How a cable lot moves from your rack to terms.

The list does not need to be perfect. Six details start a review: type, conductor, voltage class, gauge or MCM, footage or reel count, and condition. Add the city and ZIP so the lot can be routed to the right district.

Photographs help more than long descriptions. Four are usually enough: the reel tag, the jacket print, the cut end and a wide shot of how the cable is stored.

A buyer checks what the cable actually is against what the tag says. Jacket print, insulation, shield, armour and conductor metal are read together, because tags get swapped and reels get re-used.

Footage is checked three ways: the tag, a wrap count against drum circumference, and the weight of the reel against published conductor and insulation weights. When those disagree, the physical measurement is what the terms are written on, and the difference is explained.

Cut lengths are counted rather than estimated. Loose coils are measured along their length where they can be laid out, or weighed where they cannot.

If footage is genuinely unknown, say so. An honest unknown is easier to handle than a number that turns out to be wrong on the day.

Terms describe the lot rather than just a figure: what is included, what is excluded, who loads, who transports, when it is collected and how settlement happens. Both sides keep a copy.

Nothing is bought, moved or scheduled before those terms are agreed. Until then, every conversation is a review, and the seller can stop at any point.

Pickup is scheduled around the site: dock hours, gate lists, safety induction, forklift or crane availability and whether a trailer can turn. The cable is checked against the lot description as it is loaded.

Settlement follows the terms. Where the lot matches its description, settlement is straightforward; where something differs, it is raised before the truck leaves rather than after.