$11 Scrap Metal Pickup: What Qualifies & How It Works

Indy Pickup 1111 picks up any scrap metal item or appliance in the Indianapolis metro for a flat $11 base fee — washers, dryers, water heaters, lawn mowers, grills, fencing, car parts, and anything that is mostly metal by weight. You book and prepay the $11, set the item outside or in the garage, and the truck comes to you.

Last updated: July 2026

Search “scrap metal pickup near me” and you get two kinds of results: national junk removal franchises that quote $99 to $500 or more once the truck is in your driveway, and directory pages that tell you nothing about what actually qualifies. Neither answers the question you typed.

This page does. Below is the full list of what rides for $11, what carries a published surcharge and how much, what we will not take at all, and an honest section on “free” scrap pickup — because free scrappers are real, and sometimes they are the right call.

How the $11 Scrap Metal Pickup Works

The $11 is not a teaser rate. It is the whole price for standard metal items, and it works the same way on every stop:

1. Book and pay $11. Call or text (317) 350-1111, or use the online form at indypickup1111.com. The $11 shows up on your confirmation as an Eco & Fuel Recovery Fee, collected upfront at booking.
2. Set your items outside or in the garage. Not on the road or curb. If something needs to come from inside the house, that is a separate published surcharge — more on that below.
3. The truck comes to you. Same-day or next-day in the core area, and you do not need to be home. Cancel with more than 2 hours notice and the $11 is refunded in full.
4. The metal gets recycled. Everything goes back to the salvage yard for processing, not to a landfill.

The full step-by-step is on the how it works page. Service runs across the Indianapolis metro — Greenwood to Carmel, Avon to New Palestine — with the complete city list on the service areas page.

Why so cheap? Because scrap metal has commodity value. Most haulers charge you $99 or more to take a dryer and then sell the metal anyway. Indy Pickup 1111 runs its own recycling operation, so the metal itself pays for most of the trip. The $11 covers fuel. That is the entire business model, and 2,300+ Google reviews at 4.9 stars say it holds up.

What Qualifies for the $11 Scrap Metal Pickup?

Three big categories, all at $11 flat with no surcharge. The complete item-by-item rundown lives on the $11 pickup items page; here are the ones people actually book.

Large Appliances

• Washers and dryers
• Stoves and cooktops
• Water heaters

One catch worth knowing: refrigerators and freezers hold freon, so they carry a surcharge starting at $25 on top of the $11. Window and portable AC units add $15. Central AC units, heat pumps, and furnaces add nothing at all — they ride for $11 like any other metal. Everything else in this list is $11, period.

Metals and Outdoor Items

• Lawn mowers and scooters
• Grills
• Bikes and motorcycles
• Car parts
• Metal doors and garage doors
• Fencing and wiring
• Metal pipes, poles, and chairs
• Sump pumps and motors
• Swing sets and trampolines (disassembled first)

Got a whole vehicle instead of parts? Skip the $11 entirely. Our sister company Cash Car Heroes pays cash for junk cars with free towing — you get money instead of spending it.

Electronics and Small Appliances

• Computers, printers, and game consoles
• Stereos and speakers
• Power tools and shop vacs
• Vacuums, blenders, and toasters
• Auto batteries
• Lamps

Commercial and industrial equipment counts too — restaurant fryers, shelving, machinery, farm equipment. If it is metal and it is outside or in the garage, it rides for $11.

The “Majority Metal by Weight” Rule

Here is the rule that settles almost every edge case: if most of the item’s weight is metal, it qualifies for the $11 base fee. That is the actual test the crew uses.

So golf clubs qualify. Pots and pans qualify. Metal patio furniture, buckets, brooms with metal handles, baseball bats, golf carts, weight benches, ellipticals, stationary bikes — all $11. You do not need to strip parts off or sort anything. (Treadmills are the one piece of exercise equipment that adds a surcharge, $25, because they are mostly motor and plastic housing.)

A vending machine is a good example. It has a glass front, plastic coils, and electronics, but by weight it is overwhelmingly steel. It qualifies. A wooden dresser with metal handles fails the same test — the weight is wood, so it does not ride for $11.

