Sell your
totes.
Pick 'Sell my totes' in the service field. Prior contents, approximate count and your postal code are the three things that decide the number.
We buy used IBC totes nationwide and pay per unit against a published grade schedule. Food grade $55–$95, Grade A $35–$60, technical $15–$35, scrap $6–$12. Twenty or more sellable units within roughly 400 miles of St. Louis and we normally cover the freight. Payment by ACH within five business days of grading.
What you are currently paying to throw away
An empty IBC occupies a 48 × 40 inch pallet position and weighs 125 lb. A plant that receives forty of them a month and has no return route accumulates a sixty-foot wall of them, and eventually pays a hauler to make it disappear. Typical disposal cost runs $18–$40 per unit depending on market and distance.
So the swing between disposal and buyback on a Grade A unit is $53 to $100 per container. On forty units a month that is between $25,000 and $48,000 a year, and it is sitting in a line item currently labelled “waste.”
How a buyback actually runs
- You send photographs. One wide shot of the stack and one close shot of a data plate is enough to price most lots. Numbers beat adjectives: tell us counts, not “a lot.”
- We quote a grade split. Not one price for the lot — an estimated mix, because a stack of forty is never one grade. The quote names the assumed split and the price for each tier.
- We book the freight. Usually on a backhaul, which is why we can cover it. We need to know whether you have a forklift and a dock, or whether the driver has to load by hand.
- We grade at intake. Data plates photographed, prior contents logged, air tests run. You get the actual split with photographs.
- We pay. ACH within five business days of grading.
Prior contents: tell us the truth
This is the one place where a seller can cost themselves real money by being vague. A tote declared as “a cleaner” that turns out to have held a chlorinated solvent changes its route through our plant, changes its value, and in the worst case makes it a load we have to return at your expense. A tote honestly declared as having held an unpleasant chemical is simply a technical-grade or scrap unit, which is fine — we buy those every day.
The data plate usually tells us anyway. Being straight about it just gets you a faster, firmer number.
If you generate them continuously
Stop doing one-off sales. A standing fleet buyback puts you on a collection schedule at a locked grade price, which removes the negotiation, removes the wall of totes, and gives you a quarterly diversion statement you can use in a sustainability report.
What we pay
| Grade | Paid to you |
|---|---|
| Food grade, plate intact | $55 – $95 |
| Grade A industrial | $35 – $60 |
| Technical grade | $15 – $35 |
| Cracked bottle / cage good | $6 – $12 |
| Stainless IBC, 304/316 | $320 – $1,100 |
| 55 gal poly drums | $3 – $9 |
| Cage only, no bottle | $5 – $10 |
275 gallon basis, before freight. 330 gallon units carry a small premium.
Freight rules
- 20+ units, under 400 mi
- We cover freight
- 20+ units, 400–900 mi
- Shared, usually 50/50
- Under 20 units
- Quoted; often net-zero
- Will-call at the yard
- Paid at the gate, any count
Send these three things
- A wide photograph of the stack
- A close photograph of one data plate
- Counts, prior contents and your postal code
That is normally a same-day quote. Without the data plate we have to assume the worst grade.
Selling questions
What are my totes worth?
Grade decides it. A clean food-grade 275 gallon unit with an intact data plate on a steel pallet is the top of the market at $55–$95 paid to you. Grade A industrial is $35–$60. Technical grade is $15–$35. Units with cracked bottles are worth the steel and the regrind, which is $6–$12. Distance from St. Louis moves all of those numbers because freight comes out of the middle.
Do I have to clean them first?
No — cleaning them is literally our job and we are better at it than you are. What we do need is for them to be empty to commercially reasonable standards: drained, valve closed, no standing heel of product sloshing in the bottom. A tote with twenty gallons of residue in it is a hazardous load, not a container, and it will be refused at the gate.
What will you not take?
Listed hazardous waste. Unrinsed pesticide and herbicide containers. Anything radioactive, infectious or explosive. Containers whose prior contents you cannot or will not identify. Totes that still hold more than a trace heel. If you are not sure whether your material qualifies, tell us what it was and we will give you a straight answer before a truck is booked.
How and when do I get paid?
ACH within five business days of receipt and grading, against an agreed grade split. If our grading differs from your description we send photographs and the revised split before we process payment — you can accept it, or we return the load at our cost if the difference is our error.
I only have three totes. Is it worth it?
Honestly, usually not for the money — three units will not cover a freight line. But it is almost always worth it against disposal, which costs you. If you are within driving distance of St. Louis, bring them to the yard during will-call hours and we will pay you at the gate. Otherwise, wait until you have twenty, or ask whether we have a truck already routed past you.
What we pay, in full
275 gallon basis, before freight. Grade decides it; distance from St. Louis moves it, because freight comes out of the middle.
| What you have | We pay | What makes the difference |
|---|---|---|
| Food grade, plate intact, steel pallet | $55 – $95 | Legible plate and an edible prior content. The top of the market |
| Food grade, plate illegible | $15 – $35 | Drops to technical. The plate is worth $40 a unit on its own |
| Grade A industrial | $35 – $60 | Passes an air test, square cage, sealing valve |
| Technical grade | $15 – $35 | Sound and leak-free, cosmetically used |
| Cracked bottle, cage sound | $6 – $12 | Worth the steel and the regrind |
| Cage only, no bottle | $5 – $10 | 48 lb of galvanised tube plus a base |
| 330 gallon, any grade | +$10 – $20 premium | Scarcer format; roughly one in six of intake |
| 550 gallon oversize | $25 – $70 | Lower per-gallon value; harder to ship |
| Stainless IBC, 304 | $320 – $700 | Alloy confirmed by positive material identification |
| Stainless IBC, 316L | $450 – $1,100 | Volume, fittings and weld condition |
| 55 gallon poly drums | $3 – $9 | Food-grade open-tops at the top of the band |
| Mixed stack, ungraded | Graded down | We assume the worst grade present. Separate them |
The swing against disposal
That is a line item currently labelled "waste removal" becoming a line item labelled "revenue", with nothing about the operation changing except where the truck goes.
