper, cadmium, steel mixed in affects what they can recover.
Professional refiners typically get 85-98% of the silver out, depending on the material. Bigger lots usually get better rates because there's efficiency in processing volume.
Where to Actually Sell This Stuff
Precious metal refiners who handle industrial materials are going to give you the best return. They price based on actual assay results instead of guessing low to cover themselves.
Industrial silver recyclers are your next best option. Specialty electronic scrap buyers might work. Local scrap yards almost always pay the least because they lack the infrastructure and expertise for precious metals, so they price conservatively.
Specialty Metals Smelters & Refiners works with businesses and individuals recycling silver contacts and relays. The refining process is set up specifically for recovering precious metals from industrial materials.
Safety Considerations
Some contacts have cadmium oxide in them. Don't grind these. Don't burn them. Don't breathe any dust. Licensed refiners have the right equipment to handle cadmium safely. You don't.
Check your local regulations about transporting this stuff if it's cadmium-bearing. When in doubt, let the professionals deal with it.
Getting Started
How to sell silver electrical contacts and relays really comes down to doing the dismantling work yourself and finding a precious metal refiner instead of taking whatever a scrap yard offers.
If you're an electrical contractor, maintenance operation, or equipment salvage business generating this material regularly, working with a dedicated refiner beats trying to figure out what to do with it each time.