A marketplace for people who deal in metal, not paperwork

Why ScrapTrade exists

Most scrap metal changes hands the way it always has: a phone call, a yard visit, a price quoted on the spot with no way to check whether it was fair that day. A seller with a truckload of copper offcuts has almost no way of knowing what three other buyers within a hundred kilometres would pay for the same load. A buyer sourcing aluminium for a foundry has no easy way to see sellers outside the two or three yards they already know. Both sides are working with partial information, and partial information tends to favour whoever has more of it.

ScrapTrade was started to close that gap. Instead of one quote from one buyer, a seller lists once and lets multiple buyers respond, either through fixed pricing, a live auction, or a request posted to the Wanted Board for buyers actively looking for that material. Instead of relying on a handshake, every deal on the platform moves through a structured process with identity checks, GPS-tagged video listings, and an escrow step that holds payment until delivery is confirmed by both sides.

None of this removes the physical reality of scrap trading. Metal still has to be picked up, weighed, and transported. What changes is the information and the accountability around the transaction itself.

Where the company is registered

ScrapTrade is a trading name operated by Mobeius Technologies Pty Ltd. The details below are the same details a user would find on our terms of service, our invoices, or a company search through ASIC.

We publish this information deliberately. A platform that asks people to trust it with payment and delivery of physical goods should not hide behind a contact form. If a dispute ever needs to go further than our own resolution process, this is the registered entity that stands behind the platform.

How the platform actually works

ScrapTrade is not a classifieds board with a payment button bolted on. The mechanics were built specifically around scrap metal as a category, where material grade, weight, and location all change the value of the same listing depending on who is looking at it.

Two checks before a deal is trusted: who you are, and where the material is

Before a trader can transact freely on ScrapTrade, identity and business details go through a KYC verification check. It is a basic but important filter: it means the person on the other end of a deal is a real, checkable party, not an anonymous account created five minutes ago. Separately, any listing that carries a "GPS verified" badge was recorded with location services on, so the timestamp and coordinates attached to the listing match where the material is physically sitting at the time it was posted. Neither check makes fraud impossible on its own, but together they remove the two easiest versions of it: a fake identity, and a listing describing material that does not exist or is not where it is claimed to be.

Escrow, and exactly how it is structured

When a buyer and seller agree on a deal, ScrapTrade collects a deposit of 5% of the agreed value upfront, processed securely through Stripe, and holds it rather than releasing it straight to the seller. On a $4,000 lot of mixed copper, that is a $200 deposit sitting with the platform, not with either trader, while the rest of the transaction plays out. The seller then arranges pickup or delivery. The buyer has a 24-hour window after receiving the material to confirm it matches what was listed. Once confirmed, or once that window passes without a dispute, the held funds release to the seller. If something goes wrong inside that window, either side can open a dispute tied to that specific order and the existing chat history between them, rather than starting from scratch with a support agent who has no context.

None of this is left for a trader to figure out alone. ScrapTrade's seller support team helps with listing creation and management for anyone unsure how to price or describe their material, and a separate buyer-side support function helps buyers find sellers matching a specific material, grade, or volume when nothing suitable is already listed.

How the company has grown

Who this platform is built for

ScrapTrade is used by three broad groups, and each interacts with the platform slightly differently.

Independent sellers, including demolition crews, auto wreckers, tradespeople, and households clearing out scrap metal, who want more than one buyer looking at their listing before they commit to a price.

Buyers and processors, including scrap yards, recyclers, and manufacturers sourcing specific grades of ferrous or non-ferrous material, who use the Wanted Board and search filters to find supply outside their usual local network.

Businesses managing regular volume, who use recurring listings and the platform's transaction history to build a track record of reliable trading over time rather than negotiating a fresh relationship with every new buyer.

What we are not

Frequently asked questions