6 Steps to Starting Your Own Scrapping Business

Reasons scrap prices change

Many scrappers ask us for instructions on starting their own scrapping business or how to expand to get larger jobs and clients. We have the basic steps below to help you get your scrap business going on a larger scale. Each category has a linked article with more helpful details. Toward the end, we will guide you in creating a registered scrap business.

Step-by-Step To Start Your Scrapping Business

  1. Transportation—You must have a reliable vehicle or truck to collect scrap metals. Remember that brand-new vehicles will quickly be ruined by metals and sharp objects thrown and moved in the back.
  2. Safety—When preparing to travel, collect scrap metal from homes, businesses, and other areas where you want to be safe. Safety and knowing the correct procedures are paramount to keeping you out of harm’s way and also to keep you working.
  3. Advertise & Marketing—When you want to expand or get your name out there for scrap metal collection, you must do the leg work and let people know about your services. Marketing your services through various media can help.
  4. Necessary Tools & Work Area—Once you start collecting scrap metal and bringing it back home or to your workshop, you want a good place to work efficiently. A clean area and the proper place to process scrap metal are important to making more money.
  5. Prepare Your Material—Now that you have processed and separated your material, it is important to prepare your load for the scrap yard. When preparing your materials, separate everything as best you can and contact a scrap yard.
  6. Prices Are Important—Before going to the scrap yard, it is important to keep current with the market and scrap prices. Check scrap yard prices through the iScrap App based on reported prices and prices posted by the scrap yards listed in your area.

If you are looking to become a registered business for scrap pickups, which we recommend for those of you doing it full-time, you should register with your state. It is a simple process to register a small business with the state and the government provides you a checklist you can refer to. Each state is different with the scrap laws that you have to abide by as well, so be sure to check them.