Selling cast iron fireplace and mantlepieces

humphriess

Hi,
We have four cast iron fireplaces in our garden. They are not in very good consition. Spoke to a reclaimation yard today who said he'd come and take a look but prob only give us around £30 for the lot. Is this a fair price? Only one of the fireplaces is intact so understand that they might not be worth much. But how about the mantlepieces? They are in fairly good condition and very heavy. Would we be better off scrapping them or selling them on ebay? the only problem is i am not sure what they are made of? The are black, solid, very heavy and have not rusted. I've looked online and many Edwardian fireplaces have slate mantlepieces? How can i tell if mine is slate? Whats the best thing to do with them? THanks
Sarah
p.s. Also have about 20m of outdoor electrical wiring that i'm assuming has copper in it. Anybody know if its worth anything?

humphriess

Sorry also wanted to add, the mantlepieces don't look like slate or have that layered kind of effect slate has. Seems a very solid product???

phill99

The cast iron fireplaces are probably ony worth a tenner in scrap, so £30 is fair. Its OK suggesting ebay, but its hardly likely you can get them couriered for less than a small fortune and if its buyer collects, you are really restricting your market. So the £30 is probably fair given the hassle for the other options.

The cable is worth about £1.30 a kilo at he moment. You probably have a couple of kilos in 20metres, so probably between £2 and £3. Probably worth saving it with all the other bits you may bet and taking in a decent amount.

Leif

I would make sure they are not in very good condition as you say, rather than simply showing cosmetic damage. Is the cast iron actually broken? If they just look tatty, paint strippers can work wonders, and the value will be increased. These things do sell for a lot of money if in decent nick.