A lot of companies and individuals have shipments that leave them with pallets. A lot of those people end up searching “Where To Sell Pallets“. This post will help you understand what you will need, who is looking for them, and what you can expect to sell them for. Every year in the U.S., 1.9 billion wood pallets are used by transporting products all over. According to a Virginia Tech study, out of 700 million pallets made and repaired in the US, under 3% make it to a landfill. So there will be thousands of pallets that you can recycle and sell for cash. It is a good way for you to make money as part of a side business that you can begin with less than $100.
Things that you will need:
The most important thing that you will need is going to be a pickup truck.
You will also need gloves, drill, and nails to fix broken pallets to get more money out of them.
Now, the biggest expense is going to be gas for your truck.
Luckily there are things that you can do in order to save money on gas.
For example, you could install high sides on the pickup to increase the capacity of the load, you can sell more pallets with only a few trips, which saves you gas.
Where to sell wood pallets?
Here comes the hard part for many people – selling the pallets.
Who buys wood pallets?
Well, there are a lot of options. Below are a few people and places that you can sell your pallets to.
The North American Pallet Recycling Network
This is the easiest option, as they are a pallet broker. It doesn’t matter if you live in New York, Houston, Los Angeles, or wherever, because there may be a chance that there is a pallet broker in your area. To find these brokers, use the recycling network website.
National Wooden Pallet & Container Association
This is a great way to find packaging companies, woodworking businesses, and other places that buy or sell pallets in the area. Just visit the association website and search by zipcode. It will give you a list of companies and contact information that you can use.
Kamps Pallets
If you are in the midwest, then this company is the biggest pallet broker. You will need a lot of pallets to deal with them.
Recycle.net Pallet Exchange Listing
This website has a section just for businesses and people who sell and buy pallets. It is like a directory. Search for your area and see if you can find someone who want to buy your pallets.
Local Furniture and Woodworking Schools
Another good option is to contact local furniture or woodworking schools. You can find them in a woodworker’s directory or phone book.
Local Pallet Manufacturers
Many manufacturers in your area need wood pallets. Contact them to let them know you are offering wood pallets. Lots of local pallet manufacturers are happy to buy pallets to reuse, resell, and repair.
Craigslist
Look at your local Buy & Sell section and most of the time it is filled with ads from people who are wanting to sell or buy pallets. It takes a few minutes to set an ad up and in most cities it is free.
Local Pallet Company
If you cannot sell your pallets, you can sell the pallets to a local pallet company. You can find those companies online or in the phone book. Normally wood pallet recyclers will sell to a pallet company as it is convenient. But, your profit may become reduced.
How much can I sell pallets for?
Depending on the condition and size of the pallet, you could sell them for $0.50 to $4 each. It depends on the condition of the pallet and the buyer.
Take for instance you want to sell pallets to a manufacturer. They need 50 to 100 pallets weekly. If you can find 5 buyers who need 50 pallets for 5 days a week, each paying $2.50 per pallet, you can bring in $625.
Getting Wood Pallets
Getting wood pallets to recycle isn’t really that hard. You can get wood pallets from any business that has large quantities of products delivered to them.
Such as:
- Tire shops
- Warehouses
- Factories
- Department stores
- Grocery stores
- Any businesses that make or sell large quantities of products
Wherever you find the pallets, go and ask the manager or owner of the business and offer to remove the pallets for free.
Many businesses will not have enough room for unused, empty pallets just lying around. So, they will be happy to let you take them off the property.
Some places will even pay to have the pallets removed, especially if there is a large amount of them. They will be glad to let you remove them for free.
To go a step further, talk to the owner to see how often they get a certain number of pallets, so that you can schedule to pick up their pallets regularly.
You can also try to find new pallet sources in the same area or close to the area. This will help you to save gas money by having fewer trips, since you can pick up pallets from various places at once.
Now, there are some places that will actually sell their pallets. The good news is that you can negotiate the price. If you are willing to schedule regular pick-ups, then you can get a better deal. Many businesses just want the pallets gone, if they are able to get money for them, then great. If not, they are not going to hold onto them and would rather them be gone.
Conclusion
Besides that, you will be your own boss, and decide your work hours, there are a lot of benefits to getting money for pallets.
The most helpful feature for recycling pallets for cash is that manufacturing businesses will buy pallets against delivery, so there is no credit.
You will get cash for the pallets right then.
Pallets are the backbone of the shipping industry as they are the wooden, plastic, or synthetic foundation for just about everything that gets loaded onto a transport truck, plane, or ship. Many times pallets end up not being shipped back when companies or individuals don’t regularly ship things back out on pallets.
