Guide ยท Surplus manifest
How to prepare a renovation surplus manifest.
A one-page manifest turns a vague phone call into a priced lot. Location, tags, footage, condition, photographs and a name to call back is the whole of it.
Call or text the buying desk954-740-1983
LengthOne page
Must haveLocation and reel tags
AttachFive photographs per reel
KeepA copy with closeout
Get a buy quote
Send the reel list. A buyer reads it.
Six details are enough to start. Tags and photos can follow by text or email once a buyer has looked at the basics.
- A buyer reviews the lot: construction, footage and condition, not only metal weight
- Copper and aluminium, 600 V building wire through 345 kV cable
- Full reels, partial reels, cut lengths, pallets and truckloads
- No fee, no obligation, and no automatic pickup
Reel list · Surplus Manifest
Reviewed by a buyerTell us what you have and where it sits. Nothing is moved until written lot terms are agreed.
01
Start with where it is
The header answers the logistics questions before anyone asks them: building, floor, room, whether there is a dock, the dock height, whether a trailer can reach it, and who to call for access. A lot in a basement with no lift is a different job from a lot on a dock, and the difference is worth knowing before a truck is booked rather than after.
02
The reel table
One row per reel or per pallet, whichever is the unit that will actually move. Keep the columns narrow and the entries short. Where a field is unknown, write unknown instead of leaving it blank, because a blank reads as an oversight and unknown reads as a fact about the record. Consistency matters more than detail: the same five columns on every row will be read faster than a perfect row followed by three guesses.
- Tag or reel number, as printed
- Description, size and voltage class
- Footage at manufacture, and footage estimated now
- Condition in one phrase: sealed, opened, weathered, damaged
- Pallet or location reference
03
Condition notes, written plainly
This is the section sellers soften and buyers discount. Say that a reel has been outside since March, that one flange is cracked, that a length was cut and the tag was not updated. None of it disqualifies the lot. All of it will be found, and finding it after a figure has been agreed is what turns a straightforward sale into a negotiation. Short sentences are enough.
- How long it has been outside
- Which flanges are damaged
- Where lengths were cut and not noted
- Whether the ends are sealed
04
The photograph set and the contact line
Attach the five photographs per reel that a buyer will ask for anyway, named so they can be matched to the table. Then put one name and one number at the foot of the page, and make sure that person knows the lot exists. A manifest listing three contacts usually means nobody owns the material, and a buyer will spend the first call working out who does.
| Column | What to write | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Location | Building, floor, room, dock | Decides the truck |
| Tag number | As printed on the flange | Ties the row to a photo |
| Description | Size, conductor, voltage | Sets the product class |
| Footage | At manufacture, and now | Sets the quantity |
| Condition | One honest phrase | Sets the discount |
Questions
Answers before you send anything.
If your question is not here, call the desk. A buyer answers, not a call centre.
Is a spreadsheet better than a page?
Either works. What matters is that the fields are consistent and the file opens on a phone. A single page with a table is easier to attach to an email and harder to leave half-finished, which is why it is usually the version that gets done.
Do I need to list every cut length?
List anything long enough that someone would pull it. Short tails can be grouped as one row of mixed cuts with an approximate total. A manifest listing two hundred individual offcuts is accurate and useless at the same time.
Who should sign the manifest?
Whoever can speak for the material: the project manager, the superintendent or the facilities contact. One signature and one phone number at the foot of the page. It is a description rather than a contract, and it should be clear which one it is.
Should the manifest include the original purchase orders?
Attach them if they exist, because they show what the cable was bought as. Keep them behind the page rather than pasted into it. The one-page manifest is what gets read; the paperwork behind it is what gets checked once a figure is agreed.
Keep reading
Related pages
No fee · no obligation
You have the cable. We have a scale and a check.
Send the reel list, the tags or a photograph of the pallet. A buyer comes back with what the lot is worth and how pickup would work, before anything is moved.
954-740-1983 Call or text
- Reel tags, or the print on the jacket
- Reel count and footage, even roughly
- Where it sits and what can reach it
- Whether the cable is still energised