Getting paid for scrap carbide: cash, checks, ID and records
Getting paid for scrap carbide happens by cash, check or money order, or electronic transfer, and in several states the scrap metal law decides which one a buyer may use. Here are those rules, the ID a buyer may record, bank check holds and the papers to keep once you get a quote.
How do carbide buyers pay?
A buyer of scrap carbide pays by cash, by check or money order, or by electronic transfer, and state law can narrow the choice. Scrap carbide here means used cemented carbide, a mix of tungsten carbide (WC), cobalt and sometimes other metals: hard scrap (solid pieces) or soft scrap (grinding sludge, sweepings, powders and turnings).
- Cash is limited or barred at set amounts and above in Arizona and Nevada, and barred in Michigan, as the table below shows.
- Check or money order is what Arizona requires, mailed, for scrap metal sales of $300 or more, with exceptions.
- Electronic transfer is allowed in Nevada, alongside a check, for purchases of $150 or more. Michigan lets a dealer pay an industrial or commercial customer, one selling from a fixed location under a written agreement, by bank wire, though never in cash.
We pay cash where state law allows it. Where a state requires a check or a transfer, its law sets the method, so ask us how payment works for your sale before you ship anything.
Sources: Arizona Revised Statutes 44-1642; Nevada Revised Statutes chapter 647; Michigan Compiled Laws 445.425; Michigan Compiled Laws 445.423; OSHA letter of interpretation, February 11, 1987; ITIA newsletter on tungsten recycling.
Scrap metal payment rules, state by state
Each state's rule reaches only the metals it lists, so the table shows coverage beside payment. A 2022 Arizona Senate research staff brief says all 50 states have passed laws aimed at metal theft, after a rise in thefts beginning in 2005, so states outside this table have rules too.
| State | What the rule covers | Payment |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Scrap metal in general; no metal list beyond cables and scrap vehicles | $300 or more (with exceptions): no payment on site, check or money order mailed to the address on your ID. One cash sale per seller per day. Over $100, the dealer holds the scrap itself seven days after reporting, with exceptions such as industrial accounts. |
| Nevada | Nonferrous metals, scrap iron, stainless steel, or metal equipment used in construction, farming, power, telecom, railroads, oil rigs or public lights | $150 or more: check or electronic transfer only, made out to the business if you sell for one. One cash sale under $150 per seller per day. |
| California | Records: all ferrous and nonferrous scrap metals and alloys. Payment rule: copper, copper alloys, stainless steel and aluminum only | For those four, cash or check: a check mailed to the address on your ID, or cash or check collected on or after the third business day after the sale. Some business and regular sellers are exempt. |
| Michigan | Metal sold for its metal value; the nonferrous list names copper, brass, platinum group metals, aluminum, bronze, lead, zinc, nickel and their alloys | No cash. Unless an exception applies, a check or money order photographed as it is handed over, or a payment card cashable only at an ATM on the dealer's premises. Industrial or commercial customers may be paid as agreed, such as by bank wire. |
| Ohio | Records: every article a dealer buys. No-cash rule: special purchase articles (such as beer kegs and utility wire) and catalytic converters only | For those items, a check or other traceable payment set by state rule; payment for special purchase articles and bulk merchandise containers is withheld for two days. |
| Illinois | Copper, brass, aluminum and catalytic converters, with exclusions | The sections read set ID, photo, record and tax-form duties, not a payment method. |
No statute read for this guide names carbide or tungsten. Arizona's dollar rule reaches scrap metal of any kind, but whether cemented carbide falls under Nevada's, California's or Michigan's wording is not stated, so ask a buyer which rules it follows.
Sources: Arizona Senate Research Staff issue brief, November 10, 2022; Arizona Revised Statutes 44-1641; Arizona Revised Statutes 44-1642; Arizona Revised Statutes 44-1644; Nevada Revised Statutes chapter 647; California Attorney General Information Bulletin 2025-DLE-12; California AB 1508, Chapter 531, Statutes of 2012; Secondhand Dealer and Pawnbroker Laws (California AG, 2012), Bus. & Prof. Code 21608.5; Michigan Compiled Laws 445.423; Michigan Compiled Laws 445.425; Ohio Revised Code chapter 4737; 815 ILCS 325/2.
What ID do you need to sell scrap metal?
Bring a current government photo ID, and expect a covered buyer to copy it, photograph you and in some states take a print. Each rule binds the dealers and metals shown in the table above.
- Arizona: name, physical description, address, date of birth, signature, a copy of your photo ID, a photo or video of you, your right index fingerprint and the delivery vehicle's plate.
- Nevada: a copy of your ID, a photo or video of you and your right index fingerprint.
- California: your name and ID, a description of the material and a statement that you own it or naming who you got it from. The Senate Public Safety Committee described a 2025 law, AB 476, as requiring that statement to be signed with your legal name, date of birth and residence.