Items People Don’t Realize Are $11

The washers and dryers book themselves. These are the pickups people are surprised by:

• Swing sets — take them apart and the whole frame goes for $11
• Grills — old rusted-out grills are one of the most common summer pickups
• Lawn mowers — push or riding, dead or alive
• Sump pumps and water heaters — the classic basement-replacement leftovers
• Car parts — engines, rims, doors, exhaust systems
• Fencing and garage doors — tear-out debris from weekend projects

Most of these are sitting in garages all over Indianapolis right now. We counted 15 things in your garage that get picked up for $11 if you want the full walkthrough.

Not sure if your item qualifies? Text a photo to (317) 350-1111 and we will tell you before you book. Most answers come back within the hour during business hours. Ask About Your Item →

Surcharge Items Explained: What Costs More Than $11

Some items cost real money to handle or dispose of, so they carry a published surcharge on top of the $11 base fee. No quotes-on-arrival, no surprises — the numbers are fixed and listed before you book:

One thing to get straight: the $11 is charged once per stop, not once per item. Surcharges are per item on top of it. A queen mattress and a box spring at the same address is $11 + $30 + $10, not $11 twice.

Inside removal is available too — a refrigerator carried out from the main floor runs $76 total, other appliances $31. Anything unusual, like a piano or a safe, gets quoted before you book rather than guessed at on the driveway. The full sheet is on the paid services page.

Why do these cost more? Three honest reasons.

Freon Appliances: Federal Law Requires Recovery

Refrigerators, freezers, and window AC units hold refrigerant that cannot legally be vented. EPA Section 608 requires that refrigerant be pulled with certified recovery equipment before an appliance is serviced or disposed of, and the final disposer — the scrap recycler — has to document that it happened (EPA, 2025). That step costs money on every single unit, and the surcharge is what it costs: $25 for a standard fridge, $15 for a window AC. Still a fraction of the $99+ franchises charge. Full details in our refrigerator pickup guide.

TVs: Indiana Bans Them From Landfills

Under Indiana’s e-waste law, households cannot put TVs or computer monitors in the trash — they must be recycled through approved channels (Indiana E-Cycle, IDEM, 2009). Screens contain lead and other materials that cost money to process responsibly. The surcharge scales with size because disposal fees do.

Furniture and Mattresses: No Scrap Value

A couch has no metal worth recovering, so nothing offsets the trip — the surcharge is the actual disposal cost, not a markup. This is the one category where our pricing is merely competitive instead of absurd: $86 for a couch lands under the $99 minimum most full-service haulers start at, but it is not the 10x gap you get on a washer. A twin mattress at $31 is still the cheapest in the market. If furniture is the whole job, get quotes.

What Doesn’t Qualify at All?

The $11 pickup is a scrap metal service, not general junk removal. These do not qualify:

• Bagged household trash — that is what Republic and Waste Management are for
• Wood-only furniture — dressers, bookshelves, tables with no meaningful metal
• Drywall and construction debris — no metal, no scrap value
• Pure plastic items — toys, totes, patio resin chairs

That said, we still haul this stuff — just not for $11. Whole-property jobs like garage, barn, and estate cleanouts are quoted per job with the $11 base fee included. See the property cleanout guide for how those work.

Quick Checklist: Will It Go for $11?

Run any item through these four questions:

1. Is most of its weight metal? Yes: it qualifies for $11.
2. Does it hold freon (fridge, freezer, window AC)? Yes: it qualifies, add $15 to $30 depending on the unit.
3. Is it a TV, mattress, or furniture? Yes: it qualifies with the published surcharge from the table above.
4. Is it trash, wood, or plastic? It does not qualify — ask for a cleanout quote instead.

Still unsure? That is what the photo text is for. Send it to (317) 350-1111.

What About Free Scrap Metal Pickup?

Fair question — plenty of people search “free scrap metal pickup near me,” and free scrappers do exist. Independent operators on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and Nextdoor will absolutely grab metal off your curb for nothing, because they sell it by the pound.

