New to selling or buying scrap metal? Start here

Step one

Register and verify your identity

Creating an account takes a couple of minutes and is free for both buying and selling. Once registered, you go through a KYC identity check before you can transact freely on the platform. It is a one-time step, and it exists for a reason worth understanding rather than just clicking through: it means anyone you deal with, on either side of a listing, is a real, checkable person or business rather than an anonymous account with no history.

Step two, and the one most guides skip

Sort your material before you photograph it

This is the single most common mistake among first-time sellers, and it has nothing to do with the platform. It is a physical prep step that determines how much you get paid, regardless of where you sell.

Removing obvious contamination matters too: insulation stripped from copper wire, oil or grease wiped off engine parts, and plastic or rubber separated from metal housings all reduce the chance a buyer discounts their offer for cleanup work they will have to do themselves.

Step three

Time your listing, don't just post and hope

Scrap prices move with global commodity markets, and copper, aluminium, and steel do not move in lockstep with each other. A price that looked reasonable last month may be off today. Rather than relying on memory or a scrapyard's quoted price from months ago, check live material pricing on ScrapTrade before you set a fixed price or a reserve for an auction. If a metal's price is genuinely volatile that week, a live auction can be the better choice, since it lets competing bids find the current number rather than you guessing at it.

Step four

Create the listing itself

1. Pick your selling method

   Fixed price for a straightforward sale, a live auction if you expect competition, or leave it visible for a matching Wanted Board request from a buyer already looking for that material.

2. Add a GPS-verified listing

   Recording your listing with location services on ties it to a real place at a real time. It is optional, but it is the single strongest trust signal you can give a buyer who has never dealt with you before.

3. Write an honest description

   State the material, estimated weight, and condition plainly. A buyer who is not surprised by what turns up is a buyer who confirms receipt quickly, which matters once escrow is involved.

Step five

Completing your first sale

Once a buyer accepts your price, wins an auction, or has an offer accepted through the Wanted Board, a 5% deposit of the agreed value is collected from them through Stripe and held in escrow, separate from either party. You arrange pickup or delivery through the order's chat thread. The buyer then has 24 hours from receiving the material to confirm it matched the listing, after which the held deposit releases to you. If a question comes up before that window closes, either side can raise it against that specific order rather than starting a dispute from scratch.

If anything about listing creation, pricing, or managing an active listing is unclear, seller support is available to help directly. Buyers have an equivalent support line for finding a match when nothing suitable is currently listed.

Frequently asked questions