- Michigan: an individual seller allows a thumbprint, used only for identification and law enforcement investigation, and signs a statement of ownership or authority to sell.
- Ohio: name, residence, a copy of your ID card and a photograph of you.
- Illinois: no sale without government photo ID, photos or video of you and the material on the scale, and a signed declaration that the property is not, to your knowledge, stolen.
Arizona and Nevada dealers also owe you an on-site receipt with the date, time, place, description, weight and amount paid.
Sources: Arizona Revised Statutes 44-1642; Nevada Revised Statutes chapter 647; California Attorney General Information Bulletin 2025-DLE-12; Senate Public Safety Committee analysis of AB 476 (2025); Michigan Compiled Laws 445.425; Ohio Revised Code chapter 4737; 815 ILCS 325/3.
How long can a bank hold a check for scrap?
Under the federal Regulation CC, funds from a local check must generally be available by the second business day after the banking day of deposit. A large scrap check can fall outside that schedule.
- Large deposits: per the current eCFR text, the part of your check deposits above $6,725 in total on one banking day can be held longer.
- Doubt: a bank with reasonable cause to believe a check is uncollectible may hold it longer and must give the reason in its notice.
- Your account: the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau lists cases such as an account open less than 30 days, or overdrawn too many times in the last six months.
The CFPB also says a bank can take back money from a fraudulent check even after you withdrew it, and warns online sellers about buyers who send a bad check or fake money order for more than the price and ask for the difference back.
Sources: 12 CFR 229.12, eCFR current text; 12 CFR 229.13, eCFR current text; CFPB: how long before deposited money is available; CFPB: a deposited check turned out to be fraudulent; CFPB: a buyer sent a check for more than the price.
Do you pay tax on money from scrap carbide?
For a business, scrap sales are income: IRS Publication 334 (2025), the IRS guide for people who file Schedule C, lists income from scrap sales among the examples entered on line 6 of Schedule C.
Tax forms from the buyer vary. Illinois requires its recyclable metal dealers to file a 1099-MISC for the seller unless the seller holds a current automotive parts recycler or scrap processor license, a rule for Illinois dealers only. The IRS instructions list payments for merchandise among payments that need no Form 1099-NEC.
Inherited tools follow other rules, covered on estate and shop cleanouts. This is general information, not tax advice; ask a tax professional how to report your sale.
Sources: IRS Publication 334 (2025); 815 ILCS 325/3; IRS Instructions for Forms 1099-MISC and 1099-NEC.
The records to keep after a sale
Keep your own copy of the sale, because it proves what you sold, what it weighed and what you were paid. One folder per sale holds it:
- the written offer, with any deductions (amounts a buyer takes off the weight or price);
- your photos and the weight you measured before the material left;
- the buyer's receipt or settlement sheet with its weight;
- a copy of the check or transfer record, and the deposit slip.
Dealers keep their side for set periods: California at least two years, Arizona one year on site plus one more, Illinois recyclable metal dealers three years, and Ohio at least one year until its state registry is running. Ask your tax professional how long to keep yours.
Our guide to choosing a carbide buyer lists what to ask about payment, and where to sell carbide lists the buyers to ask. For an offer to compare, send the form your carbide is in, about how much it weighs and a few photos through the quote form.
Sources: Secondhand Dealer and Pawnbroker Laws (California AG, 2012), Bus. & Prof. Code 21607; Arizona Revised Statutes 44-1642; 815 ILCS 325/3; Ohio Revised Code chapter 4737.
Questions people ask
Can a carbide buyer pay me in cash?
Sometimes. We pay cash where state law allows it, but some states require a check, money order or transfer above set amounts or for certain metals.
What ID do I need to sell scrap metal?
A current driver's license or other government photo ID. Some states also have the buyer photograph you, take a print and have you sign an ownership statement.
Do scrap metal payment rules apply when I ship my carbide?
The statutes read for this guide do not say which state's law governs a sale shipped across state lines, and none names carbide. Ask the buyer which rules it follows before you ship.
Why is my bank holding the check from my scrap sale?
Banks may hold large deposits, checks on new accounts and checks they doubt beyond the usual schedule. The bank's notice should give the reason.
Keep reading
Choosing a buyer
The questions to ask before you ship a pound, and the warning signs
Estate and shop cleanouts
Clearing out a machinist's tools: finding the carbide and selling it
Offer comparison calculator
Put two or three offers side by side and see what each pays after shipping and deductions
Machine shops
Setting up a carbide bin, what to keep separate, and how shops sell it
Have carbide to sell?
Tell us what form it is in and about how much it weighs, and add a few photos. Ship it from any state and we pay the shipping, or we pick up anywhere in California, Arizona and Nevada.