Here is the honest version of how that plays out. Free scrappers show up fast for the good stuff: copper pipe, brass fixtures, aluminum siding, car batteries. A single steel dryer, a rusted grill, or a small mixed pile? Much less interesting. Steel pays them very little per pound, so low-value loads sit for days, get picked over, or the scrapper says yes and never shows. There is no schedule, no insurance, and no one to call.

And if you genuinely have a truckload of sorted copper or a few hundred pounds of clean aluminum — honestly, skip everyone and drive it to a scrap yard yourself. You will earn more than any pickup service saves you. Our scrap metal recycling guide breaks down what each metal is worth and where the Indianapolis yards are. Not sure what your pile is made of? Start with our guide to what scrap metal is worth money.

The $11 is for everything else, which is most of it. Indy Pickup 1111 takes the whole pile — steel, mixed, small, ugly — on a scheduled day, from a licensed, bonded, and insured local crew. Eleven dollars buys you the certainty the free option can’t offer.

Where Does Your Scrap Metal Go?

Every load goes back to our salvage operation on the south side and into the recycling stream, not a landfill. That matters more than most people think: only 27.8% of ferrous metal in durable goods gets recycled nationally (EPA, 2018 data), even though American steelmakers melt nearly 70 million tons of domestic scrap into new steel every year (American Iron and Steel Institute, 2025).

Your dead water heater does not stay a dead water heater. As Robin Wiener, President of the Recycled Materials Association, put it: “From the coffee cup we are using to the cars we drive and the bridges we cross — recycled materials are a part of virtually everything around us” (Recycling Today, 2024). Steel recycles endlessly without losing strength, so that tank comes back as rebar, car frames, or another appliance.

For the bigger picture on appliance pickups across the metro — what we take, pricing, and how the $11 model started — the $11 appliance and scrap metal pickup guide is the place to start.

Ready to clear out the metal? Book your $11 scrap metal pickup today — same-day and next-day slots available across the Indianapolis metro. Call or text (317) 350-1111 or book online. Book Your $11 Pickup →

Frequently Asked Questions

What scrap metal can be picked up for $11?

Washers, dryers, stoves, water heaters, lawn mowers, grills, bikes, car parts, fencing, garage doors, wiring, power tools, computers, and any item that is mostly metal by weight. Items must be outside or in the garage, and the $11 base fee is prepaid when you book with Indy Pickup 1111.

Does scrap metal pickup include appliances?

Yes. Standard appliances — washers, dryers, stoves, cooktops, water heaters, furnaces, and central AC units — are picked up for the flat $11 base fee. Freon appliances qualify too but carry a surcharge because federal law requires certified refrigerant recovery before scrapping: $25 for a standard refrigerator or freezer, $30 for side-by-side and commercial units, $15 for a window AC or dorm fridge.

Is scrap metal pickup actually $11?

Yes, for standard metal items placed outside or in the garage. The $11 is prepaid at booking as an Eco & Fuel Recovery Fee, and there are no on-site price changes. Specialty items — freon appliances, TVs, furniture, mattresses, inside removal — carry surcharges that are published upfront, so you know the total before the truck rolls.

What items don’t qualify for the $11 pickup?

Bagged household trash, wood-only furniture, drywall, construction debris, and pure plastic items do not qualify, because they have no metal to recycle. Indy Pickup 1111 still handles them through cleanout and hauling jobs, which are quoted per job with the $11 base fee included in the price.

Who picks up scrap metal for free?

Independent scrappers on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and Nextdoor pick up valuable metals — copper, brass, aluminum — for free because they resell them by the pound. They are far less reliable for steel appliances, mixed piles, or small loads. A scheduled $11 pickup takes everything metal, on a set day, from an insured crew.

Do I need to be home for the pickup?

No. Pickups are contactless: leave your items outside or in the garage, and the crew collects them during the scheduled window. Reviewers mention this constantly — one customer got a text saying the pickup was set for the next day, came home from work, and the old water heater was already gone. You get text updates and a call when the driver is on the way.

One text is all it takes. Send a photo of your item to (317) 350-1111 and Indy Pickup 1111 will confirm the price — $11 for anything mostly metal, published surcharges for everything else. Get Your Answer Today →