There are many different places to buy lead ingots, many which are easily available on the internet for delivery directly to your business. Choosing which company or which purchasing options to consider and which offers to pass on is an important part of the buying process to get the quality and quantity you require.
Where to Buy
Ideally, when you buy lead ingots, buy from a trusted supplier. This means either directly from the manufacturer of the ingots, a lead specialty company, or from a distributor that works with reputable manufacturers.
The biggest issue in buying from a metal center or metal distributors is the variation in quality that can occur. These distribution centers often buy on price and volume, which means different suppliers. This creates the risk for hit and miss quality in lead ingots depending on the specific order and supplier.
Risks of Buying at Online Auction
It is not uncommon to see small or large volume lots of lead ingots sold online. These can be through auction sites or direct advertisements. Either of these options is usually a buyer beware type of purchase.
Unfortunately, when you choose to buy lead ingots, from these sources, you may find the actual percentage of lead is not at the requirements for your application. Zinc and other alloys can also be melted into these recycled lead ingots, causing problems for fabrication or making the ingots useless for your application.
Buying through a Broker Service
Buying through a middleman type of service is also a problem. Often the broker has no direct knowledge of the alloy or the purity of the ingots; rather they are just facilitating the transaction between buyer and seller.
This is most common with large volume orders, and it often includes lead ingots imported from other countries. This may also result in a purity problem or even receiving ingots that are not clean and will require additional processing before they can be used.