How to Get Paid for Your Scrap Metal

If you have old metallic items around your home or business, you can sell them to a dealer and earn money. Selling scrap metal helps free up space around your property and can be good for the environment as it encourages recycling. At Sikora Metals, we offer cash for your metallic items. Here’s how to get paid for your scrap metal:

Understand Scrap Metal Prices

Before selling your unused metallic items, it’s beneficial to understand how the pricing works. Learning this will help you know how much you can earn depending on the weight and quantity of your scrap metal. Understanding prices can also help you choose the right time to sell based on current market trends. At Sikora Metals, we regularly update the scrap metal rates on our website to keep our customers informed about the current pricing. You can view our price list on iScrapapp.com or download the iScrap App to stay updated. We’re also available to answer pricing questions over the phone.

Know What Is Accepted and What Is Not

Some scrap metal dealers have a list of acceptable items, and knowing these beforehand will help you avoid wasting time transporting prohibited items. At Sikora Metals, we accept both ferrous and non-ferrous materials. Examples of ferrous items our company accepts include the following:

• Cast Iron
• Sheet Iron
• Motor Blocks
• Drums and Rotors
• Structural Steel
• Bushelling
• Vehicles

When selling a scrap vehicle, you must have a valid title, remove any trash and debris from the interior, remove the gas tank, and drain all fluids prior to entering our facility. You must also bring a state-issued form of identification. We will weigh the vehicle on our state-certified scale and calculate your payment based on the final measurement.

Non-ferrous materials we accept for cash include aluminum, copper, brass, and zinc. We also purchase stainless steel, lead, and carbide. Our company is now accepting E-scrap. This category encompasses items like processors, laptops, hard drives, and PC towers. It also includes cell phones. Some prohibited items include public property like street signs, asbestos-containing materials, shell casings, and copper wire belonging to a utility company.

Understand Your Scrap Metal Dealer’s Requirements

Familiarize yourself with your dealer’s unique requirements for selling materials to them. At Sikora Metals, we require sellers to be at least 18 years of age and have a valid state-issued ID. When you bring your items for purchase, you must also sign a form to declare you’re authorized to sell them and provide a thumbprint.

We ask individuals to bring their ferrous material in a large vehicle like a van, truck, or SUV and not in a car. Vehicles bringing the materials must have a valid license. Understanding these requirements helps lead to a smooth transaction.

Collect Your Materials and Sort Them

Collecting and sorting involves identifying scrap metal sources and gathering them for transport. In your home, various household items may contain metals, including appliances, plumbing fixtures, and electronics. If you’re in the construction industry, you may have leftover, unusable structural steel that you can sell as scrap.

Old vehicles can also provide scrap metal parts like radiators, rims, and transmissions. Even smaller parts like bolts, nuts, and screws can add to the weight. When you have all of your scrap materials in one place, sort them into ferrous and non-ferrous materials. This step helps make the selling process more efficient.

Prepare Your Items 

While some materials are entirely made of metal and are ready for weighing and selling, some have non-metallic parts requiring removal. If you have an item with plastic, rubber, wood, and other non-metallic materials attached to the metal, you’ll likely need to remove them. You also need to clean some parts to remove excess dirt, grease, and other contaminants.

Prioritize safety when handling these metallic items. Wear eye protection, gloves, and steel-toed boots to minimize the risk of injury, especially when working with heavy items. At Sikora Metals, we allow our customers to disassemble, clean, and sort their materials in our facility. If you prefer this option, maintain cleanliness and safety to avoid disrupting other activities. We also require that you don’t vent chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) into the atmosphere.

Transport Your Materials and Get paid

When your items are ready, take them to the scrap yard for weighing and payment. If you require assistance with this step, contact us to discuss our transportation services. Sikora Metals has a fleet of trucks and roll-off containers available to haul your scrap metal. Our staff is also available to help you unload your items.

Once the items arrive at the scrap yard, they will be weighed on our professional scales, and payment will be calculated based on the current scrap rates. You can then leave our facility with cash in hand. If you’re an industrial or commercial seller and have an account with us, you can receive payments by check or arrange a payment plan to avoid in-person cash handling.

Sell Your Scrap Metal Today

Selling scrap metal to a professional scrap dealer helps conserve resources and promotes environmental stewardship. At Sikora Metals, we provide you with an accessible and environmentally-friendly way to dispose of your metal. Contact us today to review our selling process and ask about our current scrap prices.