That old generator in your compound is worth money. So is the fridge that stopped working in 2022, the office chairs gathering dust, the car you’ve been meaning to sell for two years.
Kenneth Ehiabh built a business on that idea.
In 2019, the Lagos entrepreneur launched ScrapIt.ng, a Lagos recycling startup that buys old appliances, vehicles, furniture, and metal scraps directly from homes and offices, pays cash on the spot, and hauls everything away for free. No depot visits. No drawn-out haggling. No “I’ll call you back” from a buyer who never does.
A Gap Hiding in Plain Sight
Ken noticed something most Lagosians had stopped seeing. Across Ikeja flats, Lekki offices, Surulere bungalows, and Mainland compounds, valuable items were rotting in place. Old cars in any condition. Outdated air conditioners. Dead computers. Generators that had given up years ago. Stacks of metal scrap behind the gate.
For families and businesses facing rising costs, that was untapped money sitting still. The problem was the process. Traditional scrap buyers expected you to drag your items to them, then negotiate from a weak position against an offer that always felt too low.
ScrapIt.ng flipped the script. The customer sends photos over WhatsApp or through the website. The team quotes a price based on real Lagos market rates. If you agree, they show up, load the truck, and pay you in cash or by bank transfer before they drive off.
Why the Model Works in Lagos
Convenience is the obvious draw. In a city where moving a broken fridge across two bridges is a logistical event, doorstep pickup is the difference between a sale and another year of clutter. ScrapIt.ng covers most Lagos areas, from Ikeja to Lekki, Surulere to the Mainland.
But the quieter win is trust. Ken stays close to daily operations, and the brand is firm on the rules: clear pricing, no stolen goods, proof of ownership required for vehicles. That last point matters in a market where buyers and sellers often size each other up with suspicion.
The model also accepts donations of reusable items, which feeds into Lagos’s slowly growing circular economy. Nigeria’s waste problem is structural, with fragmented collection systems and limited formal recycling. Startups like ScrapIt.ng are the connective tissue that makes recycling actually happen at the household level.
From Side Hustle Fix to a Full Service
Six years in, ScrapIt.ng has become a go-to for Lagosians clearing out estates, offices downsizing equipment, and car owners finally letting go of a vehicle that hasn’t moved since lockdown. The pitch is simple enough to fit on an Instagram caption: your car equals quick cash, stop letting it waste away.
What’s kept customers coming back is the speed. A quote in minutes. A pickup scheduled within days. Payment in hand before the truck leaves your gate.
Where ScrapIt.ng Is Headed
The team is building out a WhatsApp community and looking at partnerships with corporates and city stakeholders as Lagos starts taking recycling policy more seriously. The longer play is to keep tightening the user experience, faster quotes, smoother pickups, better tools, so selling scrap feels less like a chore and more like a habit.
If you’ve got something taking up space, ScrapIt.ng wants to make you an offer. Find them at ScrapIt.ng or on Instagram, send a photo, and see what your clutter is worth.
Your junk might be funding next weekend.
