Eighteen steps across seven phases, from registering an account to a seller actually getting paid. Every one of them exists for a specific reason, not as friction for its own sake, and every one applies to every deal, without exception, regardless of size or who's trading. This is the complete process, not the three-step summary.
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A scrap deal on ScrapTrade moves through the same sequence every time, whether it is a single trailer load sold locally or a container of graded material shipped overseas. The sequence does not change based on who is trading or how much: the same admin approval gate, the same deposit window, the same escrow structure, and the same manual release check apply whether it is the platform's first listing or its ten-thousandth. What follows is every stage of that sequence, in order, with the reasoning behind each one, not just a list of steps to click through.
Create a free account, buyer, seller, or both, no cost to browse, list, or message.
Identity (KYC) checks, plus an optional business verification badge for a checked-account trader profile.
Material, grade, quantity, location, and photos, the specifics a real buyer needs to bid seriously.
GPS-tagged video showing the actual material, where the listing says it is, not a stock photo.
A listing moves from pending to approved, or rejected with a reason, before it ever goes live. Nothing skips this gate.
Reverse bidding: multiple verified buyers compete for the same lot, not one quote from one buyer.
No forced countdown pushing a decision, bidding continues until the seller chooses to act on it.
Full control over every bid that comes in, a counter-offer keeps the conversation open instead of closing it.
The listing locks to that buyer provisionally, so two buyers can't both think they've won the same lot.
5% of the bid value by default, confirming the commitment is real, not just an interested click.
The bid is cancelled and the listing reopens for bidding. Nothing is lost on the seller's side, the process just resets.
Once the deposit lands, the seller gets notified and starts getting the material ready for pickup or shipping.
Timing, shipping terms, inspection arrangements, and document gathering happen in the deal's own chat thread, tied to the order, not scattered across texts or emails that disappear.
Once terms are set, the remaining payment beyond the deposit is paid into escrow, held securely, never sent directly to the seller.
Tracked through to delivery, with the transport documentation (weight slip, packing list, consignment note) moving alongside it.
Checks the material against what was actually agreed, grade, weight, condition.
Approval is logged against the specific order, a real record, not just a phone call that leaves no trail.
A person checks the confirmation is genuine before funds move to the seller, not a fully automatic trigger with no one watching.
Eighteen steps sounds like a lot next to a one-line pitch like "list it, sell it." It is more than a one-line pitch, deliberately. Almost every scrap scam happens in a gap this process is specifically built to close: an unverified listing (closed by admin approval), a bid with no real commitment behind it (closed by the deposit), a deal with no agreed logistics (closed by the coordination step), a payment sent on trust alone (closed by escrow), or a confirmation nobody actually checked (closed by admin release). Remove any one step and a specific, real risk reopens. That is the actual argument for the process being this thorough rather than shorter, it is not complexity for its own sake.
It is also why the process is the same length for every deal rather than a shorter path for trades that look lower-risk. A small local pickup and a large international shipment both carry the same categories of risk, just at different scale, an unverified listing is just as much of a problem at fifty kilograms as it is at fifty tonnes. Shortening the process for smaller deals would mean deciding in advance which trades are safe to trust less, which defeats the point of having a standard at all.
How It Works is the quick version: three steps, the basic shape of reverse bidding. This is the complete process, every stage from registration to payment release, including the parts that don't fit in a three-step summary, the 24-hour deposit window, the admin approval gate, the two-stage payment structure.
It gives a buyer a short, defined window to confirm a real commitment without the listing being tied up indefinitely on an accepted bid that never gets paid. If the window lapses, the bid cancels automatically and the listing goes straight back to other buyers, no manual intervention needed on the seller's side.
The 5% deposit confirms the commitment early, before either side has invested time coordinating logistics. The remaining balance moves into escrow later, once shipping terms, timing, and documentation are actually settled, so neither side pays in full before those details are locked in.
Because the buyer confirming receipt is exactly the moment a scam would try to slip through, a fabricated confirmation, a rushed approval before actually checking the material. Having a person check that the confirmation is genuine before funds move is a deliberate check, not a missing feature.
You get it back in full, no cancellation fee. That fee only applies when a buyer chooses to withdraw, not when a seller is the one who doesn't follow through. See our guide to how ScrapTrade prevents scrap trading scams for the full mechanics.
The chat thread is always there, but how much you use it scales with the deal. A straightforward local pickup might need a single message confirming a time; an international shipment with inspections and multiple documents needs a longer back-and-forth. The system doesn't force either into the same template.
No. The original listing, video, and admin approval all stay in place, only the specific bid is cancelled. The listing simply reopens for bidding from other buyers, the seller doesn't lose the work already done to get it live.
Register free, and every step above applies to your first listing the same way it applies to the thousandth.