The staging card — what gets you the best price
Simple enough to laminate and put by the dock door. Every item on it is worth money to you.
- Drain fully; close and cap the valve. A unit with a sloshing heel cannot go on the truck at all. More than a trace heel makes it a waste shipment rather than a container shipment, which is a different permit and a different conversation. This is the item most likely to waste everybody's morning.
- Stack four high, cages interlocked. Interlocked means the top frame of the lower unit seats into the base frame of the upper — stacked, not balanced. A driver loads a prepared stack in thirty minutes and an unprepared sprawl in two hours, and loading time is what makes a free collection free.
- Face the data plates to the aisle. It speeds our intake grading, and faster grading means we can be firmer on price. It also means fewer units get graded down for an unreadable plate we could not find.
- Separate food-history from chemical-history. Mixed stacks get graded down to the worst grade present, because we cannot unpick them at intake. This single item is routinely worth $20 to $40 a unit to you.
- Keep stainless and poly apart. Different handling, different valuation, different paperwork.
- Flag damaged units separately. Do not hide them in the middle. We buy damaged units too — we just price them differently, and we would far rather know in advance than find out at the grading pad.
Two photographs and a count
That is normally a same-day quote: one wide shot of the stack, one close shot of a data plate, plus counts, prior contents and your postal code. Without a plate photograph we have to assume the worst grade, which costs you money for no reason.
From photographs to payment
| Stage | Who | Typical timing |
|---|---|---|
| You send photographs, counts, prior contents and postal code | You | — |
| We quote an estimated grade split with a price for each tier | A grader | Same business day before 3 PM CT |
| Freight routed — backhaul where possible | Dispatch | 1 – 3 weeks to a collection slot |
| Collection | Our driver or a carrier | 30 min to 2 hr on site |
| Intake grading — plates photographed, prior contents logged, air tests run | Two graders | Within 2 business days of arrival |
| Actual split sent to you with photographs | A grader | Same day as grading |
| Payment by ACH | Accounts | Within 5 business days of grading |
We quote an estimated split rather than one price for the lot, because a stack of forty is never one grade. If our grading differs from your description we send photographs and the revised split before processing payment — you can accept it, or we return the load at our cost if the difference is our error.
Freight rules, in detail
- 20+ units, under 400 mi, on a corridor
- We cover the freight
- 20+ units, 400 – 900 mi, on a corridor
- Usually shared, often 50/50
- 20+ units, off-corridor
- Quoted; sometimes still free if a route can be adjusted
- Under 20 units, on a corridor
- Quoted; frequently nets to zero against container value
- Under 20 units, off-corridor
- Usually costs more to move than the units are worth
- Will-call at the yard
- No freight, no minimum, paid at the gate
- Timing flexibility
- "Any Tuesday in three weeks" gets a free collection far more often than a fixed date
Detailed questions
Do you buy from households and small operations?
Yes, with the caveat that a two-unit sale will not cover a freight line. Within driving distance of St. Louis, bring them to the yard during will-call hours and we pay at the gate, any quantity. Beyond that, wait until you have twenty or ask whether a truck is already routed past you.
What if I do not know what was in them?
Tell us that. Unknown prior contents means technical or scrap grade, which is a perfectly normal purchase for us — we just cannot pay food-grade money for a guess. What we cannot accept is a confident wrong answer, because that routes the unit incorrectly through the plant.
Will you buy totes that are outside and weathered?
Yes. Chalked, faded units with sound bottles are technical grade. The thing that actually reduces the value is standing water under the base frame, which corrodes the galvanised tube from the underside — if your units have been sitting in a wet yard for years, expect cage-only or scrap pricing on a proportion of them.
Do you pay more for washed totes?
No, and do not wash them. Cleaning is our job, we are better at it, and a home wash with the wrong chemistry can make a unit harder for us to process rather than easier. Drained and capped is all we need.
Can I sell you a whole fleet at once?
Yes, and a fleet is usually worth more per unit than a small lot because the freight spreads further and the grading is faster. Above about a hundred units we will come and look rather than quote from photographs, and above about two hundred we will discuss whether a standing programme beats a one-off sale.
How do you decide the grade split before you have seen them?
Experience and the photographs. A stack of forty units from a food plant with intact plates will split roughly 40% food grade, 35% Grade A, 20% technical, 5% scrap. One from a chemical blender with painted-over plates will be 70% technical, 25% scrap, 5% cage only. The quote names the assumed split so you can tell us if it looks wrong.
What is the single easiest thing I can do to get paid more?
Separate food-history units from chemical-history units into different stacks, and do not paint over or remove the data plates. Those two actions are routinely worth $20 to $40 a unit and take no equipment.
Do you take totes that are already cut or modified?
Yes, at cage-only or scrap pricing depending on what is left. A top-cut tote is not a container any more but the cage is still 48 lb of galvanised steel, and we would rather have it than see it baled by somebody who does not sort it.
Can you take the pallets and strapping as well?
Yes. Loose steel and composite pallet bases are worth having — we use reclaimed bases for swaps, which frequently promotes a technical-grade unit to Grade A for $28 of material. Timber pallets we will take and grind. Strapping and film we bale and place, at low value but it keeps it out of a skip.
Photograph the stack. Send the count.
Two phone pictures and a postal code is usually a same-day offer with the freight already worked out.