Trading with someone you've never met, sometimes in another country, is exactly where things go wrong on a phone call and a handshake. Here's what's actually in place instead, and how it works when a deal doesn't go as expected.
Every listing is verified with geolocated video before it goes live, confirming the material shown is real and actually where the listing says it is, not a stock photo or a description alone.
Traders can carry identity (KYC) verification and business badges, so you're trading with a checked account, not an anonymous handle.
Payment is held from the moment a deal is confirmed and only released once pickup or delivery is confirmed on both sides. Neither party is exposed before the other follows through.
A fixed-price sale, a winning bid, or an accepted negotiation, whichever way the deal closes, payment moves into escrow at this point, not to the seller directly.
Funds sit in escrow while the material is picked up, shipped, or delivered. The seller can see the payment is secured; the buyer hasn't lost control of it.
Once both sides confirm the deal went as agreed, funds release to the seller. If it's an international shipment, this matters even more, there's no in-person handoff to fall back on.
A dispute is raised directly on the specific order, tied to your existing conversation with the counterparty, not a disconnected support ticket you have to explain from scratch. Raise it before releasing payment from escrow, that sequencing is what makes the protection real rather than theoretical.
Whether you close a deal by buying at a fixed price, winning an auction, or negotiating privately, verification and escrow apply the same way. It's not a premium tier or an add-on, it's the baseline every deal on ScrapTrade runs on.
It confirms the listed material is real and located where the listing claims, geolocated video attached to the listing before it goes live. It doesn't grade or authenticate the material's exact composition, that's still something to confirm directly with the seller, but it rules out the most common scam pattern: a listing for material that doesn't actually exist.
Raise a dispute before releasing payment from escrow, that's exactly the situation escrow protects against. Disputes are tied to the specific order and your existing conversation with the counterparty, not a generic support ticket disconnected from the deal itself.
It confirms identity, not intent, the same way a verified ID doesn't guarantee good behaviour anywhere else. What it removes is anonymity: you know who you're actually dealing with, which combined with escrow and a documented dispute process is a materially different risk profile than an unverified classifieds listing.
It adds the time it takes to confirm delivery, which for a local pickup can be same-day. It's not an extended hold for its own sake, it releases as soon as both sides confirm the deal went through as agreed.
The mechanics are identical, but it matters more internationally. A local deal gone wrong is a bad afternoon; an international one without escrow and verification is money sent overseas with no real recourse. The protection is the same, the stakes it's protecting against are higher.
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