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ive heard of guys stacking romex wire but never heard of anyone holding pipe and fittings.

PM wackzingo, he could tell you. Or, just call the local scrap yard.

I have held copper fittings and pipe for years, but I can't tell you the purity of the copper they have in them.

Most copper tubing and fittings used for water is 99.9% pure. It contains small amounts of Phosphorous which I believe is either used to deoxidize it and/or keep it from oxidizing. I believe the most common grade is C106 which if you Google it you'll find all kinds of data sheets listing it's properties.

hmmmm ok, i wonder if it can be bought at or near spot. i'll have to get down to home depot and find out.

I always thought it was 99%. I actually want to put an ad on CL buying up pipe as the scrapyards get ya sometimes

I can't imagine copper pipe and fittings sold at Home Depot to be anywhere near spot. The manufacturer of the pipe probably pays spot for the copper they use to make the pipe. Then they add on their labor cost plus their profit margin. Finally they add on the shipping cost to ship it to Home Depot. Now it is Home Depot's turn to add on their large mark up to obtain a profit. I would guess in the end the retail price of copper pipe and fittings is many times spot.

^^^^^ it's about 2.5X spot last time I checked or about $10 a lb

Copper gets refined to about 99.95% to 99.99% but then small amounts of Phosphorus are added to reduce the oxidization that forms during the melting process. Regardless of purity, clean stripped copper wire, copper tubing, fittings, etc., all are considered #1 copper and will pay the same.