Selling scrap metal for the first time can feel more complicated than it needs to be. Unfamiliar terms, prices that seem to shift for no obvious reason, and no clear sense of whether an offer is fair. These guides answer the basics in plain language, no industry background required.
What actually happens to your scrap after you sell it: collection, sorting, processing, and being melted back into new metal.
Read the guideThe single biggest factor in what your scrap is worth. A simple magnet test and a plain-English breakdown of both categories.
Read the guideWhy two loads of the 'same' metal can be priced completely differently, and what you can do before you sell to grade up.
Read the guidePlain-English definitions for the trade terms you'll see on ScrapTrade and at any scrap yard: HMS, UBC, bare bright, and more.
Read the guideMost scrap metal information online is written for people already in the industry, full of jargon, assumed knowledge, and numbers with no context. That's fine if you're a dealer, but not much help if you're a homeowner clearing out a garage, a tradesperson with offcuts from a job, or a small business trying to figure out if you're getting a fair price.
These guides exist to close that gap: no assumed background, real explanations instead of just definitions, and a direct line to ScrapTrade's price calculator and marketplace so once you understand what you have, you know what to do with it.
