About us

What we do

Two jobs, one desk. On the buying side, someone needs containers: a supplier joining a parts loop, a grower short of bins, a warehouse opening a picking zone. We find units that match, new from a maker or used from a lot that fits, and quote them with freight to the buyer's dock. On the selling side, someone has containers they no longer run. We look at what they have, tell them plainly what it is likely worth to the next user, and make an offer when there is a fit.

Most of the work sits between those two. A retired lot of collapsibles in one state can be exactly what a distributor in another needs, if somebody checks the footprint, height and door layout and gets the freight right. That matching is the service.

How we describe a container

Catalog numbers vary by maker and change over time. The box itself does not. So every quote names the container in physical terms that a receiving crew can verify with a tape and a glance:

• Footprint: outside length and width of the base, in inches, or millimetres for euro modules.
• Height: overall, plus folded height for collapsibles and nested pitch for nesting totes.
• Wall: vented or solid, and for crates, straight or tapered.
• Deck: solid, vented, or with drain holes; and the base style, such as runners or a picture-frame rim.
• Doors: none, one or two drop doors, and which face they are on.
• Grade: for used units, A, B or C, with photos and a note on what the grade means for that model.

How we work

We confirm the spec back to you in writing before a price is attached, including anything we had to assume, so a wrong guess gets caught on paper rather than at your dock. Freight appears as its own line. Used lots come with photos of the actual units, not stock pictures, and the worst unit in a lot is shown as readily as the best.

Figures on this site come from maker sheets and public sources, each linked with the date we read it. Makers give capacities and stacking heights that differ between models, and occasionally within one sheet, so we quote ranges and tell you to check the sheet for the exact unit. Where we do not know something, we say that rather than filling the gap.

What a useful request looks like

Compare two messages. One says: need some plastic bins, send prices. The other says: a trailer load of used 48x45 collapsibles, roughly 34 inches tall, two drop doors on the long side, solid deck, grade B or better, for dry automotive parts, delivered to a dock in Ohio in the spring. The second one can be quoted the same week; the first starts a conversation that ends up asking for all of those details anyway.

You do not need the trade words to write a good request. Describe what goes in, how heavy it is, who or what lifts the box, where the empties go afterwards, and roughly how many you need. Attach a picture of anything you already run. We translate that into a spec and send it back for you to correct.

What we will not do

• Guess on food contact. We do not vouch for any container's suitability for food on our own word. We point you to the maker's documents and tell you what a used lot held before, as far as the seller has disclosed.
• Quote without a footprint. A price for a container nobody has measured is a price for the wrong box. If you do not know the size, we help you find it first.
• Promise stock we have not seen, or lead times a maker has not confirmed.
• Buy containers the seller does not own, such as pooled crates or bins molded with another company's name, without proof of title.
• Hide freight in the unit price or add charges after terms are agreed.

Who we work with

Buyers and sellers across trades: automotive suppliers and their plants, growers and packers, food processors, distribution centers and 3PLs, manufacturers, and wholesale and retail operations. Purchasing teams send specs; plant crews send photos; growers send counts from the yard. All three get the same written quote.

The trade has its own vocabulary, and we use it carefully: return ratio, collapsed height, tare, static and dynamic stacking, dunnage, macro bin, attached-lid container. If a term on a quote is unclear, ask, and we will explain it in plain words. The guides cover most of it.

Getting in touch

The fastest route is the quote form, for buying or selling. For anything else, such as a question about a spec, a lot you are unsure about, or a correction to something on this site, write to info@plasticcratesforsale.com. We reply by email, and we keep every quote in writing. See contact for what to include.