If you’ve never sold scrap metal before, the process is simpler than it might seem — but a few things are worth knowing before your first sale, both to stay on the right side of the law and to make sure you’re not underselling your material.
Step 1: Know the basic legal position
You don’t need a licence to sell your own scrap metal — that requirement applies to buyers, not sellers. What you do need to know is that any legitimate buyer will ask for photo ID and proof of address, and will pay you by bank transfer or another traceable method, never cash. This isn’t optional on their part; it’s required by the Scrap Metal Dealers Act 2013.
Step 2: Roughly identify what you have
You don’t need to be an expert, but knowing the basics helps: copper (reddish-orange, magnetic test fails) is the most valuable common material, followed by brass (yellow-gold) and aluminium (light, silvery-grey, non-magnetic). Steel and other ferrous metals (magnetic) are worth less per kilo but are still worth selling, especially in volume.
Step 3: Sort where you reasonably can
Separating materials — even just copper from everything else — before you sell will get you a meaningfully better price than one mixed load. It doesn’t need to be perfect; even basic separation helps.
Step 4: Get an idea of current value
Scrap prices move regularly with global commodity markets, so it’s worth checking current rates before you sell rather than assuming last month’s price still applies. A live pricing tool gives you a starting point to judge whether an offer is fair.
Step 5: Get more than one quote
The single biggest mistake new sellers make is accepting the first price offered without comparing it to anything else. Whether that means checking a couple of local yards or listing on a marketplace where multiple buyers can quote, having something to compare against changes the outcome.
Step 6: Complete the sale properly
A proper transaction involves an ID check, a confirmed weight (ideally something you can see, not just told), and payment by bank transfer or another traceable method. If any of these steps are being skipped, that’s worth treating as a warning sign, not a convenience.
The bottom line for first-time sellers
Selling scrap metal isn’t complicated, but a small amount of preparation — knowing roughly what you have, sorting where practical, and comparing more than one offer — makes a real difference to what you walk away with.
Ready to sell your first load? List your scrap on ScrapBays →